to resume. david steve stevenson has the report. >> reporter: and the main question is, when will the judge allow same-sex marriages to resume. less than 24 hours since the proposition 8 ban was ruled unconstitutional. a couple tied the knot at city hall. both are encouraged by yesterday's court ruling but are unwilling to believe -- >> it got taken away before, so even if it does pass, it can get taken away again. >> reporter: both sides have now filed briefs with judge von walker. >> we feel pretty comfort, and we think it's important to

expedite this as soon as possible. >> this case is much bigger than just one activist in san francisco who has ignored the law and put himself above the law. >> i think a great point is that judge walker is going to comet to stay. >> reporter: it's unclear what role if any the ag's office intends to play in the judge's decision. >> the state of california is going to do just what it did the beginning. we're not in this case. we're not contesting it, we're not a part of this case. >> reporter: for now some gay couples are cautiously watching if latest round in the battle over same-sex marriage. >> i hope that it goes in the way of allowing equality, but you know who knows. it seems as if it was going to work the last time. >> reporter: legal analysts and

participants in this case say they hope to rule as soon as one week to two weeks. reporting live in san francisco, david stevenson. >> reporter: mexico's supreme court has upheld the law allowing same-sex marriages. the law is just six months old and already hundreds of gay and lesbians have gotten married. in an 8-2 vote, the court ruled the constitution does not define what a family is so the law does not violate it. the law is only for mexico city and it's the only like it in mexico. the elder shord said that

her daughter has discovered a lump in her breast and has asked for medical treatment from her jailers but she says they won't listen to her. >> she keeps asking for medical care and she's being denied medical care. and this is really alarming me. she has several issues and the lump on her breast is very alarming. you know, she's a young woman, so she needs to be looked after by a specialist. shorde mother is now asking the united nations panel on human rights to intervene. for the seventh straight week, mortgage rates have hit an all time low. today they averaged 4.49%. we go to tom vacar who's live tonight in walnut creek, tom. >> reporter: frank it's a

bitter pill to swallow. the banks can borrow money for free from uncle sam, but getting a home loan is tough. >> reporter: peterson erected a for sale sign. a home now worth half what the owner paid for it. the owner hopes to rent it for now to try to arrange a short sale. >> a lot of it has to do with constantly calling the bank and talking with negotiators. >> reporter: peterson say more than 10% are unoccupied and available. john mann specializes on short sales. >> we used to have multiple officers and now that's not showing. a few months ago, houses were on the market for 10 days. >> reporter: how can it be with home prices way down and

interest rates setting a new record low each of the last six weeks, the buyers are not scooping the homes up. >> they're worried about their job, and they're not in a hurry to get a home. >> reporter: fha homes easier to qualify for government qualified homes once considered poor man's loans are becoming more and more popular every day everywhere. >> but most markets outside of the east contra costa market, most markets aren't aware of fha and what it really is available. it's a government insured loan and that's where the loans are available right now. >> reporter: requiring only 3.5% now, for more and more folks, fha is the only way to get a home loan. >> and i think if you ask ten

people on the street, i wonder if anyone could afford the home they are living in now or should i say, qualify for the home they're living in now. >> reporter: ironically it's the best time in a lifetime to buy a home if you can get a loan. reporting live, consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. the latest jobs report released today is a mixed bag. initial claims for unemployment benefits last increased by 19,000 from the week before to 479,000. economists had predicted a dip in claims. meanwhile the number of people still looking for work fell 34,000 to 4.5 million. significant job growth is needed before the u.s. will see a sustained economic recovery. those jobless numbers sent stocks slightly lower today on wall street. the new figures from the labor department continue to worry investors as another sign the economy is failing to pick

up speed. here's a look at the closing numbers, you see the dow down about 4.5 points. go to ktv u.com and click on the business tab. tonight nearly 50 people are under arrest, many of whom police say are gang members. they were all taken into custody during a large coordinated sweep today. rob roth live in oakland with more on this. >> reporter: law enforcement officers from throughout the east bay checked out violent parol offenders, who are gang members. they called it operation gang busters. police and parol agents showed up on this house in east oakland this morning. after a search, they say they found drug paraphernalia inside and arrested the parolee and this man who authorities say had a warrant out for his arrest. a few houses away, police say they found a shotgun and other

weapons, the parolee who lived here was arrested. >> the main purpose for this sweep was to check on parolee. we're doing random checks at various locations of parolee's who have gang associations. >> reporter: one neighbor said he was glad to see officers come to the house. >> i'm glad, because they've been a nuisance since they got here. and being parolee's they should have kept it low key. >> reporter: they say some were following -- police say it's

easier to keep up with parolee's with ankle bracelets. >> i think it's cool, it helps us do our job. it's easier to say that they are not doing what they're not supposed to be doing. but if we have something to corroborate that, it helps a lot. >> reporter: later on in the news, we talk to a parolee who wears an ankle bracelet to see how it is. police say the men broke through a sliding door of a living room on a home on parkway at about 11:30 last night. the victims say the man identified themselves as police and were also wearing jackets and vests with the word police on them. investigators say they were

armed and forced the victims to get on the floor while the home was ransacked. the men took off with electronics and took off in a champane chevy. here are possible license plates. a man convicted of stabbing two people including a teenage girl was sentenced today. thomas was convicted for a stabbing. now the stabbing was a random one. we'll have more on the sentencing including reaction from the victim's family and the person who saved the little girl's life coming up tonight at 6:00.

a contra costa county judge reduced the bail for sherloltz. he is the younger brother of giants nate sherholtz who was not in court today but other family members were. holder says 19 people were arrested in three states including here in california. they are charged with giving support to the somali terrorist group. most of the people are u.s. citizens and most had traveled to somalia for training. >> they shed further light on a pipeline that has funded

terrorists from across the united states. >> now two years ago, the u.s. branded alzabap with ties to al- qaida. a pack of matches forces a pilot headed to california to make an emergency landing. plus, one of breeze past traffic in the morning, you can soon on one bay area freeway but for a price. and boy, there's some fog out there again today. temperatures on the cothat. the weekend is not far. the weekend is just around the corner. i'll have the details next.

an accident this morning near st. louis involving two school buses filled with high school students has left two people dead and as many as 50 others injured. it appears a big rig slowed for construction and a pickup truck truck rear ended it. the school buses were carrying

band students to an outing at a six flags amusement park. one of the dead was the driver of the pickup, the other was a student on a bus. highway funds are being increased by charges drivers a toll to use high speed expressway lanes. next month, the bay area will unveil its own version of what some are calling the lexus lane. >> i don't like it. >> i never want to pay more, no one wants to pay more. >> reporter: it may not be popur, but a toll lane is set to premier here in the bay area. next month, solo drivers will be able to pay a toll and jump into an express car pool lane. the lane will carry drivers on southbound interstate 680 and

alameda county. and will head to milpetas. >> nobody wants to pay extra toll. but who wants their purchases to arrive on time? who wants to travel to visit grandma? >> reporter: as for the bay area's new expressway toll lane, they will repave over the weekends and will open on the morning of september 20th. the toll will apply monday through friday from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with nights and weekends open for free to all drivers. >> and like it or not, more express toll lanes are planned for next year on eastbound 580 on livermore and the highway

237 fly over to interstate 880 in san jose. a man who lit matches on an american airline flight prompted an emergency landing in new mexico. flight 117 took off from new york but was diverted to al we albequerqe new mexico.he was not arrested and it's unclear if he will face any charges. investigators are looking into if an open door on the plane caused it to crash. investigators say among other things they'll be looking on why one of the doors was open and why it hit one of the plane's engines. and the fog coming in, it was pretty cold. >> did you have to turn the heater on? >> i did, actually.

>> i'm not surprised with the stories i'm hearing. it is a pretty cool summer and there's nothing much changing. let's go outside, i want to show you live pictures. that's a deep fog bank. that means it's in your town tomorrow morning. let's go in your fog bank, where the temperature, ouch, san francisco it is 58 degrees right now in san francisco, the jackets have not come off all day. it is foggy, it is cool. this is a satellite imagine. downtown san francisco, we were just in there you can see the camera shot i gave you is right in the downtown area. you can see the fog it's really not quite into the south of market area yet. but it'll get there, let's check out our friends in pacifica. they're about over it with the fog and drizzle that's been occurring out in the beaches. it has been an unusual summer for sure. i was just talking to mark tamayo he grew up in marin county. he's been around a long time too. he says, i can't remember a summer like this. i can't, and he can't. this is a very unusual summer,

there's a lot of fog coming your way and it's going to be back tomorrow morning. the extended forecast, more of the same. more fog, more low clouds and more below average temperatures. i'll tell you what, my grass is as green as it has been in a long time. it is so much cooler than we usually see this time of year. so the water bills are coming down. these are forecast highs tomorrow, this is a push of cooler. i've talked to people up in the valley, up toward tahama county, it's a normal summer. it's hot up there. hot in the valley. but for us, because of this low pressure and this cool moist air, it has been cool. unusually cool. i'll have the forecast specifically for you area where you live in the five day forecast, i'll see you back here. >> thanks, bill. an organization that usually helps homeless veterans with veterans care is this year offering help for their animal companions. the group east bay stand down set up in pleasantton. the organization helps bay area

homeless veterans by setting up an encampment then offering food, clothes, dental and medical services as well as employment assistance. this year the group has teamed up with tri valley animal rescue to help the vets with their pets. >> provide medical services, we provide grooming. we will take care of them the entire time they are here. >> the event runs through sunday. organizers expect to help 350 to 400 veterans the vote is in, find out what the u.s. senate decided to elena kagan's nomination for the supreme court. one of mehserle's closest friend talks about the man he knows. new at 6:00, a bay area man who stabbed a 15-year-old girl opted for prison. we were in the sentencing just hours ago, see what happened in

court. also, a health scare for one uc berkeley grad inprisoned in iran. we just spoke to her mother, hear about the calls she received from her daughter and the hopes for release. and a bay area robbery where the clerk gave them more than they bargained for.

opponents criticize kagan's lack of judicial experience and said her liberal background could influence her rulings. kagan is not expected to balance the ecological of the court because her successor was considered a liberal. kagan will be sworn in this

saturday. and secretary of state hillary clinton says it understands the concerns of several nations about the security safety of smart phones. state law prohibits fees when people use credit cards but some business charge fees as high as $1 when people use a debit card instead. the state senate has already passed a bill outlawing the fees and the assembly is said to take it up any time now. the fees are especially hard for people who receive government assistance on debit cards then are charged when they use their benefits. business owners say they are just passing along the cost they are charged when customers use debit cards.

one bay area city has swung into action with a vote against smart meters. plus -- >> reporter: some bay area communities have been fighting high speed rail, so today the high speed rail authority came to see and hear from them directly. that story up next. and the state says they are learning about the giant redwood to help this tree survive, that story next. what this droid does will change how you do movies.

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the high speed rail authority came to the bay area today to meet its main critics face to face. a number of bay area peninsula communities have been fighting the project from gilroy all the way up to peninsula. robert handa join us live to tell us what the high speed

rail authority heard today. >> reporter: a lot of people say they believe the future of high speed rail and maybe even caltrain could depend on how much the supporters and opponents want to work out their differences. today the high speed rail authority did come to see the people directly to see if they can get both sides on the same track. the high speed rail authority wants to build this corridor, which means the train will come from above or below ground. >> if you want to have something nice like being able to travel, you have to give up a little bit too. >> reporter: today the high speed rail authority took its usual sacramento meeting on the road to san francisco to get public feed back directly. city officials and concerned

citizens lined up to express concern and opposition. >> if you're going to go around legrand, you can certainly go around palo alto. >> an 80-foot freeway over the top would be very difficult for us to have a discussion about. >> reporter: some people were skeptical all options are really being considered. >> then delay. >> reporter: but supporters say delay could kill crucial funding and have a domino effect on caltrans. >> caltrans is in serious economic trouble. one of the key ways for caltrain to survive is if we link it to high speed rail. >> reporter: the high speed

rail authority says it will take home today's feed back to create several reports. officials say they have one year to get everyone on the same page. live in san jose, robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. san francisco's police chief today announced a new plan aimed at more effective community policing. chief george gascon joined over community leaders to outline the city program today. 16 police ambassadors will help fight crime. >> violence against senior and many members of our multi lingual communities. the marin county is voting

against smart meters. town leaders say they are concerned about the meters accuracy and their safety. pg & e has already agreed to hold off on any more installations if installations for the time being. a water main break left more than two dozen families without water for a while this morning. it happened last night just before midnight. part of bachman road was closed because. bay area researchers are being what they call critical studies into what they call california redwoods. they say climate change threatenings these redwoods with extinction unless science finds a way to save them. >> reporter: after tens of millions of the years, california redwoods trees are

facing the possibility of extinction, unless humans step in. majestic and mysterious giants, some as much as 200 years old. 95% wiped out by logging, the rest still at risk by climate change. >> without the redwoods, there will be key losses to the forest. >> there's a lot of fundamentals we don't know about these trees. considering how famous and inspiring they are. >> reporter: researchers are beginning a crash program to save the redwoods. first to understand how redwoods at adapted to past climate change. >> the changes they now face are happening on the order of annual changes. >> reporter: in this old growth grove south of eureka and a dozen other sites, researchers funded by san francisco based save the redwoods are now putting realtime instruments in

the trees. they'll place these special sap measuring probes next week. high tech analysis can discover whether water in the sap is from fog or rainwater. >> that maybe a key sticking point to determine whether we have redwoods in the future. >> reporter: one idea is to plant new trees well north of the current range in redwoods and let the climate change catch up to them. one curious findings, redwoods are getting bigger, possibly because of more co2 in the air. this project will help

redwoods. an infectious fungus disease is spreading rapidly. it causes bats to become restless. instead of sleeping, the bats burn off their fat reserve and die off. scientists say the bats could disappear in the northeast within two decades. a vote today in washington, d.c. could put teachers and police officers back on the job here in the bay area. and candidate for governor jerry brown is coming under fire tonight for something he's criticized his opponent of doing.

hello chicago. president obama stopped by a ford plant in chicago today and boasted about the success of the auto bail out. he attributed to taxpayer help and the ability of auto workers to adapt to the demands of more fuel efficient cars. the president also announced the bank loan to boost car

sales, he told workers that the american car makers are on their way to be number one again. the measure provides $26 billion in aid for states including more than 16 billion for medicaid and 10 billion for emergency personnel and teachers. >> the police, the firefighters, those jobs already saved nationwide today with this passage of this bill we are saving 250 million jobs. >> the states are becoming completely dependent upon us. >> as you heard there, republicans are slamming the bill saying it spends taxpayer dollars on interest groups. california attorney jerry brown does at least occasionally use his state owned plane to supply on

official business. that's the gist of the report. it found that brown had flown a 30-foot segment in the last year period. brown's campaign says he never uses the plane for campaigning. new research backs up the theory the more weight a woman carries during pregnancy, the higher her baby will have in its birth weight. those who gained 50 pounds or more were twice likely to have

babies that weighed 8-1/2-pound or more. and a study found that teens with diabetes had lower attention. it was quite cool this morning, but boy that's something we haven't seen in quite some time. actually some blue sky out there. let's check with our chief meteorologist bill martin, we'll do so when we come back. new at 6:00, a bay area man who stabbed a 15-year-old girl opted for prison. we were at his sentencing just hours ago. see what happened in court. also, a health scare for

one uc berkeley grad inprisoned in iran. we just spoke to her mother, hear about the calls she just received from her mother and her hopes for release. more details in a botched bay area robbery attempt. when the suspects targets gave them more than they bargained for, tonight at 6:00.

during the trial for former bart police officer mehserle, a gag order kept mehserle and the attorneys from talking about the case or the defendant. and his family and friends chose not to speak about mehserle at the time. but now, as mehserle awaits sentence for involuntary manslaughter, one of his closest friends spoke exclusively to claudine wong and he paints a very different picture from the imagine the public has seen during the criminal case -- image the public has seen during the criminal case. >> reporter: we have seen mehserle the police officer, we have seen mehserle the defendant, but we have seen

hardly anything else of mehserle. >> do you think people know him? >> no. >> what do you think people see? >> a police officer with a gun in his hand that shot somebody in the back. >> do you think that tells us anything about him? >> not at all. >> reporter: on a condition of anenimity, a friend of mehserle gave us a look at the man now charged for involuntary manslaughter. we >> he's compassional, willing to help anybody. >> is he racist? >> not at all. >> is he violent? >> not at all. >> does he abuse his role as police officer. >> not at all. >> reporter: ever? >> not that i have heard. >> that family has been torn apart in the anger and rage of

this calm in the wake of mehserle's conviction. >> i have seen a family torn apart. believed in what mehserle was doing as a police officer, not the incident but representing law enforcement. >> reporter: these pictures also show a father, in the hours before the shooting friends say mehserle's focus was on his unborn child. >> he had been working overtime to -- >> to save for a house to provide for his family. >> reporter: mehserle became a father just hours after wanda johnson was told her son had died. as she mourned, mehserle's friends said he struggled to move forward. >> what do you want people to see when people see pictures of him with his baby. because some people will say, at least he got that oscar grant didn't get to be with his

daughter. >> what i know of johaness is that he's trying to be the best father that he can be until the trial or he was going to be convicted. right now johanes is sitting in jail, and in my opinion he's not concerned about himself but he's concerned about his family being okay. >> do you think he thinks about oscar grant? >> yes. >> do you think he thinks about his father and his mother? >> i think he thinking about everybody. >> reporter: mehserle finally spoke out on the stand. he apologized in that letter. while his friend and family says that his words were sincere, for oscar grant's family, that silence lasted too

long. >> and coming up, how mehserle the reacted in the hours after the shooting and how he reacted. emotional words inside court today as a man is sentenced for the random stabbing of a 16-year-old and a man who probably saved her life. tonight, the other violent incidents a dog was involved in prior to a deadly attack. plus more on the sad health news involving one of those three uc grads being held in iran. those stories and more coming up at 6:00. an extreme heat wave is stretching over the south. in memphis, tennessee firefighters took extra precautions while on the job. temperatures there soared to 130-degree. local crops are also suffering

from that extreme heat. farmers say it's putting corn, soybean and cotton at jeopardy. farmers say the heat can inhibit pollination. >> just remarkable when we talk about that extreme heat and here -- we haven't gotten any heat. let's check in with our chief meteorologist bill martin. you were talking about those temperatures, 120 degrees. >> yeah, and it's all connected. the weather, the ocean, and temperatures. right off the west coast, we have something like this, it's a trough. this is a jet stream. when that happens, you get a drift. we're connected, the facts that we're below average makes them for sure above average. in the west coast things have

been mild. here's how the temperatures came in today. temperatures still below the average. a little warmer than yesterday but still below the average. as a as a matter of fact, well, yesterday and today very similar. the same fog cover when you woke up. the same burn off. that's why we got a little warmer. july and august, don't worry about the day, just worry about the months. for several days this center has set up camp. for july, your summer, this has been here. this the is why temperatures have been cold and below the average. this is why there's so much fog at the coast. this is why the fire danger isn't that high and this is why there's fog that's going to push into your neighborhood tonight, even some drizzle. i can't remember a summer like this. i keep saying it. you look at the long range model as you look at the microclimates in your neighborhoods, 70 where there should be 80s, 80s where there should be 90s.

this pattern looks like it wants to set up for next week. they keep this pressure until next week and beyond. nothing really big changing. great news if you are concerned for fire, if you have respiratory issues. we have not seen spare the air days, we have not seen advisories. i haven't seen a season where i've seen so thank you spare the air days, so few heat advisories. it's a big deal. i will say this referring to the east coast, the upshot as you look at your highs for tomorrow, if that pattern was set up the other way and you  had the big high, imagine what that would be like, heat kills more people than any other -- more than hurricanes, more than tornadoes, more than lightning strikes. first thing you ask, is this dangerous? you bet it's dangerous.

we haven't seen any of those deaths. >> you were saying, the hottest recorded temperature ever is 138. >> 136 in libya. most continents 148 degrees like africa. but in libya it was 136 degrees. plus from mud to cement, the latest effort to plug cement into the blown out well, more on that when we come back.

the food and drug administration says the chemical disbursements have a low potential for accumulating in seafood. and that the chemicals do not pose a public health concern. however there are still concerns about the long term effects. the effort to permenantly sale the leaking oil well took another step forward today as b- pp moved into phase two of its kill static process. >> we will make a major step forward probably tomorrow when the cementing is done. i think we can all breathe a little easier with the potential that we'll have oil in the well ever again. >> reporter: alan said that he's confident that the federal response will soon be able to

turn it full attention to cleaning up the gulf and helping the people most hurt by that spill. >> our focus will become more locally focused, looking at the shoreline and making sure the oil marshes the beaches and so forth are properly attended to. and to that -- end we will remain and get the job done. >> reporter: thad allen says it'll take several days for the cement to dry. once the relief well is completed, b-p will pour another round of mud and cement into the well. only after that process proves successful in sealing any leak, will they declare the threat from the massive oil spill to be over. >> keep it right here, ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00 is up next. a man who committed a horrible crime in this san francisco neighborhood finally learns what his sentence will be, that story is next.

a parolee who randomly stabbed a 16-year-old girl and the man who tried to save her life was sentenced today. today we'll hear from a hero turned victim and family members. and 24 hours after propeight was overturned, when will couples be able to marry. good evening i'm heather holmes. >> and i'm frank somerville. scott thomas was sentenced today for life in prison for stabbing a girl and a 60-year- old man who risked his own life to come to her rescue. sal castaneda was in