what devastated this neighborhood will never happen again, says pg & e tonight. in a symbolic move, san bruno officials picked up the last debris. empty dirt plots remained after more than 27,000-tons of debris was removed. the work is far from done. tonight the san bruno city council will meet and consider several measures to expedite the process for homeowners. including the waiver of all permit fees. >> i don't know if we can build unless we know that's gone. would you come back and live next to a bomb. that's literally what it is. it is another ticking time bomb. >> the greatest way we can remember enhonor those who suffered is to ensure that we do everything we can to make sure that an accident like this

never happens again -- the greatest way we can remember and honor those who suffered -- >> our proposal raises the bar in the pipes to higher levels than have been previously designed. >> we didn't an teus paoeut for this to -- we didn't anticipate this to happen but it happened. removing it, that's a guarantee. >> reporter: crews are still working tonight, they'll be here for the next several days to have the erosion in place. the san bruno city council is going to be meeting. they'll be looking at the neighborhood again. one way to look at rebuilding, they'll also be accepting a

check from the san francisco giants to go toward the san bruno victims relief fund. reporting live in san bruno, maureen naylor. here's a break down of pg & e's plan in more detail. they plan to upgrade key pipeline. it will expand the use of automatic shut off valves giving it the option of shutting down the pipe. and it will closely review it's practices related to pipeline integrity, safety and training. and finally pg & e says it hopes to improve their public

awareness. trapped miners in chile are at this hour about to be rescued from 69 days underground ending an international size drama 1 mile under ground. >> reporter: the first of the 33 miners are expected out this evening, no miner has ever survived so deep so long. these are live pictures of the mine rescue operation called san lorenzo. let's take those live pictures now. it's named for the patrons saint of miners. technicians are right now making the final run of the red, white and blue cap sell appropriately named phoenix. the first out will be florencio avalos who was picked to be first because he's a skilled engineer in case anything goes wrong. let's take a look at some video know about 20 minutes ago, this

20 minute ride in a 28-inch shaft from 2,300 feet down will begin in about an hour. the chilean medic is to go down first to help coordinate from below. president barack obama said a short time ago that america's thoughts and prayers are with the miners. recall august 5th, let's go to another tape now. it was a cave in august 5th. for 17 days no word on the miners fate. most feared all had perished. a small hole revealed 33 had survived. it took 50 days for a u.s. water well driller to sink a shaft. nasa offered information. the mine called san jose has a history of accidents, was forced to shut for safety improvements that lawmakers today say still have not been made. let's come back live, engineers

say they've tested the three communication channels. they have cameras down to shaft to monitor that rescue. once on the surface, the miners are to meet with relatives then be chartered to a dark hospital to recover. the miners have been down 68 days in 90 degrees. there are 1,400 journalists there at the copiapo mine. engineers say they expect several miners will be rescued tonight. it'll take about 36 hours to remove them all. i'll be watching this, i'll be back with updates as warranted. but you can watch live streaming video feed on our website ktvu.com. john fowler, ktvu channel two news. federal judge in southern

california today imposed an injunction to stop don't ask don't tell. the injunction puts an end to that 17-year-old policy. u.s. district judge virginia phillips declared the law unconstitutional after a two week nonjury trial in federal court. she said the policy injures service members by infringing the federal rights by due process rights and freedom of speech. today's landmark ruling is being largely cheered by activists. >> we've been waiting for it. let justice prevail. right now we need everyone to serve who's able. >> reporter: the department of justice attorneys have 60 days to appeal today's decision. president obama has made it clear that he wants congress to repeal don't ask don't tell rather than having it blocked by the courts. extreme heat and dry conditions combine to create a dangerous situation in parts of the bay area.

a red flag warning is now in effect. we have live team coverage for you from our chief meteorologist bill martin to ken pritchett who's in the bay. >> reporter: these calfire air tankers you see behind me were scheduled to be redeployed in three days. that's standard for this time of the year. it's the end of the contract for the season. but their mission has now been extended, the planes will stay because the fire danger in the area remains great. >> reporter: today the engines were quiet, the air tankers remained parked. but this calfire base is on alert. >> this is our peak time. and this is when we need to not let our guard down because the fuels are still very dry. >> reporter: batallion chief says the planes were brought up for the red flag warning. broken dry vegetation made for wildfire conditions.

>> just in case we get something we'll be better prepared. >> reporter: 2010 has been an active fire season in terms of the number of fires. last year there were fewer fires but the devastation was far greater at more than 80,000 acres burned. >> we haven't had the hot days. we've been able to get the resources on the fire in a very short period of time. we've been able to keep the fires very small. >> reporter: mike jianini says the wildfire back in june in the hills above san rafael drew significant resources but the acreage burn remains quite small. today the conditions are different. the gusty winds seen during a red familiar warning make it very difficult to stop fires while they are small. >> we are concerned that the potential is such that it would cause a devastating fire, we need people to be aware and be our eyes and ears for us too. >> reporter: in conjunction

with this red flag warning, calfire wanted to remind the public to be aware that many fires this time of year are started by people using lawn mowering and weed eaters on dry grass. if you have vegetation you need to clear away from your home, to do so early in the morning. in sonoma county, ken pritchett, ktvu u channel 2 news. the air quality levels are prompting a spare the air day. this will be the tenth spare the air day for the bay area so far this year. the heat and the fire warnings are expected this time of year here in the bay area. chief meteorologist bill martin here now with more. bill-- >> reporter: gasia, if this wasn't occurring it would be unusual. red flag warnings in october exactly what you expect. this one not too extreme. the winds are relatively light.

it's blowing in higher elevations. and the temperatures are not 105 as they were a week ago. they are in the low 90s. maybe some mid-90s. a mild red flag warning at best. 90 in oakland, the winds are clocking in the northeast like this. what i'm seeing now is a bit of an on shore flow at the surface. you can see what's happening here. pull up right there. there's the coastal fog. what's going to happen is as we go through the next 12 hours or so. this fog is going to work its way up the coast. that's a southerly flow of moisture. that's going to cool things a bit in places tomorrow. despite that, we have the spare the air day and heat advisory for the urban centers around san francisco. i'll let you know how hot your city is going to be as we look at the five day forecast when it cools down. we'll be back in a bit. the east bay four families are homeless tonight after an early morning fire destroyed their homes. a broken pipeline fueled these

flames at the park view apartments in antioch around 4:00 this morning. despite the fact that there was a fire station a few blocks away, firefighters had a hard time fighting the fire because there was no fire hydrant near the fire. >> there was somebody trying to kick the doors in, that's all i know. we were rushed out of our beds. >> i think i was like the first one up. >> reporter: fire investigators do not believe the fire was set on purpose. however they are still looking into the cause. a five a million dollars renovation project is now under way at the san francisco masconi center. officials with the center say the repainting phase is complete. officials say they expect major construction to begin in november. the project expected to take

two years to complete. shares for apple today closed at a record high. shares ended at $298.54. that is up $3.18 a share. analysts say the steady increases are due to the success of the iphone 4 which is exceeding sales expectation. 15million iphone shipments were made. stocks are trending higher today, reversing their earlier losses. additional monetary is coming. the dow closed up 10 points resting now to 11,020. the nasdaq closed up 15 points at 2,418. for more financial news go to ktv u.com and click the business tab.

man: empty nest? new kitchen, new us? woman: who are we?

chic, modern, daring dinner-party hosts. that sounds dangerous, maybe we're more the traditional sunday brunch set? i'll expect slippers and a cocktail to be ready when i get home from work. point taken. how about... peaceful, quiet cottage in the country folk? now that's us. spend over 2500 dollars on a new kitchen and save 40 percent on custom countertops until november 28th at ikea. the life improvement store.

the two top candidates in the governor's race are about to go head to head right here in the bay area. postshow meg whitman and jerry brown are in a statistical dead heat. mike mibach is live where the debate is about to start. >> 21 days till the election, still a lot of people undecided. some of them are behind me outside the auditorium for a little cocktail hour. we are 77 minutes from the start of what is the last and

final televised debate. >> i'm usually not that too involved in politics and stuff like that. but this really definitely made my think about this is a big deal. >> it is a very important debate. i think a lot of people more so than ever are undecided at the last minute as we are approaching the three week mark to the debate. i think a lot of people myself included are torn and are looking for direction one way or another. >> reporter: gina terrioni is one person who looks to make a decision. >> i hope they focus on the issues and not so much on the nanny and everything that happened and you know all the dirty stuff that comes out now. you know let's just focus on what they both want to do for california. >> reporter: nancy correan and

a cup couple of her neighbors say the debate will not sway who they vote for. even so, they welcome the focus to the neighborhood. >> the street got fixed and the campus got spruced up. >> reporter: the debate begins at 6:30. it will last one hour. randy shandobil is on campus. he'll be joining you here in just about 15 minutes. reporting live tonight in san rafael. mike mibach. >> go to ktvu.com, we will continue to update our website for you throughout the evening? -z the obama administration today lifted the moratorium on deep water oil drilling in the gulf of mexico which is the site of the nation's worse manmade disaster ever. president obama imposed to ban after the oil rig explosion and spill. the ban was set to be lifted next month but the

administration now says it is satisfied drilling can safely resume under it's new regulations and industry safety reforms. today google has announced plans for a major investment. the network will supply electricity from future windfalls and could potentially serve 1.5 million households. at this time it's investing tens of millions. dollars. the process is still in the application phase. back now to our weather here in the bay area where we're certainly feeling the heat more today than yesterday. and bill that's exactly what you told us to expect yesterday. >> another hot one out there today. temperatures not like they were a week ago in the triple digits but we're seeing lots of 90s. low and mid-90s. the high again tomorrow with the red flag warning extending till tomorrow morning.

wind didn't gust that strong but overnight they tend to pick up. that's the trigger for the red flag warning. i did point out the marine layer, this is a big help in terms of fire danger as this creeps up the coast. right now i have a wind is blowing very strong offshore. so what you're seeing is the fog pushing in strong. the arrows coming off the land are actually going to win out a built tonight. temperatures, they'll come down a little bit but not a lot. tomorrow is going to be another hot day. it's clear and hot tonight. you may live 64, 63 degrees when you wake up tomorrow morning. especially in the santa clara valley out in the livermore valley. so a warm night. might be a little tough to sleep in some neighborhoods. cooling in the forecast as that fog moves in, things begin to change around. that doesn't happen right away. so the red flag warning hangs in there for another few hours.

the winds coming offshore, fortunately the winds haven't really developed. this is the height of fire season. this is the type of fire mechanism where the type of weather that can produce really strong winds. torch fortunately we haven't seen strong winds. we will certainly update. because that's when the winds will really get going. 56degrees in napa when we wake up. 69 in san jose. a warm morning, when we come back i'll show you what cities will be the warmest storm. w arm -- the warmest tomorrow. the cables at yosemite national park are coming down. the cables are taken down each october for the fall and winter seasons. and then replaced the

following spring. visitors are now strongly cautioned not to climb without those cables in place. just fast as they moved and sailed into the bay, the planes and ships that participated in fleet week are now gone. hundreds of people participanted. gay rights supporters have just presented a petition. what that petition is asking for. new information tonight about prop 19 to legalize marijuana. who came out in support of that measure today. and the internet of the internal revenue service is suffering from a computer glitch. what that could mean for ten million taxpayers. new at 6:00, a may jr. strike happening right now at an east bay children's hospital. we're finding out how the walk

out is already having an impact on patient care. and a move to change hit and run laws after an 8-year- old girl is hit.

gay rights activists are protesting the mormon church at a recent denouncement. activists have delivered a petition letter to the church's headquarters in salt lake city. the group, the human rights campaign collected the signatures in an e-mail drive. medical marijuana patients,

doctors and those who run dispensing collectives announced their support for prop 19. they say sensible regulation of marijuana is good for patients and communities. >> it's been sad to see some medical marijuana patients see prop 19 as a threat. i think it will help them, it was always designed to help them and move things forward. >> those who oppose the proposition include a number of public safety organizations. the no on prop 19 campaign says it will make roads and places and communities unsafe. >> reporter: california is the largest marijuana consuming state. yet prop 19 will not do anything to stop violence along the border. legalizing marijuana here in california will do little to stop the drug related violence. many californians already grow

their own marijuana and buy local. and the internal revenue service is having some computer problems. the problem hit at the deadline of last year's tax deadline. it involves an updated version of the e filing system for the irs. h & r block and other tax prep companies say they problems will default to the older version of that system. winter is about two months away now, but when it arrives many americans should see less heating bills. the price of natural gas is low for a second year in a row. they say that's due to high inventories and weak heating demands. also forecasters are predicting a warmer winter across much of the country. take a look around me an

oasis for birds. plus it's all come down to this. whitman versus brown in the third and final governor's debate. the challenges the candidates face tonight and a live look, coming up.

not finding this kind of mortality any where else in the bay area. it's a distressing trend that's puzzling scientists and drawing scrutiny for one local plant. there's been a record number of dead sea gulls. and investigators say they may know what's behind the deaths.

rita williams is there with more. >> reporter: sea officials say they are trying to solve a mystery. they want to know why gulls are dying right here in this one spot in san francisco. this is we're 94, a former dump now a 7-acre oasis here in the south eastern corner of san francisco that birds call home. >> places like pier 94 are so important. because as the bird populations continue to decline, they need places like pier 94 where they can roost and rest safely. >> reporter: industrial life and bird life seem to peacefully coexist until this year. that's when folks from the audobon society say they noticed a sharp increased in the number of dead and dying gulls here. >> we're not finding this amount of mortality any where

else in the area. >> reporter: infectious disease, rat poison and oiled feathers from animal grease. the birds may be getting into trouble at the near by plant. or that the animal fat is getting into the water. >> any oil in their feathers breaks down their ability to insulate themselves. >> reporter: the rendering plant is owned by darling international. no one locally was authorized to talk today and calls to darling's headquarters in dallas were not returned. >> we're not drawing any conclusions at this point. we're just trying to get to the bottom of what's happening. >> reporter: mark swelter says it will take more deaths and more necropsis of gulls to find an answer. they hope the plant will take steps to find what is causing the gulls to die out here.

rita williams, ktvu news. an east bay animal rescue center may have run out of time to save itself. in oakland, the urban wildlife rescue center is facing eviction literally at any time. the center is run by lila and richard travis who were serve add three day eviction notice last week. but they hope an appeal will buy them a little more time. the property owner wants her home back so that her disabled mother can move back in. the center has been opened for seven years helping to rehabilitate wild animals. back now to the race for governor. we are less than an hour away from the last debate between jerry brown and meg whitman. the election is just three weeks away. some folks are already voting by absentee ballot. >> reporter: it's hard to say,

actually historically it's usually the first debate that's most important because that's when most people are curious. the third debate perhaps the novelty of jerry brown versus meg whitman has died down a bit. so you might suspect there will be fewer viewers. there's a different dynamic, since that first debate two controversies have erupted. meg whitman's handling of her illegal immigrant housekeeper. and jerry brown has had to deal with someone in his camp calling meg whitman a [ bleep ]. maybe more people are paying attention and more people may be watching tonight's debate. >> and randy you mentioned the voice mail and the former housekeeper, do you think those two factors will come into tonight's debate. perhaps nominate it or do you think it'll be a quick mention and go? >> i don't know what the questions are going to be tonight because typically

debate organizers keep those secret so the campaigns can't prepare. but i can tell you something about the debate moderator tom brokau. and he prefers historically to talk about issues and in this campaign that would be the economy, the budget, the environment, things like that. but again, since those issues have dominated the newspaper and the candidates themselves haven't been campaigning much because of those controversies, he may feel he has to ask questions about those controversies tonight. >> are brown and whitman facing new challenges tonight? >> well, i think so. most polls show the race to be extremely tight. but recent polls show that brown may have opened up a small lead. if that's true.

you might see brown who historically ad libs a lot be a lot more careful. try to avoid making a gap and whitman who historically is very scripted try to be more aggressive. we don't know but i might look for that. >> all right, randy we appreciate your thoughts there. obviously you'll be watching that debate and have full coverage for us tonight. that debate starting at 6:30 this evening. you can go to our website ktvu.com, just click on the election 2010 tab and we will continue to update our website throughout the evening. allied recycling defense says it's received notice that the president and the turman are set for dismantling. the world's ships are being removed from sasoons bay. it will have all of the ships removed by 2017. a new hiking trail in marin

county that would bypass the home of metallica is facing a lot of controversy. the budget is a story we -- the budget is already overbudget and still needs more money to be complete hetfield put up a fence blocking the trail because he said people were damaging his property. and a protest going on in the bay city. where it's happening and what they are so upset about. why first responders hovered around an electric car today. you know it starts with

federal transportation officials say u.s. airlines are doing a better job at avoiding long delays on the tarmac. new figures show there was only one flight stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours in august. that's compared to 66 flights at the same time last year. long tarmac delays have dropped dramatically after federal transportation officials started fining airlines. teachers are taking to the

streets of san francisco as we speak. they're protesting to make a point about their pensions. ktvu's david stevenson is following the story. he's out there with those teachers right now. what's going on. >> reporter: just take a look, you can see behind me about two dozen teachers aids and parents rallying outside the san francisco unified school district. they are rallying for pensions. the 1,400 school workers that may work as advisers or special ed instructors. 17 years ago, the district moved those special instructors. they want the district to switch them back to social security and pay back hundreds of thousands of the dollars they believe were unfairly taken away. district officials say para professionals negotiated the original deal which tends to favor those who have worked the

longest. >> it's an awful thing to work over 20 years and only be given $200, $300 a month. that's absolutely ridiculous. >> by it's sheer design resulted in certain employees getting more. it was not an equal allocation. >> reporter: school district officials say they are willing to return to a social security based pension program but the union will have to sit down at the bargaining table for that to happen. they'll be discussing that tonight in about 20 minutes at the board meting. david stevenson. some of san francisco's first responders received special training today on what to do during an emergency involving an electric car. chevrolet offered the car with the help of on star. the training included how to

shut off electric power, how to cut through high strain steel and the dangers of damaged batteries. >> one of the goals here is for first responders to become as comfortable working on electric vehicles as they are today on conventional vehicles. >> reporter: chevy, on star and transportation officials are expected to offer the service all across the country earlier this fall. how much would you pay to sit here? and we've got that red flag warning up overnight, those winds are going to pick up. i'll show you which areas will be the windiest tonight and the hottest tomorrow. new at 6:00, a major strike happening right now at an east bay children's hospital. we're finding out how the walk out is already having an impact on emergency care. and a new move to protect

pedestrians after a hit and run driver hits a little girl.

man: empty nest? new kitchen, new us? woman: who are we? chic, modern, daring dinner-party hosts. that sounds dangerous, maybe we're more the traditional sunday brunch set? i'll expect slippers and a cocktail to be ready when i get home from work. point taken. how about... peaceful, quiet cottage in the country folk? now that's us. spend over 2500 dollars on a new kitchen and save 40 percent on custom countertops until november 28th at ikea. the life improvement store.

the nlcs series between the giants and the phillies is the hottest ticket in all of sports right now in the bay area. the games at at&t park will are already sold out, but that doesn't mean it's over for fans. as long as their willing to shell out a lot of money. >> reporter: the giants dug out store is closed now for the evening, but as that t-shirt inside says, at & t park figures to be a wash in orange come tuesday. but it will take a lot of green to buy a ticket. after a journey four placing victory, the giants returned from atlanta at about 2:30

this morning. the players get a break before the start of the philadelphia series. but for many fans, the battle for these seats has already begun. the seats are already sold out. >> it's been a very, i mean there's just been, i think it's the team personalities and the community i think is ready for a winner. >> reporter: to get tickets many fans will be turning to online ticket agencies. >> giants tickets and phillies tickets are the two top search words. >> reporter: someone is selling two tickets here for $9,999. from here i think i can see home plate. sort of. that's the extreme price, the average price on stub hub is about $250 per ticket. this family isn't planning

ongoing to any games but they came to the giants dug out store to stock up. >> i got a cap and extra shirts, and yeah. we dropped some cash. >> reporter: san francisco officials aren't sure how much additional money it will bring in by hosting postseason games. the value they say is having san francisco on television in front of a national audience. >> they show the backdrop of the golden gate bridge, the cable cars, you can't pass for anything more. if you're a convention bureau, you can't afford that kind of market. it's a great thing for tourism. >> reporter: but at the java house, the postseason means a packed restaurant. the owner says they are buying a new flat screen tv today just in time for the series. >> it's going to take what's normally a slow time of the month for us and turn it into something really good. >> reporter: if it isn't already tough enough or expensive enough to get tickets

to the championship series, that may seem like nothing compared to the next step the world series. reporting live in san francisco, rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. . well anyone caught up in san francisco-giants play off fever should keep it locked in right here. all of the national league championship play off games can be seen on this channel. here's the entire schedule. the giants begin the series in philadelphia this week weekend. game one is saturday at 1:00 eastern time. you can check out the entire play off schedule there. just look for the giants tab when you look to our front page. coming up next at 6:00, the state proposition that if approved would eliminate parking and entrance fees at most state parks and beaches. why are some people dead set against it? julie haener is in the newsroom

with some of the other stories we're working on. nurses are on strike walking the picket line at the children's hospital in oakland. late detail on that rescue operation under way at this hour in chile to free 33 miners. they've been trapped under ground for 66 days. plus a new traffic light was activated in the east bay today. it may not sound as much, but just wait to what it led and why it brought people to tears. a lot of people hoping for a break from the heat, but it's not coming real soon. >> not too soon. we had a couple of minor records broken. the red flag warning and excessive heat warning stay in effect for parts of the bay area. i'll show you the current temperatures, you will see that you have lots of reds and

oranges. this time of night. santa clara valley, 88 degrees in mountain view, 90 degrees up toward redwood city. it's a spare the air day, less wind tomorrow will stagnate the air a bit and we'll see more particulate at the surface. it's the computer model forecast. this high pressure setting up. it's going to be with us one more day, tomorrow. the winds go offshore, today probably the hottest day but tomorrow is going to be very, very warm as well. very warm at least. and then certainly cooler, you will notice that as you get into wednesday. the high is poised to move in until the next 36 hours. that will begin the cooling and that will set up the warming. tomorrow we are going to see lots of 70s, maybe a few 80s. i suspect tomorrow i will be talking about fog creeping up

to the panhandle and the park and out to the golden gate bridge. we still have that excessive heat watch in effect through san francisco and the bay. this time of year if you're downtown san francisco, if you're elderly or have health issue, this kind of heat can mess with you. so you want careful, in the urban centers. that's because the concrete heats up a lot more. a lot of 80s. tomorrow the fog comes back in and the reds are going to start to get pushed off toward the east. so that's how it breaks down. tomorrow should be the last really warm day of the week. temperatures begin to trend down as we head toward your bay area weekend. it is a red flag warning. late tonight again and early tomorrow morning, 24 to 35 miles per hour. the winds are what would trigger and have triggered the red flag warning. with those winds we'll watch

them closely. i'll be back tonight at 10:00 to update that. that's about the time we start to see the winds kick in. air quality not so good. tomorrow spare the air day. heat advisory and a red flag warning. that should go away by thursday. >> thanks, bill. president obama endorses a bay area candidate, which one next. and what bay area candidates want you to look for in this upcoming election.

the san francisco district attorney pamela harris is getting the backing of the highest office. president obama is endorsing harris in his run for district attorney. a group gathered in san francisco today in an effort to motivate women to exercise their right to vote. >> the point is that 17% representation of women in congress is not acceptable. so we have to rise above our multi tasking, rise above our struggling and commit ourselves to do as much as we can and if that's just voting, then you have to commit to vote. >> organizers say the event was also designed to discuss some of the issues that affect women

in america. including reproductive rights and access to health care. participates included pro- choice advocates and supporters of barbara boxer. at least one person said she didn't agree with the speakers. >> i don't think these women represent all women in california, they certainly don't represent my opinion. i think the issues and selections are jobs, the economy, and the fact that california is nearly vote and they are taing about political divert women by using abortion as an issue. >> reporter: the carly fiorina officer later contacted ktvu. organizers say senator boxer's office was not involved with the campaign. >> and that is our news for now. the news at 6:00 is next.

coming up we will take you to oakland's childrens hospital where nurses are out on strike. also a look at the rescue effort under way in chile to

rescue miners who have been under ground for 63 days. why there's been a delay and when rescuers hope to pull them to safety. good evening i'm julie haener. >> and i'm frank somerville. the bay area is under a high fire alert tonight. calfire says if history repeats itself, the coming weeks could be particularly dangerous. ktvu's ken pritchett is live in sonoma with how firefighters are preparing, ken. >> reporter: these calfire tankers were brought online about 2.5 hours early this morning so that they can be prepared for anything during this red flag warning and increase firefighter staffing is in place throughout the bay area tonight. mixed hall, thick dry vegetation fed by a wet winter and the hot northerly winds today and that is a recipe fo