good afternoon. i'm jade hernandez. neighbors told us that they woke up to counted of sirens and pounding on their doors. a four alarm fire forces an evacuation. with the sentencing of johannes mehserle a couple of weeks awayoscar grant supporters are planning a major rally and we'll tell you why thousands of letters are being sent to the judge in the case today. i'm live in oakland where a faster bart route to the oakland airport is giving the locals something to cheer about. we'll tell you how it will

affect the local economy. good afternoon. the mopup is underway at the scene of a p four alarm fire in san francisco. firefighters concerns are not over. the fire broke out at an apartment building on russian hill along high street near bush and dozens of residents had to make a run for it. jade hernandez has more. >> reporter: good afternoon. we just checked with the san francisco fire department. they will continue to monitor hot spots right here at this building that burned early this morning until tonight. residents who survived this fire are lucky. their building of destroyed, a few told us they grabbed what they could and ran outside and watched as flames crawled up the floors and out the windows of their building. >> we hear a budge of alamps

going off. so we came down to check it out. we saw a lot of black smoke coming up and we saw fire boom out of window. >> reporter: a neighbor living behind 824 hyde first called dispatch about flames. firefighters began pouring into the neighborhood trying to protect other buildings. residents there those buildings heard pounding on their door before the smoke rose. >> he goes like this place is cooking. we need to get out of here. i opened my back window. i saw the fire next door. grab whatever, and let's go. >> i just saw the fire coming from one of my -- a friend of mine that lives in that building. it's really scared me. >> we're not sure what the source of ignition was. i do want to have someone from

the department of building inspection come out. the midway through the firefight we pulled our members out because it became structurally questionable. >> we have four engines and two trucks. we're ok. everybody is accounted for. >> reporter: san francisco's fire chief explained the stairs between the second and third floor collapsed and part of the roof caved in. >> we put the fire escape was deemed safe enough in the front. we put two firefighters up there with one small line to hit a few hot spots. >> inside of a bus residents kept warm until the red cross establish add base down the street inside st. francis memorial hospital. >> we are all ready and equipped for any disaster. we can support anything. >> firefighter don't know the cause of this fire. they believe flamest sparked on the ground floor possibly in

the lobby or stairwell. 75 people signed up for red cross assistance. 18 apartments are no longer inhabitable. this building is destroyed and is red tagged. it will most likely be torn down. back to you. >> thank you. oakland police are looking for who men involved in a home invasion robbery last night. it happened at a home on 25th avenue and east 20th street around 11:00 p.m. police say there were twelve victims in the home. they say the men approached the family member smoking outside and forced their way into the home. both wore hoods and one had a silver revolver. investigators say the robbers took cash and electronic equipment and fled in a silver infinity. there was a similar incident in the same area monday night. the sentencing hearing for johannes mehserle is just over

two weeks away. a rally about the bart shooting case is scheduled for this weekend at the port of oakland. this means oakland police and lawyers are gearing up again for the next round. claudine wong spoke with both attorneys today. >> reporter: good afternoon. sx still a couple of weeks away. it appears that all sides are ramping up for what could be a very emotional day. the grant family wants johannes mehserle to serve a maximum sentence in the death of oscar grant. johannes mehserle's attorney says he deserves at most probation in this case. this will be up to the judge. the decision rests with him and both sides are pushing hard to get him to listen to them. it's been more than three months since protestsy rupted in the streets of oakland following the verdict in the johannes mehserle trial. as we approach sentencing, both sides are hoping to sway the judge as he determines if johannes mehserle should spend

time behind bars for the killing of oscar grant. >> we show this young man and his family some justice. please don't endorse this shooting by giving less than the maximum sentence. >> today the grant family attorney read from some of the 4,000 letters and postcards given to him in advance of sentencing. he is packing then up today to send them to the court. he says this coordinated effort has drawn from many parts of the community. >> these are from a cross section of people throughout the community. a lot of students, a lot of community individuals, church groups, church members, community groups, all of whom have expressed an interest. >> there are already dozens of letters in the hands of judge the judge. according to the latest numbers given to us by the los angeles county superior court, there have been 7 # letters and postcards sent on behalf of grant to the judge and 75 on behalf of johannes mehserle. most of the grant mailings so

far have been part of this coordinated effort on behalf of oscar grant's family. a jrt of johannes mehserle mailings have been individual letters. johannes mehserle supporters have create add website asking for letters to be sent on his behalf that. website includes an online petition with more than 600 signatures from people asking for johannes mehserle's freedom. >> i think most of the letters that i have seen are from people who say that they don't believe there should be further jail sentence, that this is a case where probation should be given. >> for now johannes mehserle is behind bars. on november 5 the judge could free him or sentence him to up to 14 years in prison. whatever the decision, it is clear almost 23 months after the shooting on that bart platform emotions are still running high. >> there will be -- i would imagine that people will gather

and be responsive to it. >> the emotions are going to be extremely high that day. i'm sensing today as we talk and we're still a number of weeks away, that the emotions are ramping up by date as we get closer. >> oakland police say they're watching for any kinds of plans or signs that there will be an organized protest. that day they'll be watching for any kind of spontaneous demonstrations. sentencing is set for november 5. back to you. >> thank you. today president barack obama is heading west on a five state, four day campaign swing including california. we're learning a democratic fundraiser the president was scheduled to attend in san francisco tomorrow has been moved to palo alto at the home of a google executive. the president will also host a democratic national committee reception and he'll do some fundraising for democratic attorney general candidate

camila harris. this afternoon the giants go for two in a row over the phillies at at&t park. san francisco is two wins from the world series. >> he hit .275 during the regular season. giants win game three. >> yesterday the giants took game three of the nlcs. san francisco's 3-0 victory gives them a 2-1 lead in the best of seven series. >> you find your ways to think of little things whatever it is to be able to think of it as a starting day and go out there and stay to your plan and try to stay to your strengths. >> today 21-year-old madison baumgartner will be on the mound for san francisco. you can watch the game right here on channel 2. we'll have a special edition of our

news at 4:00. game four of the nlcs begins at 4:30. a ticketless giants fan got lucky at the park by doing a little work for a really great seat. he was one of 120 people who helped carry a 1,200 pound american flag into the field. he showed up hoping to get inside but never imagined he'd end up with a prime club level ticket as part of the flag carrying crew. the flag is 300 feet long and 150 feet wide. giants fans have been sharing their experiences of this october on their website. their pets are also in on the excitement. you can submit photos on the ktvu.com. after years of debate and controversy, the bart connector for the oakland airport is a big step closer to reality following something that just

happened in the past hour. we have the latest from oakland. >> reporter: good afternoon. oakland officials are calling it a win-win-win situation. they say it will create more jobs, cut down on pollution and generate more business for the oakland airport. this morning bart and local dignitaries met near the oakland call see tom announce the official kick off of the project. the three mile long elevated railway will run from the coliseum station to the airport, connecting planes to electric trains or bart. right now passengers have to jump on an airbus to get the airport. those buses are second traffic from starting events, gridlock and accidents. >> i travel a lot. to be able to come here to get to oakland airport and to park here will be great.

people in this region throughout the region will see oakland airport now as their poift departure and return. >> reporter: the route is a relatively short one. it met harsh criticism because of the price tag. bart director said the people voted it in and sometimes you have to spend money to make money. >> extensions cost but the extensions bring in more revenue at the end. it's a legacy project. it's a long lasting project. >> she says the new bart line will boost the local economy by creating thousands of jobs. it's also considered a green project since it will curb traffic to the airport. it will eliminate some of the headaches that passengers experience in trying to get to the oakland airport. san francisco's line shoots straight to sfo. so officials are hoping the same will happen through oakland drawing more folks to the oakland airport. all of the red tape has been

unraveled so the project has been given the green light. folks are enjoying some cake after seeing the groundbreaking of the shuttle. back to you. >> thank you. a new development this morning concerning the military's don't ask, don't tell controversy. an announcement this morning concerning plans that would forever change this bay area waterfront. rain is still in the bay area forecast. steve steeft will tell us when and how much. it doesn't appear there's any skid marks but speed would probably play a factor into this investigation. >> more from police coming up about the sad find today in the south bay.

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construction of the lantd mark suspension tower on the you in the eastern span of the bay bridge has been briefly delayed. cal transsays an essential piece of equipment must be repaired before a second section can be lifted into place. they'll start sunday. the work will be hard to miss once it starts. drivers are urged to stay focused on the road. police believe speed was a factor in an accident that claimed the life of a woman this morning around 3:00 a.m.

at union avenue and blossom hill road. the car came to a halt at a light pole. that's after it slammed into a palm tree so hard it sheared the tree in half. the car was the only vehicle involved. the female driver had no passengers. >> it was high impact, high speed, we just don't know at this point how fast she was going until we conclude our investigation. >> no word quote driver's identity. the obama administration has asked the night circuit court of appeals to put on hold a lower court ruling that the don't ask, don't tell policy is unconstitutional. the administration wants the ruling stayed while it prepares its appeal. yesterday the judge in the case refused to stay her order pending the appeal. president barack obama said he wants to end the law which bans imais from serving open werely in the u.s. military, but he wants to do it through congress rather than through the courts.

five families that suffered devastating losses in the san bruno pipeline disaster have filed separate lawsuits against pg&e. the families are seeking money. they also want pg&e to remove the gas line from the neighborhood. the lawsuits say pg&e's pipeline was a ticking time bomb that the utility negligently maintained. there has been no comment from pg&e. the oakland city attorney plans to meet tomorrow with the own easy of two store front operations suspected of illegal computer gambling. that comes after an exclusive channel 2 news report monday showing what appeared to be gambling going on inside the sites. we were told one of them on east 14th street at durant square had voluntarily closed down. the other one in foothill square was still operating. state officials are also investigating the reports of illegal gambling. the indian tribe that wants to build a billion dollar casino resort near richmond

says it has reached a legal settlement with environmentalists moving the project closer to reality. the tribe wants to build the casino on a former naval base just north of the richmond san rafael bridge. environmental groups sued over concerns about how the project would affect the area. the tribe announced today that it has agreed to pay to protect and restore the shoreline and represerve public access. >> this will be the tribe's home. they'll live here. they want it to be the best it can be. they want the plants and animals and water to be as healthy as possible including the people. >> the tribe has been negotiating with the city and contra costa county since 2004 on the details of the casino project. steve paulson has the forecast. the fog is burning off. >> for some. it's still rather persistent for others. lots lower today than

yesterday. it was thick this morning. it just decided to hang on. it is. look at santa rosa, sonoma county airport, 52. san jose has sunshine, hazy sunshine in many locations. there is a lot out there. san francisco is 55. i think we'll get some clearing by third and king for later on today, china basin. might to warm if you can get that sun. foggy, then hazy sub. fog will be on the increase tonight into tomorrow for a cooler thursday. some drizzle tomorrow morning leading toe a lot of clouds and some of rain. a weak system friday, a stronger system moves in late saturday into sunday, especially the north bay. we'll ease into there forecast. lots of rain in southern california. a lot of rain to the point where they're setting records, san daig oh, palm springs. that low in southern california is the same system, same low we

had sunday. southern california their fire season ends before ours does. they're getting more rain than we are. san francisco 55. napa, san rafael and the santa rosa it's cool, 50s. oakland 60. concord 65. palo alto 61. san jose 63. 70 in sacramento, 64 in ukiah. eureka 48. i wonder if that's right. a lot of clouds rain in southern california. this low will get ejected off toward the four corners area into arizona because our system coming in tomorrow will increase the fog and give us some drizzle and light rain thursday into friday. there is a stronger system coming across the pacific that we'll to have deal with saturday. there is that system for thursday night and friday. that will weaken but knock the

high out of here opening the door for that system throaft to come examine next for the weekend. areas of fog, then sunny, but hazy, late clearing if at all for some by the beaches. 60s around bait. mid-70s to a few upper. we'll have a little bit of the sun, some low 60s but cooler and not as nice as yesterday. drizzle tomorrow, then a little rain friday morning, then clouds roll in saturday. saturday evening into sunday possibility of rain. >> thank you. the giants are not the only attraction in san francisco's china basin. crews are putting up a huge tent near at&t at&t park for a lavish dreamlike production. it's a theater performance.

the tent is truly a big top to accommodate such a huge stage. >> we have designed a very huge stage. it's 150 feetwide by 880 feet deep that will allow the horses -- half of the time the horses are free on stage. when the horse come on stage, it's their playground ?oo.d show begins november 16 and runs through mid-december. a major rebound on wall descr. the latest bay area county where it will be tougher to light up a cigarette.

good day for the stock market. stocks rising in trading today. traders saw overnight gains in china as an encouraging sign. good earnings reports from delta and boeing helping the dow, up 155. santa clara county is moving ahead with tough new restrictions on smoking. the board of supervisors approved three tobacco related offend nances yesterday that will affect unincorporated areas. one would ban smoking at county parks and in hotels and motels. the second in apartments and condos. a final vote on a third ordinance concerning smoking and business her mitts to allow

for time for public comment. this afternoon at 4:00 apple unvade a new product today. they are calling it a crass between an ipad and a macbook. all the buildup of the giants game, plus who will be in the lineup. our next newscast is at 4:00, followed by the giants and phillies at 4:306789 thank you for watching. have a great day.