a violent robbery spree has now come to an end thanks to a hunch by a police officer. and students within the uc school system face yet another tuition hike, but their reaction today was less aggressive than yesterday. we'll explain why coming up. back from the brink. the reaction on wall street next on ktvu channel 2 news at

noon. good afternoon. we begin with four arrests that oakland police say closed the door on a string of violent robberies. in recent weeks, residents say they've been terrorized by this latest crime spree. tara is live with more. >> reporter: good afternoon. it was really the quick thinking of an oakland police officer with a good eye that marked the end of this very violent crime spree this morning. he was looking for the suspect's car, that has just been towed away. here's what it looked like from 9 until 10:00 this morning. they say they tracked down four robbery suspects here while they were buying snacks after the group had begun targeting people on the streets from 6:00 in the morning until 8:30.

>> we had a series of street robberies this morning in central oakland. we had two events where a gold lexus was described, a very specific lexus. >> reporter: authorities say the suspects started their spree on 22nd and east 12th street then struck again on the 2800 block of foothill and finally on the 2800 block of 19th avenue where they eventually shot someone. so how did officials nab the suspect? an officer on patrol decided to follow his instincts. >> some of the other information the officers were putting out about the vehicle and the direction it was traveling. just a hunch where i thought the vehicle might be. i came up here to look for it. >> reporter: officers immediately called for backup. within one minute accident police were on their way to arresting two men and two women. authorities were able to get all of the customers and the

workers out safely. they did find a weapon. as for the car, it did not have registration tags. we saw investigators looking at it. we're not sure if it's stolen. meantime, the person who was shot did not suffer life- threatening injuries. the officer who had the quick thoughts is behind us writing up the report as we speak. meantime, the convenience store had been shut down. it is now back open again for business. >> all right. thank you. more testimony is underway right now at a preliminary hearing in the richmond gang rape case a judge is deciding whether there's enough evidence to put the seven defendants on trial for last year's horrifying gang rape of a 16-year-old girl. yesterday, the testimony of one arresting officer stunned the martinez courtroom. officer gary lewis says one suspect claimed the teenage girl was drunk and had

consensual sex with the men. however, prosecutors say they have evidence she was the innocent victim of a savage attack. the attorney for phillip gorido wants to keep court documents sealed. he and his wife are accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard. the hearing on the request is scheduled for next month. the cost of an education at university of california has gone up again. just a short time ago, the uc board of regents approved a controversial tuition hike. meanwhile outside the meeting, police were prepared in case there were in more angry protests. jade joins us now with more on

what happened. >> reporter: good afternoon. the vote just came down. the board of regents voted in favor of the increase. today, quiet opposition confronted board members. >> this is item f9, which is approval of the budget. on favor. >> reporter: the discussion of an 8% fee increase was not over today despite an expected vote. >> the front page of almost every major newspaper shows uc students voicing their rights becoming overdominated. >> reporter: then it was regent members who condemned the gap by making students pay more but said there was no other way.

>> i'm disappointed when we are faced with tough decisions we only get one choice. i would have liked to have seen an array of choices. five options on the table. let the board decide. we got one. >> reporter: today's vote couldn't be held until this morning when the increase was approved. students with household incomes of 120 to $180,000 or many would have to pay either all or portions of the fee. >> you should be pressuring the state to support and fund higher education. it's not our responsibility as students to bandage up a broken system. >> reporter: the financial committee voted in favor, 9-2. some of the regents say this could have been avoided. >> for years, the university of california kept tuition flat and low because we were in a

financial position to do so while other institutions raised their tuition fees a little bit each year, a little bit each year, a little bit each year. >> reporter: there were no demonstrations outside of the meeting here in san francisco. you can see the barricades are already down. also voted on today, the term fees has been replaced tuition. that change reflects what students will now have to pay in the future as opposed to those incidental charges they paid for in the past. cuts are not over. uc regents will discus changes to retirees' pensions. a vote will follow next month. >> thank you, jade. general motor stock is once again trading on the new york stock exchange. the revving of an engine there. today's ipo caps a heart is turnaround for the auto maker. it emerges from bankruptcy 16

months ago with the help of a government bailout. this morning, the government reduced their stake in the company. the gm ceo says this is a perfect time for the ipo. >> this is such an iconic company with such a storied past. with a little bit of an assist now, i think we have a very, very bright future. >> shares opened at $33. trading is now at $33.73. the government hopes to recoup the rest of the money when the stock price rises higher. and taking a look at the rest of the stocks. stocks are up. right now, the dow is up 183. nasdaq is up 45. the upcoming hearing on california's proposition 8 will be carried on live tv. the court of appeals will allow c-span to broadcast the

hearing. the voter-approved ban on same- sex marriage is unconstitutional. now supporters of the ballot measure are reporting that ruling. the senate may soon vote on ending thry's don't ask don't tell policy. the outcome is unpredictable. senator majority leader harry reed says he will call for a vote after thanksgiving to allow gay service members to serve openly. several leading republicans oppose an end to "don't ask, don't tell." authorities say someone may have intentionally burned a playground at a bay area elementary school. also, we'll show you what's been done this hour to remember the victims of a tragedy that had a major impact on the bay area. you think it's cold today? wait until you hear what's coming. we have all the details ahead. also. why people who live in golden gate park say the people who use it for recreational purposes only should not be

concerned about recent violence here.

memorial is underway in oakland to mark the 32nd anniversary of the mass murder

and suicide in jonestown. many of the victims are buries here. dick gregory is leading today's prayer service. the founder of the annual jonestown memorial service lost 27 members of her own family and hopes to one day erect a wall for the 305 children who died that day. >> we've come here to say never again the jim jones experience. this should never have happened. these lives were senselessly lost. it should never happen again. >> more than a thousand people died at hands of people's temple leader jim jones, including u.s. congressman leo ryan and a news crew. jones was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head. a series of incidents is raises safety concerns in golden gate park. an underground community of homeless people is living in the park. they say the recent incidents

are examples of crime coming along with that hidden community. craig has our report. >> reporter: his name is trash, and he lives in golden gate park. on tuesday night, trash says he witnessed the latest in a series of violent incidents at golden gate park. >> he jumps on top of a dude and shanked him three times in the back. >> reporter: the man was stabbed three timed in the back but will survive. the a stabbing in july proved to be deadly. police arrested a 65-year-old man for stabbing a 25-year-old man to death near the con shriven city of flowers. >> it definitely makes me less comfortable going there. >> reporter: last sun, a man walking his dog found a body and severed arm. right now, police are calling it a suspicious death. in all three case, the victims and the suspects are believed to be transients. >> right here and right here is an altercation.

i was yelling at my girlfriend. >> reporter: franky saids he wasn't stabbed in the park but hangs out with people who are part of the park's illegal underground culture. >> people sell drugs and get beef for them. what are they going to want to do after that? >> reporter: knowing the violence is mostly between park dwellers doesn't satisfy people who use the park to play. >> it makes me feel safer, but it's still concerning. >> i noticed on the news it's mostly transient on transient crimes, but i don't see where the people in the the park might not be next. >> reporter: late this morning, police said there is one less threat to park goers. police arrested a 22-year-old man for tuesday's stabbing. the people who use the park for recreational purposes only can protect themselves from the violence by not coming here at night. still, many realize the violence is isolated to the

park's underground culture. an event to provide services to the homeless is taking place in east pal o alto right now. the event started at 9:00 a.m. and continues until 2:00 p.m. the santa cruz county sheriff's department says it has arrested five people for sales and cultivation of marijuana. detectives raided five houses in different parts of the county tuesday. they face marijuana charges. two others face the marijuana charges along with weapons charges after deputies said they found assault guns including assault rifles during the raid. investigators put the value of the illegal pot at $300,000.

the house ethics committee chief is recommending senture for charles rangle. he voted for a drop of fairness and mercy ahead of today's decision. but rangle's action serve to undermine. he was convicted of financial and fundraising misconduct yesterday. the committee will hold a closed door session this afternoon. oakland mayor is deny reports he is thinking about leaving office early. the denial came in a statement released by his office yesterday. it says he will stay until jean quan is sworn in on january 3. his critics have accused him of being aloof and absent during critical times. he issued a 60-page assessment

that lists his accomplishments as mayor. a recent fire at a playground is suspicious. the fire started around 11:00 tuesday night. it destroyed a children's slide and other play equipment. the area that was burned is now fenced off and classes at school continue as scheduled. an oakland elementary school this morning celebrated its recent national honor for academic achievement. lincoln elementary school principal john melvin and a teacher went to washington, d.c. earlier this week to receive the 2010 national blue ribbon award from the secretary of education. this morning, they presented it to the students, teachers, and staff at the school. >> wonderful source of pride. it really gives the students a sense they can get rewards for working hard. it also inspires them to continue to try hard in school and work hard and also for our teachers it's been

acknowledgment for hard work. >> reporter: it's the first oakland school in 28 years to receive the national blue rib bob award. it was given to 24 schools in california this year and to 430 nationwide. let's check in now with mark. starting to get cooler out there. >> reporter: that's right. we're not talking about 80s or 70s. just some low 60s for the highs. right now on the maps, i can show you some fog. the fog down to our south and around santa cruz. also up to our north we have some higher clouds associated with this system that will impact our forecast. more noticeable changes for tomorrow and also into the weekend. a look outside right now in san jose. a few high clouds, 57 degrees. here's a look at some of the current numbers. santa rosa, only 54 degrees. concord, the warm spot.

downtown san francisco at 57 degrees. cooler for today, more clouds expected for friday. it'll be a cold weekend with showers returning and the possibility of a few thunderstorms. as far as temperatures for today, here's the eventual range this morning from the upper 50s to the low to mid- 60s. right around 58 to 65 degrees. satellite, you can see the clouds we just showed you on storm tracker. that speckled cloud cover is pretty much a signature of cold air. that will be diving to the south for the weekend. cold enough that we're talking about lower know levels here. could be coming down to 3,000 feet. maybe a little bit lower. here's our forecast for today. we're dry. we'll take this into your friday morning. there's a possibility throughout the course of your friday for a sprinkle or light shower, especially by the evening hours. then we'll take this into your saturday. you can see the rainfall

coverage on the increase. mostly some rain showers. cold in nature. the possibility of thunderstorms and once again dropping snow levels. pretty much the same deal as we head into your sunday. make the most of today, as you can see we'll increase clouds throughout the evening hours. by 9:00, cloudy skies. that's after the temperatures this afternoon. san francisco, 58. actually, 62. san jose tops out around 64 degrees. here's a look ahead. your five-day forecast. you'll notice temperatures cooling off again for friday. cold showers. we'll also put in those thunderstorm icons for saturday and into sunday to at least reflect the possibility of some isolated thunderstorms, dropping snow levels and the chance of showers. we're advertising it's going to be pretty cold. i think it's going to be a shock to this system, especially we were talking about record heat a few days ago. >> yeah, we were talking mid- 80s monday and tuesday. all right. thank you, mark. the recently rescued

chilean miners are in california right now. the reason why, just ahead. also, people paying a debt to society for using toys to give something back. [ male announcer with at&t u-verse tv,

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mixed news about jobs today. initial unemployment claims are up. that's what economists expected. continues claiming fell by 48,000. officials say that's an indication that fewer jobs are being cut but not many new jobs are being created. home sales in the bay area were down nearly 23% in october compared to the same month a year earlier. that's the word from the real estate tracking form mda data quick. they say it's the second lowest pace for october since they first began tracking sales in 1988. the lowest number was three years ago. the median price also dropped to $383,000, down 1.8% from october 2009. right now, all 33 of those rescued chilean miners have arrived in los angeles. the miners stopped in atlanta this morning before heading to

l.a. they are invited along with five of their rescuers to be special guests at a hero's tribute. while here, they plan to do some sightseeing and shopping. many of them say this is the first time they've ever traveled outside chile. dozens of bay area charities are filling up santa's bag at marsh creek detention facility in clayton today. this is the 19th year that inmates that produce christmas toys for needy children in a wood shop class at the facility. this year, more than 1100 hand- crafted wooden toys are available along with more than 300 refurbished bicycles. the toys are then given to parents to give to their children on christmas. coming up at 5:00, some signs of winter are in the forecast. a cold front is coming in, and there are concerns tonight about the homeless people across the bay area. we'll show you what's being done to address that problem.

that story and much more coming up in our next newscast at 5:00. thanks for watching. have a great day. diabetes testing? it's all the same. nothing changes.

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