good afternoon. topping our news, health officials have issued a warning for communities around the golden eagle refinery in martinez. a power outage has caused f laring at the east bay refinery this morning. no shelter in place has been ordered. health officials are currently monitoring air quality but have not detected any odors. the refinery first reported a partial power outage at 10:30 this morning, which caused several units to flare down and shut down and flares to be activated. at this time, only one flare is still active. again, health officials have issued a warning for communities around tesoro's golden eagle refinery in martinez. if we get any more information during this newscast, we will pass it on to you. earlier this morning, house

democrats gave the deal for the tax cuts a thumbs down. by a voice vote in a closed- door session, the package was passed that it not come to the floor as written. nancy pelosi says democrats will continue to work with the president and republicans to continue to work on the p roposal. it's not known when that will b e. if congress doesn't work on extending the bush-era tax cuts by the end of the year, they automatically expire for all americans. the tax package also uds the reinstatement of benefits benefits that expire next week. and if they are not expired by saturday, tens of californias -- tens of thousands of c alifornians will not get a m uch-needed check. tara moriarty has more. >> reporter: come monday, you may see a lot more people on computers looking for work

inside this unemployment office here in oakland. that's because in less than two days, 185,000 californians who receive unemployment checks may not be able to get them. now since obama's tax deal with republicans fell through, special extended jobless benefits are getting cut off. of a -- after a seven-month job search, dominic ewing just landed a construction gig but he worries for his girlfriend expecting a child. she's out of work and relies on that unemployment check. >> a lot of people are in my situation. it's very hard. we really need the help. single moms need this for their kids. they don't have a job now. >> reporter: people in their fine at tier of benefits, 20 weeks, as part of the extension, will be cut off on saturday regardless of whether they have reached the limit. this affects more than 800,000 people in the u.s. officials

here tell us most of the long- term unemployed cannot go a week without their benefits check. that means somwill have to look for new places to live if they can't afford their mortgage or their rent, some may be not be able to afford their grocery bill. back to you. there's some encouraging news about unemployment with a new government report showing applications for jobless benefits have dropped to the second lowest level this year. the labor department says f irst-time claims for jobless benefits fell by 17,000 to a seasonally adjusted 420,000 last week. it's considered a sign the companies are cutting fewer jobs and raising hopes that they will start to hire more. caltrans is ahead of schedule by nearly a year. the new east span of the bay bridge is expected to open in 2013 instead of 2013. this means that drivers ahead

-- headed across the bridge are have a change -- will have a change to their commute. >> reporter: it's hard for bart ney to describe what drivers will see next spring. >> this is where our next challenge is. >> reporter: he pointed to where crews have stopped working due to their biggest obstacle, the existing bridge. >> sometime between may and j une, we'll be rerouting eastbound traffic heading into oakland further south, just pushing it over a little bit. >> reporter: then caltrains crews can begin to begin work on that. >> then we'll widen that and then sometime around november, we'll move traffic. and then we'll complete the bridge we're standing on. >> reporter: the series of

maneuvers allows caltrains to open the entire bridge in 2014. steel deliveries have been arriving on time or ahead of schedule. when drivers summed up -- what drivers said -- >> good! about time! >> reporter: and then crews will hoist up the steel section that will arrive on sunday and then the crews will work nonstop until christmas. in oakland, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. some important privacy changes are just down the road for an estimated $1 million fastrack users. they are designed to make sure the private information of

drivers -- drivers remain private. drivers who sign up for fastrack must provide an e-mail number, and a phone number. the fog was especially dense during the morning commute. our ktvu team captured this s een. the chp is warning drivers to be especially careful. here is the view of the fog from oakland's lake merritt. many hikers and joggers found themself right in the thick of it during their morning e xercise. the foggy weather is causing problems this noontime for some bay area air travelers. sfo sfo is reporting delays of about 1:20 on some arriving flights. mineta is reporting delays up to 15 minutes and oakland international says the nothing has lifted there and has no reports of delays. but as always, call ahead and check with your airline to be sure. steve paulson is tracking the fog and will be here in a few

minutes with the forecast. oakland's police are asking the public's help in finding a 90-year-old, who was last seen around 1:00 tuesday afternoon. his son said he left his home on gregory gregory street but n ever -- on gregory street but never returned. he suffers from dementia. anyone who has seen him is asked to call police. earlier there was a crash that closed southbound 880 for several hours. it happened shortly after 3:00 this morning near the llewelyn boulevard exit. the woman's car became disabled after a spinout. she apparently got out of the car and that's when she was hit by another vehicle. she died at the scene. no other injuries were reported. the chp talks about the safest thing to do if if your car gets stuck on the freeway. >> what do you tell people if they are involved in a stall on

the roadway? >> to stay in the vehicle if -- if they can't move it out of the roadway. now back to the toddler who fell in the fountain at the hyatt regency lobby. we're expecting an update. he remains in serious condition. according to police, the boy with with his twin sister, his mother and nanny. and they went inside to get out of the rain. the 2-year-old broke away from the woman and took off. >> every employee was looking for him. >> reporter: the front -- >> the frantic search lasted for about ten minutes until workers found him in the water. resuscitation workers could not resuscitate him and he was taken to the hospital. the hotel says it's never had any other ins dents with a

popular -- incidents with a popular water feature since installed in the 1970s. police say a shooting at a taco bell was a case of a drug de gone bad. police say two men in pittsburg met arrangements to meet some drug dealers at the taco bell last night. police say when the alleged drug dealers showed up, they climbed in the car with the two young men but one of the dealers p ulled out aian, demanded the money's -- the man's money and shot one in the neck. the one shot is being treated at con record hospital. police have not made any arrest in connection with the -- to the shooting. a southern california home packed with bomb-making materials is going up in flames. we'll tell you why firefighters are just watching it burn. and protesters in london attack a car containing prince charles and his wife camilla. and the sun is trying to

ing to peek out. steve paulson will be here with a look at forecast. >> reporter: and why dozens gathered to watch sea lions go back in the ocean. honey...? [ mom yes. honey, i can't find my internet cord. oh, i'll borrow hailey's. you're downloading movies. fast! from here? where is her cord?! we switched to at&t high speed internet and got wireless access. no more cords. wireless, okay, honestly, can i just get a cord, please? dad, the cord's invisible. [ female announcer for a limited time, call to get high speed internet for just $14.95 a month with a 1-year price guarantee.

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three sea lions are being

released back in the else this noontime after getting nursed back to health at the marin mammal center in sausalito. kraig debro joins us on the details that the sea lions had and where they are being released. >> reporter: it's quite a sight out here. dobby, second street, and t aylor's day have been waiting for this day for a couple of months now. they've been rehabilitating at the mammal center. the day they waddled down to the beach is here. they made it. dozens of mammal lovers and school-aged children witnessed the 50-yard dash in the ocean. the animals may never be seen again but many say this is popular and inspiring. >> usually the volunteer and the people who observe the animal in the wild is not sure what's going on. there's something wrong. >> reporter: after a couple of months in captivity, three juvenile california sea lions are going home for the

holidays. the marine mammal center says with any luck they won't return to the $32 million facility and will live the rest of their lives in the ocean. >> members of the public and citizens on the beach will call us that will report an animal in need. that might look like it's in trouble. so the marine mammal center comes out and rescued -- and rescues these animals. >> reporter: dobby, second street and taylor's day are all rescued between san mateo county and here. the doctors say -- >> when they come to us with these problems, that's an indication that they picked it up in the environment. and many of these conditions can also potentially infifth people. >> reporter: the marine center

has 900 volunteers. they work down to san luis obispo county and they rescue dozens of marine mammals every year. sadly as we're hear today and the mammals are going back in the water just last night, an adult sea lion was found on the beach not too far from here and was brought into the center, they believe it was shot with a shot gun in the head. it is still alive right now. but that's the kind of work they do here and the people up there at the marin center. they say they are looking forward to nursing that animal back to help and seeing the day when it, too, can waddle in the beach from sausalito. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 n ews. >> thank you, kraig. a house near san diego described as a bomb factory is burning right now. the sheriff's department deliberately set the fire to burn the house to the ground. the escondido home belongs to the man accuse of making bombs and storing highly explosive chemicals. authorities say it's suffer to burn the house down rather than

be -- safer to burn the house down rather than any other way. a decision by british lawmakers to approve a plan to triple university fees has s parked some violent protests. [chanting ] >> thousands of students held demonstrations and sit-ins today outside parliament and throughout england. one group of student protesters in london attacked a car c ontaining prince charms and his wife, camilla. they were not harmed. the plan would raise the cap to 9,000 pounds, which is about $ 14,000 up to the equivalent of $4700. there have been several arrests and two dozen protesters and police officers have been i njured in the protests. back here in the u.s., democrats have delayed a vote originally he scheduled for today on the -- originally

scheduled for today on the dream act legislation. the measure is aimed at u ndocumented immigrants who came to the u.s. before age 16. they could gain legal status if they join the military or go to college. democrats are short of the 60 votes needed to advance the measure in the senate and republicans are refusing to consider any other legislation until they take action on extending the tax cuts in the bush era test to expire at the end of the year and and house representatives are holding up that vote. in less than one month, m ayor newsom will have a new job as lieutenant-governor of california. we spoke to him this morning on "mornings on 2" and asked him if he had any advice for the person directed to serve out his term as interim mayor. >> when when you are governing a city, whether you are a d emocrat, republican, environmentalist, they care you get the job done. i learned that the hard way and

i hope that's what the people find in the next mayor. >> he says he believes the interim mayor should be a caretaker, not someone who intends to run for office in 2012. he says if the current board of supervisors does not seem inclined to what he calls an appropriate person, he may delay his start date from j anuary 3rd to january 8th as lieutenant-governor. that's when a new board of supervisors is seated in san francisco. we're hearing that california's high-speed rail project is set to get a big influx of federal funding thanks to a shift in political wins. congressional leaders say the department of transportation will announce that california along with some other states will share $2-point dash $ 1.2 billion originally awarded to wisconsin and ohio. that's because those opposed to this were elected in november and have promised to kill the projects. let's check in now with our

meteorologist, steve paulson, for a look at the forecast and the fog is still around? >> cloudy, tori. nothing compared to yesterday, a rather rainy, treery day. some of this stuff is not even reaching the ground. but occasional light showers. plenty of fog. upper 50s, low 60s. sanrafael, big-time fog and probably fog advisories tonight into tomorrow. pattern is slowly changing, though. the jet stream is just drifting northward. as it does, it's do na take most of the moisture with it starting today. we can still have a few light showers lingering in. but the big story will be the fog. some of the rain totals were hardly any. sanjose at .15. sfo, .82. sanfrancisco, oakland, mill valley over an inch. and then santa cruz mountains and the russian river had

between 1 and 2. paloalto, also .30. 50s and 60s, the lows were around 53 to 58. we only warmed up a little bit due to the cloud cover. 50s and 60s, link, concord, and san jose at 61. 70s and 60s down in southern california. tahoe, 42. a lot of rain at lake level. some of the snow at the higher elevations. the snow has gone way up and the pattern has changed. it was very, very cold. came right down out of the n orth. this moisture has been o riginating from near the hawaiian islands. the air is saturated. everything is in place for thick fog to be forming. cloudy, foggy, rain is starting to move north. very mild temperatures. upper 50ss, very low 760s. if we had about ten minutes of sunshine, weed probably see 60s. the big news will be on the weekend. the coast will warm up in the upper 60s maybe low 70s.

yet inland it could be cold and foggy, tori, as that fog comes in from the valley. >> i hear the fog is gonna linger around. >> i think until monday. okay. chances are your health insurance rates are going up next month. find out why. plus -- it's clear that heavy cigarette use is hazardous to your health. but what if you only light up occasionally? the surprising answer -- just ahead.

the s&p 500 and the nasdaq edging up, hovering around t wo- year highs. but the recent rise in bonds and the tax-cut controversy is affecting the dow. the mortgage bankers association says refinancing activity started falling last week. healthcare rates are about to go up again for many californians. according to "the chronical" it's because some insurers, including blueshield of california, are upping their rates. changes include the elimination of lifetime coverage caps and

allowing to children to stay on coverage until they are 26. and a report just out today, the surgeon general says even the occasional cigarette is bad for a person's health. according to the report, tobacco smoke begins poisoning immediately with more than 7,000 chemicals in each puff causing cellular damage in nearly every organ. the surgeon general says i nhaling even a little s econd- hand smoke could be enough to block your arteries and trigger a heart attack. we learned that aretha franklin is expected to be released from a detroit hospital this weekend. her family says she has pancreatic cancer. her cousin says she's doing better after a surgical procedure last week. the 18-time grammy winner has cancelled all concert dates on doctor's orders.

coming up on the news at 5:00 -- art, culture and thousands of sparkling light picks as will brighten -- p icksals will brighten -- pickles will brighten the streets. that and more coming up on our next newscast, the news at 5:00. thanks for watching. have a great day.