are able to do business because of a very compliant hotel operator. and the city attorney, john ruse soy, is filing civil lawsuits against the motels which could close them down. >> these three motels function as prostitution. this is happening right in the middle of residential neighborhoods. >> reporter: he's suing the national lodge, the economy inn near lake merritt and the sage hotel in east oakland. he said for years, the operators have done little to prevent prostitution from flourishing. the manager says he's trying to stop this in his hotel. >> absolutely no prostitution. we've been doing everything they say. we've been wanting help from the city and the police. they've been trying to shut it down for years that they d on't -- they don't want to see the business running. >> reporter: district attorney nancy o'malley says many of the prostitutes are underaged girls. >> human trafficking is the modern form of slavery.

>> reporter: business owners and residents near the motel complain of the noise and violence produced by prostitution. >> younger, 14, 16 years. i said wow. a lot of problems. a lot of problems. >> reporter: one of the city demands is that the motel build electric gates at the entrances where i'm standing. if the city wins the lawsuits, they could close these motels. live in oakland, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. the highway patrol now says the man fatally injured on highway 101 was the victim of a hit-and-run. sonoma county coroner officials identified him as 21-year-old enrique ramirez of windsor. a passerby spotted him lying in the northbound lane shortly before 2:00 this morning. an investigator suggested that some of suggested that he -- a investigator said

that some of his injuries sucked that he had been shot but -- suggested that he had been shot. if you have information, contact authorities. oakland firefighters had to lift a low co motive to free a -- low co motive to free a man trapped. firefighters say they don't know how the man who was in a wheel chair ended up underneath the train. rescuers used air bags and the jaws of life to free the victim. they say he was conscious and talking during the rescue and is expected to survive. there is still no word on his identity. community leaders want security cameras installed in oakland's chinatown to help fight against street crime. folks say they have experienced purse snatchings and fights. the city won't spend the money so now community organizations are trying to raise the money privately. >> i thing we're gonna get it. we have a very good response

from everybody. they feel good about the p rogram. it will be a good pilot program. >> reporter: officials at the lincoln square rec center they say -- say they want the cameras installed in time for the new year's parade in february. the resent heavy rains c aused sewer pipes to overflow and water there, they feel, contains unsafe levels of bacteria. linda mar beach, aquatic park and lakeshore park are closed at this hour. a everyone waking has been posted at rockaway beach. maureen naylor is in pacifica with more. maureen? >> reporter: water sample were taken today. we won't know the results until tomorrow. so until then, these signs have been posted at three san mateo beaches warning swimmers to stay out but today many did not heed this message. brown-colored runoff gushed on to linda mar beach tau. officials say it's the same

pipe where raw sewage flows into the ocean following a heavier downpour. >> i don't know. i think i surfed that day. if the water is brown, i think it's the red tide but i guess not. >> reporter: they are taking precautions because the water has tested positive for high levels of back tear your. >> there is the possibility that there might be other types of virals in there, such as hepatitis. those type of things. >> reporter: aquatic and lakeshore remains closed. this man who grew up around the area says the waterway has slowly deteriorated. just knowing it's filthy and contaminated makes me angry. in pacifica, it wasn't the p osted signs but weak conditions that lured sufficienters out

today. environmental health says t hey -- says people should know the risk before going in. bun problem that contributes to sewage spills is people putting oil down the drain and it clocking it -- and it clogging it up. reporting live in pacifica, may reason naylor, ktvu channel 2 news. in sonoma today, crews discovered more leaks in a levee along the hooterman slew north of heir 17. they were were discovered after another leak there. crews 70 day sandbagging the leg levee and plan to keep an eye on it. the agency says it's not too concerned since the new leaks are so high on levee. the 50-year-old levee protects sensitive wedlands. governor schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency in six counties mainly in southern california. the declaration includes r

iverside county where a small airport was cover -- covered in water. and in san bernardino county, floodwaters did considerable damage to a bridge. the governor declared e mergencies in kern, orange, san luis obispo and tulare counties. the storms that have battered southern california have moved east. in northern arizona, a rain storm swept away five homes. no one was hurt. another dozen homes are being threatened tonight. and our stormwatch coverage continues online. ktvu.com has live weather radar and the latest information on weather-related flight delays. with the stroke of a pen, president obama today repealed one of the military's most controversial policies but the end of don't ask, don't tell is having some lasting impacts far outside the armed forces. patti lee is live now with that part of the story. >> reporter: well, frank, this 17-year-old policy will stay in effect until the military comes

up with an implementation plan. but with the swipe of the pen it's already launched a ripple effect in the bay area. this was an emotional moment for this man who walked away after eight years in the navy because of the policy. >> it just was increasingly difficult to have to live two lives, one of which was pretty open and gay and one of which was military. >> reporter: he says removing the ban on openly gay and lesbian service members will help recruit and retain talent. >> it's a really, really amazing day for america and for the military. >> reporter: it's already having an impact on the relationship between higher education and the armed forces. >> don't ask, don't tell was a very complicating factor in terms of thinking about bringing r-2-c back to campus. >> reporter: the policy of

don't ask, don't tell made rotc a near impossible sell. at universities like stanford, harvard and vail. >> now that it's been repealed, it will make it considerably easier. >> reporter: this woman retired from the military. she stood next to president obama as he signed the legislation. >> you're not gonna find 65,000 service members flying out of the closet now that this is s afe. >> reporter: she says though shout this would never -- she says she thought this day would never come and is not expecting major changes to the policy any time soon. thee says this marks the b eginning of a -- she says this marks the beginning of a new life for her. she's now gonna focus her e fforts on a future in politics. patty ty lee, ktvu channel 2 kut -- patti l eigh, ktvu

channel 2 news. the government has decided to go paperless. 80% of checks are sent to bank accounts. but 186 million checks were m ailed last year. starting in may and no longer than the spring two years from now, everybody will receive electric payments. >> each year it will save $ 120 million in post as -- postage costs. and it's estimated that the trust fund will save as much as $1 billion. >> most of the 600,000 lost or stolen check aims will be eliminated by direct department. u.s. homes sales edged up last night. the national association of realtors says 4.8 million homes were sold in november. that's a gain of 5 poi 5% -- 5.5%. the commerce department has gin o verall economy. the gross domestic product j umped 2.6% from july to

september as business spent more to build their inventories. commits are predicting a b etter -- commits are predicting a better-than-expected report due to increased consumer s pending. news that the economy grew faster than expected over the summer was well received on wall street. the state's audi ter is accusing sloppy work. the department of community services and development, public health, transportation and the water resources control board, they all had problems following federal guidelines. >> that is what one of the key goals was to try to get people back to work. so it's really critical that california properly report the benefit that the state has achieved and the number of jobs that have been funded or create

bide the recovery act. >> the state has spent roughly half of the $50 billion it received in federal bailout money. governor schwarzenegger is preparing to leave office. he says he's taking his smoking tent with him. the tent sits on the governor's office patio in sacramento. and avid cigar smoker, the tent is where he holds meeting with aide. hese happy to loan -- he's happy to loan a 0 bronze statue to governor-elect brown. governor schwarzenegger bought the statue with his own money and it sits right outside his office. >> reporter: oakland's plan to allow massive marijuana growth is on hold. why some say that might actually be good news for medical marijuana users. christmas comes early to hundreds of families in the east bay. the tough path that led to this day. i'm tracking more rain in the forecast. of course, the holiday's just

around the corner for many. there's rain headed our way, again. we'll talk about that. i will see you back here. the moment you feel run down or achy nip flu-like symptoms in the bud, with oscillococcinum. get oscillo and feel like yourself again. oscillococcinum, nip it in the bud.

the family of a bicyclist killed last month in a collision with a big rig has filed a w rongful death lawsuit against the trucker and the company he works for. lauren ward of los altos hills was struck and killed as she rode her bike. highway patrol investigators dermed the truck driver, gabriel manzernara, was not at fall. the chp says he's been involved in two other fatal accidents but none was deemed his fault. the lawsuit is seeking u nspecified damages. a controversial plan to allow four large-scale medical

marijuana growing operations in oakland is on hold tonight the city leader says. ken pritchett has more. ken? >> reporter: they et -- they voted here last night but the city council members we talked to said they weren't available to comment on explain that vote. megagrowths may be on hold but some say the plan will go go through. this man is founder of oakster damage university and part of a group of investors who plan to apply for one of eight city permits but never approved of the megagrow approach. >> i think they are gonna look

in to allowing more, maller cultivation facilities which is what we lobbied for from the beginning. >> reporter: oakland has moved to allow industrial scale marijuana cultivation drew national attention. the alameda county d.a.'s office says council members may -- the counsel memorials says they will change their ordinance. lee doesn't consider this a s etback. >> this is one delay. i think history is on our side. >> reporter: lee says he and others -- lee says he and others delayed submitting their applications to the city because they expected this delay. the city council will take up the issue again on f ebruary 1st. in oakland, ken police officer chet, ktvu channel 2 news -- ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. a series of anti-tobacco ads have been released.

including a familiar face. >> tobacco, took not only my health but my dreams. >> that was debbie austin who appears -- who first appeared in one of these ads in 1987. the ad showed her smoking through her tracheotomy hole. an estimated 4 million people in california smoke tobacco. lucas film has agreed to end anti-competitive hiring practices. the agreement is part of a settlement the makers of the star wars series reached with the u.s. justice department. the government accused lucas and pixar agreed not to recruit. puerto low redwood state

park on the peninsula expanded. the park is located south of the community of la honda. the land conservation group sold 160 acres to the state valued at more than $900,000. money for the purchase came from the california wildlife protection act. now on to our weather. finally a chance to kind of dry out a little bit today, which, bill, as you've been talking about, is so important when we're getting large amounts of rain like we've been getting. you just need breaks but l.a. didn't get a break. we are getting a break now and tomorrow. i checked dew points up in santa rosa. they are running high. dew point is the temperature. it tells you when that temperature is reached that you are gonna have fog. i'm pen simming in the areas that will see fog tonight. it will be dense out here in the valley as well. so be heady -- be ready for very dense valley fog tomorrow morning, especially inland bayle valleys. that's not a sur -- inland bay

valleys. that's not a surprise. saturday, another weather system heads our way. it will be good. the last one was robust. this next one will be robust. snow levels will go down. traveling to the sierra, little bit dicey the right now, sunday looks the worse day. saturday is the best way to travel. we're dealing with temperatures mainly in the mid-30s. 37 in vallejo. temperatures overnight will be cool. the fog will be showing up in the inland bay valleys. here is the main system dragging in the clouds in our area. right now we get the break. this is going north. but this guy drops down on saturday, drops cool air in h ere. fog in the valley. that's the forecast thursday through friday. this guy over here drops in on saturday night, sunday. you will see this on the computer model. it gets offshore early. there's thursday.

here comes friday. here it comes. here it comes. but it stays out there friday all day and then kind of lines itself up perpendicular or parallel to the coast and weak. and that thing will move in here late on saturday and then sun -- saturday and then sunday. in the mountains it will be lingering. forecasted highs tomorrow, 5 0s. a five-day forecast that allows you the breaks that we so need. our friends up on the russian river and napa river. all of the major drainage bins get a lot of rain. this is perfect. the scene on saturday looks like a good storm but not a flooding storm. hundreds of people received holiday gifts in richmond today it's part of a program that h elps the less current celebrate the season. the richmond ymca was packed with holiday items and gifts for local families. each family getting a -- gets a

stack of toys. rod wood started the program 20 years ago. he said he was once again down on his luck and said he would give back if he did. >> when i got hired it with the fire department, i said lord, what do you want me to do? to give back? he put this in my lap and here we are. >> today's giveaway helped about 1700 families in west contra costa county. visitors got their first look at a giant lizard. the 8-year-old female lizard is 3 feet long and weighs almost 14 pounds. biologists say they expect her to double in size. those lizards are native to parts of asia. they are strong swimmers and experts describe them as feisty. although the lizard here seemed quite happy just to stay in her traveling cage. >> that's a good thing. >> lew wolff says no. but that's not stopping oakland pushing ahead with the plans to build a new stadium for the a

s, the new action to try to keep the team in town.

$750,000 has been approved on an environmental study about

whether to build a new ballpark for the as. they will consider impacts of putting a 39,000-seat stadium just a few blocks south of jack london square. liu beautiful has said he wants to move the team to san jose. turning to football, the bowl season has started and m ark's here to tell us about -- to tell us all about it. >> official eye -- officially on the move. january3rd, stanford will take on virginia tech and will be showing off their q uarterback, andrew luck, who they like to have -- would would like to have around for next year but that's still up in the air. luck says he will not announce whether or not he will be e ntering the draft of the nfl until after that orange bowl on the 3rd of january. in the meantime, he just wants to enjoy all that this bowl game appearance has to offer.

>> complete change. i did go through a bowlless season if you will. to get 11 wins in a tough pac- 10 is awesome. we're excited to be in the orange bowl. i remember growing you watching the game in miami and thinking wouldn't it be call -- wouldn't it be cool to go to the orange bowl? no matter how they on the court, no one will accuse of warriors of not doing their best for community. making a wish foundation and the warriors still loving the a ftermoth of this big win last night. that's the 3 at the buzzer that sends it to overtime and then monta ellis, team leader for sure. 80 points in the last two point for him -- two games for him. huge win last night. >> if we would have lost that

game, it would have been pretty much the season. i think last night was our t urning point. special time for us to start turning things around and make our run. >> beautiful shot right there. i hope he's right. i hope it is the turning point. i think the fans around here would like to see that. coming up on bay area news at 7:00 on tv36, new push to crack down on party buses. the combination of underaged passengers and alcohol can be a deadly mix. that story in 30 minutes on bay area news at 7:00 on tv36. good night. >> good night. [ male announcer a rule of.

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