windy weather caused headaches for homeowners and thousands of commuters.

this is ktvu channel news at noon. good afternoon. i'm maureen naylor. there are new developments for the search for a 4-year-old. crews are scouring a canal right now for a second day. the search is a few miles from where the boy was kidnapped on thursday. crews are working loor the suspected kidnapper's car and in the last hour and a half a second car was pulled from the canal but it turned out to be a false alarm. christen kafton is live with more. >> reporter: well, the latest search just wrapped up. we've pulled aside one of the investigators. that's not the vehicle you are looking for? >> no. that vehicle was a lexus that was stolen out in earlgy

january -- in early january. >> reporter: and you will be inviting that person out to see if that is the car that they saw go in the canal. >> absolutely, as well as the tracks. so we're either gonna eliminate that vehicle as the vehicle a the witness saw and then we're back to square one. >> reporter: aud are s uspending -- and you are suspending dive operations. >> direct -- correct. we didn't find the little boy. the amber alert is still alive. we want people looking for the suspect, the vehicle and our little boy that's been k idnapped -- kidnapped. the amber alert continues.

everybody in today's society in the age of technology leaves some type of electronic signature every where they go, whether it's purchases with a debit card, utilizing your cell phone, text messaging and so far there's been nothing like that that we're monitoring in this case. >> reporter: thank you, sheriff, for your time. so, again, the dive operations and drag operations here at the canal have for now been wrapped up. you can see the sheriff's dive team is still in the area. sheriff deputies still searching for the suspect in this case as well as for juliani cardenas, the 4-year- old who was abducted straight out of his g randmother's arms. the vehicle they are looking f or, the license plate is 6 hbw

445. it's a silver toyota corolla, it has a spare tire doughnut on the front side passenger. sheriff investigators say they have found so many vehicles in this canal. they say that would not be unusual and it's common for criminals to brick them here if they have -- bring them here if they have stolen them. back to you. >> thank you. we'll continue to follow another life report at 5:00. last night some 100 people gathered outside the patterson home of the missing boy's grandmother where the kidnapping took place on tuesday. they came to pray for the safe return of the missing child. the boy's mother and grandmother were among those who took part in the candlelight vigils. governor jerry brown sent a m essage to the family saying

they are in his thoughts and prayers. our website has the photos of the missing child and the suspect. you can also take a look at the license plate on the car that authorities are seeking. the wind is dying down but now it left problems earlier, traffic problems, power outages. ali rasmus has that part of the story. >> reporter: that's right. we're near woolsey and alcatraz in berkeley. where you can see they are c leaning up part of the mess of a tree that came down. this tree we're talking about, right here. it's 100 feet. you can see several large b ranches split off the tree. and in fact, one of those b ranches is still dangling precariously over the power

lines. the power has been shut off. this is a big mess that crews are having to clean up. when the branches came down, they actually came down part of the house, took out part of the gutter and -- and the large branch ended up on part of the home. this woman heard it happen around 6:30 this morning. >> it sowned like -- it sounded like clunk, clunk, clunk, clunk. and then the power went off. >> reporter: around the same time, 6:25 this morning, strong winds created a headache for thousands of commuters on 580. 100-foot tree came down and blocked two lanes of traffic for about an hour 23456 and really slowed down the morning commute. and near 35th avenue and r

edwood road, the wind knocked down another large tree. this one hit an el camino vehicle below it. luckily, nobody was hurt. >> it's really, really windy. i could hear it. it woke me up. >> reporter: now, back in berkeley, public works crews have been cleaning up. they said that he had been to five different locations in the last hour and a half. back out here live, the homeowner said she's having to pay for the private crews to come clean this up and the city is not paying for it because the tree is on her private property. all of this is a consequence of the strong winds we had this morning. here too tell us more -- here to tell more about this is mark

tamayo. mark? >> reporter: the main cause, high pressure, strong high pressure building into northern nevada, that created the o ffshore flow with winds coming out of the northeast. mountdiablo, 7 miles an hour -- 74 miles an hour. berkeley 34 miles an hour. as we head into the afternoon hours, the high moves out to the north and east. we have some mild temperatures to talk about. i will have more on that coming up. we also have a clear picture of your weekend forecast. i will have more on that in a few minutes. the number of americans f iling for unemployment b enefits -- benefits fell by 34,000. 404,000 claimed benefits last week.

california jobless claims rose. economists say jobless benefit claims need to fuel below 370,000 nationwide to signal a significant drop in in u nemployment. president hu has had a busy week in washington, d.c. he spoke to the business council about the global financial c row -- crisis and said it's important for china and the u.s. to work together. he says his country is an economic partner and not a threat to u.s. power. >> translator: both china and the united states are committed to upholding world peace and stability. china is the largest developing country while the united states, the largest developed one. the study grows it -- itself is a imagine ear contribution to world peace and stability.

>> earlier the chinese president received a chilly reception on capitol hill harry reid called him a dictator. newly-appointed san francisco -- appointed san francisco mayor ed lee is in san francisco. on "mornings on 2," he spoke to us about an invitation he personally delivered to china's president. i spoke in the mandarin tongues directly with president hu as i took his hand and invited him to come to san francisco. i told him since i'm interim m ayor i only have a year. so make that decision quick. lee is there for the u.s. conference of mayorses and h ope -- hopes to forge r

elationships with other cities. senate senator leland yee is accusing rush limbaugh of i nsulting the chinese president and the community. yesterday, on his show, limbaugh complained about a lag in translation. here's how lin but imty mated -- imty mated what the president -- imitated what the president s aid. senator yee says limbaugh shows the chinese an apology for his "classless act." it's a tragic day in a major u.s. city where police officers have lost their lives in the line of duty. it's being called the biggest rounddown of mafia l eaders in u.s. his troy. hear what the attorney general said this morning.

two police officers are dead in miami following a shootout as a squad of police officers tried to -- tried to serve a homicide warrant. the suspect was considered a

fugitive and also died in the gunfire. one officedied at the scene. the other died at the hospital. two nearby schools were placed on lockdown as a result of the shooting. it happened in a liberty city neighborhood which is a housing project built in the 1930s and is notorious for crime. the fbi is announcing what it says is the largest mafia crackdown in the agency's history. prosecutors say more than 100 people were arrested in new y ork, connecticut and rhode island. they say the defendants include high-ranking members of several crime families including all five new york-based families. one arrest also took place in florida. another in this italy. u.s. attorney general eric h older talked about the charges in a press conference today. >> their alleged crimes include murder, extortion, illegal gambling, arson, loan sharking and labor racketeering. >> holder said federal agents will continue their effort to

wipe out organized crime once and for all. two sur -- tucson surgeons say gabriel giffords is c ontinuing to make remarkable recover i -- recovery. doctors plan to move her to a hospital in houston which specializes in brain and spinal cord injuries. her husband, mike kelly, lives and works in houston as an astronaut. he's predicting a complete recovery in two months' tom. the suspected gunman is accused of killing six people and i njuring 1 others, including giffords. caltrans say it could take several days to clean up after an accident. the solo car accident happened around 3:45 on the 101 in mountain view. a silver suv flipped over and slammed into the center divide, taking a 15-foot long chunk out of it. the driver suffered serious injuries. investigators still don't know the cause. the bay area is no longer

in the top five when it comes to the slowest commutes in the country. a new report out says bay area highways have dropped to number six on the worst traffic list. that's due in to the s lumping question -- economy. but researchers say it's also the result of recent highway improvements. >> it may have to do with carpool lanes but most likely it's due to the economy. nobody is working like they w ere, 40 hours, some are only working three days a week. >> this is the first day the bay area does not make the top five since the study first began 28 years ago. this year baltimore edged out the bay area for the number five stop. washington, d.c. and chicago t ied for first. the good news for commuters, it's beautiful and dry. it's get right to mark. >> great out there. the great visibility and the fog. temperatures have been warming up nicely over the past few d

ays. right now, you can take a look out to live stormtracker2. no storms out there. we do have the clouds. sanfrancisco is ort report -- is reporting a bit of a calm wind, 15. up to napa and fairfield. we have mostly sunny skies. a little bit of haze but o verall, it's shaping up to be a mild afternoon. for today, we will have more sunshine. still a bit of a breeze, especially for the higher terrain. this weekend, plenty of sunshine out there. we'll hold on to the mild weather pattern. no rain clouds just yet. it could be dry for the rest of the month. we could have changes as we head into february, as you would expect. current numbers are warming you up. sanfrancisco, of -- 62. sanjose, 61. and livermore in the upper 5 0s. 58degrees, a couple of weeks ago, we couldn't get out of the

40s but with the fog clearing, temperatures have been r ecovering nicely. the clouds arking way up here. we want to -- we're gonna hold onto that weather pattern for today. still plenty of sunshine and a bit of a breeze. there's that high continuing to build. as a result it's pushing the storm track to our north. we'll actually have temperatures into the weekend. we're still talking about quite a few 60s. 62 to 67 degrees at 3:00. as we head into the evening hours by 6:00, 52 to 58. and then at night, 42 to 50. you can see all of the 60s showing up in napa, brentwood, santa cruz, 67 degrees and san jose in the mid-60s, right around 65. these temperatures will check in right around 3:00 this a fternoon. here is a look ahead -- your five-day forecast it would be nice to show you a rain cloud

but we're just seeing the same thing over and over. a few high clouds could sneak into the area on sunday and then partly sunny skies on monday -- on sunday. february, typically we talk about significant storms. i wouldn't rule out february with more additional rainfall. >> if it was over and over rain, that might be a problem. >> yeah, it's good to get these breaks. >> thank you, mark. this morning a modesto woman was reunited with the international surgical team that gave her the ability to speak again. she had her voice box replaced. she damaged her voice cords while repeatedly pulling out her breathing tube in the hospital. the doctors performed the 1 8- hour operation at uc davis medical center. san jose received low marks on a report card out from the

american lung association. the 2010 state of tobacco report gave san jose a d-grade for the second year in a row. some parents in the mount diablo school district say closing schools could force them to leave the school district. >> if those schools are eliminated, we have to find some other option. >> hundreds packed the meeting last night to plea for their schools to be spared. seven schools are on the c hopping block. five in concord, two in pleasant hill. for some students in o akland, reporting crime is as easy as sending a text.

students can anonymously send text messages to campus police if there is a problem or emergency. will students use it? here's what some say. >> i would do it. >> i wouldn't want to run the risk of being known as a tattletale. >> the district's police chief said he got the idea from the nfl which he lets tests -- which lets fans report problems to security. "american idol" is back with both good and bad singers. and we have details on a lawsuit settlement on one of toyota's most popular cars.

war a -- dow jones is down about 5. in other business news, toyota has agreed to settle a class action lawsuit involving problems of the headlights on the hybrids. more than 2,000 hybrid owners sued after the light was shut off without warning. these are the model years 2006 to 2009. toyota will reimburse for having the lights fixed. it's back to new orleans --

it's on to new orleans for "american idol." newjersey got things started last night ♪ let it be ♪ >> as usual, some singers hit a bad note with the judges. >> one 15-year-old said celine dion is her inspiration. ♪ the season premiere of "american idol" continues tonight starting at 8:00 right here on channel 2. 50 years ago today, john f. kennedy took the oath of office. he asked not what you can do for your -- don't ask what your country can do for, ask what you can do for your current. this morning, caroline kennedys

gathered to celebrate the l egacy. divers are combing in patterson a canal looking for the missing boy. we have crews there. ahead on the news at 5: 5:00, we'll tell you why this search is so difficult. >> that's gonna do it for us. our next newscast is the news at 5:00. until then, have a good day.