workers and friends of a well-liked union leader react to his killing. i'm tara moriarty live in oakland. we'll tell you when he was last seen alive coming up. on the day after the state of the union address, the president follows up on comments made during his speech. for the last 90 minutes search teams have been at this home in ross looking for any signs of a missing teacher. we'll tell you what search teams say search dog just found. ktvu channel 2 news at noon

starts now. good afternoon. topping our news this noontime we're learning more about the death of a union leader who was killed in his oakland home. ktvu's tara moriarty is talked with some of the victim cycloses friends who reveal when they knew something was wrong. good afternoon, tara. >> reporter: good afternoon. friends of berry bingham say they knew something was strange when he didn't show up to a church here on sunday. we're here at mingleton temple where he was actually a deacon. the last time we know that berry was seen alive was saturday morning when he had breakfast with his son. right now the coroner's performing autopsy on bingham's body which was found yesterday morning inside his townhouse off henry street in west oakland. when the 64-year-old failed to show up at church sunday a red flag went up. then he didn't come to work tuesday where he would normally collect money for lottery tickets. and then his daughter knew something was wrong. >> his daughter had called me

and she said i've been calling my dad for two days. he's not answering. >> reporter: now bingham's co- workers and his son met at berry's house, knocked on his front door, noticed the door was unlocked and berry wasn't answering. >> i said please don't go in there. just wait. the police are on their way. i never thought that somebody would have shot him. >> i would never thought no one would murder him. no. not berry. >> reporter: police are remaining tight lipped about exactly how berry died. they will only say his body endured some type of trauma. and they are investigating this as a homicide. now bingham was a political director of seiu local 1021 which represents public workers including those in the city of oakland, alameda county and bart employees. he was the first african- american elected to the alameda school board and he is a divorcee with three children. police removed his car most likely taken to a crime lab for

further analysis. he is the 12th homicide in oakland just this year. and police are offering a very large reward. $10,000 for any information leading to his killer or killers. we're live in oakland, i'm tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, tara. a 19-year-old man is recovering from gunshot wounds he received during a street robbery last night in oakland. it happened near 66th avenue and east lawn street last night. witnesses say the victim was one of several people the gunman threatened and shot him as he got into his car. the victim is at highland hospital. the gunman escaped on a bicycle. police say he may be responsible for another armed hold up in oakland earlier in the evening. this morning a group of california highway patrol cadets paid tribute to state peace officers killed in the line of duty. the cadets made their tribute around 5:00 this morning. they ran five miles from the chp academy in west sacramento to the california peace officer's memorial near the state capitol. me moral memorial run for

cadets before they graduate. dive teams are once again searching a central valley canal for a car that could be linked to the kidnapping of a missing boy. they're also hoping to match a tread design on tires purchased by suspect jose rodriguez, the tire tracks discovered near the canal. so far drivers have pulled ten vehicles from the water including four yesterday. but so far they have not found rodriguez's silver toyota corolla. >> we knew that we would find vehicles in the canal. but we didn't think we would be this far into this investigation into searching the canal without having one finding our suspect's vehicle with the evidence we had, or two, we haven't even located a vehicle that made the tire tracks. >> deputies say the strongest lead so far is a witness who says he saw a car that matches the description of rodriguez's go into the canal. the boy was last seen january 1th when he was allegedly

snatched from his grandmother's arms at a patterson home. this morning the commerce department reported that unexpected surge in new home sales. the update shows sales climbed 18% in december which is the biggest jump in new home sales since 1992. it was led by strong home sales in the west and follows data on existing home sales that also shows a surge in december. analysts say buyers may have jumped into the market to lock in lower interest rates that are moving higher. starting today the first donation checks are expected to go out to the victims of the san bruno pipeline explosion. the city will hand out $6,000 checks to the people living in each of 38 homes destroyed in the disaster. the owners of homes that sustained moderate damage are getting $4,000. those with minor damage will get $1,000. critics complained the city waited too long to distribute the nearly $400,000 in donation

money. with last night's state of the union address still echoing in the halls of congress and across the nation's capitol, president obama headed to wisconsin this morning to talk jobs. speaking at a clean energy plant, mr. obama called for americans to show a single minded purpose in creating smarter and more innovative products than anyone else. or he said america will fall behind. >> in this new and challenging time, when america is facing tougher competition from countries around the world than ever before, we've got to up our game. we're going to need to go all in. >> in his state of the union address the president likened the challenge to that posed in 1957 when the soviet's were first in spate with the sputnik satellite. a chunk landed in a town where the president spoke this morning. on our channel 2 website at ktvu.com you'll find extended clips of the president's state

of the union speech. you can also see the full text. just look for the u.s. and world news tab. and a new report indicates america's students are going to have to get a lot better at science if they're going to answer the president's challenge to build smarter and better technology. a nonprofit group measured the science knowledge of fourth, eighth and twelfth graders and found vast majority were no proficient in the sciences with a third show 33% showing advanced knowledge, 21% of 12th graders. of the 46 states that participated, california tied for last with four other states. at this hour teams are searching for a marin county woman, a teacher, who mysteriously disappeared more than a week ago. there's no sign of foul play, but there's also no reason this mother and teacher should have gone missing. ktvu's claudine wong joins us live to explain where the search teams are focusing their efforts now.

good afternoon, claudine. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori. search teams have been here about 90 minutes. they left a few minutes ago but they focused their attention and specifically canines down this driveway and behind this home. that is where the 53-year-old lives. and that's the last place she can be traced. now before they left search teams told me their dogs got a hit once behind the house and once in front of the house. they believe she did like to walk in the area. right now they're going back and they're organizing their ground search teams and checking the creeks with dogs also there trying to pick up her scent. authorities hope canines can tell them where 53-year-old debra went when she left her home last week. they say she liked to hike and walk, but her purse, id and credit cards were all found at her house. >> she just was there and then she left. we believe on foot just because the car is still parked at the residence. >> reporter: there are few clues. and at the high school where she's an english teacher, her absence is being felt deeply by

some. >> she definitely needs to come back. it's not the same without her. >> reporter: student calls her his favorite teacher and says everything seemed fine when he he saw her last week. >> i never noticed anything different out of the ordinary during the week. >> reporter: you saw her that week and she seemed fine? >> yeah. >> reporter: say anything about leaving? >> no. >> reporter: last wednesday she left a note on the boardroom in her classroom that said thank you, everybody and she's not been seen since. a substitute teacher is in place. >> her whereabouts are unknown and that's where we stop. >> reporter: one week after she went missing the search and rescue teams have been brought in. foul play is not suspected. and at this point police haven't been able to find any problems at home, at school. nothing in her past that makes them understand where she went or why. >> no going away or -- she was a mom and a teacher.

>> reporter: her husband was out of town when she went missing. the school was the first to report her missing. neighbors have put together these fliers with her picture on top. we saw a neighbor just within the last 30 minutes or so walking out getting ready to hand them out. at this point the plan from search crews is right now they're organizing a ground search effort. they say they will start here. and at some of the creeks near places she liked to hike the dogs are also at that creek. they kind of spread their resources. they have more than one. they're hoping to find any scent, any clues that could give them a direction on where she went. live here in ross, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, claudine. at a meeting tonight the oakland school district will consider a possible 2% raise for teachers. but the district's budget is so tight that teacher raises could mean cuts elsewhere. oakland teachers are among the lowest paid in the county. they staged a number of demonstrations last year

calling for increases. the raises would cost about $2 million while the district faces a $12 million deficit. today the mayors of the bay area's three largest cities will join other california mayors in sacramento. they hope to convince governor brown to change his mind about a plan they say will result in the loss of tens of thousands of construction jobs. san francisco mayor ed lee, oakland mayor jean quan and san jose mayor reed along with six other california mayors will meet at 2:00 p.m. with the governor in sacramento. the mayors are against the governor's budget plan to eliminate redevelopment agencies. about 300,000 construction jobs are supported by redevelopment agencies every year. another milestone for congresswoman giffords as she recovers from the tucson shooting. we'll tell you what some volunteers are doing today to try to help the homeless. and the weather's been great around the bay area. meteorologist steve paulson will be along with the latest

on how long it will continue. also. >> what we've done is we've focused on the creativity coming out of the marketplace. >> organizers are promising a show that's bigger and better than last year for apple fans. and it kicks off today.

volunteers fanned out in contra costa county this morning to count the number of homeless people. the county conducts a home lessen sis every two years. advocates for the homeless say as many as 4,000 adults and children are living on the street or in shelters in contra costa county. the county uses the data to track trends and to secure federal funds to help the homeless. several hoursing a wounded congresswoman gabrielle giffords was transferred to a rehabilitation center in houston, texas. doctors at memorial herman texas medical center upgraded her condition from serious to good this morning and determined she was ready to move to a nearby facility. they say she's now ready to start the long difficult process of re-learning how to walk and other basic skills. she was shot in the head during a shooting rampage in tucson january 8th that killed six people and injured 12 others in addition to herself. the federal government's

color coded terror alert system will soon be a thing of the past. the system was implemented after the september 11, 2001 attacks. the associated press quotes anonymous sources as saying it will be phased out by april 27th. the government will continue to notify the public when the threat level is elevated but will do it without the color code system. investigators in oaring da tell ktvu traffic will be diverted all day long following a deadly crash that followed a police chase. yesterday's crash capped a strange series of events involving two vehicles stolen from the same woman. police say she spotted her subaru near the high school hours after it had been stolen from outside her home. she also saw her pickup truck and she was unaware that it too had been stolen. the woman then contacted police who began chasing the stolen pickup. the driver then smashed into a power pole and was crushed to death. pg&e crews are still working to

repair the power lines. some people will be without power until about 5:00 this afternoon. and as we mentioned, traffic will be getted in that area all day. we're learning more about a fatal officer-involved shooting in the foothills east of san jose. it happened yesterday after police officers, sheriff deputies and helicopters all converged on this home. the homeowner had reported there was a suspicious man on his property. officers then confronted the suspect in a nearby creek. >> they approached him down in the ravine and he approached them with an unknown weapon and i guess a couple shots were discharged in him and fatally wounding the man. >> investigators now tell us the man was carrying a knife. they have not yet released the name of the man killed. an overnight fire sent thick smoke into the skies above downtown alameda. it started shortly after 1:00 a.m. on alameda avenue. crews from both alameda and oakland were able to quickly control the flames from the

empty building which was under construction. there was major damage but no one was hurt. investigators are still looking for the cause. in san francisco unemployed construction workers are trying to shut down a construction site at ucsf mission bay hospital. they're angry they have not been hired to do the work. [ indiscernible ] >> community organization that represents construction union members says there are many local qualified union workers who are ready, willing and able to work. >> we've been down here protesting and demonstrating for over a year about this job. and now they said that they made an agreement they were going to work with us. and after the job started now they're doing something different. >> the protesters have been threatening to block both access gates at the site today. it was another morning of thick fog in the central valley. and some inland valleys of the

bay area. commuters had to be careful as they navigated through the fog on both busy freeways and narrow roads. a ktvu photographer took these pictures late this morning in eastern alameda county. the fog hung around in the inland areas until the last hour. still some fog off toward the east, but sunny and warm for many. almost a 20-degree spread between fairfield and downtown oakland. few high clouds but overall it's another sunny and warm day. higher clouds just zipping down from the north. no big deal. high pressure's here. it's going to be here for a while. draw your attention though to the temperatures which are coming in right now. fairfield 46. concord's only 52. napa airport has a temperature of 50 and east wind gusting to 32 miles an hour. i've seen gusts about 40 above the tunnel oakland berkeley hills so breezy for some. san francisco though 65.

60s for redwood city, mountain view, san jose, hayward. but 54 san jose. so there is a distinct dividing line between it's still cool and breezy or cold and foggy or sunny and warm. the fog just travels right along the delta. strait over san pablo bay back tonight into tomorrow. quick forecast calls for lingering fog off to the east. clear for some, mostly clear. hazy sunshine. very warm with record highs possible. today more of the same tomorrow. sunday and monday a little cooling trend but looks like the fog will thicken over the next couple days. and i'll be surprised if there's not a dense fog advisory issued again tonight. we had one this morning it was canceled before 11:00 but it will be back. thick fog, some mist in there. reduced visibility. no kidding. about zero. mainly north and east bay. but that east-northeast wind that means warm weather for the coast also many areas around the bay. one side of the tunnel if you're on the other side cold and foggy, oakland and berkeley side sunny and warm.

peninsula, south bay lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. no rain in sight. that's for sure. but there's some fog in sight and that will be back again tonight. the dense fog keeps things really cool. hazy and warm but windy at times. especially along some of the higher elevations. in fact, that will be back tonight and tomorrow. very unusual pattern is set up. zero visibility back on some of that fog or if you're heading towards the delta or parts of the east bay foggy, sunny for some but forecasted highs they're way up there for many. brentwood only 57. antioch only 58. same for fairfield. 74 downtown oakland. 66 santa rosa. san francisco 70. pacifica 68. half-moon bay low 70s. fremont, mountain view one of those patterns where if you're in pleasanton it will be okay. and then drop down to fremont warm. same for san jose. that would be a record high. the old mark is 68 in 1934. santa cruz, saratoga, everybody in at 60s or 70s. no change. our pattern is what you see is what you get. until the end of the month

which will be next monday. >> okay. maybe some changes then. >> looks like it's carrying into february right now. >> wow. okay. all right. thank you, steve. the macworld expo is underway in san francisco and organizers are expecting a block buster turn out despite apple's absence for a second year. the annual trade show begins with conferences today and a grand opening for the public tomorrow. apple pulled out of the show in 2009 but expo managers say the number of vendors and attendees is growing because of a strong interest in all things apple. and a product showcase you won't find anywhere else. >> it's the things you wouldn't otherwise see maybe in a traditional apple store. some people get to come to the show floor and walk and see maybe 90% of the companies aren't on apple shelves. so you see things that you wouldn't otherwise see in a very convenient location. >> organizers say more than a third of this year's exhibitors are new to the event and this year the show will feature more creative aspects of apple

products with the help of several artists and developers. the expo runs through saturday. things are looking up for nfl quarterback michael vick as he continues his comeback from his legal troubles. he got some good news today. also a really close call for a woman at a gas station. we have more of this dramatic video just ahead. n-opooal.. ko gr. i'a n ! e ysexdo.. llev wt emo? ko gr.

philadelphia eagles quarterback michael vick has his first endorsement deal since getting out of prison. it's for the sportswear company that makes the shoulder pads he wore this past season. the company is not disclosing details of the multiyear deal but this could be a possible thaw in the business community's attitude toward vick since his arrest on dog fighting charges. a big mystery in miami. how did a grand piano get to the middle of water? they think it was left there after a photo shoot. a gas station canopy blew free. the impact pushed her car on the side and she became trapped underneath. it took 40 minutes to get her

out. she was not seriously injured. coming up on ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00, a health clinic serving some of the bay area's poorest is on the brink of closing its doors. for decades the center has helped everyone from low income women with breast cancer to gays and lesbians with hiv. we'll follow the eleventh hour rescue mission to try to save this clinic. that story and more coming up in our next newscast ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. thanks for watching. have a great day.