combat operations in iraq are supposed to be ending this year. so why are 75 members of the san mateo national guard unit leaving for iraq? shocked by parents and students after their school was unexpectedly put on a list of possible closures. >> reporter: we're live in san jose where a preliminary hearing began for a man accused of beating a former priest. his supporters say he was justified.

good afternoon. topping our news this noon time, a somber farewell ceremony began two hours ago. more than 60 national guard members are heading overseas. one of those members has a special connection to the san bruno explosion. here's more. >> reporter: this event is taking place at the san mateo fairgrounds. as the -- and the fairgrounds are taking an active role when these troops deploy overseas with their families. the day's events will continue until 3:30. soldiers from the 270 area support medical company are seeing their families for the last time for a year, and for some it may be the last time. emotion ran high as family members shed tear foss the occasion. the unit will leave for fort

lewis washington before the end of the week. the idea is to get the california unit up to speed with regular military protocol. for one of the soldiers, the deployment is full of combat. >> it will be hard, my father passed away a few months ago. they are gonna kind of be working to kind of live on -- live on their own. >> we'll be using our social media to let our fans know that they have every opportunity to bring in a list of items that the soldiers need while they are deeing deployed and then being able to make those care packages and write cards and send them to the unit. >> many of us are under the impression that troops are pulling out of iraq to meet president obama's 2011 deadline to end all combat operations there. the 297 says as far as they know, the timetable is skill on schedule. the deployment of the 297th its first during the entire iraqi

war campaign is to leave another company. when they leave, they will be stakessed in a forward-area of combat operations. a soldier we spoke narrowly survived the san bruno explosion. >> what happened, he pulled me out. some guy he was talking to me. he was asking me on a date. i walked away. it blew up. he stopped me from walking over the the pipeline -- walking over the pipeline. >> reporter: did you say yes? >> no [ laughter ] >> reporter: one of the soldiers say they are very proud to wear the united states form. many are looking forward to the year overseas deployment. reporting live in san mateo county, kraig debro -- kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news.

it's news that blindsided some concord parents. they found out after listening to ktvu news that after a vote last night to close two ore schools, there was talk of closing westwood elementary school as well. most have thought westwood was part of a plan to accept students from other closed schools. one parent we spoke to was visibly upset. >> that's really sad. we had -- i'm a teacher at westwood. it's her last year. >> reporter: and you want it to be here? >> yes. >> the proposal to close westwood is a complicated plan to keep students together after the closure of holbrook and glenbrook. the closures are wren, monty

gardens and sequoia. a man accused of beating up a retired priest goes to court today. jade hernandez was there and the suspect has a justified reason for attacking this man. jade? >> reporter: we, the hearing began an -- well, the hearing began an hour ago. the woman working there that day said she describes the defendant as agitated and taking out his anger on the priest. we watched william lynch walk into the courtroom with his attorney. he's accused of tracking down and weight -- down and beating 65-year-old priest -- the 65- year-old priest last year. the defendant contends that the priest move lefted him and his brother 30 years ago. the alleged abuse happened during camping trips. his attorney, mark geragos,

spoke to us. >> they want to prosecute the past. it's almost laughable. i just finished a murder trial here about the past of the defendant. what's good for the goose is good forked gander. >> jail father jerry! >> reporter: these protesters supporting the 30-year-old some are saying to jail the father. others are saying clergy sexual abuse steals lives and others say free willie. >> what we're -- we're here to support will and to protest the way the church handles these perpetrators. laws need to be changed. >> over the years, other abuse allegations have surfaced including from lindner's own

sister and niece. >> we've known the priest he was the one that counseled us. this is the first time i think he's gonna have too face one of the children -- to face one of the children that he assaulted. i think the state has to do something about not protecting pedophiles and not letting the statute of limitations run out on hese -- on these. >> reporter: a spokesperson says the priest was not in court today. we'll have more on this coming up at 5:00. jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, jade. a labor dispute involving nurses at two stanford hospitals has reached the boiling point. stanford hospital and lucile packard announced they will impose a contract. and union leaders say that's a declaration of war. nurses previously rejected turns. the major sticking point, a new

system for promotion that the union says is flawed. within the past hour, uc santa cruz held opening ceremonies for the new building. the building will contain scientists working on cut-edge project -- on cutting-edge projects for diabetes and cancer. this is one of seven stem cell centers in the state. scientists are still being recruited to fill out the staff. an aide to congresswoman giffords said she's spoken for the first time since she was shot in the forehead. the 450-year-old arizona democrat spoke for the first time a few days ago asking for toast and is speaking more and more. she is in a rehabilitation hospital in houston recovering from a gunshot wound january 8th. six other people died in the attack. ahead -- the latest from

egypt and why a bay area police department is warning women to be careful. new training for b.a.r.t. police officers just got underway. we'll tell you the reason for today's refresher course. mark tamayo is looking ahead. he says changes are coming to the bay area. also -- >> for me, myself, this is my only income. the proposal for changes to the recycling program in a bay area city but some people don't like it. ='vv÷5ñío$m1:tmu

oakland police are investigating an accident this morning in which a patrol car hit a pedestrian at 7th and madison. witnesses say the pedestrian did not appear to have been hurt badly. police say she was taken to the hospital complaining of pain. police did not release any other details about the accident. and b.a.r.t. says it's looking for a change with how the police force enter act -- interacts with the public. they took part in a training session as part of the new community policing approach. part of the new approach will be to have b.a.r.t. officers act more like those who work a beat in regular city departments getting to know firsthand the people and issues in the communities they serve. oakland police are warning women in the city's chinatown area to be aware of their

surroundings. that's following a sexual assault outside an apartment house on jackson street. it happened shortly after 10:00 monday night. police say a man brutally beat and sexually assaults a woman in her 50s. the-- assaulted a woman in her 50s. the victim is chinese and does not speak english very well. she was only able to give police a general description of her attacker. >> it's gonna be terrifying for anyone. if you don't speak the language you have to try to communicate other ways. >> investigators hope to interview the victim again and come one a sketch. they say this attack does not appear to be linked with other sexual say all the -- assaults in the nearby lake merritt area. san francisco police are meeting to deal with new options when dealing with the mentally ill. it's in response to three shootings, including one in december, when police shot a man in a wheelchair outside a mental health facility. one proposed training program involves establishing a team of

officers trained specifically to deal with people with mental health issues. in egypt, the protests continued in cairo's main square despite a new warning from the country's vice president who says the demonstrations cannot keep going. the number of protesters who turned out yesterday was perhaps the biggest yet. many youth organizers are becoming suspicious that the new vice president is only planning superficial changes andty are refusing to open the dialogue -- and they are refusing to open the dialogue with him until president mubarak steps down. many are refusing to leave tahrir square. they are becoming concerned that if president mubarak remains in power that the victims will have revenge. there's video recording in the crowd and they suspect those people are undercover police

documenting the incident. there's new proposal to return bottles and cans into food instead of cash. many homeless people do this for extra money. but scott wiener wants to make it a requirement that they are given food vouchers to ensure the money is spent on something other than drugs and alcohol. one man said he would need public assistance if he couldn't recycle. >> what about the people by myself that use this money for like laundry and other personal hygiene items and just the day- to-day survival things? >> he says he's been homeless for about eight years and makes about $100 a week. wiener says the proposal will also help reduce the number of unsavory characters who line up outside grocery stores in search of recyclables. it's a big unveiling by hewlett-packard that could give apple products some

competition. late this morning, the palo alto company introduce the highly anticipated touch pad that sports a screen about the same size as the ipad. it also has a front-facing camera in sync with other devices like smart phones and printers. the wi-fi version will be available this summer followed by the 3-g and 4-g versions. hp unveiled two smart phones, including one about the size of a credit card. we'll show you the new items ton on the news at 5:00. and there is a rumor that apple has begun production of a new ipad. the wall street journal cites people familiar with the -- people familiar with the manner thinner, and lighter and a faster graphics processor. they say it will have at least one camera on the front for web conferencing, it will available at&t and verizon. however, apple is not commenting. a major wireless company may be headed to the bay area.

nokia is rumored to be considered moving its center to silicon valley in an effort to revamp the products. the company's currently headquartered in finland. tech crunch reports a memo that shows there's no concern about the future. others say there could be a a rival planned. a facility in silicon valley will allow more companies to share ideas and knowledge in the areas of clean technology, amongst oh. a tech anna -- among others. a tech analyst said it's good news. >> this will do positive things for house prices. it causes the beginning of a potential cascade of other

companies coming here. >> "the kron neck kell "reports construction --" the chronic elle "reports this would create more jobs united states once the facility is finished. peninsula firefighters jut finished putting out a fire near crystal springs road near san mateo. heavy smoke impacted traffic in the bay area for a brief time. after a very cold start this morning, temperatures beginning to recover right now. but we also have some gusty winds out there, especially out to the bay area hills. right now in oakland you can see all of the clear conditions. great visibilities. and we do have just for the most part a fair weather pattern develop over a good portion of the state and including the bay area. i was talking about the -- let's talk about the winds.

in fairfield, coming out of the north to northeast right around 24 miles an hour. we do have a wind advisory in place out towards solano county until 7:00 this morning. current numbers are recovering mainly in the 50s to 60. santarosa right around 60. sanfrancisco, 59 and san jose in the upper 50s at 5 8 degrees. the weather story is this. for today we're expecting more sunshine, a bit of a breeze out there. tonight, mostly clear and cool. next week, we haven't talked about this in quite some time, more rain clouds. in fact, a series of storms will be approaching a goods portion of the -- a good portion of the state. winds on average, 10 to 20 miles an hour. strongest out towards the delta and also towards the higher terrain. high pressure is still in charge of our weather. as a result, the storm track is heading up way to the north. we will hold on the strong weather pattern this week. as early as monday we introduce the rain clouds. enjoy the sunshine. we could be talking about a series of storms for the second half, at least for a good

portion of the second half of february. this afternoon, 3:00, 58 to 65 degrees with mostly sunny skies, by 6:00, mostly clear, those temperatures already beginning to come down 53 to 58. by 9:00, fair skies. temperatures mainly in the upper 40s to the lower 50s. here's a look at the numbers for the afternoon. you can see 60 in santa rosa, oakland, also right around hayward. these temperatures will check in right around 3:00 this afternoon. sanjose, 64 and half moon bay, 59. onto here is a look ahead after cut -- here is a rook ahead to -- look ahead to the forecast -- we could be talking about patchy frost tomorrow morning and friday morning. but then in the afternoon hours, it's a completely different story. temperatures back up to the mid- to upper 60s. maybe, tori, as we can see by friday, getting close to 70. we cool things off.

i've already started to check out -- check things out for monday. and it will be the first time we see a rain cloud in a while. michelle obama, in a white house ceremony, a year ago today, the president and his wife kicked off efforts to eat better and exercise. she spent part of the morning touring a garden at a public school. her speech is scheduled at a church in an atlanta suburb where she will talk about her campaign. a san francisco school that immerses children in the mandarin language will begin -- will begin a project to renovate the classrooms. workers began demolition this morning on some of the classrooms. the project is set to get underway in full force this spring. the new and improved campus is set to open may first.

the new 20,000-square foot military will allow the school to offer preschool classes to more children. we will move from 40 kids to over 150 children in this new space. the school's founder credits leland yee and fiona ma for helping to cut through the red tape and moving things forward. ahead -- why some super bowl fans filed a lawsuit against the nfl. and more troubles for actress, lindsay lohan. this is her biggest problem so far.

a lawsuit was filed this morning by fans of the super bowl who never got the seats they were promised for the big game. the suit accuses the nfl, the dallas cowboys and jerry jones of deceiving phones who bought super bowl tickets who didn't have a seat or felt their seat was inadequate. ticketholders wound up on folding cheers and could really not see the game. it's back to court for lindsay lohan in about an hour. she's accused of stealing a $2500 necklace. she was charged with grand theft this morning and is scheduled for a lay -- for arraignment at 1:30 this afternoon in los angeles. she claims the necklace was a

loan, which is a common practice for celebrities which the -- dash but the store denies that. tonight "american idol" will air the san francisco auditions. >> we're. >> it to win it! >> we're in it to win it! >> the bay area welcomed the "idol" judges. some used grimicks and costumes to -- gimmicks and costumes to stand out. 2009 fan favorite adam lambert was discovered here. you can catch all of the auditions here tonight right here on ktvu channel 2 starting at 8:00. stay tuned right after the show to the 10:00 news for a behind- the-scenes look of the san francisco auditions of three hopefuls. there's more "american idol" at ktvu.com.

coming up on the news at 5:00 -- diet soda may be popular with people watching their calorie and sugar intake but there are new concerns that diet drinks pose a health hazard. researchers looked at the soda- drinking habits of thousands of people factors in -- factoring in age and health and other variables. find out the results. that story and more coming up on the ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. thanks for watching and have a great day.