him up for that. a few minutes ago, lynch's attorneys requested the priest take the stand. but the judge said -- sided with the prosecution. a decision the defense anticipated with disgust. >> i don't know why the prosecutors would want to run away from their supposed victim, unless he isn't a victim. >> reporter: protesters showed up early to support william lynch who was accused of beating the priest. lynch walked quietly by as his mother told us the focus should be on the priest, because he molested lynch and his brother when they were boyed. >> we are here to support will and protest the way the church handles these perpetrators. >> the employee, mary eden said, you molested me and you ruined my life.

sheriff deputy testified, father lindor said turn yourself in or i'll come back and kill you. supporters say the incidents can't be analyzed without considering the history of molestation. >> it feels like the last couple of pages of a novel. and the rest isn't being told. >> the father never acknowledged guilt or responded to other public accusations, but today, an employee acknowledged the center often houses priests accused of molestation. >> if it was up to me, i would be very upset to find out that not only is it being used as a dumping ground for molesters, they have so many of them, they have to keep a list. >> now right now, the two sides are talking with the judge to decide what will happen next, whether the preliminary hearing will continue or a trial date will be set. reporting live in san jose, ktvu channel 2 news. now the history of this case involving william lynch and father gerald goes back

more than 35 years. lynch and his younger brother say he molested them at a church camp in 1975. in 1998, they settled for $625,000. prosecutors say on may 10 of last year, lynch hunted him down at a retirement home and severely beat the former priest. he surrendered to authorities on september 29 and has been free on bail since. in san francisco tonight, police are investigating a shooting that happened this afternoon inside a store in the city's district. according to witnesses, a man in his 60s took his dog into the store and then got into an argument with a store employee. witnesses say they then heard three gun shots. two police officers nearby heard the shots as well and came around the corner where they found the man laying on the sidewalk with a gun shot wound to his back. >> witnesses directed the officers into the store where

the officers arrested the shooter, an employee of the store. >> at last check, the man who was shot was in critical condition at san francisco general hospital. witnesses say he is well known in the neighborhood and on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00, we'll have more on why neighbors say they can't imagine why anyone would want to shoot the victim. in a newly released interview, the google executive in egypt says he is ready to die for freedom. he has become the face of the uprising and brought attention to his company as well. is that a good thing? tonight, co's rita williams takes a look and she is here with what she found out. >> the google executive turned protest organizer had a message today for his country's leaders. if you're true and heroic egyptians, then it's time to step down. >> this is no longer the time to negotiate, unfortunately. >> why he told cnn when he and other young people first took to the streets, they just

wanted to talk to egypt's leaders. but the government, quote, decided to negotiate with us with rubber bullets, police sticks, water hoses, and tear gas. by arresting people himself included. >> thanks, you know, we got the message. >> is this not a google effort, yet it's good for google. >> marketing professor from golden gate university says in this case, the positives outweigh any negatives for the company. google wouldn't talk with us today, reissuing a statement. they are relieved he was released. trying to maintain a careful diplomatic distance in a country that for days cut off internet access. >> most of the people do not remember his name. at least outside of egypt. we remember he is from google and that's nothing but good for the company. >> he told his bosses he had an urgent personal matter and took vacation days to go to

egypt from his home in dew dubai. now he said today that he is ready to sign the document for the movement. turned over his assets to his american wife and two children. adding to the turmoil in egypt, a labor strike swept the country. demanding better pay, benefits, and working conditions. more than 5,000 people went on strike in the poor city of suez, including workers at a shoe repair company. in cairo, and mohala. the strikes have not affected traffic through the canal. you'll find continuing coverage of the uprising in egypt by going to our channel 2 website, ktvu.com. click on the egypt tab on the top. you'll find a link to a special section. in concorde, two schools are about to close and a third may be on the way.

parents and teachers say they had no idea the district was considering closing a third school. you can imagine their reaction when they found out this morning that west wood elementary could be shut down. rob is in concorde tonight where they are promising a fight. >> parents here at westwood elementary school, teachers and students are vowing to keep this school open. many found out about our proposal to close it on channel 2 this morning. two other schools are also shutting down and this could be the third. now folks at westwood are planning a community meeting right here tomorrow to get organized. >> these students, many of them 6 and 7 years old became demonstrators. teachers became emotional, even talking about a proposal this school could be shut down for good in june. >> five minutes before i started class today, the school could possibly be closed.

it's very sad and upsetting. >> it often comes down to it, maybe pull my girl out and home school her. >> as channel 2 reported last night, they voted to close two schools. they said they are considering closing a third school. either westwood or silverwood elementary. parents and teachers said they had no idea their school was being considered. they thought they would be taking in students from closed schools. >> we have been getting ready to receive kids next year. > under one of the proposals, the student body here would be divided among three schools, all of them miles away. >> schools are so far to walk. i'm not driving yet. >> it's hard on the kids. it's hard on us as parents. it's hard on our whole neighborhood community. >> the school board is scheduled a public hearing for february 15. a final decision is expected in

two weeks. we go to one of the schools that found out it is definitely being shut down. reporting live in concorde, ktvu channel 2 news. as we first told you last night, a young man from tracy who was abused for years followed through with legal action against the county he says failed to protect him. the victim is known publicly as kyle doe. today his lawyers filed a claim against sacramento county's child protective services. they accuse cps workers of ignoring science of abuse for seven years. >> we are very disappointed in the fact that the very agency that was there to protect kyle failed him. it's something that for kyle and for every child out there, that system has to change. >> kyle escaped his abusers in 2008. four people including his legal guardian were convicted of abuse charges. one of arnold schwarzenegger's last acts of governor is setting off an act

of controversy. nunez pleaded guilty for his involvement in the stabbing death of a college student in 2008. he is the son of former assembly speaker, fabian nunez. limit the governor's last minute ability to grant clemency. a report out today from the real estate site, zillo.com says bay area home prices could hit bottom later on this year, but don't expect them to bounce back up any time soon. the numbers show in the fourth quarter of last year, the median price of a home dropped to $463,000. that is down 3.6% from a year earlier. it is down 31.8% from the peek prices in april of 2006. an analyst who worked on the report says foreclosures and

unemployment will continue to weigh down home prices even after they hit rock bottom. >> some members of congress are pushing a new plan to help the more than 1 million people who have been out of work the longest. they are called 99ers because they lost their jobs more than 99 weeks ago. this morning, a bill was introduced to extend their unemployment checks by an extra 14 weeks. many 99ers will lose them in the next several weeks. the bill faces an uphill battle in congress because its price tag would add to the deficit. stocks ended mixed today as the late rally pushed the dow into positive territory at the close. for every stock rising nearly 2 fell on the new york stock exchange. even so, the dow was able to continue its eighth straight day of rally. the dow ended up closing up 7 points at 12,240. the nasdaq was down 8 points at 2,789. this afternoon, republican leaders emerge from a white

house summit and pledge to cooperate with president obama on crucial national issues. house speaker, john and others had a nice lunch. they agreed to work together to improve the economy. >> we did have a fairly robust conversation about the need for all of us to work together to send a signal that we are serious about cutting spending. >> there's an agreement that we have to change the way washington works, particularly as it relates to spending. >> today was the first meeting between the president and gop leaders since republicans took control of the house. congresswoman, gabrielle giffords has spoken for the first time since she was shot in the head in tucson. she made a request for breakfast. on monday, she asked for toast when her breakfast was delivered. doctors aren't saying how much more she may be speaking now, but they call it a breakthrough in her rehabilitation. giffords is at a rehab facility

in houston recovering from a gun shot wound on january 8. six other people were killed in that attack. he hasn't talked to me, i would have gone up with the fire. >> she escaped tragedy. now, she is headed into war. why she says she is happy to be going to iraq. >> and today felt like a return to some of that spring weather thr. is some rain. some real rain in your bay area forecast. i'll have the specifics.

a six 46 day massive funeral for a former vietnamese wrapped up today. he helped defend american troops. the pentagon turned down a request to be buried at arlington national cemetery so his family appealed directly to president obama and they will

have the general's body moved to arlington if their petition is granted. this is one of the last nights at home for a long time for donses of bay area men and women about to be deployed overseas. by the end of this week, they'll head to washington state for training, then they go to iraq. >> i love wearing this uniform. >> more than 60 california army national guard soldiers took part in a fair well ceremony. they are going to iraq for one year to provide medical care for soldiers there. many are leaving behind families and loved ones here. specialist, laura joined the army reserves three years ago and she probably wouldn't have joined if there wasn't a war going on. >> we have known we have been going for a year, so we are very aware of where we are going and i don't know, i'm very excited personally. i think most of the unit is happy. >> happy to serve, but yee is

torn. she is from san bruno and narrowly escaped injury in september's gas line explosion. >> i walked over the place it exploded an hour before it exploded and i was about to walk back home and somebody talked to me. if he hadn't talked to me, i would have gone up with the fire. >> her father passed away just a couple months ago. her family is hurting. >> they are going to be strong and i'm going to do my job overseas and that's what we're going to do. >> president obama set a 2012 deadline for all major combat operations in iraq. already, everyone here can't wait for them to come home. >> starting june 11, visitors to the fair can support the men and women of the 297th by making care packages and writing cards at the fair. they will be sent to the soldiers overseas. members of congress are suggesting stiff penalties

against lenders. they suggested higher fines even jail time. they say it is a problem that affects thousands of troops, including one who testified today. captain jonathan roll says jp morgan chase overcharged him for his loan and harassed him for not paying the extra amount. >> when you call your wife at 2:00 in the morning just to see how things are going and you spend 20 minutes talking about how we can send another letter or how we can make another phone call or -- instead of honey, i love you. how is the day? how are the babies? it's rough. >> chase is accused of e ignoring a federal law of protecting them from foreclosure. the bank apologized and said most of the affected service members are being repaid. the veterans affairs department today unveiled a long awaited plan to give extra help to care givers of severely

wounded veterans from iraq and afghanistan. the benefits include a monthly stipen and mental health help. the va has not said when the plan will be implemented or how many families it would benefit. a corporate donation is making it possible for the city of san francisco to replace 17 trees vandalized in golden gate park last year. the trees were planted this morning in the park's music concourse. they donated $30,000 to pay for those replacement trees. >> they wanted to do something for the park. they wanted to do something environmental. this is one of the happy circumstances where everything align and they stepped forward almost immediately to replant these trees. >> in all, 40 trees were vandalized, recreation and park officials hope to increase patrols. on to our weather now. another beautiful day, but bill, just like you called it, it cooled down a bit. >> i tell you what, overnight lows last night, very cool.

low 30s, we have freezing temperature in santa rosa. as we move into the next couple of days, warmer still. less wind out there and just a beautiful day. again, visibilities incredible. you are looking at ocean beach in san francisco, if you are in half-moon bay, is this good. i was looking at this today, but this live camera, that's point reyes. i can't remember the last time from this camera angle i could see point reyes which is a good 25 miles? something like that. but it is an unusual sight to see with the beautiful crystal clear quality. you can see the sierra nevada from the east bay hills and that continues as this beautiful air quality and beautiful weather conditions last and they stay at least through friday and saturday. then it all changes. i don't know how much of this will verify, but the long range models are bringing in significant rain for the last two weeks of february.

significant rain. so we'll see. now the good thing about it is, we're dry and we have been dry. the creeks are down. the ground water is down. we'll be able to accommodate a lot of water. overnight lows tonight, cooler, frost on the ground. 29 in santa rosa. those are your cold spots. 32 in fairfield. 33 in antioch. 31 in livermore. as the kids head off to school, jackets, no question about it. coming home, be careful. they could forget their jackets. all the specifics for your forecast for your neighborhood and we're going to look at that long range that shows the rain. i'll see you back here. a dropped tool is raising concerns for the trouble plagued space shuttle discovery. nasa workers are checking damage after a measuring gauge fell to the ground during repair work done last night. the metal parts may have hit the external fuel tank. discovery was supposed to lift off in november, but fuel tank cracks and hydrogen gas leaks

delayed the mission. liftoff is scheduled for february 24. the hero pilot, solly solen berger and his wife filed a lawsuit over a building they bought in 2002. sullenberger is credited with saving a jet liner full of people when he crash landed in new york after a flock of birds flew into the plane's engines. a bank and real estate agent duped them and the $935,000 price they paid was well above market price. no calories, so it doesn't count, right? the new warning about what drinking diet sodas can do to your brain and heart. also, you might call them tablet wars. hewlett-packard unveiled competition for the ipad today. and plague around with the workers a $100,000 fine.

. there are new reports that apple has begun production on a new ipad. the report in the post said the new ipad will be out in the fall. the new ipad will be thinner and lighter than the first one with more memory and a faster graphics processor. it will have at least one camera on the front for web conferencing and it will be available through at&t and

verison. tonight apple is not commenting. hewlett-packard filed another salvo in the war of the computer tablets and unveiled its answer to apple's ipad. >> this is the hp touch pad. [ applause ] >> just like apple's steve jobs, he wore jeans and strolled in front of a giant screen while showing off hp's new computer tablet. the touch pad has a 9.7-inch screen, like the ipad and weighs a little more than a pound and a half. hp unveiled two new smart phones, the credit card sized veer and the palm three which is designed to work with the touch pad. >> touch pad and this talk to each other. i can also take phone calls from here, so i don't have to pick up my phone. >> the touch pad enters a crowded field. apple sold 14.8 million ipads since last april and dozens of other tablet designs premiered

at last month's consumer electronics show in las vegas. one more question remains unanswered. at this point, hp will reveal the price before it lands in stores sometime this summer. a new u.s. senate bill would provide new protections for people who undergo the body scans. the measure bans anyone from misusing those scanners. that includes taking pictures of the images with personal cameras or cell phones and distributing them. violators could be fined up to $100,000 and spend up to a year in prison. homeland security official says the body scanners used by airport tsa screeners don't store the images. people are shelling out more cash in hopes of showing their love. according to the national retail federation survey, the average person will spend $116.21 on their valentine. that's up 11% from last year.

so what's the most popular gift option? it is simple and sweet. more than half of those asked said they'll be saying i love you with a card. when it comes to men versus women, the average man plans on shelling out more than twice as much as the average woman. $158 for men compared to about $76 for women. the for sale sign is gone. why governor brown says it's a bad idea to sell off state property. >> and it's all about the celebrities. one day before the official start of the at&t pebble beach proam.

complete bay area news coverage continues. this is ktvu channel 2 news at

5:00. the ultimate in kicking the can down the road. >> governor brown today saying he is dropping the idea of selling a number of state owned buildings. you may recall former governor, arnold schwarzenegger proposed that idea to deal with the huge budget deficits, but governor brown has other ideas. ken is live in sacramento with more on this. ken. >> reporter: frank, of course the state capitol was never on the list, but governor brown said this morning that no state property will be sold to close the budget gap. that was not a big surprise. more surprising is what the governor said about progress on the budget and the potential of republican cooperation. for sale, that's a sign you will not see in front of the attorney general's headquarters in sacramento or in san francisco at the state building near civic center. today, governor brown called off the sale. >> it's the ultimate in kicking the can down the road. >> 11 state owned buildings

were to be sold, then rented by the state. instead, the state was shifted money to make up for the lost revenue. >> the alternative will save $6 billion. >> the sale of the buildings was part of the government's proposal. the budget was the topic. when brown met with republican lawmakers at a closed door meeting this afternoon. he needs republicans to put tax extensions before voters in a proposed june special election. until now, the answer from republicans was flat, no. >> we're not to a point where we're, you know, saying yes to putting something on the ballot yet. i think it might depend on what that ballot looks like. >> republicans now seem open to a special election under certain conditions and without tax extensions, brown says the state will be forced to slash $25 billion from the budget. much of it from education. >> i will make those cuts and i think it will be very difficult for the legislature

to go along with that. >> brown also said today that the proposed june special election may be by mail in ballot only. no polling places that would reduce costs and possibly increase participation. in sacramento, ken, ktvu channel 2 news. now if there is a special mail-in election, it would be california's first ever mail only election. californians are becoming more comfortable with the idea of mail ballots, which used to be known as absentee ballot. according to the california secretary of state office, back in 1962, 2.6% of voters cast mail in ballot. last year, 59.6% of voters. more than 5 million, 300,000 people voted by mail. the obama administration says it wants to fast track some trade deals that were negotiated during the bush administration and that could mean a lot of money for california. at a hearing of the house ways and means committee, america's top trade official denied charges that they have been

dragging feet on panama, and south korea. the administration is responding to pressure to move faster. particularly from west coast lawmakers, despite big labor's criticism of the deals. >> west of the mississippi river, most of the members that i talked to, democratic or republican are wanting me to move forward. >> talk about the west coast, what about silicon valley? they used to make microchips. they were the envy of the world. guess what? it's been closed down. they moved to china. >> according to the commerce department, shipping local goods to other countries in 2009. and supporters say it could mean more business. the u.s. postal service says it's losing money at a rapid rate. they blame a requirement that the postal service make advanced payments to cover

anticipated healthcare benefits. they reported a loss of $329 million from october through december. the first quarter of the postal service's fiscal year. members of congress proposed easing those up front payments, which are not required of any other government agency. the nfl, the dallas cowboys, and their owner, jerry jones are now facing a class action lawsuit stemming from the super bowl. the plaintiffs, the hundreds of fans who bought super bowl tickets only to find out they didn't have any seats. along with other fans who felt their seats were inadequate. the nfl and jerry jones -- no response yet from the nfl or the cowboys. a carnival cruise ship docked in san francisco after repairs after an engine room repair is almost ready to depart on its next cruise. the carnival will leave on a mexican cruise on friday. the ship underwent $56 million in renovations to repair damage from the fire. it now has two new generators

and a new engine. after that fire, the ship was left drifting. some 4500 passengers and crew members were stuck at sea for three days. today, some celebrity hackers took a turn on one of the most famously beautiful golf courses in the world. ktvu's dale is live at pebble beach. joe. >> reporter: gasia, you look around here and you can't help but get mesmerized. the day when the celebrities team up and try to win money for their favorite charities. [ applause ] the celebrities vary from year to year, but some things at pebble beach that remain constant. on a day like today, it's one of the most breathtaking spots on earth. and there's a great appreciation for this tradition, started by bing crosby in the 40s. >> this is really for my dad. this is a tournament that he would have loved to have played

in and he would say early on, he was a drummer for bing crosby and bing introduced my mom and my dad. so it was something we talked about. >> when you have tradition, we would have liked to thought those guys would have invited us, you know, clint was the guy they invited, brought in and clint has done a good job of trying to walk that tight rope of who gets to come here. >> this is my first year here. you know, my bribe check finally got to the right person. >> golf is not what these guys do for a living, but they make a shot every now and then. kevin costner winning a hole for himself and partner, darius rutger. ray coming oh so close with a chip. but it came down to this for the big money. michael bolton lined up for a

$19,000 put. bolton stared down the icing by anthony anderson and won the money for his charity and that of playing partner, clay walker. [ applause ] >> every time you walk up to the ball, your nerves are acting up. it's because this is not what we do for a living. i'm a lot better with a microphone. it was an awesome way to finish. >> reporter: we'll show you a tree right now for an appropriate reason. that is cyprus point golf course. one of the courses used in the rotation. it's now monterey peninsula club, and pebble beach. reporting live from pebble beach, ktvu channel 2 news. actress, lindsay lohan pleaded not guilty this afternoon in a courtroom in los angeles to felony grand theft charges. prosecutors say lohan walked out of a jewelry store last month with a $2500 necklace that she did not pay for.

if convicted, she could face three years in prison. lohan is already on probation for a 2007 conviction on drunk driving and cocaine possession charges. new word tonight about the terror threat with the united states. why securities say it's as high as it was after the 9/11 attacks. also it's happening again. u.s. airways is bumping it up. we'll show you what you will pay for now for those heavy bags. a warning to drivers. find out what caltrans is going to do to a busy east bay freeway in just a few hours now.

if you fly on u.s. airways, it's going to cost you more to check your suitcase if it weighs more than 50-pounds. they will cost $90 instead of $50. that's on top of the $25 to check the first bag. the new overweight bag charge will apply to passengers with tickets purchased after february 1. the u.s. homeland security secondary said the threat of terrors is as high as it was right after the september 1 attacks. she said the u.s. has made progress on securing its border

with mexico. >> the border thanks in part to the bipartisan efforts of the congress -- and the numbers in terms of seizures that need to go up and the numbers in terms of illegal immigration are going way down. >> they said that cartels that bring violence into the united states, they will be brought in with overwelming response. on a busy east bay freeway. the closures will be along parts of eastbound highway 80. crews will be out completing work on extending car pool lanes to the bridge. the off ramp will be shut down tonight from 10:00 p.m. through 6:00 a.m. crews will be back on friday making repairs on the bridge deck. the willow avenue deck will be closed until 2:00 p.m. and again from 7:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m. on sunday. caltrans today began cutting down trees to make room for a new road project.

20 trees are being removed where the highway intersects. caltrans plans to straighten highway 12, build a new right turn lane and upgrade traffic signals. construction is set to begin sometime this summer. how young is too young for facebook? according to michelle obama, 12 and under might be too young. she revealed today her daughter, sasha and malia are not allowed on the website. the girls have certain restrictions due to security issues, but the first lady says even if they weren't living in the white house, facebook is not something they need. however, she is not ruling it out as the girls get older. millions of people drink diet soft drinks, could there be a health risk? suggestions still ahead. >> we are looking at cold overnight lows. last night down to freezing. tonight cold as well.

some 20s, and we're going to talk about that rain. will it make it to your neighborhood this weekend?

millions of people may feel better about themselves when they choose to drink a diet soda over a regular soda. ktvu's health and science editor is live in berkeley tonight and john, it turns out those diet drinks may be linked to a serious medical problem? >> reporter: they are probably one of the most popular drinks in the world. and there is new suggestions

that simply regularly drinking diet cola or diet sodas of any kind could actually damage your brain. auto detailer, matt flynn says he drinks almost nothing else. >> fewer calories, it's lighter, not as much sugar. >> after all the obesity warnings of regular soda, many people, young women especially, drink diet sodas. >> because i like the taste of it. it has a different taste than normal soda. >> a new study today of 2500 people followed for nine years linked regular drinking of diet soda to a 61% increased risk of stroke. a blood vessel in the brain bursting, or clogging up, killing brain tissue. >> i think that's scary. i think it's very scary. >> researchers said they factored out obesity, smoking, high blood pressure, and other risk factors and diet soda drinkers had a 40% higher

stroke risk. >> i grown to like the taste of diet soda, so i might think about this. >> uc berkeley wellness letter editor cautions against over reaction. >> it raised some questions. we don't know how good the study is. we don't know how well it was designed. so don't over react at all to this. it's very preliminary. >> researchers said they were unable to find a definitive link. and this stroke effect, they say they do need to do much more research. reporting live, ktvu channel 2 news. just in time for valentine's day, you're going to shell out more for sugary treats. driving up prices of sugar worldwide. for example, one candy factory increased its price from less than $15 to now almost $19 a box. the price for a 50-pound bag of sugar doubled since one year ago and while that means bad news for home bakers, it's good

news for u.s. farmers who will be making more on their precious crop. what's next for students in concorde? that story is just ahead at 6:00, julie haener is in the newsroom with more. >> also at 6:00, how a small dog may have trigger add shooting hours ago in a popular tourist destination. what we are learning from witnesses and the police. also ahead, take a look at this. sight seers get more than they paid for. the reason why this large pod of whales might be in the bay area tonight. plus, it just opened its doors in the bay area today, why it's being called a medical miracle in the research done there. >> thank you, julie. michelle obama had a confession to make today. the menu for the white house super bowl party didn't fit her antiobesity campaign. she had a confession to make. it included bratwurst, and buffalo wings. the first lady told an

interviewer that the key is going back to a healthier diet the following day. >> but those are such good cold weather foods. we can use foods like that soon, right? is that our excuse? >> it's going to be cold overnight and warm through the week and rain our way. that's the weather big story. the shorter story, we go outside and show you down the avenues of san francisco, it's 57 degrees right now in san francisco, but out at the avenues today, at the sunset, i had 65 degrees right along the coast. that was one of the warmer spots. a beautiful day. temperatures the next couple days are going to stay on the warm side. we go to liver more, it starts out at freezing. by 7:00 a.m., you're at 32 degrees. 62 for a high. still above the average in parts of the livermore valley. thursday through saturday, high pressure continues with the cool, chilly mornings. the winds are dying down. and then this high goes away. not just for a couple days as

we get into sunday, but looks like for a week at least as the weather system after weather system wants to approach our coast. right now all the models are agreeing on this. we have a ways to go. in the meantime, enjoy, because the warm weather, the dry weather, the sunny weather done. as we get to sunday, it's going to be a switch for you. 64 tomorrow in fairfield. 63 in concorde and hayward. santa rosa, 65. that's your forecast high. those are your forecast highs for thursday. wow, this week is flying by. 65 in morgan hill and 63 in fremont. good air quality. visibility is -- i'm outside a lot. i'm sure you are, too. there's not that many days a year where we get visibility, like we are looking at right now. we saw the long islands, you can see the sierra nevada from the east bay hills. beautiful. >> coming down 24 heading

toward oakland. the view just opens up. >> and at night, too. everything vibrates. the wind cleans out the atmosphere. >> thank you, bill. far from earth, the sounds of live flute music thanks to a musical member of the crew. ♪ [ music ] definitely don't see that every day. astronaut, kathleen coleman staged a weightless concert on board the international space station, playing one of four flutes she brought with her. coleman has a doctorate of science and engineering. she says she sometimes finds herself bumping into things as she floats around playing with her eyes closed. one bay area city has been chosen the sexiest city in the united states. plus, making a case when a california lawmaker told a high speed rail summit today about why the state of california needs high speed rails.

san francisco has been chosen as the sexiest city in the united states. the online site, orbitz conducted an online valentine's surveys. san francisco got the most votes, thanks to its top rated restaurants, night life, celebrity residents and wine country. miami and las vegas ranked as the second and third sexiest cities. just 24 hours after president obama proposed new

federal grants for high speed rail, california's bullet train was back on the agenda in washington today. california lawmakers told a national high speed rail summit today that the system will be crucial to boosting the nation's economy. they said the u.s. already lags behind european and asian countries when it comes to clean, efficient transportation. they say high speed rail will solve overcrowding issues in the bay area. >> they also know the air quality problems and the traffic congestion problems we face from the bay area. and high speed rail has an opportunity to provide solutions to all of those issues. >> the california high speed rail authority today put out the call to private businesses to help finance, design, build, or operate the system. so far, california's bullet system received $5.5 billion in funding, but that's a fraction of the total expected cost. ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00

is next. plus. >> a daytime shooting and it shocks onlookers. find out the role this little dog made before the bullets were fired.

shot in the back in broad

daylight. new information just coming in about the argument it may have led to a shooting in a store. >> oh gosh. look at that. >> and take a look at this. the larger than life attraction that caught sight seers by surprise today. complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. good evening. i'm julie haener. >> and i'm frank somerville. you sign up for a whale watching trip, you hope you'll see whales up close. today a group of tourists got more than they paid for. ktvu's jeanine is live at pier 39 in san francisco with a look at very few people get to see. jeanine. >> reporter: yeah, frank, it was amazing. as you said, the sighting happened on a whale watching tour this morning. 14 tourists who were on board the kitty cat you see here docked on pier 39 were on board when the captain suddenly spotted the killer