david stevenson joins us with more. >> reporter: you can see the barge grounded right behind me. we want to pan over to the left and show you just how close this is to this harbor where the golden gate yacht club is. you can see it's a short distance away, a few hundred yards. you can see some of the crews working on the barge. operations, engineers from the national response center are laying cloth inside a yellow boom to sop up some of the hydraulic fluid that appears to be leaking from the vehicle. there's no count how much has leaked. we're told as many as 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel is in the barge of these types of barges. coast guard investigators are trying to learn what caused the leak but we know that at about 8:00, the coast guard at yerba buena island got a call that this barge and accompanying tug were doing dredging work,

pulling up sand. the tug beached the barge after there was a leak, just outside the golden gate yacht club. the goal was to keep the barge from sinking while putting it in a place where crews can work on it. >> the responsible party is taking active measures in making sure it's not a threat to the environment or to navigation. >> again, an aerial view of the barge area. here's what we know is going to happen next. the tug is going out right now. another barge will be brought in over the next couple of hours to help remove the sand cargo. the large may be assisted by a crane to -- crane to help move it into shore. and crews are hoping to get this damaged barge secured ahead of the rainies, heavy

rains, scheduled to come into this area. david stevenson, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, david. he also mentioned the rain's coming in. he's right. heavy rain is moving toward the bay area right now. the afternoon commute could get messy. rosemary's in the forecast. no rain just yet? >> just a few sprinkles. we have the clouds overhead. we're sort of sitting in a lull. looking at stormtracker, we have a little bit of light rain falling over calistoga, north lake. let me show you where the brunt of the system still is. it came over to fort bragg and continues to be to the north. it's sliding its way south and over the course of the afternoon, we do expect it to us -- we do expect it to be with us. you can see a few rain sprinkles. most of it not even hitting the

ground at this point. the winds are expected to kick up as well. we showed you the temperatures a moment ago sitting in the 50s. the wind speeds, you can see between 15, 18, even closer to 20 miles an hour in some areas. i will mention for the carquinez strait and delta area, a wind advisory comes up at 6:00. we'll take a look at your future cast models and what to expect the rest of the day -- coming up. >> all right. thank you. tonight the berkeley council is set to vote on a resolution that would invite two guantanamo bay detainees to come and live in berkeley when they get out of prison. allie rasmus has spoken to the woman behind this movement saying she would be willing to have a detainee move into her home. the woman is expected -- >> reporter: the woman is expected to address this issue. this resolution, number 18 on the list, is being proposed by the city's peace and justice commission. the resolution recommends the city council invite guantanamo

bay detainees to come live in berkeley. >> i -- i think it's a great idea. >> reporter: the resolution includes two possible candidates, one man listed, a russian ballet dancer, the other a chef. >> we feel it's an impassioned -- it's a gesture of compassion. >> reporter: but constitutional law professor jessie roper says there's a difference between releasing someone from guantanamo and going out to cause harm. >> the city council needs to be focusing on local issues a little too more.

a lot of times they think too high. we have potholes to fill. >> reporter: now, another hurdle for this resolution under federal law, guantanamo bay detainees are not allowed to live in the u.s. the city manager is recommending that the city manager take no action on the resolution. he does say that this wouldn't cause the city anything because housing for the detainees would be provided by nonprofits and volunteers. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. president obama is defending his new budget proposal as one of tough choices. the president pitched his $3.7 trillion budget plan this morning, saying his proposal is a down payment towards fiscal solvency and more needs to be done to parish that -- accomplish that goal including changes to major entitlement problems. >> we'll have bring down healthcare costs further, including programs like medicare and medicaid which are the single most biggest

contributors to the long-term deficits. i think we should -- >> republicans are blasting his proposal saying it does little to bring down the deficit. they are preparing a budget plan of their own. the president has made it clear what he wants to see what republicans are offering before any talks take place. the gop spending plan could endanger the effort to affect the sacramento delta. this would gut rules that protect delta water rules, the salmon run and the endangered delta smelt. and president obama's new 2012 budget calls for $130

million to help extend b.a.r.t. all the way to s an jose. but the project could already be offtrack. the president is recommending spending the money on the project from fremont to s an jose. but republicans on capitol hill must approve the project and they are promising to slash billions. we talked to b.a.r.t. commuters and they -- to see if they thought this project would come through. >> 0 probably not. >> i take b.a.r.t. every day to come to school. it's a big advantage to me. i don't have a vehicle. >> if the money comes through, the line to san jose would open in 2018. five different cities on the peninsula are considering a plan to merge into one regional fire district. this issue will be at the center of what promises to be a heated meeting in just a few hours. that's because a controversy may be rising from the

proposal. tara moriarty has been doing some investigating and joins us from a fire station in belmont with the details. >> reporter: we've just uncovered documents that show that two members of the san jose county board of supervisors have accepted political contributions. here they are showing thousands of dollars in donations over the past year. now, will this pose a conflict of interest if and when the fire department is put on the table? right now we're gonna take a look at some promotional video put out by cal fire. you can see it right here. the organization has come up with a deal. it would save five cities, san carlos, belmont, san mateo, foster city at least $17 million by consolidating services. we spoke to san carlos officials this morning and they say the amount of savings is

jaw dropping. >> ten years, $270 to, $00 million in savings. that's our roads. that's infrastructure. that's everything the city is supposed to do. it seems irresponsible to say you know what? let's let politics ride and ignore these savings. but city firefighters are leerily of the proposal. >> it's clear to see that on paper, the cal fire proposal is the cheapest by far but that's just the initial proposal. our reality is when we've seen this things happen down the road, fairing the ap the to the -- comparing the apples to the fruit basket is not what we wind up getting. >> city firefighters work a 56- hour workweek and with overtime they can make double than that. many have second careers.

now, cal fire overtime is built in and cold front costs less to -- and costs less. we're live in belmont, tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. thousands of new jobs mae i be coming to a national store chain this spring, including the bay area. some people saw something in the water in lake merritt and got concerned. we'll tell you what it is. as rosemary told us, heavy rain is coming. she's -- she has more on the forecast just ahead. an update on a shaky wall right next to a busy roadway.

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a tree limb hanging over the solano avenue roadway impacted traffic. the workers finished up and removed the debris by 9:00 a.m. a brief scare in oakland after someone reported what appeared to be paint in lake merritt. one person is now confirmed

dead in iran after egyptian- inspired protests there. tens of thousands hit the streets yesterday. this cell phone video shows the scene in iran. the protesters chanted against iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, despite mannings that police would use force against them. in addition to the one-person filled -- killed, dozens of were reported injured. a wall on ford street near the heavily-traveled bridge is unstable. police diverted traffic off ford street for a short time as a precaution. neighbors say the building safety has been an ongoing issue and the city actually declared the building substandard two years ago. >> well, the building's been falling apart at various stages

has been in disrepair as the years have gone by. the fire was in 2006 and nothing else has been done on the building to improve it. >> the fire caused more damage -- the fire caused more damage to the building and has been set for demolition. >> we just got video and they've now red-tagged the building. that means it's officially unsafe to occupy. equipment is being brought in to stabilize the wall until the building can be demolished. today's report on january retail sales is mixed news. the commerce department reports u.s. stores took in slightly higher revenue. the 3/10ths of a% of increase is half of what -- of a per-- of what analysts expected. spending at incumbents and bars were down. home depot announced they

need to -- they need to hire 63,000 new jobs. home depot said some of the jobs are permanent, part time and full-time positions but the company did not say how many. new concerns today about priority admission at california state university schools for local qualified applicants. space is limited on many csu campuses budget of budget cuts. sandiego state officials became the first cal state campus to turn away local qualified applicants. cdsu's president says relaxing the local guarantee says the school can focus more on students most likely to graduate. we caught up with some students at san jose state this morning for their opinions. >> i think it might be good. as more qualified students come into campus, that means the value of the degree will go up when i graduate.

>> it's silicon valley, it's breeding wonderful students. we should definitely continue to accept more local students. >> california's legislative analyst's office wants lawmakers to take action to ensure students how to spot at their local campus. a bay area congresswoman introduced rules that would turn passenger rights into laws. the bill gives passengers the right to get off the plane if it's stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours. a bay area passenger rights group also released a report that says airlines have been following the rule since they were created years ago. dorerl -- dorell juvenile group is recalling safety

seats. the recall covers infant, convertible and booster restraint systems sold individually or as part of a stroller. officials say the lock and release button does not always return to its locked position which could cause injuries during a crash. you can go to our website at ktvu.com where we have a link to the recall website. good afternoon. giving you a live look in oakland. look at all of those clouds. it took most of the morning but the rain finally arriving in some areas and so are the winds. we're looking at breezy conditions throughout many parts of the east bay and north bay. we're gonna see some pretty heavy rain for areas right around san francisco/oakland, it could be a treacherous ride for the evening. cold showers are expected for tomorrow and we're looking at a pretty soggy pattern. a little while ago we showed you the area and most of us are dealing with the -- with some dry weather. you can see the bulk of this is

sliding near santa rosa down into napa this hour and we're looking at winds picking up 25 to 30 miles an hour. we're talking hayward, livermore, concord, all reporting gusty conditions, winds between 25 even reaching 30 miles an hour at times. the rain/snow forecast for you, this is the heaviest rain as it moves through. it looks like by late afternoon. it's going to sweep across santa rosa and the bay. the winds are expected to grow stronger as well as the rain getting stronger. by 6:00, 7:00, and into 8:00, you can see right along the san francisco border working its way up and down i-0 as well as 580, you are find it here. south bay getting it through the early -- i should say late night early-morning hours. you see here wednesday morning we continue with the scattered showers. your satellite view, the system that wrought us a little bit of rain now off to the east. this is the second system here. do you see that line?

that will keep its way to the southeast. this will brings -- this will bringing you us cold, stable air. how much rain have we seen so far? quite a bit in the north bay. st.helena, 1.50. dunn it -- but we get down to oakland, .20. our afternoon highs similar to yesterday, the southerly winds continuing to bring us upper temperatures. 63 expected in san jose. 62 for san mateo. your five-day forecast, notice our temperature from the gulf of alaska brings us the colder air. the temperatures will slide down into the weekend. we'll be soggy, to start the morning, only getting in the 50s so you will definitely need your winter coat. tonight, the dublin city council will debate the city's

current ban at smoking -- of smoking at amount complexes. right now, all facilities with 16 or more apartments must make half of the units nonsmoking. the council is expected to vote tonight on increasing the number to 70%. that actually will not force a huge change since 69% of the apartments in dublin are already nonsmoking. some familiar faces with get -- some familiar faces are getting special honors today. also, how much is cost to clean up after a big pillow fight in san francisco.

taking a live look at the big board on wall street, stocks are down after that disappointing news about retail sales. weakness especially in energy and tech stocks. dow currently down 57. nasdaq down 12. s&p down 5. president obama and first lady michelle obama handed out the nation's highest civilian honor today to 15 people. former president george h.w. bush was mock the recipients in the -- among the recipients in the ceremony for the medal of freedom. other recipients include, the bay area's basketball hall hall offamer,, bill russell. the san francisco public

works department says it took six hours to clean up after the valentine's day pillow fight. we spoke with them earlier this morning and also learned it cost $8,000 to clean up the feathers left behind. last year, it was a lot more, costing 35,000. fewer people showed up so the cleanup was easier. pillows for puppies collected 150 bags full of trash and 300 pillows that will be donated to dogs at shelters. coming up tonight at 5:00, we are on storm watch looking live at the skies above marin county for the -- where the storm is coming in. we have crews situated across the bay area and in the sierra. we'll have live team coverage. that's coming up in our next newscast, the news at 5:00. and we have weather coverage on our website at ktvu.com. thanks for watching. have a great day.

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