with earthquakes. >> i would like to just know that they are safe. >> reporter: rob gwin is a christ church native. his older brother rod and his wife trish live in christ church and until 5:00 today still had not been heard of after the quake. >> it's rough from the states. >> reporter: rob called another brother for news. >> nobody is being reported deceased until the actual body has been identified by the family. >> reporter: just an hour ago, gwen called me saying a friend texted that his brother and sister-in-law were found safe. this afternoon at sfo, we talked with passengers arriving on the first new zealand flight since the quake. >> my friend works right beside

the cathedral. so, we're pretty pretty worried. >> reporter: the noontime earthquake collapsed, the iconic christ church cathedral. it's now 3:00 in the afternoon there. rescuers are at this hour desperately searching through the rubble. some survivors have been rescued as we said. reportly a few had to have their arms or legs amputated. an elite search team is at this hour preparing to leave. i just checked with the online airport closures and christ church airport is now open. reporting live, health and science editor, john fowler ktvu news. and you will find a special section on earthquakes on ktvu.com. there's more video of the damage in new zealand and a guide for putting together your own earthquake survival kit. everyone's worse fears came true today. those four americans taken hostage by pirates in somalia

were killed. and rob roth has some insight on what may have gone wrong. >> reporter: frank the four victims were on a yacht in the middle of an around the world sailing adventure when pirates hijacked them. a bay area professor specifickizing in piracy is saying pirates are becoming more desperate and more violent. authorities say pirates killed this oakland woman's aunt an experienced and adventurous sailor. >> we're very distraught and devastated this morning. >> reporter: and the two were sailing with another couple. for reasons unknown, the sailors broke off from another set of yachts. >> my aunt is a very smart and avid sailor. she was living her dream,

sailing around the world for now her third year. >> reporter: the navy had been negotiating with the pirates but this morning the pirates shot the hostages. >> there could have been some decent amongst the pirates pirates about what they were going to do in this incident. it might have been not the initial intent to kill the hostages this early but something that might have gone wrong very quickly. >> reporter: somalian pirates are reportedly holding 700 hostages. >> and it's making the pirates a bit more desperate. >> reporter: the u.s. government estimates piracy costs the world economy some $7 billion a year. reporting live in alameda, rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news.

oakland police say they arrested a man who they believe followed five women home from a grocery store and then robbed them. each case involves shoppers at the safe way store just off of highway 13 in the oakland hills. police say the suspects followed the women home from the store then robbed them in their driveways. they think surveillance video led to the arrest. a judge has ordered a former priest to face to ireland to face charges that he sexually abused young boys. mckay lived in alameda until last july when he turned himself in. he is mow being held at santa rita jail. authorities in ireland say mckay molested six boys. u.s. authorities are also investigating mckay over molestation allegations during the 80s when he was a priest in the santa rosa diocese. a san franciscoman today pleaded not guilty to felony assault for allegedly attacking

a 65-year-old retired priest. will lynch says the priest molested him and his younger brother when they were children. gerald lindner denies the claims. friends and family members held a somber birthday celebration today for a young bay area woman as she recovers in the hospital from a hit and run accident. >> she's not happy of course to be here but you know she's happy to be alive, she's very thankful to god that she made it this far and i know she's going to pull through. 19-year-old erica luna was hit by a grey or silver suv or mini van on the morning of february 6th. investigators say she was dragged about 2,000 feet on fontane road in east san jose. erica has had four operations and is still undergoing treatment. police released a sketch of the driver last week but say they

still need more leads. there's a $6,000 reward for more information for information that leads to an arrest in this case. san jose has a new top cop tonight. the city council unanimously approved the city managers choice of chris moore to take over as police chief. moore has been serving as acting chief when rob davis stepped down. politics are always interesting in san francisco, tonight the progressive party is making big moves. david stevenson reporting why this could signal a change in the agenda. >> reporter: there were big surprises at city hall as two well known progressives say they are ready to take on some well known candidates. greenny this morning began his bid to become the county sheriff. he served nine years in the district attorney's office, he

admits the move appears add odds with his politically progressive agenda. >> people know me as a progressive, but there's a lot of thing that is deputies sheriffs do to making sure public safety is well intact. >> reporter: jeff adachi today reported he hired -- -- >> we have to go fight for our budget and make sure we have the resources to represent 25,000 people a year. >> reporter: the move comes within uncertainty of the city's next mayor. progressives lost their majority on the seat of supervisors. >> there's a whole thought that the progressives have lost somehow. to a moment of realignment but not because we're losing but because we have to set new goals. this is an attempt to solidify the progressives, the left progressives of strand in the city of san francisco to

strengthen it in the eventuality that we end up with a more moderate or more conservative mayor. and just this week, former supervisor chris daily a progressive indicated he might jump in the race for mayor if no other progressives choose to run. a defiant gadahfi took to the air waves today. gadahfi spoke in front of hundreds of supporters. he says he will fight to his last drop of blood and he will not allow further disruptions to continue. and army units are now claiming control of some oil producing areas. gadahfi is controlling from a mind set anchored in the past. >> he does not see that the world is changing, and demands

are different, culture of people are different, through internet and facebook brought big changes. >> cal state professor younous told rita williams he expects more bloodshed in libya. like regime changes in neighboring egypt and tenesia it could be over in a week. the dow fell 178 points to close at 12,213. investors shed stocks as the price of oil jumped to $95 a barrel. the nasdaq dropped eight points to 2,756. they call themselves the mommy tsunami. today they rolled into the state capital. parents and their disabled children rallied to save $750 million in cuts to state programs for the

developmentally disabled. they say the cuts threaten the promise of the landerman act which promises services and support for the developmentally disable. governor brown says the budget cuts will not violate that act. children's hospital oakland is facing $10,000 in fines for safety violations. the medical center is accused of failing to comply with security violations. $100 million, the one way the bay area could save that much money on public transit. plus -- >> reporter: one in 11 cars in this south bay neighborhood has a good chance of being stolen. find out the two bay area neighborhoods that top the nation for car thefts. and tomorrow morning is going to be another cold one. i'll show you which cities will

be at or below freezing levels.

adam: we need a good night's sleep. kim: which means a little heat to keep us warm. and a good dose of support for my back. some over the top comfort couldn't hurt. and our perfect dream factory's been built. i'm feeling sleepy already. nighty night.

we have breaking news right now, we have just gotten word that former chief of staff rahm emanuel has just been elected mayor of chicago. right now traffic has returned to normal on the dun barton bridge after a fiery crash shut it down for some time today. chopper2 showed you the scene this morning. officials say the two women inside that sedan managed to get out of the car before it was hit. and the truck driver suffered minor injuries. $100 million a year, that's how much transportation officials say could be saved with a few changes to the bay

area's transit agencies. the issue with 28 different transit operator, a lot of administrative costs are duplicated. the metropolitan transportation commission says merging some of those costs could save jobs and prevent service cuts. two very different bay area neighborhoods have topped dubious lists as some of those most at risk for car thefts. maureen naylor join us from one of those neighbors to explain why criminals may be targeting the area. >> reporter: the research group neighborhood scout says that chances one in 11 that a car will be stolen from san jose. if you park your car in the western area, there's a one in seven chance it will be stolen. making this the third highest area for car thefts in the nation. >> i have been living here for 19 or 20 years, none of my cars have been stolen. >> if they're not stolen, the

window is broke in or somebody has broke in. >> reporter: the other bay area neighborhood, a technology based area in san jose which is eighth in the nation. if you live in the area, you have a one in 11 chance of having your car stolen. >> not too surprising. my car got broken into about a month ago. over thanksgiving break. they stole a huge amount of different small things. i don't see it as too surprising. two residents told us their cars were targeted inside the apartment complex garage. >> i've had my car broken into once. they stole my i pod. so yeah, we've had incidents here. >> people here, we all work at tech companies so there's a little bit of money here. it's an easy place to come pick off cars because everybody is working during the day and nobody is here to protect their things. >> reporter: car thefts are not limited to this neighborhood but a city wide problem. they say older toyota, honda, mazda and nissan models are the

most common targets. how can you keep from being a victim. alarms, and steering locks may be a good option. but the biggest reason cars are stolen, is because people leave them unattended and running. unions representing workers and food service office, custodial and classroom assistance says the state has rejected officer that is they believe will say millions of the dollars. the workers are protesting budget cuts. >> what they're going to get is an angry and frustrated work force, a less productive work force, it's not good for my members, more importantly it's not good for the kids in the schools. >> reporter: this rally is just one of many taking place nationwide showing solidarity

for workers in wisconsin where budget cuts promise to strip their rights. if lawmakers fail to pass the bill stripping workers of their union right, walker said another 6,000 could be forced out of work over the next two years. the state assembly is debating the measure. senate democrats skipped town avoiding the measure. we're in for some unusual weather this week. >> yeah, we've been talking about it the last couple of nights and we'll be talking about it all week. as this arctic air mass looks like it's going to drop from the north, land over the top of us and bring snow, per happens to sea level in many bay area locations, could be unusual. here's what we have tonight. it's going to be cool again, up in the napa valley i'm highlights because we have some cool spots up here along

petaluma. we're going to see overnight lows getting into the freezing level. it's not a crazy cold night, we're not seeing frost advisories or anything. but it's definitely going to be cool out there as you travel about in the early hours. as we get into thursday, we have cold showers starting on thursday: looks like by friday night we should see snow down to sea level in many locations. most likely the snow would fall in the inland valleys. the bay in the ocean keeps san francisco, pacifica, redwood city, keeps it warm, keeps the temperature up. hard to see that cold. that could happen, but your best bet for sea level snow is going to be marin county and out in moraga avenue, san ramon. the forecast model shows us where snow will be by 12:00. lunchtime by thursday. and then boom it's all along the west slope of the sierra nevada. the cool air continuing to come down. it's raining thursday night. we needed the rain, but this is a cold storm so don't expect a

lot of rain. expect showers as we go into thursday. friday morning a wet morning commute. at this point we're looking at probably snow on tam, up on hamilton and obviously in diablo. here friday at 2:00 you have snow showing up in parts of the bay area. the real story, on saturday morning is when you're best bet is for snow in the sea level. we haven't seen something like this since 76. we'll see how it goes. lots could change. but we're looking for snow on bay area peaks as we go into thursday and friday. overnight lows will be cool. daytime highs are cooler than they were today. because the winds are coming out of the west. it's a nice day tomorrow as we transition into this very cold weather pattern that takes us into the bay area weekends. we'll have freeze warnings as well. >> that is an interesting forecast. farm groups want governor brown to cause what they say is a cancer causing pesticides

from being used on strawberry crops. opponents want governor brown to reverse a state decision last year allowing its use. they say the approval came despite strong arguments regarding the safety of that chemical. here's a little good news for credit card holders, today federal regulators reported that in the year since the credit card accountability responsibility and disclosure act was passed over limit fees have all but disappeared and the amount of late fees have been reduced. the law caps first time late fees to $25. amazon.com is taking aims at netflix. customers who already pay $75 a year for free two day shipping can now choose from 5,000 titles to stream through their computer at no extra price. amazon also offers instant video with more than 90,000

titles on an ala carte basis. what city leaders can do tonight to make sure this state of the art stadium is built in their town.

in just 30 minutes the santa clara city council will meet and is expected to vote on

a plan to try and keep $40 million in public funds for a new 49ers stadium. that money could be transferred into the state's general fund under governor brown's proposed budget. to try and prevent that from impowering the project, the council is trying to change the language in the stadium deal to allow them to keep that money. >> now the all star game is over. the warriors are back in action tonight. mark is here to tell us about it. >> kind of the unofficial second aft áf half of the season. the warriors are doing it up right. hosting the celtics in town. warriors trying to find out if they can continue the momentum. remember they were playing their best basketball of the season before if break. and derrick lee talks up the celtic-warrior match up tonight. >> game by game for us it's coming, bringing our best game as a team collectively. we know we have thing that is

we need to accomplish in this game to get a win. we have to play our best and i think we can do that today. >> reporter: meantime, they finally completed that trade. carmelo anthony is a new york knick. he and billops to big names in the trade. they don't have that much time to gel but stoudemire thinks it's possible. >> those guys are smart so they'll catch on really quick. a little nfl news today, one of the biggest names as far as defensive players in all of football is going to stay in denver. that would be champ bailey. long time db one of the best in

the business. a certain hall of famer. there had been talking that he would be released by the team. he signs a four year, $40 million deal and i know raider fans, some that i spoke to were hoping he would become a free agent so he could become a raider. that's the sporting life. the sharks lead 3-2 in detroit. coming up on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36. after taking a hit due to the economy, san francisco looks to boost it's tourism. how some visitors across the country today could lead to hundreds of millions of the dollars for the city down the road. that story on bay area news at 7:00. that is our report for now. i'm julie haener. >> and i'm frank somerville. thank you so much for joining us. have a good evening everyone. >> good night.

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