a fire breaks out at a strip mall in san jose. find out what investigators are saying started it. we're going to take you to the bay bridge toll plaza where a man took police on an unusual chase through an underground tunnel. and the steps san francisco police are taking to deal with increasing violence in a certain part of the city. that's all ahead here on the ktvu morning news.

good morning. thank you for joining us. it's thursday february -- not february, march. march 3rd already. there's rain this morning. doesn't look as bad as yesterday. let's check in with steve for a complete forecast. hi, pam. we have light rain out there. not a big deal. nothing compared to yesterday. even some breaks in the clouds. but partly to mostly cloudy and occasionally get a few light showers. highs today in the low and maybe a few mid-60s. now here's sal. right now, steve, traffic is moving along okay if you are on highway 4 westbound. looks pretty good up to the willow pass grade. also this morning's commute looks good if you're on interstate 880 right near the coliseum. it's 4:31. let's go back to pam. thank you, sal. this morning fire investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire at a strip mall in san jose. that fire started on the corner of story road and lieu career ya avenue at about 1:30 this morning. ktvu channel 2 reporter is out there with firefighters this

morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, pam. well, firefighters are actually still here on the scene. they do have this fire completely out f. you come back around here you can see they're actually just waiting here because this is a mexican restaurant. and they're waiting for a contractor to come and actually board up the roof and all the doors. they have not been able to contact the owner of this mexican restaurant. so at this point that owner has no idea what happened. fire officials say that they received a 911 call from the quick stop convenience store in that same strip mall that the mexican restaurant was on fire. smoke was coming from the back of the building. to fill in more of the blanks we're joined by battalion chief. can you tell us what happened? they saw smoke from the back. were they able to quickly knock it down? >> at 1:22 in the morning we received a 911 call from the quick stop next door reporting

the fire. we were lucky we had one fire unit in the area that was just clearing another call. they arrived about one minute after the first 911 call was reported. they reported a fire in a single story strip mall. they began to immediately force entry into the building and fight fire. the second alarm was requested by them four minutes after the initial 911 call. the crews arrived on scene and immediately got to work. the fire damage estimated about $200,000. and we were able to limit that damage to the unit of origin. >> reporter: what appears to have happened? investigators have already been out here? >> yeah. fire arson investigators have been here. we know most likely it is electrical although officially it's still undetermined under investigation. we're concentrating on our efforts and a storage and closet area on the back of this

business. unfortunately, we've been unable to get a hold of the owners at this time. we were force today shut off the electrical and gas to the whole strip mall which is an additional five businesses. they should be back in business today with the exception of the unit of origin. >> reporter: okay. thank you so much battalion chief. this mexican restaurant there's a sign actually up here that says grand opening. so sounds like this business is under new ownership and only been open for just a short amount of time. again, the owner does not even yet know about this. but the battalion chief tells us that this mexican restaurant will not be opening up today. there is a lot of smoke damage in there. it will at least be a couple months. live from san jose, ktvu channel 2 news. an unusual chase at the bay bridge toll plaza ended after a man gained access to an underground tunnel. it started with a routine

traffic stop about 8:00 last night when officers asked the man to get out of his car he dropped a semiautomatic gun on the ground and ran towards the toll booth. from there he headed into a tunnel used to enter the cal trans administration building. police surrounded the building and arrested him hiding under a forklift. san francisco police are now taking action in response to a surge in gang violence in the city's mission district. the latest violence incident happened yesterday in broad daylight at 24th and harrison. a gunman fired 15 rounds at a rival gang member standing on the sidewalk just about noon. one man was injured. a stray bullet pierced a nearby home. it was the fourth incident of gang violence in the mission since saturday. this increased violence prompted an emergency meeting last night. >> we're going to make a concerted effort to let the gang members know if you're

involved with gang activity or narcotic activity in the city we're not going to tolerate it. >> police will immediately begin increasing patrols in the district. officers will meet with political and community leaders to find out ways to stop the violence. alameda county sheriff deputies are trying to figure out how an inmate walked right out of jail in dublin. the 21-year-old had returned from court tuesday night when he somehow ended up in the inmate release room and then was let go. as of this morning he is still missing. corrections officers realized he was gone when they did a head count. he was in jail on suspicion of stealing a car. also this morning albany police are searching for a teenager who is believed to be armed. 16-year-old john scott was reported missing yesterday morning. his father says a gun and ammunition are also missing from the house. albany schools were locked down as a precaution because school officials were concerned about that run away teenager.

police believe the teen is upset about some recent problems. this morning uc berkeley police say all the protesters have left the campus after attempting to take over a building. following yesterday's day of action, police say about 50 protesters gathered outside wheeler hall. when it started getting dark, protesters headed inside. but when it came time for the building to close, a smaller group of demonstrators clashed with police. >> the building is closed to public. we've given them opportunity to voluntarily leave the building and they refuse to do so. >> police in riot gear were brought in to get demonstrators to leave the building. we are told 17 people were arrested and cited for trespassing. yesterday's national day of action was a call by students to stop planned cuts to education. students and teachers in san francisco state university also participated in yesterday's day of action. 100 people gathered to protest the budget cuts that could cost

their school $32 million. it's all part of governor brown's plan to cut $1.4 billion from the cal state and university of california systems. 90 minutes from now the third and last day of a federal hearing begins looking into the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion. now yesterday san bruno's fire chief told ntsb investigators that he didn't even know there was a pg&e gas transmission line running underneath the city until it exploded last september. >> obviously you know the situation on september 9th wasn't something that we could ever imagine. it does give us some opportunity to draw up scenarios, look at evacuation zones. >> pg&e says it is now working on ways to make city officials and the public aware of the location of its pipelines. we're going to be following today's hearing throughout the morning. you can get also the very latest information on our website any time of day at

ktvu.com. just look for the gas line explosion tab for all of our coverage there. right now let's go back to sal to check in on the commute. better than yesterday morning because certainly not as wet. that's right, pam. we're off to a much better start than we were yesterday. let's go outside and take a look at some of these pictures here on the east shore freeway i. looks pretty good heading out to the macarthur maze. no major problems. the commute looks good if you are driving at the bay bridge toll plaza. once on the bridge a little bit windy up there. you'll notice it. and the morning commute is also going to be okay if you're driving in san jose along northbound 280 heading up to highway 17. no problems on highway 101 this morning coming through the valley. trying to get into the valley on 85 or on 17 it does look good. we're off to a pretty decent start in the south bay. at 4:39, let's go to steve. sal, thank you, sir. little quieter pattern today. few light showers but nothing like yesterday. there were some pretty good

totals especially from marin county north and towards santa cruz mountains. elsewhere about a tenth of an inch to quarter inch. but one-half to three quarters of an inch in some locations. today drier air coming in. we'll still see everything coming in off the pacific. and live storm tracker 2 shows couple guys there south of pacifica heading over 280 coming in towards san francisco. again, this is really light stuff. 40s and 50s. another mild morning. i'll tell you went from february cold and march here we are mild and more like rain. and it's a warmer pattern that's coming in. 40s to low 50s. and yesterday we had some lows that were around 55, 56. we do see a little break on friday. then the next system right there to the left of your screen moving in start to come in saturday into sunday. today partly to mostly cloudy. partly sunny though. it's a dry forecast. we head into friday as temperatures will be mid-60s for many. today sun and clouds. highs 58 to 64 degrees.

in fact we'll have some 64 readings antioch morgan hill close for redwood city and santa rosa 62. a lot more 60s now instead of 50s. mostly partly cloudy, partly sunny, few isolated showers. mostly sunny friday. increasing clouds on saturday. rain to the north bay and sunday morning everyone gets in on rain and few showers hold into monday as well. today cal train will hold a public hearing on proposal that is could help it reduce its $30 million budget gap. some of the ideas under consideration are eliminating weekend service, reducing the number of trains it runs on weekdays, raising fares and closing as many as seven stations. that hearing starts at 10:00 this morning at the cal train offices in san carlos. more trouble for an east bay drug agent. the new allegations he's facing this morning in addition to selling drugs. and the south bay school that's been the target of arsonists becomes the victim of another serious crime.

good morning. westbound 24 that traffic looks pretty good on the way to oakland. tell you more about this thursday morning commute straight ahead.

good morning. partly to mostly cloudy skies. santa rosa says clear. temperatures 40s to low 50. partly sunny, partly cloudy day and a few scattered showers. all right. thank you, steve. there are new allegations this

morning against a former commander with the contra costa narcotics task force and private investigator. norman and christopher are accused of stealing and selling drugs seized during drug raids. during a bail hearing yesterday prosecutors also accused the two ofwork straiting a fake arrest while dressed as police officers two years ago. the stunt was carried out on behalf of a woman who wanted to teach her son a lesson. a videotape is now at the center of the investigation targeting a half a dozen san francisco police narcotics officers. the city's public defender's office has released a videotape it says proves that they illegally searched two south of market apartments. there are also allegations that some of those officers falsified police reports and committed perjury on the witness stand. >> without knocking or announcing themselves, burst into the room, all four

officers. and then later lied in a police report. >> clearly there's something wrong that goes to the very heart of the criminal justice system. >> both the police department and the d.a.'s office are looking into these allegations. but the public defender's office is calling for an outside investigation. crews in new zealand have given up hope of finding anymore survivors from last week's 6.3 earthquake. they are now working to recover bodies from the rubble. 161 bodies have already been recovered but police say the final death toll will likely be as high as 240. no one has been found alive since last wednesday, the day after the big quake. the army has filed almost two dozen new charges against the army private suspected of turning over tens of thousands of classified documents to wikileaks. the new charges against private first class bradly manning

include aiding the enemy. now that's a capital offense but prosecutors say they will not seek the death penalty. private manning has been held in a military jail since july. families of u.s. troops who have died while serving their country are unhappy with the supreme court decision that allows an extremist kansas church to protest outside military funerals. now the justices say that the first amendment protects even hurtful speech. the westboro baptist church members claim that u.s. military deaths are god's punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality. >> feelings hurt over words is not enough to shove up to speech. >> they may have an official legal right to say it but that doesn't mean you need to do it. >> karen meredith from mountain view lost her son army lieutenant when he was killed in iraq almost seven years ago. she says she has encountered the protesters when she visits

her son's grave at arlington national cemetery. today former house speaker newt gringrich is expected to formally say that he is considering a run for the presidency next year. the spokesman says gringrich won't set up an exploratory committee yet because that would make him a legal candidate. he says gringrich and his wife need to tie up some loose ends with their businesses before the georgia republican can take that step. gringrich left congress in 1999. well, talks could begin today to find a common ground between senate democrats and republicans on a long-term spending bill. late yesterday president obama signed a temporary budget extension to avert a government shut down for two weeks. that bill includes $4 billion in cuts. in all, republicans are seeking a $60 billion spending reduction over the next seven months. fed chairman ben bernanke says those cuts would reduce economic growth and could cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. the san jose school that

was the target of arsonists last year has become the victim of another crime. two former officers of a parent- teacher group are accused of embezzling more than $50,000 from trace elementary school. ann was arrested yesterday. vanessa is still at large believed to be in southern california. the two are accused of buying clothing, trips and other items with the pto's money. last july a large fire at the school caused more than $10 million in damages. that's the same school two teenagers were charged with arson. the securities and exchange commission is taking a step against two factors that contributed to the 2009 financial meltdown. now the sec is backing a proposal to make top executives at big wall street firms wait at least three years for their annual bonuses. it also supports dumping a requirement that money market funds invest only in securities

with credit ratings. then the funds would assess the securities themselves cutting the influence of credit rating agencies. the important deadline today that could put the end to the upcoming nfl season even before it begins. and backlash over publicity stunt involving thousands of balloons. the reason why some people are upset.

welcome back to the morning news. we have an update on a story we first told you about yesterday morning. a 58-year-old homeless woman has now been arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting a jewelry store owner in san francisco's north beach neighborhood. the body of lynn was found inside his business tuesday night. police also arrested a 31-year- old man on burglary charges. but he is not facing murder

charges. san francisco police are asking you to help find a man suspected of a hit-and-run. that happened on friday about 3:00 in the afternoon at the corner of market. a woman in her 60s was hit and remains in the hospital with injuries to her head. now police are looking for alated know man in his 40s. a possible license plate of 5jtj344. anyone with information is asked to call san francisco police. a critical deadlines is looming tonight for 49er and raider fans. nfl owners and the player's union have until 9:00 p.m. west coast time to reach a new collective bargaining agreement. the two sides still appear to be far apart on several key issues and there's a real threat of the pro-football's first work stoppage since 1987. a lockout would put the entire

2011 nfl season in jeopardy. well, some local environmentalists are upset this morning over a publicity stunt by a southern california video game company. the company, thq, released 10,000 red balloons over san francisco yesterday to promote its latest game. but when some of the balloons ended up in the bay, environmentalists took to socialworking sites to denounce the campaign saying the balloons are 100% biodegradable. all right. coming up on 5:00. sal, how's traffic so far? >> you know, pam, things are doing okay if you are driving this morning. almost anywhere. it's a lot drier than it was yesterday. let's go to highway 4 and you can see traffic moves well pretty much here coming out to the willow pass grade. also, this morning we're looking at the commute on interstate 880 northbound. the traffic is moving along pretty well as you drive out past the coliseum.

and on the commute here if you are driving to the south bay northbound 17 traffic looking good coming out to the san jose area. freeway sensors not showing a lot of slow traffic in the south bay. 4:54. let's go to steve. sal, speaking of looking good, the weather's looking much warmer today. in fact low to mid-60s. what? yeah. little break today. a series of systems after that front yesterday just left a lot of moisture. still a few light showers moving through. but temperatures today starting off in the low 50s for many. you can see the pattern it's just coming right in on the weaker side of it. partly to mostly sunny. scattered showers. tomorrow looks good. patchy fog in the morning. mostly sunny and a little bit warmer. live storm tracker 2 shows us a few light showers one zipping on by between livermore and san jose. couple into the peninsula and off the city. nothing big here. 40s and low 50s. it's already 53 mountain view and 53 san jose.

45 santa rosa. clear is what they say. napa 50 degrees. it's a mild air mass. series of systems will continue to rotate in but we're on the drier side. occasionally a few showers but partly sunny. friday's good. next system come in to effect the north bay will start on saturday. now by the weekend we'll start to see clouds increasing saturday. most of the rain should stay to the north on saturday but then sweep south on sunday morning. quarter to three inches of rain there were a few locations had decent totals from yesterday's system. doesn't look like a whopper of a system but looks like it will start raining north bay saturday afternoon or evening. today sun and clouds. few showers. little warmer. upper 50s and low 60s. mid-60s antioch and brentwood 64. 64 mountain view, 63 santa cruz and same for livermore. we're getting there. sun and clouds today. a few light showers. mostly sunny tomorrow. then increasing clouds saturday. rain mainly to the north on saturday. sunday it sweeps over the entire area and we'll keep little unsettled conditions into monday. sounds good.

thank you, steve. those who take the over-the- counter pain reliever ibuprofen may cut the risk of developing parkinsons disease. that's according to a new study by harvard. finds people who take ibuprofen two or more times a week lower their risk of developing the disease by 38%. researchers say other pain relievers such as aspirin do not have the same effect. well, early this morning firefighters quickly put out a fire at a strip mall saving a number of businesses. take a look at the live scene here. the reason the firefighters were able to be on that scene within one minute of the 911 call. and an emergency meeting last night in san francisco. what police are worried about.

this mexican restaurant won't be opening up any time soon. we'll tell you just what happened here this morning. a man hunt is underway for an inmate who escaped from jail. the surprising way he made his get away. that's all ahead here on the ktvu morning news. good morning