the dramatic courthouse confrontation that may have caused a man now convicted of molesting children to flee his own trial. using glue to rob a bank. how you could become a victim at the atm. plus the steps one local community is considering to fight prostitution. and it may include an embarrassing moment at home. it's all ahead here on the ktvu

morning news. good morning. it's wednesday march 19th -- march 9th that is. thank you for joining us. i'm pam cook. sounds like it's a layering day. right, steve? warm this afternoon. >> that's correct. start off with some clouds. not too bad here. 40s and 50s. like yesterday in the afternoon if you were in the sun it's not too bad. we'll actually bump highs up a little bit. upper 60s to 70s. a few high clouds above the fog but the fog is not as bad this morning. here's tara. thanks, steve. here's a look at 880 near the oakland coliseum. we don't have that rain out there on the roadways this morning. so that's some good news. and 101 through san francisco traffic also moving well downtown and toward sfo. 4:31. pam, how's it going. thank you. topping our news this morning a search for a former pittsburgh counselor. authorities say he skipped town during his child molestation trial after a dramatic

courthouse run in. ktvu's kraig debro is in pittsburgh to talk about what happened. kraig. >> reporter: good morning, pam. right now there's no -- [ audio problems ] >> all right. unfortunately we're having a little bit of problem with kraig's audio. we'll check back in with him as soon as we can fix that. six months ago today a devastating gas pipeline explosion in san bruno killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes. the district attorney's office is now looking at past seismic upgrade work as part of an investigation into pg&e's overall pipeline operations. now that could lead to criminal negligence charges. also the state puc may impose hefty fine ifs pg&e does not meet next tuesday's deadline to hand over detailed pipeline records. well, squatters may be the cause of a late night fire at an empty strip mall in newark. that fire was reported just before 9:30 last night inside what used to be a circuit city

store unmarry avenue. it took crews about 40 minutes to get flames under control. there was no one inside the building at the time but firefighters tell us that people may have been taking shelter there. >> folks are just living in there and lighting probably small fires to keep warm. that's likely the cause of this looking at where it happen and had some of the things that are in the area. >> investigators say it does not look like the fire was intentionally set. they also say damage to the building was limited. homes and business owners in alameda will see an increase in their property taxes later this year. preliminary results of yesterday's special election show voters narrowly approving a measure that replaces two current parcel taxes. now, it's expected to generate about $12 million a year with the revenue going to support local schools. it goes into effect july 1st. in contra costa county the mt. diablo school district

voted late last night to send out preliminary layoff notices to 180 of its employees next week. the district faces a $22 million budget deficit. we spoke with the president of the school board overnight. he tells us how the district deals with its shortfall largely depends on whether state lawmakers approve the tax extension for the june ballot. all right. again, we want to go back to our top story this morning. a man hunt for a former pittsburgh counselor. this was in connection with a child molestation trial. kraig debro is out there covering the story about what happened. kraig. >> reporter: yeah, good morning, pam. there's a no bail arrest warrant out for todd. he cruised to work here as a counselor intern at this building at a family counseling services. they counsel the children of divorced parents. this facility is closed but it's the one he worked at until

his arrest in 2008. a jury convicted the 38-year- old on the last day of february essentially. four days before his conviction he stopped going to trial just hours after a chance encounter with one of his victims. following a day in one of his victim's mother's testified an elevator opened and there stood the 15-year-old girl he was arrested for molesting in 2008. the girl fell to her knees and cried. he never returned to the courthouse for trial and now the same temple that posted his $250,000 bond stands to lose all the money. jury convicted him of two felony accounts of sexually touching teen girls. coming up we're going to talk about accusations both girls made against him that helped the case and the woman who stepped forward during this trial. reporting live in pittsburgh, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. well, there's a warning for people in san francisco about an elaborate plan to rob atms using glue.

now police say the suspects glue down certain buttons on the key pad of the atm. but customers only realize it once they've already entered their pins. police say the thieves wait for the victims to go inside the bank to get help. then they withdraw money from their accounts. police say you should never leave atms unattended while they're in use. and they also recommend using touch screens when available. a newly created task force has come up with some controversial ideas to tackle vallejo's growing prostitution problem. those ideas were formally presented to the city council last night. and they include more police and community patrols, cameras at popular prostitution hang outs and a so-called dear john campaign to embarrass the men who hit the streets looking for sex. >> you take their vehicle license plate number and you find out who the owner is. you send a letter to their home indicating that your vehicle was seen in a high prostitution

area. just thought we would let you know. >> vallejo's mayor will now take the plan to the state attorney general. he wants to make sure those proposed dear john letters are legal. today san jose city leaders will consider a plan to drastically reduce the number of medical marijuana dispensaries. right now there are more than 100 pot clubs operating in san jose. and some council members say they can't keep up with the number of complaints. they propose limiting the number of marijuana dispensaries to just ten. if approved today, the city's rules committee will send the proposal to the full council. muni operators are suing the city of san francisco over proposition g which was approved by voters last fall. now it says if muni managers and the operator's union can't reach a new contract on their own, an independent arbitrator will be called in. also requires consideration be given to how a proposed contract would effect muni's

fares and services. the lawsuit says that guarantees a decision would go against the union. all right. 4:37 is the time. tara moriarty's in for sal this morning. so far off to a good start, tara? yes. hopefully we won't have hiccups with muni today as we did yesterday. let's take a look outside. a live look here at the east shore freeway. traffic is moving well in both directions towards berkeley on the right and towards the macarthur maze on left. at the bay bridge toll plaza no delays to speak of yet. we won't see any back up really until after 6:00 this morning. 280 down in san jose there you see bart going by there. we have no delays to speak of. 4:38. steve, nice and dry out there today. it is indeed. that's a far cry from yesterday where we had a lot overdries toll speak about. we have a weak system dragging across us but a lot of high clouds underneath that. some patchy fog. once this clears out we will have a mostly sunny day. few clouds to the south, few more to the north. this is a weak system but it's still there and there are some areas where patchy fog is out. 40s and 50s.

some mid-40s for a few livermore coolest at 45 degrees. storm track is really taking aim to the north. there is a stronger system that will brush us coming in tomorrow. one's moving to the north but then another one there. again, jet stream lifts north conditions improve and temperatures coming up a bit. patchy fog out there. clouds then sun and it will be slightly warmer and towards the santa clara valley and off towards contra costa county upper 60s to near 70. morning clouds. slightly warmer antioch and morgan hill mid-60s elsewhere. 67 concord. mid to upper 60s on the peninsula. clouds roll in thursday. some rain to the north. clearing on friday. saturday should be fine and then cloud up again on sunday. all right. thank you, steve. we have new video this morning of downtown san jose where people came out to celebrate the official start to mardi gras. fat tuesday celebrations were in full swing overnight bringing in increased police presence to the streets. police say some people were detained for fighting, but no

arrests were made. well, someone deliberately trying to poison pets. the public park where it's taking place and what dog owners should be watching out for. plus new video of one of the most violent crimes in the south bay. how police hope it will help their investigation. here's a look at the san mateo bridge. not the fog we've seen throughout the week. we'll have more traffic coming up.

good morning. we have some high clouds. some patchy fog. so a cloudy morning. 40s and 50s give way to mostly sunny weather. a little warmer as well with upper 60s and low 70s especially east bay and south bay. all right. sounds nice. today the u.s. senate will vote on competing spending plans to keep the government funded through the rest of this fiscal year. but neither the democratic or republican plans are expected to get the 60 votes needed to pass. that has house republicans working on another short-term spending bill to avoid a government shut down at the end of next week. in a television interview broadcast today, libyan leader gadafi said if western nations impose a no-fly zone over libya, it will show their real intention is to seize the country's oil. this morning president obama is meeting with secretary of state hillary clinton and other senior advisors to discuss the no-fly zone option.

newly released census data shows the changing face of california. the 2010 census numbers show the state's population has increased 10% since 2000. here in the bay area the county with the largest population increase by far is contra costa county. up 10.6%. santa clara is next with a 5.9% increase. >> 70 years ago we had a population of about 100,000. we're now a million people in contra costa county. >> most of california's population growth over the last ten years is due to increasing numbers ovulatety know's. in 2010 the number grew by 28%. the number of asians increased 31.5%. you can find more details from the 2010 census at ktvu.com. we have an interactive map of california with county by county information. u.s. park police are now investigating a body found washed ashore in san francisco.

the body was spotted yesterday right close to aquatic park and fort mason. there's no word on whether it's the body of a man or woman, but investigators are trying to gather evidence from the scene to try to figure out how that person died. san jose police have released a graphic surveillance tape. they hope it will help track down the person wanted in one of the city's most violent crimes ever. take a look. three people were killed during a terrifying kidnap attempt at the mexicalily club on old oakland road in san jose in early january. the video shows a man in a bullet proof vest fighting with the bar owner as he attempts to force him at gunpoint from the club into the waiting suv. >> it is definitely an intense video to watch. it's not very common to release videos of this type. however, we believe that the person on the video is armed and dangerous. he's out in the public and it's very important to us to get that person off the streets. >> the bar owner was shot

during the struggle but survived. three other people were killed during that shoot out. now you can get another look at that surveillance video by going to our website at ktvu.com, look for the bay area news tab right on our front page. we could find out today if more cases will be dropped in connection to that police video scandal in san francisco. yesterday eight cases were dropped. five involved drug charges, two were for grand theft and another for burglary. that brings the total to 13 cases dropped. this all started when the public defender's office released surveillance video that it says shows plain clothes police officers violating proper procedures and possibly breaking the law. well, two oakland police officers will not face charges for shooting an unarmed man last year. the district attorney says the officers had reason to fear for their safety when they fired at 37-year-old derek jones in

november. now the d.a.'s report concludes that jones reached for his waistband following a foot chase and that the officers believed he was actually reaching for a weapon. the f.b.i. is also investigating that shooting. people in berkeley have a new tool to fight junk mail. a free online service launched yesterday allows users to opt out of unsolicited mail. now the city of berkeley is sponsoring the service which is provided by the nonprofit group catalog choice. you can choose to opt out of junk mail from more than 3,000 companies on that group's website. >> with one click you decide whether you want no mail, some preference choices, choose the name and address and hit submit and it's as easy as that. >> after selecting companies from the list, catalog choice does the notification. berkeley's mayor says the service will help reduce waste. today is the last chance for dog owners to comment on

the plan to limit off leash areas in the golden gate recreational area. park officials want to limit off leash access at 21 locations including san francisco's ocean beach, christy field and fort mason. today the public can share their opinions at the last of four public meetings. it's at 4:00 p.m. in pacifica. there's a warning for dog owners in sunny vale. police say someone is trying to poison their pets. open boxes of rat poison were found at the dog park on two separate occasions late last month. and someone scrawled an ominous threat in blue marker that read "all dogs must die." dog park users say they're shocked and upset. >> i'm very, very angry. and i would like to get my hands or the law on that person or persons. whoever they are. >> common symptoms of poisoning include loss of appetite,

paralysis, even seizures. veterinarians say depending on the amount ingested it may take two to seven days for the first symptoms to appear. well, its final mission is coming to an end. where discovery may end up after it lands back on earth. and a first of its kind research in northern california waters. the type of trash this machine will be looking for on the ocean floor.

♪[ music ] what is likely to be the last wake up call ever heard aboard the space shuttle discovery was sang by gwenth pal tow. it's headed for a landing in florida just before 9:00 a.m. our time. it's final trip will be on back

of a boeing 747 when it's delivered to a museum. that could be the smithsonian but nasa official says which one has not yet been determined. today congress will hear from the families of september 11 terrorist attack victims who died on their way to san francisco. now relatives of the passengers on board united airlines flight 93 which crashed in rural pennsylvania, say congress still needs to approve nearly $4 million for their memorial. the first phase of the memorial is set to open this september on the tenth anniversary of the attacks. well, for the next three days a first of its kind research trip is taking place in monterey bay. scientists from the monterey bay aquarium and the national marine sanctuary will use a remotely operated vehicle to search the ocean floor for large containers that have fallen off of ships. scientists say about 10,000 containers fall off, but the shipping industry isn't required to report them unless

the containers damage the environment. >> we look at the surface and we don't see these things floating around. yet we're littering the seabed with these constantly. think about 10,000 containers this year, next year, the next decade, pregnancy soon there's a lot of these things on the seabed. >> scientists say pulling the containers up is very expensive. instead, they hope their research will convince the shipping industry to work harder at keeping those containers on board. tonight a san jose city councilwoman will hold an open forum to discuss a proposed social host law. the meeting is at the community center on camden avenue in san jose. it runs from 6:30 to 8:30 tonight. councilwoman proposed the law after a fatal car crash last september. the passenger died and the 18- year-old driver was arrested for driving under the influence. the social hosting law would hold parents responsible if they allow underage kids to drink at their homes.

an ratherton teacher could soon learn whether or not he'll be disciplined after a student said he knocked over a desk and cursed at his class. the eighth grade student says she was scared after the incident last tuesday so she left the classroom and called police. tonight the redwood city school board will take up the issue. the teacher has been placed on paid leave while the school district investigates. it's coming up on 5:00. so far the commute's been pretty good. hopefully no problems, tara. yeah. we're seeing the roadways are pretty clear at this hour. so that's really good news for your wednesday morning commute. right now let's head outside. this is a look at highway 4 bay point. westbound traffic is on the bottom portion of your screen. those are folks headed onto concord as you can see. no delays. up next we have a look at 101 in san francisco. on the right hand side there are folks headed toward the airport and on the left hand side would be downtown or towards the bay bridge. again, no hiccups to report. finally head up to marin county. this is a look at 101 through

san raphael at 580 split. traffic moving pretty well there. those are the headlights as they make their way south on into san francisco this morning. 4:54. let's head back over to steve. thank you, tara. we do have mostly cloudy skies. not the drizzle that we had yesterday. some patchy fog mainly it's this band of higher clouds coming in. again, it's falling apart. but it's dragging across us right now. more clouds to the north. fewer clouds to the south. but overall mostly cloudy morning. 40s and 50s. your time lined to mostly cloudy, patchy fog in the morning but then mostly sunny and a little warmer this afternoon. clouds roll back in tomorrow. it will be cooler and light rain looks possible. these are weak systems but light rain again for the north bay tomorrow. right now 40s and 50s. right at 50 for oakland and also san francisco little warmer hayward mountain view but not much. 46 napa, santa rosa, livermore. everyone's close speaking of santa rosa though we'll start off under mostly cloudy skies, 48, go 58 at noon.

go for a high of 67. a lot of high clouds but it will be slightly warmer today. you can see our system when it runs and goes like that it just kind of drags across is losing a lot of its energy. still a mostly cloudy morning. see that dissipate later this afternoon. some patchy fog gives way to a few clouds and then slightly warmer. 60s to maybe a few low 70s especially santa clara valley. morning clouds, sunny, patchy fog, warmer, high 60 to 70 degrees. 70 antioch. 70 morgan hill and mid-60s elsewhere. fremont 67. 67 redwood city, mountain view, napa. not too much of a difference but warmer for a few especially east and south. clouds roll in tomorrow and then rain possible for the north bay. clear it out friday. saturday morning's just fine. saturday night maybe some clouds. sunday morning we cloud it up and looks like rain does move in sunday afternoon or evening. >> all right. thank you, steve. well, today the santa rosa police department is conducting a motorcycle safety operation. extra officers will patrol

areas where most motorcyclists ride and the most crashes occur. they will be cracking down on traffic violations made by motorcyclists and drivers who create unsafe conditions for motorcycles. police say california is one of three states leading the nation in motorcycle fatalities. the search is on for a fugitive. why police believe the convicted child molester took off after the first day of his trial. the police warning about a sticky scam going on at atms in the city.

in contra costa county prosecutors linked two cases of child molestation to this one man. a problem -- prostitution problem in vallejo may mean police send a letter home. and the latest technique thieves are using to steal from customers at atms. that story and more as the ktvu morning news continues. well, good morning to you. welcome to wednesday. the middle of the week. it's march 9th. i'm dave