man hunt on for a fugitive. why police believe the convicted molester took off after the first day of his trial. dealing with vallejo's growing prostitution problem. how billboards could help. a police warning this morning about people being robbed at bank atms. but the robberies usingingly inside of a gun. it's all ahead on the ktvu morning news. well, good morning to you. welcome to the middle of the week wednesday march 9. i'm dave clark. good morning. i'm pam cook. sounds like it's going to be a pretty nice afternoon. let's check in with steve. >> hello, pam and dave. we have mostly cloudy skies. yesterday was the fog, low clouds and drizzle. now mainly patchy fog but a lot of high clouds.

once that moves off or thins out i'll have mostly fair and sunny weather and it will be warmer. mid-60s, upper 60s and a few low 7 0z. here's tara. here's a look at san raphael 101 at the 580 split. traffic is moving along nicely there. those headlights are headed southbound towards san francisco. and up next this is a look at the san mateo bridge. those taillights are actually folks headed to foster city. no delays, no fog, so we're in good shape. 6:00. head back to the desk. topping our news this morning a man hunt is underway for a former pittsburgh counselor convicted of child molestation. authorities say he took off last week during the middle of his trial. now it happened after a dramatic courthouse run in with his accuser. prosecutors say the two came face to face in an elevator and the victim broke down in tears. the next day he was a no show in court. the trial continued and a jury found him guilty of child

molestation. time now 6:01. late night fire just hours ago at a vacant strip mall in newark may have been started by squatters. took about 50 firefighters rushing to the old circuit city building about 9:30 last night. took them about 40 minutes to get this under control. lucky no one was hurt. this building has not been occupied for years. firefighters say they found signs of squatters were there. >> there's a lot of graffiti in the building. things torn up. chairs. things moved around. you can see people probably had small campfires inside the building. >> investigators say it looks like the fire was accidental. firefighters say the city's been working to get that building torn down for some time now. well, the city of vallejo has some controversial new ideas to fight one of its biggest problems. ktvu's claudine wong has been talking with police this morning about this latest plan to crack down on prostitution. pretty interesting, claudine. >> reporter: yes, it is. good morning. we are here on sonoma

boulevard. police tell me prostitution is rampant all down this street, along the side streets and into the neighborhoods. it's rampant and it's getting worse. one officer told me this morning that prostitutes are actually pretty honest about it all telling him they come here from miles away because it's a "free for all." the problem is clear and we are getting a first look at newly proposed solutions. last night the mayor who heads a prostitution task force presented ideas that include sending letters to johns and putting blurred faces of convicted johns on billboards to try to shame them into stopping. it's no secret that resources are few in this bankrupt city, but residents are also taking action themselves. a group called the kentucky street watch owls say they don't have any choice but to get involved. >> that's really what it seems like we have to do. there doesn't seem to be enough resources to handle what all is going on. >> we're not going to sit by and let people just come to the city and do what they want whenever they want to. >> reporter: also on the table

more police stings. they just had one last friday where police arrested four people on prostitution-related charges. 13 people this year have been taken in so far. but police say this is an uphill battle. live in vallejo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 6:03. we're learning three men all right now facing criminal narcotics charges are all former antioch police officers. the one time commander of the contra costa narcotics task force is facing charges for allegedly selling confiscated drugs. private investigator christopher butler accused along with him. and danville police officer has been arrested on drug, weapons and conspiracy charges. he's also suspected of making drunk drives arrests of men involved in divorce cases that butler was working on. they all worked as antioch police officers in the late 1990s. a teacher could soon find out 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 that incident last tuesday so she left the classroom and called the police. tonight the redwood city school board will take up this issue. that teacher by the way has been placed on paid leave. well, it has been six months today that the gas pipeline exploded in san bruno and killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes. now the district attorney's office is looking at past seismic upgrade work as part of an investigation into pg&e's overall pipeline operation. now that could lead to criminal negligence charges. also the state puc may impose hefty fines if pg&e does not meet next tuesday's deadline to hand over detailed pipeline records. a ballot measure for new property taxes in alameda is heading towards victory. preliminary results of yesterday's special election

show voters narrowly approving measure a. it needed two-thirds majority to pass. now that measure is expected to generate about $12 million a year with the revenue going to support local schools. it would go into effect july 1. time now 6:05. san francisco police say criminals are using glue to steal money at the atm. ktvu's jade hernandez is in the city right now to tell us what police say you can do to protect your money. good morning, jade. >> reporter: good morning. thieves are targeting atm users when customers put in their key cards. they're actually using glue guns to mess with the buttons at the bottom of the pad. see this enter, clear and cancel? thieves are using glue guns to stick those buttons down when a customer comes in. and then the customer can't finish the process because those keys get stuck. the customer goes inside the bank for help leaving their card outside or information still up on the screen. that's when thieves step in. a local paper reports the

richmond station police captain here in san francisco says january -- since january there have been four of these types of thefts in the richmond district. thieves are using those glue guns to stick the buttons down. and this method is less risky because it's not violent and the penalty for getting caught is a misdemeanor. the other problem a bank customer might not notice the theft for days. customers need to keep several things in mind. never ever leave your card or information unattended at an atm machine. you can call the inside bank using your cell phone or send someone else inside for help. i want to bring you back out live because the biggest tip of all police have for atm customers is to keep in mind you can actually use and finish up your transaction using the touch screen which many atms have now. we're waiting to hear back from a sergeant at the richmond police station for an update in this case. these are all good reminders and tips to keep in mind when a customer comes to an atm

machine. reporting live, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. good advice. 6:07 is the time. let's go to tara because she'll have advice. we have an accident to report. we have a vehicle in the center divider in richmond. this is 580 westbound. just west of san pablo exit. right now we're going to head out to our live camera at 101 in san jose. pretty dark out there as you can see. traffic moving pretty well. at the bay bridge toll plaza we expect metering lights to be going on very shortly. we have seen a little bit of back up as you make your way into san francisco. finally the east shore freeway you can see headlights there are southbound traffic as you head toward the macarthur maze. no delays to speak of. 6:08. here's steve. thank you, tara. start out cloudy. mostly patchy. nothing like we had yesterday. low clouds, fog and drizzle. that's not the case. most areas cloudy or mostly cloudy. it will be warmer later this afternoon meaning temperatures will come up a little bit. it won't last too long.

we bring in another system tomorrow. rain in the north bay, maybe very light rain south. but today clouds then a sun forecast or mostly sunny. a lot of high thin clouds moving over us right now. very weak system. we're almost on edge of it to be honest with you. most of it staying to the north. what's over us is very weak. 40s and 50s on your temps. 50 mountain view and oakland and san francisco. mid-40s upper 40s. not much of a difference. santa rosa starting off at 46. mostly cloudy and 58 at noon. high of 67 under mostly sunny skies. a lot of high clouds up above. associated system right there doesn't have much to it. it's already driven into the north and we're getting the tail end out of the. that system right there is the one that will bring us light clouds and rain tomorrow. today we start to bump those temperatures up after a little bit of patchy fog. so clouds and then sun. mostly sunny and a little warmer. some highs 60 near 70. 45 to 50 to start. patchy fog and clouds begin the morning. then we'll go mostly fair,

mostly sunny, 56 to 66 by noon. and mostly fair and warmer 60 to 72 by this afternoon. 70 antioch, pittsburgh, benicia 64. oakland 65. and then we'll go 70 san jose low 70s morgan hill to gill roy. upper 6 0z pleasanton and livermore. mown sane view 67. temperatures not too bad. clouds return for cooler weather tomorrow and light rain. friday looks mostly sunny and warmer. saturday looks good. sunday we bring in clouds and rain moves into the north baby the afternoon and evening. all right. time now 6:10. a devastating story to tell you about. an overnight tragedy. seven children from one family all killed in a fire. where the parents were at the time and how they discovered their home was burning. early this morning a warning from gadafi. what he threatens will happen if a no-fly zone is imposed.

an overnight trammed in pennsylvania. a real tragedy. flames in a pennsylvania farmhouse killed seven children in one family. the mother was milking cows when the fire broke out. the only child who survived, the mother's 3-year-old daughter, escaped from the house and ran to the barn to alert her mother that the house was on fire. their father had already left the home earlier to get his milk delivery truck. right now there's still no word

on how that fire started. president obama meets in just about an hour with secretary of state hillary clinton to discuss the crisis in libya. allison burns is in our washington d.c. newsroom with comments from a special investigator. allison. >> reporter: pam, we do have some new developments this hour. a u.n. special investigator says he is opening a probe into allegations of torture by libyan leader gadafi. human rights groups say more than 1,000 people have been killed since the uprising in libya began a few weeks ago. this is the latest video of the libyan leader. he arrived for what reporters thought would be a press conference last night but it rooked like more of a rally and he didn't take any questions. gadafi says his forces will strike back if the western countries impose a no-fly zone. he says the u.s. and other countries are only interested in controlling libya's oil. but secretary of state hillary

clinton made clear in an interview this morning it won't be a u.s. effort because that would only play into gadafi's propaganda. as for what the response might look like the washington post is reporting that the u.s. and other countries are considering using naval assets to bring in humanitarian aid and block armed shipments as they debate the legality of a no-fly zone. reporting live from washington d.c., allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. well, the battle continues in congress to pass a spending bill. now one democratic senator says president obama needs to do something. >> why are we doing all this when the most powerful person in these negotiations, our president, has failed to lead this debate or offer serious proposal for spending and cuts that he would be willing to fight for? >> there's a vote scheduled in the senate today on two competing bills. but neither is expected to get the 60 votes needed to pass. time now 6:15.

violent clashes in egypt between muslims and christians and at least 13 people have been killed, more than 140 hurt. it all started last night when a muslim mob attacked thousands of christians. the christians were protesting the burning of a church in cairo last week. it all stemmed from a love affair between a muslim and a christian. that triggered a violent feud between the families of that couple. 180 employees at the mt. diablo school district will get layoff notices next week. the school board made that decision last night as it tries to make up a $22 million budget deficit. we spoke with the president of the school board overnight. he tells us further steps to deal with the deficit will largely depend on whether state lawmakers approve that tax extension for the june ballot. time now 6:16. we just had an accident near the scald cot tunnel. >> we have a fender bender in oaring da. looks like a hit-and-run. no injuries. this is on westbound 24 near

fish ranch road. crews are moving that car to the shoulder. further north this is a look near pittsburgh highway 4 westbound headlights toward concord moving well. now we have stayed off of the metering lights at the bay bridge toll plaza so far this morning. doesn't look like too bad of a commute. we'll let you know when that changes, and it will in the next few minutes i'm sure. traffic on the san mateo bridge where it was extremely windy and foggy earlier this week now you can see it's only light fog as you cross the span. 6:16. here's steve. we do have fog but nothing like yesterday when almost everybody had really thick fog. there are some areas. santa rosa reporting fog. napa also reporting fog and little towards san jose. so some patchy fog and higher clouds. mostly cloudy morning. once that system moves out we can get the fog to burn off it will be a mostly fair and warmer day. we start off with 40s to right at 50. so a little cool, but not too bad. it is on the chilly side. then after that that system will thin out and temperatures will start to warm up.

tomorrow we'll bring in another system for a little cool down and more clouds and possible light rain. today after morning fog and clouds it will be mostly fair, some mixed sunshine in there. it will be slightly warmer. 60s for many. mid-60s to a few upper 60s and a couple low 70s there especially towards the east bay and i think also the santa clara valley. tomorrow cooler as clouds roll in rain makes it to the north bay. friday looks good, saturday's all right. cloudy on sunday. thank you, steve. a new report shows more than 11 million families owe more on their homes than that property is worth. that translates to nearly one quarter of all homes with mortgage. underwater mortgages rose as home prices dropped to their lowest point. about 2.5 million people have less equity in their homes making them vulnerable if prices continue to fall. the air freshener, candles and fabric freshener are the

24th proctor and gamble brand to hit the mark. pg&e officials safe breeze sales improve as people are spending more time at home. interesting. time now 6:18. a million sardines died in a southern california marina. and marine biologists may know why. take a look at these pictures. look down there. they think the sardines used up all of the oxygen at this very shallow marina. and then they suffocated. the biologistings say they probably swam into the marina. got lost and couldn't find their way back out. that water by the way was tested. there was literally no oxygen there. >> wow. well, out to get man's best friend. police say someone is trying to poison dogs. the disturbing message that the culprit left behind. also terrifying moments. you can see them caught on tape. police are releasing this video showing an attempted abduction that led to three deaths. we'll show you this next.

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and let's take a look at your bay area bridges this morning. bay bridge we still have no metering lights on.

that's good news. not too bad of a commute in san francisco. little bit of fog at the san mateo bridge as well as the richmond bridge. but not too bad. finally clear sailing in san francisco this morning on the golden gate. 6:22. let's head back to the desk. a san francisco supervisor wants muni to make sure riders are protected during its current contract talks with its union. he says when voters approved proposition g last fall they gave muni the chance to make big changes in the labor agreement and now it's up to muni management to get labor costs under control and get rid of outdated work rules. muni operators though are suing the city saying one section of the new law all but guarantees they won't get a fair contract. now it says if the two sides can't reach an agreement on their own, an independent arbitrator will be called in. riders would be happy though. that arbitrator has to consider how the contract would effect fares and service. a warning for dog owners in sunny vale. police say someone is trying to

poison pets. open boxes of rat poison were found at the dog park on two separate occasions late last month. and someone scrawled this 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. but veterinarians say that depending on the amount ingested it may take two to seven days for any symptoms to appear. time now 6:24. well, san jose police have released a very graphic surveillance tape. you've got to see this. they're hoping it will help track down the person wanted in one of that city's most violent crimes ever. three people were killed during this terrifying kidnap attempt at the mexicali club in early

january. the video shows a man in the bullet proof vest fighting with a bar owner as he tries to force him at gunpoint out of the club into a waiting suv. >> it's definitely an intense video to watch. it's not very common to release videos of this type however we believe the person on the video is dangerous. he's out in the public. it's important to us to get that person off the streets. >> we can tell you the bar owner was shot during the struggle but he survived. three other people were killed during that shootout. two of them are believed to have been working with that suspect. now if you want to get another look at that surveillance video, go to our channel 2 website at ktvu.com. look for the bay area news tab on the front page. 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 ships.

now scientists say about 10,000 of those containers fall off ships every year. 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 pretty soon there's a lot of these on the seabed. >> scientists say pulling them up will cost too much but they want the industry to work harder at keeping those on board. tonight a san jose city councilwoman will hold an open forum to propose a social host law. a lot of parents in particular. it's on camden avenue in san jose and runs from 6:30 to 8:30 tonight. councilwoman proposes the law after a fatal car crash last september. the passenger died, the 18-year-

old driver was arrested for driving under the influence. and the social hosting law would hold parents responsible if they allow underage kids to drink at their homes. well, a lamborghini swiped from a car dealership. the celebrity it belongs to and why thieves used repelling equipment to pull off the heist. a child molester's on the run. the unusual circumstances under which he disappeared. and the opening bell is about to ring on wall street. we'll tell you what's happening today that could effect stocks.

all right. your commute is finally kicking into high gear this morning. metering lights just went on at the bay bridge toll plaza about five minutes ago. fast track lane # lanes are

looking good however. otherwise give yourself an extra ten minutes as you head into san francisco. 6:29. [ cheering and applause ] opening bell. they are live and excited this morning. volcano on the nasdaq. i did not get a chance to look that up. i will have to research that. i did look up some of the stocks to watch this morning. one is san francisco based diamond foods. they reported a very good profit for the quarter earnings. that is. [ indiscernible ] [ cheering and applause ] >> that's disappointing. children's place also one of the retailers coming in up a little bit after some good earnings. but a disappointing report from some of the other retailers. so we'll keep an eye on it this morning. american eagle outfitters with disappointing numbers and of course oil. oil continues to weigh on the market. it's the two year anniversary of the bull market that started

on the s&p 500. so bottom part of your screen dow headed down a little bit. we'll watch the numbers. >> volcano was erupting there. >> i guess. we're going to smile and say good morning to you. thank you for joining us here on the ktvu morning news middle of the week now wednesday march 9. i'm dave clark. good morning. i'm pam cook. time now 6:30. in the news right now a search is underway for a former pittsburgh counselor who disappeared during his child molestation trial. he never showed up after a very dramatic courthouse run in. kraig debro is in martinez right now to tell us what happened here. good morning, kraig. >> reporter: good morning, dave. i guess some speculating whether or not that run in had something to do with him not showing up he was supposed to come back. he was here on february 28 in this courthouse. his defense attorney and everybody else thought he'd be back the next day. instead nobody's seen him since then. at least nobody around here or his defense attorney. four days later even without him being here a jury convicted

him of molesting two teenage girls. just hours before failing to appear, he had a chance encounter with one of his victims inside the courthouse. he was getting off an elevator at the same time the doors opened and one of his victims, a 13-year-old girl at the time of the crime, was standing there waiting for the elevator. she broke down and crime. police arrested him in november of 2008. he was working as an intern counselor at a business that provides therapy to children of divorced parents. both girls, one 15 and one 13, say he rubbed himself against them during counseling sessions. now as a result of jumping bail the seek temple might be out $250,000 and a judge issued a no bail arrest warrant for him. trying to talk to the prosecutor in this case to see if they've had any luck locating him. reporting live in martinez, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 6:32. u.s. park police are investigating after a body was found that washed ashore in san

francisco. it was spotted yesterday very close to aquatic park in fort mason. still no word yet on whether it's a body of a man or woman. investigators are trying to pull together evidence from that scene to try to figure out how the person died. the san francisco chronicle reports that more than 40 more cases may well be dropped in connection with that police video scandal in san francisco. now yesterday eight cases were dropped. five involved drug charges. two were for grand theft. another for burglary. now that brings the total to 13 cases that have been dropped so far. all of this 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. today san jose city leaders will consider a plan to drastically reduce the number of medical marijuana dispensaries. there are more than 100 pot clubs operating in san jose. and some council members say the city can't keep up with the

number of complaints. they propose limiting the number of marijuana dispensaries to ten. if approved today, the city's rules committee will send the proposal to the full council. well, today's also the last chance for dog owners to chime in on the plan to limit off leash areas in the golden gate recreational area. park officials want to limit off leash access at 21 different locations may include san francisco's ocean beach and fort mason. today the public can share their opinions at the final open house meeting. it starts at 4:00 this afternoon in pacifica. san francisco police are trying to find the thief who used climbing gear to break into a car dealership and steal the lamborghini of celebrity chef guy. it happened yesterday. police found repelling rope and bolt cutters at the scene.

the car is worth more than $200,000. guy stars on several shows on the food network and he lives here in the bay area. all right. time now 6:34. hey, tara, the commute's awake now isn't it? it finally is getting busier. we are just waiting for it to start to kick in. what do you know metering lights are on at the bay bridge toll plaza if you're trying to make your way into san francisco you can soot back up not too bad. moving but give yourself extra time. 880 near the oakland coliseum really not too busy. much busier yesterday at this hour. you don't really need to give yourself any extra time. get where you're wanting to go in no time. 280 in san jose you can see that we have no delays either. so all in all it is a pretty good morning. 6:35. here's steve. tara, thank you. there you go. some patchy fog is still being reported. [ applause ] >> hard to paint that red though. took me about 20 minutes to get

that. we do have mostly fair weather and it will be a little warmer today. we still have to deal with some clouds and fog in the morning. overall looking good. tomorrow though we'll bring back some light rain. today though looks all right. santa clara valley east bay close to 70 degrees. temperatures today though are starting off in the 40s and also the 50s. and for those of you who have a 55-inch high def tv and you're puttering around the house take another look at that. go to our weather computer now and take a look at what's going on. mostly cloudy, high clouds, patchy fog by this afternoon mostly sunny. it will be warm as we said. clouds and cooler weather returns tomorrow and some rain also makes it. it looks pretty weak south of san francisco oakland but i think we'll get some light rain out of it. heavier to the north. high clouds associated with a dying front falling apart right over us but has produced some higher clouds. any rain confined well to the north. some fog is underneath this bands of cloud cover. not like yesterday though when everyone had fog or really thick fog and drizzle. we don't have that. patchy fog santa rosa says so.

napa and san jose has a little bit but not like yesterday. santa rosa starting off around 45, 46 degrees. and mostly cloudy skies. some fog being reported sonoma county airport 58 at noon and 67 for a high. now the system coming over us today is already falling apart. so those higher clouds will lose out to a ridge of high pressure. the system right there that's the one that will be in for tomorrow. today after morning clouds and patchy fog afternoon sunshine, mostly fair, mostly sunny. but then tomorrow that system sweeps in and it does look like it will make it. no doubt about it for clouds and cooler weather and light rain will also spread south probably late in the afternoon into the evening. 45 to 50. some fog and a lot of high clouds. a few sun breaks. mostly fair, mostly sunny. 56 to 66 by noon and then 60 to 72 fair and warmer weather. so 60s, mid-60s to low 70 antioch brentwood, pittsburgh, oakly. not bad. 66 san raphael.

hayward, 66. 70 san jose. 72 gill roy and 67 redwood city, pleasanton, livermore, dublin danville all around 67, 68. clouds and rain returns tomorrow. mostly fair nice friday into saturday. looks like rain on sunday evening especially north bay then for everyone sunday night. well, overnight we have new video of downtown san jose where they celebrated mardi gras last night. take a look. fat tuesday celebrations began. and 200 extra police officers hit the streets to control the crowds, but pretty good news. police say some people were detained for fighting, but no arrests were made. santa clara city leaders have come up with a new game plan in their fight to become the new home of the 49ers. they are looking for ways to protect redevelopment money that's needed to fund their $937 million stadium project. governor brown has proposed cutting off redevelopment money to help reduce the state's huge

budget deficit. the governor is even suggesting that the 49ers play at stanford or cal. all right. time now 6:38. committing the perfect crime can be hard. but take a look at this guy. couldn't even get past the first step. this is video you've got to see. and vallejo tries to crack down on the problem of prostitution, i just talked to a man who used to work in that business. we'll give you his perspective coming up. take a look at highway 4 through bay point. traffic is actually going really well at this hour. we'll give you a look at more bay area traffic coming up.

welcome back. good morning to you. here's a quick look at some of the top stories we're following for you right now at 6:41. seven children, they just died in a devastating farmhouse fire in pennsylvania. investigators say their mother was in the barn milking cows when the fire started. a little 3-year-old girl survived after she ran out of the home. 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 investigating past seismic upgrade work. it's part of an investigation into pg&e's overall pipeline operations. and we're hearing reports this morning that libyan leader gadafi has sent a high ranking member of his military to egypt

with a message. an egyptian army official says that libyan military leader asked to meet with egypt's military rulers. we have no other details right now. the city of vallejo is coming up with new ideas to deal with the world's oldest profession. ktvu's claudine wong is talking with vallejo police this morning about the plan that includes maybe a letter sent home to some people. good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, pam. yes, since we've last checked in with you we've also talked to a business and i just talked to a man who says his job used to be getting prostitutes and johns hooked up. he has some interesting perspective on this latest crack down. one thing is clear, the problem of prostitution along sonoma boulevard and surrounding neighborhoods it's pretty belate event, ongoing and solutions may be tough to come by. there are solutions however on the table. in ones introduced last night by the mayor of vallejo who is heading a newly formed task force, community patrols, more police stings, more cameras all on the table as is an effort to shame the johns by sending

letters to their homes or putting blurred faces of convicted johns on billboards. will that help? people we talked to this morning say maybe, but a man who says he used to work in the business say this problem is huge. >> the business of prostitution it's lucrative business. it's really bad out here. i don't know what they're going to do as far as cleaning it up, but i don't think they ever will clean it up. it's prominent out here. been going on for so many years. >> reporter: has it gotten worse? how long were you involved in it? >> since i was 16. i'm 39 no . >> reporter: i also talked to a business out here the manager told me at any given time of the day he sees 10 to 25 prostitutes working the streets. he however says he doesn't have a problem with the prostitutes. he has a bigger problem with panhandlers and not sure if any of this will actually crack down on prostitution. live in vallejo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. time now 6:44. wisconsin's governor scott

walker now offering to keep certain collective bargaining rights in place for state employees as a compromise to try to end an almost three week standoff. now e-mails released by the governor's office show a softening in the governor's stance in the wake of those protests that attracted 80,000 people. now to honor this proposed compromise workers would be able to continue bargaining over some issues like their salaries and mandatory overtime. a powerful earthquake in japan triggered a small tsunami this morning. look at this video. buildings are swaying the very moment that 7.3 quake hit. look at the water there at the bottom. no reports of any injuries yet. but there was a small tsunami about 30 minutes after that quake. we're told it did not cause any damage. the arch bishop of philadelphia just suspended 21 priests placing them on administrative leave. now they are all accused of sexually abusing children. their suspensions follow a grand jury report alleging

widespread priest abuse and a cover up that went on for years. the priest will not be allowed to celebrate mass or wear collars until the catholic church completes its investigation. a minnesota mail carrier has died after a porch she was standing on collapsed. the porch was built over what used to be an entrance to a cellar. police say she fell ten feet to the bottom of the porch and trapped underneath a four inch concrete slab. the beams had rotted causing them to give way. time now 6:46. two oakland police officers are not face charges for shooting an unarmed man last year. d.a.'s office says the officers had reason to fear for their safety when they fired at 37- year-old derrick jones back in november. now the d.a.'s office found that jones repeatedly ignored police officers' commands to show his hands and that he reached for his waistband which may have indicated to the police officers he may have

been reaching for a weapon. jones' mother says she is appalled by these findings. she's filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against the city of oakland. the antioch city council unanimously approve add new contract with police officers. the contract is only for nine months though. as we've been reporting, other unions have complained that they were being asked to make long-term concessions while police were getting a sweetheart deal. but police officers argue that they've been making concessions for years. well, you wouldn't think the hardest part of an armed robbery would be getting the right mask, but take a look at this video from south carolina. in a convenience store it shows thieves would be robbery having a hard time with his mask. he couldn't open the cash register. he eventually just kind of turned around and walked away without any money. >> and made it on tv with pam cook. boy, time now 6:47. our commute's going pretty

good, right, tara? i don't want to jinx us but we've been lucky. no accidents and roadways are clear. look at east shore freeway. headlights westbound on 80 toward the macarthur maze. no delays to speak of. and at the bay bridge toll plaza metering lights are on. but they went on a lot later than usual. they went on at 6:23 this morning. normally they'll go on around 6:10 or 6:15ish. not too bad. final look at 101 stream of traffic on the bottom portion of your screen southbound towards san francisco. 6:47. steve, how's it going? how's d.c.? you might want to share that, tara. >> daily city and the 605. >> shout out to everybody in d.c. we have fog coming in back in above this there's only higher clouds but patchy low clouds. look at that kind of hanging out sneaking in over the hills. i love that. that's a cool shot. joe johnson are you responsible for that? that was very cool. we have mostly cloudy skies. mostly cloudy skies.

but they'll give way to mostly sunny skies. so some thick fog here in the morning. just saw working its way around fair and warmer today mostly sunny. clouds return tomorrow and so does rain. does not look like a big system but looks like north bay and south to san francisco lighter amounts. saturday looks okay. and then sunday morning we'll start to cloud up sunday afternoon and evening the rain will return. that will be a stronger system sunday evening into monday. today dealing with a lot of these higher clouds. again, they're just hanging out tail end of that system. not a big deal. they'll begin to thin out. but they're they're there now. high clouds in the morning along with patchy fog. combination of the two mostly cloudy morning. 40s or right at 50. kind of cool but later on today as pam said a couple hours ago it's a layers kinds of a day. there you go. by this afternoon if you're in the sun you're like, man, it's getting warm. especially if you're towards the santa clara valley where there's low 70s. system there will fall apart and then high pressure in for about a day and a half. patchy fog is there. be careful of that. once that burns off it's not as

widespread as we had yesterday. thick fog and high clouds gives way to mostly sunny skies even by noon. 56 to 66 we'll go for some low 70s fair and mostly sunny and warmer. antioch, pittsburgh, brentwood, maybe out to discovery bay, stockton, vacaville, near 70. concord 67. san ramon, danville upper 60s. santa rosa napa 67. warmer morgan hill and gill roy. 60s on the peninsula to upper 60s to livermore and pleasanton. clouds return tomorrow. rain will make it. saturday clears out. sunday night does look like rain. all right. thank you, steve. sorry, dave. that's right. at 6:50 there's a very convenient new way for berkeley residents to try to stop junk mail from getting to them. a free online service launched yesterday that allows users to opt out of unsolicited mail. now the city of berkeley sponsors this service.

it's provided by the nonprofit group catalog choice. you can choose to opt out of junk mail for more than 3,000 companies on that group's website. >> with one click you decide whether you want no mail, you can have some preference choices, choose the name and address and hit submit. it's as easy as that. >> and after selecting companies from a list, catalog choice does the notification. the berkeley's mayor says that service will help reduce a lot of waste. if you want to sign up for the program, you can go to our channel 2 website at ktvu.com and just click on the web links. well, a number of applications for new mortgages has hit its highest point this year. this morning the mortgage bankers association reports the number of applications jumped 15.5% last week. that's the biggest increase since june of last year. analysts say those low interest rates lower than 5% are responsible for the boost. all right. checking in on the numbers. dow jones down about 30 points.

live look at the big board. 12,183. if you were wondering about the volcano eruption on the opening bell, interesting little company out of san diego having an analyst meeting. they're involved in medical equipment for vascular disease. throw that in there. one of the companies to watch today. but as you can see the numbers are down. two years ago today the stock market hit its lowest point of the financial melt down. since then the s&p 500 has regained 95%. small investors appear to be putting money back into wall street. analysts say many investors remain fearful of investing in stocks but haven't been able to find a better place to put their money for now. interesting. time now 6:52. it was a secret list at stanford. a special list for so-called special students. why that secret is out now. what's happened to the list now. plus, secret challenge of the "american idol" finalist that you may have not known

until now. traffic on 237 a little beaked up there. we have an accident to report in the east bay next.

welcome back. there's nasa's mission control. in just about two hours from right now the crew of the space shuttle discovery will be landing in florida. we're looking at the sky now.

they just closed the door to the shuttle's cargo bay. the astronauts are stowing their gear in the shuttle's cabin. in about an hour from now they'll fire the rockets that will put them back into earth's orbit. now the shuttle discovery is due to land at kennedy space center in florida just before 9:00 a.m. this morning. a memorial to honor the september 11 victims and died on that flight headed for san francisco, well, they need millions of dollars to complete the memorial. today relatives of the united airlines flight 93 passengers will be lobbying congress to ask for funding. the first phase of the memorial including a wall listing the 40 passengers and crew members is due to open this september on the tenth anniversary of the september 11 attacks. well, the top 13 finalists on "american idol" are preparing to take the stage tonight. we're used to hearing them sing

but the contestants recently showed us some of their unusual quirkier talents. [ indiscernible ] >> contestants from northern california are among the finalists. they are 22-year-old james from santa cruz and 16-year-old of mountain house. now, don't forget, you can watch the final 13 take the stage tonight at 8:00 right here on ktvu channel 2. time now 6:56. stanford university has now ended a closely guarded list of classes distributed only to the campus athletes. it was widely known as the easy class list. it included courses like improvised drama. the list was designed to accommodate the demanding schedules of student athletes. stanford dropped the courses last week after getting several complaints. all right. coming up on 7:00. go back over to tara because

there's a new accident now in the east bay. that's right. we have a traffic hazard in pleasanton. a car is in the roadway after something smashed into its back window. it happened 680 southbound at castle wood drive. we have a chp unit on the way. and we will keep you posted. looks like it's not effecting traffic too badly at the moment. all right. 6:57. let's head over to steve. tara, thanks. we have some areas of fog. some thick. bob tweeted me and said in livermore parts of fog. north bay some fog showing up. once that burns off or moves off we'll have mostly sunny weather and fair and warmer. 60s and a few near 70 degrees. pam and dave. all right. thank you, steve. coming up next here on mornings on 2, the police warning for some atm customers. it involves a very sticky situation that could cost you some cash. also a big announcement just hours away in that san francisco police scandal tied to videotape. stay right here with us.