ktvu just left a briefing with san francisco's district attorney. he says the impact of a police scandal on drug prosecutions is growing. ktvu has new video of the san bruno gas disaster that happened six months ago today. >> reporter: new solutions to the ongoing problem of prostitution in the city of vallejo. will embarrassing johns help fight this problem? why some on the street say it

just might do the truck. ktvu channel 2 news at noon starts right now. sh. good afternoon. topping our news right now, san francisco's district attorney has just announced his office is dropping dozens of cases today as a result of its ongoing police misconduct investigation. ktvu ajade hernandez was there then the -- ktvu's jade hernandez was there when the announcement was made and joins us live. >> reporter: good afternoon. the district attorney says this is about public safety -- within the hour he said 67 cases will have been dismissed by the end of today. we learned all of these cases were drug cases and all cases can be refiled. but at this point, 57 cases have been dismissed. the cases involve eight police

officers and warrant served at residential hotels. so far this video has surfaced showing what is reported as officer misconduct. >> when this office became aware that there may have been problems with officers at this department, out of an abundance of caution, we took very important steps not only to investigate this matter but also to notify the court that the cases we believe at the time we did not have sufficient evidence to prosecute these cases. >> reporter: the da doesn't know how long it will take to investigate these officers and how many there might be. the public defender on the other hand says they will be reviewing between 2,000 and 3,000 cases since the officers

being investigated made two 0 to three arrests a day. >> we suspect 24 is just the tip of the iceberg. these cases are -- the district attorney is talking about pet -- petty cases. some cases, people face 30, 35 years in prison and the cases are being dismissed because the district attorney has no confidence in these officers. >> reporter: jeff adachi said they will start fourth amendment restraining for plain- clothes officers next week and the d.a.'s office will have someone on call in case officers have questions about search warrants. >> i want to make sure that we put the word out to anybody that it has a case whether it's private defense or public defender, where they believe

that the evidence against their client is sufficient because there may be some alleged police misconduct involving this case, that the information be given to us immediately. >> police chief is answering ktvu's questions right now about this investigation. ktvu's rob roth will have more for you tonight at 5:00 and 6 :00. reporting live in san francisco, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, jade. in alameda, a ballot measure that would impose new tax on alameda home owners an businesses appears to be heading to victory. preliminary results of yesterday's special election shows voters narrow le approving -- narrowly approving. it's expected to generate about $12 million a year with the revenue going to support local schools. it would go into effect on july 1st. and in contra costa county, the mount diablo school district voted late last night

to send out preliminary layoff notices to 180 of its employees next week. the district cases -- faces a $22 million budget deficit. we spoke to 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 the tax extension for the june ballot. six months ago, the gas pipeline explosion in san bruno killed eight people and destroyed dozens of homes. tonight, at 6:11:00 p.m., the time of the -- 6:11:00 p.m., the time of the explosion, a vigil will be held. the state p.u.c. may impose hefty fines if pg&e does not meet the deadline next

week to hand over detailed pipeline records and we have dramatic video of the fire you are seeing of the fire from the rupture site last september. our washington, d.c. bureau obtained this from the ntsb. it's looking east on earle avenue. you can see showing which way is north. the person shooting the video was able to zoom in on the very spot where the pipeline ruptured and the gas fuel spewed flames. about 50 firefighters rushed to the old circuit city building on mowry avenue around 9:30 last night because of a fire. it took them about 0 minutes to get the fire under control. no one was hurt. firefighters say it a -- say it appears squatters set campfires inside the building to keep them warm. >> the building has been occupied by a number of folks since circuit city moved out

that don't belong on the property. there's a lot of damage inside. investigators say it looks like the fire was accidental. firefighters say the city has been working to get the building torn down for some time now. the city of vallejo was coming up with new ideas with the world's oldest profession. claudine wong has been talking to police and residents about ways to crack down on prostitution. good afternoon, claudine. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori. we're here at sacramento and louisiana. this is actually a park in the city. but we're here because locals tell us this is also a prime spot for prostitutes looking for johns. it's an age-old problem that the city wants to attack with new solutions. >> reporter: we talked to two women today who admit they spent a lot of time on the street. they say a -- they see a lot of girls and women who make their living selling sex. >> go to school! , you are 16, 15, 14. go! >> reporter: the problem of prostitution is rampant in the

city of vallejo. >> it's quite busy. >> reporter: how many do you usually see -- >> on an average there's always ten plus, minimum. >> reporter: minimum. as many as 25? >> as many as 25. >> reporter: what time of day? >> any given time. >> reporter: but the city wants it stopped and last night the mayor who heads a newly-formed task force introduced a man with proposals to shame johns by putting their faces on websites, billboards, even by sending letters home. >> we talked to someone man who said it might work. >> it would make me feel comfortable, yes. but i'm not in that situation but i would imagine it would make them uncomfortable. >> reporter: in the meantime, the business on the street continues. >> matt, i pass out condom to -- matt, i pass out condoms to them. that's what i do. i'm not gonna -- lie.

live in vallejo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, claudine. san francisco police have an important warning for atm customers. some crafty crooks are glueing down the enter, cancel and clear buttons on the atm keypad of some banks. they wait until a customer goes into the bank for help and that's when the thieves withdrawal money from the customers' account. >> pretty dastardly. [ laughter ] i wouldn't be surprised with the bad economy and everything. a lot of people are doing scams and stuff. it wouldn't surprise me. >> one way to avoid being a victim, you can use the screen as a touch pad to finish your transaction. since january, there have been four such thefts in san francisco's richmond district alone. authorities in contra costa county are looking for a

convicted child molester they believe left town last week after he ran into one of his victims into the -- in the courthouse in martinez. four days after he disappeared, a jury convicted 38-year-old tajinder singh bedi of two felony counts of child molestation. prosecutors say he touched teen girls who were his clients at a counseling center in pittsburg. the run-in with the victim happened when bedi came off the elevator and the victim was standing there waiting to get in the elevator. witnesses say the girl immediately fell to her knees and began sobbing. bedi faces eight years in prison. the judge has issued a warning for his arrest. ahead -- final touchdown for the shuttle "discovery." we'll tell you where it's headed next. bad news from researchers about the great white sharks off the coast. meteorologist, steve paulson, is up soon to tell us

when the rain will return and he says it will. also -- >> reporter: he was a railroad. why he's being honor after his death.

space shuttle "discovery" made its final touchdown today. it had be retired and put on display at the smithsonian engine. today's mission included a week- long stay at the international space station. an unusually large number of people came out to witness the historic landing. "discovery" made its first launch in 1984 and has flown 158 million miles since then. two flights remain on the schedule, one in april, one in june, before the entire fleet is discovered. the governor of illinois abolished the state's death penalty and then commuted the death senses for -- sentences for life in prison for all 15 inmates on death row. governor pat quinn, a democrat, signed legislation this morning doing away with capital punishment. no one was been ex-cuted in

illinois -- executed in illinois since ryan imposed a moratorium. 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 trials. three people were killed during a kidnapping attempt in early january. the video shows a man in a bulletproof vest fighting with the bar owner as he attempts to force him at gunpoint from the club into a waiting suv. the bar owner was shot but survived. three other people were killed and two of them may have been with the suspect. you can get another look at the surveillance video by going to the website automatic ktvu.com. look for the -- at ktvu.com. look for the page on the front

page. there are reports that moammar gadhafi is intensifying fights on rebel forces, sending plumes of black -- plumes of black smoke in the sky. president and his advisers met to discuss this. mr.gadhafi said on turkish state tv that a no-fly zone would only prove that the west was after libyan oil fields and he promised if such a zone is set up, he would take up arms and fight. the coast guard is honoring a former war hero, an nfl player, for his exceptional service and breaking down racial barriers. tara moriarty is live in the newsroom to tell us why is happening 36 years after his death. >> well, he once told a reporter was the first african-

american for everything, the first full-time black coach in the nfl, the first nfl player and now you can add hero to that. he served in world war ii posthumously received a silver, life-saving medal this warning. his sister was in attendance for the ceremony, where a gym was named in his honored. his cargo ship was struck by a japanese tornado. he somed on flames -- stomped on flames of his teammate and burned himself. he also rushed into icy waters to rescue his drowning work mate. >> tennell worked for the coast guard in the bay area after the war and became a professional

player. he actually broke his neck when he was just 17 years old. doctors said he would never play again and after a year in a neck brace, he went on to serve the -- serve his country. back to you. >> thank you. a ship that was part of the mothball fleet is scheduled for dismantling. several merchants helped guide it and it was set aside along with other ships but it's new showing signs of age. it's the 18th vessel to be removed from the fleet for recycling. there are 39 more vessels headed for the same fate. a new study shows a steep decline in the great white shark population off california's coast. in a first ever census, uc davis biologists populate coastal waters off northern

california each fall. they took high resolution photos of the shark too count their numbers. great whites are typically along the northern california coast from august to december before they swim south. in the weather, a lot of high clouds. we had mostly cloudy skies. some filtered stun. temperatures, upper 50s and low 60s. temperatures are held in check because of the cloud cover. if it thins out enough we can get some upper 60s here. that's what we're kind of banging on -- banking on here. a closer look shows the band started in the north bay and now it's filtering over the entire bay area. so again, high clouds, filtered sun. the system we're waiting for tomorrow is right there. it won't come in until probably tomorrow afternoon but 0 tonight we'll get some clearing and probably some of that fog will be back that we've had to

deal with. there were some areas that had some fog. 50s or low, low 60s. concord is at 60. 59 san jose, 59 san rafael, 59 fairfield and everyone else is pretty close. both at 59 degrees. one system topples over and moves. it's breaking through the ridge of high pressure. but we still get a slight westerly breeze and there in lies a system. that system will start to move in by tomorrow. that will give us some rain. that will start tomorrow and then probably for everyone by tomorrow night. some patchy fog is not going anywhere. is will re-form again. there's still some up in the hills a little bit -- little bit. so today's forecast high clouds and 58 to 68. we get these clouds out of here, we get some low 70s. patchy fog, am clouds -- a.m. clouds, some sun filtering through. we'll end up with upper 50s to

low 60s. vallejo, 63. 67 out towards antioch and then 67 san jose. 65 redwood city and then maybe if we can get a little bit of sun, low os in the santa clara -- low 70s in the santa clara valley. tomorrow we cloud it up. we'll see some rain in the north bay. but not much. friday and saturday look good and cloudy and rain moving back in for sun -- sunday. tori? >> thank you. president obama nominated gary locke this morning to replace john huntsman who is stepping down next month. locke was the first chinese- american to become commerce department. today is ash wednesday, the beginning of lent. [singing] >> while this is a time of fasting and giving up things like meat, sacramento bishop so

toe says it's not a time to give up. >> i think it's important as we begin this season of lent to begin it with that sense of hope. >> bishop so toe held an ash wednesday service on the west steps of the state capitol. lent is a period of about 0 days leading up to easter sunday. still ahead -- why general motors just announced a recall for 10,000 cars and as this video shows, getting the math right can be one of the -- mask right can be one of the toughest parts for staging a robbery.

this is a developing story just in to us at ktvu. b.a.r.t. is experiencing 0 to 45-minute delays -- 0 to 45-minute delays system wide due to a delay at the powell street station because of a disabled strain that was heading to the airport. there's no details on how long this delay will last on washington. check with -- will last on b.a.r.t. check at ktvu.com. a software glitch in gm could de -- could prevent the defroster from working. if you have one of these cars, you -- you can have the

software reprogrammed. you can find a link at at ktvu.com. an atherton teacher may find out soon after a student told on him that he rattled the desk, scaring -- rattled a desk, scaring a student. the teacher has been on paid leave and the school board will take you the issue. you wouldn't think the hardest part of an armed robbery would be getting the right mask. but video shows masks can make or break a crime. couldn't open the cash register. he eventually ran away without a dime. coming up on ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00, president obama and the first lady turned up on facebook to deliver a crucial message to young people. they released a statement on facebook about bullying. find out what mr. and mrs.

obama are asking of students, teachers, coaches and parents. and the unusual event they are hosting at the white house. that story and more coming up next on the news at 5:00. thanks for watching. have a great day. a charming farmhouse.

bree: right next to my posh castle! i'm sensing a theme here. well, i am the queen, dear sister.