people bringing flowers. today is a tough day and new video uncovered in the investigation, shows the intensity of the disaster that these people survived. >> reporter: the newly released video is chilling. images of natural gas spewing into a wall of fire and a hissing sound. a never before seen look into the fire ball that killed eight people and injured more than 60 six months ago today. >> first couple of weeks was sad. i had to take a week reaction is. couldn't handle it. >> reporter: the neighborhood is slowly rebounding. empty plots where 30 homes once stood. the hope for more progress.

>> coming very slow. one neighbor said it will take five years till things are back. you know, i hope it's over in five years. seems like it will take a long time. >> other friends, neighbors are still trying to decide. tough decision for them, financially, emotionally tough decision. >> reporter: back here live, people putting flowers on the fences that surround the properties. this is where a lot of people lost their lives. the vigil is set to start shortly. half of the proper owners looked into rebuilding and the first two homes are expected to break ground within the next two months. reporting live from san bruno, maureen naylor, ktvu channel 2 news. the explosion claimed the lives of eight people. tonight's vigil will honor the

memory of those. also being remember are three generations of a family that died in the fire. again, we will go back live to san bruno at 6:11 to show you the vigil. the explosion changed lives and the landscape of that neighborhood. this is a image from google earth taken before the fire. that's where the most serious damage occurred. look at this image taken after the explosion. the destruction is widespread. the fire ball leveled homes and charred trees. here is that neighborhood today. this image shows the name area with the blast zone visible six months later. the california public utility commission says it is ready to fine pg&e if it doesn't meet the deadline to turnover safety records.

they are sorting through a million documents. today a spokesperson told us the company plans to meet the deadline. www.ktvu.com has a section dedicated to the explosion in san bruno. including slide shows of the damage and more on how the victims are trying to piece their lives back together. the tape scandal involving undercover police officers led to the dismissal today of dozens of drug cases. ktvu's rob roth spoke with the mayor and how it's impacting his search for a new police chief. >> reporter: we just learned that 18 of the defendants have been in custody awaiting trial. noters tell us right now some of them are processed for release and could be free sometime this evening. >> reporter: in court this afternoon the judge dismissed 42 cases. that brings the total dropped

due to the misconduct investigation to 57 and counting. >> this is real. it involves people's lives, not only for those incarcerated but also for victims in many cases. >> reporter: today he says his office will look into pass cases involving the undercover unit inside the haul of justice. sevenovers and a sergeant are under investigation for conducting illegal searches and lying about it. some have been recorded by cameras. the officers are under criminal investigations but authorities say they don't expect other officers are involved. >> as of this moment there is no other indication of any allegations of misconduct in any of the other ricts. >> reporter: ed lee said he would be meeting with the chief about the allegations. >> we got to move quickly on

this. yes, i will talk to him about the need to make sure the investigation is clean and we move quickly. >> reporter: ed lee says he will interview for a permanent police chief next week. >> all officers are following the procedures that we set out, particularly the due process procedures. >> reporter: the chief says beginning next week all 100 officers will undergo training on proper search and seizure procedures. reporting live, rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. glue is the new tool of choice for robbers at atms in san francisco. crooks are gluing down buttons on the machines. when a customer goes inside for help the thieves withdrawal money because the pin has already been entered. use the touch trene, not the

puttens to finish the transaction. the gang rape of a teenager continues to go down. today the lawyer for the man whos on the home where the attack occurred said his client is no longer part of the case. a woman who was 17 is accusing six of raping her in 2007. prosecutor declined to file criminal charges. plan to limit the number of medical marijuana dispensetries in san jose cleared its first hurdle today. they approved a proposal to cut it to 10. currently there are more than 100. one city counsel member is concerned that the city could find itself in court. >> i think we opened ourselves up to litigation.

>> i am concerned if we don't take action, we will see 300. more keep opening. >> the full counsel will take up the matter on april 27. the march could by quieter this year. they still need to raise half of the $30,000 it costs to hold the event in june. expenses have all increased. loyal citizens or national security threat. american muslim commutes will be the focus on a hearing. leaders feel more like a target. >> reporter: as you can see, here in the bay area there are a lot of groups within the

american-muslim communities. >> reporter: numerous hearings have been held on the threat of tearrooms but many believe tomorrow's hearing is to demonize. >> certainlily there has been a increase and we feel the hearings put fuel on the fire. >> reporter: he says the majority of american's muslims are outstanding americans but a small percentage pose a threat. a spokesman says if the committee was looking for answers -- >> they would have panelists who are members of mosque in america, you know, leaders of muslim communities but they don't have that. >> reporter: mike says the hearing is whipping up paranoia. >> that's what happened when we

were incarcerated. >> reporter: american-muslim group says the focus of the hearing is too narrow. >> a hearing that focuses on one community, would be counter productive. >> reporter: peter's list of witnesses include keith, the first american's muslim elected to congress. robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. berkeley is vowing to fight a lawsuit alleging it looked the other way involving an attack on a jewish student. she was holding a sign in support of izraal. aaa is predicting gas prices could top $4 a gallon by the end of the week.

prices increased 50 cents in the past month. san francisco's average hit $3.97 today. in oakland and san jose, expect to pay $3.93 on average. the bay area technology will lead california out of its job deficit. california will face a double digit unemployment rate till the beginning of 2013. but business investment and technology and electronics will create the first signs of a improving job market. two years since the stock market hit its low. the dow rose 87%. the s&p is up 95% and nasdaq up 117%. not all are convinced the bulls are hear to stay. >> i am still, you know, trying to above but i am also

skeptical. >> on wall street the dow closed at 27,213. facebook is opening up about its privacy policy. a page explaining its policy in simple english. explains how your dotta is collected and used. if you like the fine print they have the actual policy posted. we linked the page on www.ktvu.com under our web links section. back now to san bruno where a vigil is taking place right now at glenview and claremont drive at 6:00 tonight. that's six months ago a gas pipeline explosion changed that community forever. >> this blast wiped out several neighborhoods, changing lives. right now people are honoring

the victims and the survivors of that day. they have gathered here for a moment of silence in memory of the eight people who died in this neighborhood. >> a lot has changed since then. the 38 homes have been torn down. some people have chosen to rebuild, others say i can't stay and moved out. there was a quote today about one man who said his wife says she gets scared and when she is in a store she makes a mental inventory of escape routes. >> tonight is about focusing on the human loss and not the investigation. we will be back with more right after this. comfort couldn't hurt.

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mardi gras kept police busy last night. the police arrested 26 people downtown. our cameras caught officers and one man being handcuffs. most of the arrests were related to probation or parole violations. things were calmer this year says police. jerry brown asked lawmakers to delay vote plans. it's not clear how long the delay will be. democrats are ready to volt on $12 billion in cuts but the governor needs republican votes. >> we want to make sure voters have the right choices before them on the ballot if that -- if we get to that point.

it's not clear we are at that point. >> he set tomorrow as the deadline for the legislator to vote on whether to put the tax extensions before the voters in a special june election. park supporters protested today. they are upset about plans to close state parks to ease the budget gaps. it calls for cutting parks and recreation department. they are reviewing 278 parks. that list could be out in a few days. efforts to save the coca- cola ad are picking up steam. legislation to alter how the city classifies signs. it would change the requirement that signs must be within a historical sign district to

have protection. recycling is supposed to be a good thing but now a consequence. ktvu's john fowler is live in berkeley with the new questions being raised about food packaging. >> reporter: we are talking about packaging like this, made from recycled paper. i want to show you here the mix of paper mixed together and recycled together. some for food packaging. chemicals in that mix could leech into food. >> that would be a concern of mine. has it been tested? >> reporter: tests show illegally high levels of mineral oil in serials that are packaged in recycled paper. the package contaminated with mineral oil. >> it can seep through even the

plastic containers and make it into the package foods. >> reporter: researchers say recycled paper projects that contain newspapers concentrate ink. mineral oil by itself is typically not a problem. the worry is the contaminants in the inks. >> cadmium or led. >> reporter: ia -- a spokesman said it is premature till the study is undertaken. when we did the math, the levels may be several times higher than u.s. regulations allow. >> reporter: one company announced it switched from recycled paper packaging.

more u.s. research needs to be done. european officials say any risk from these packages appears to be small. reporting live, john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. leaders released a plan for dealing with alzheimer's that is expected to double among californias. the action plan charged a 10 year course with recommendations to prepare the state for the crisis. top of the list, urging people to come forward and be diagnosed. the space shuttle made its final landing today. >> to the ship that led the way. >> it touched down this morning in florida ending its career in space. discovery logged 148 million miles in orgt during 39 nights.

the morning commute would be effected by rain? >> yeah. this thursday event, looks less than big and more than small. let's go outside. slight showers in the forecast. here is the system. rolls in here tomorrow around 8:00. that gets you showers on the morning commute. patchy fog and this guy drops down, cloudy and mild tomorrow. cool in the north bay. 60s in the south bay. light scattered showers. 8:00, look for showers. as we get into the afternoon, scattered showers, by 4:00, i think sunshine and you will see no showers. showers will dry up. 7:00 a.m., there it is. there it is at 11:00 a.m. that's the heart of it. there it goes.

2:00. and there is the afternoon commute. doesn't look bad. friday looks good. watch this. this is new. we didn't have this last night. forecasting another rain event, light rain event for saturday morning. let's watch it, okay? come back tonight at 10:00, we will watch it again. this model is picking up on it. 2:00 p.m. for saturday. right now saturday looks wet in the morning. sunday afternoon looks wet. come back tonight at 10:00. it's still a ways out. wasn't there last night. 5 day forecast, chance of sprinkles. be back tonight at 10:00 and we will update it. >> thanks. prayer, the day millions are honoring today.

pope benedict celebrated ash wednesday. they packed the service which marked the beginning of lent. the 4 day period leading up to easter is observed by millions of christians all over the

world. mark joins us now. the warriors wrapped up another game and it was a tough one today. >> it's been a theme for years. warriors close in the final moments, not able to close things out. same is true tonight. in new jersey, more than a minute left. lopez, the buck and the the foul. nets take a 2 point lead. lopez, with 26. less than 10 seconds left, warriors down. the warriors on the short end. 94-90. college hoops. opening round of the wac tournament tipping off today. san jose state a winner over hawaii. spartans play the vandals tomorrow. anybody who knows anything

about sports, pre-season games mean absolutely nothing. i will tell you what, giants are playing ball down in arizona, even though it is just the cactus lead. barry zito very solid today. gave up one hit and a walk. striking out one. the outat first. fourth inning, aubrey huff swing, crushing one. first homer of the spring. sandoval, making a play you don't see him make. the bear hand throw and the giants win another one, 4-2. rangers beat up on the a's today. and that is the sporting life at this hour. warriors not able to take care

of business but giants looked sharp. >> barry zito, good day for him. >> absolutely. nice to see. >> thank you. coming up at 7:00, students at sky line high school are finalists in a cooking contest sponsored by michelle obama. recipe for success in 30 minutes on tv 36. that is our report for tonight. have a great evening everyone. good night.

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