double digit increases on ridership on amtrak. who they're crediting. >> anger and tension right now at a state capitol in the midwest as a bill had made national headlines is up for a vote. >> two sisters gets the chance to talk with president obama in washington this morning. we'll tell you the reason for their powwow and how it could impact children in every

school. , next on ktvu channel 2 news at noon. good afternoon. topping our news, rideoship is booming on bay area railings. new numbers show an increase on bart and a really big drop jump on the amtrak capital corridor to gas prices. claudine wong is live with some reaction from commuters. good afternoon, claudine. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori. we're at amtrak station here in oakland, where we've got a couple trains just pulling in, one headed to san jose, the other to sacramento. these are part of the captor corridor and when my agencies are cutting service and raising fares, amtrak says this line is enjoying double digit increases in ridership and they can thank the soaring gas prices. amtrak rider john did the math and ditched his car this morning for a cheaper ride on

amtrak. >> gas prices is the reason why i travel on amtrak. >> he is one of the reasons why amtrak is being such an increase in ridership, and 2011 has been a big year for the 170- mile long capitol corridor. >> it was 13 1/2% increase for february. we had 11% increase for january. we've seen over the last 12 months a consecutive increase in ridership over the prior year. >> routes attached to amtrak are seeing an increase too. >> we're seeing our ridership even come up as the gas prices -- about $55 for a ticket from santa barbara to oakland. >> other agencies like bart also say ridership is up. but only by about 3%. nothing like what amtrak is enjoying. but this engineer says he's not sure why everyone isn't hopping onboard. >> gas prices just going to keep going up, so i think it's

dumb not to. >> do the math, says john. and you may be buying a ticket too. >> it's like gold. like gold. >> back live here in oakland, as this amtrak train gets ready to head up to sacramento. folks in the corridor say gas prices are helping, but they're now ready to give all the credit to the gas prices, they're also crediting their on- time performance at 96%, affordable fares and an economy they say looks in part to be improving. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. the average price of gasoline in the bay area hovering just under $4 a gallon. i checked this morning of triple-a's report shows today's average at $3.97 a gallon. that is almost 50 cents a gallon higher than a month ago, and more than 80 cents higher than a year ago. oakland's average price is 3.94 a gallon and in san jose, 3 first lady 93 .93 a gallon.

showers have return to the bay area. most of them are in the north bay right now. showers will be rolling through the rest of the area as the day continues. mark is in the weather center now updating the forecast models. he'll tell you how much rain you can expect in your neighborhood. in wisconsin, the state assembly could put an end to a three-week standoff at any moment now over collective bargaining rights for public unions. earlier police carried protestors from a hallway leading to the state assembly as representatives pounded on locked chamber doors. they're planning to vote on a bill passed by the senate last night that will strip almost all collective bargaining rights from workers. republican removed long about funding so

only a simple majority was needed for the vote. all the democratic have been out of state for several weeks so the senate didn't have the quorum needed to take up a measure that involves money. california governor jerry brown wants to delay his own self-imposed deadline of today for a vote on the special election to let voters decide on a tax extension proposal. the governor wants more time to negotiate with the five republican whose votes he needs to get the extension on the ballot. governor brown wants to let voters decide whether to help bridge the state's $26 billion deficit by extending taxes currently set to expire on july1st. city leaders in oakland saying cuts proposed by republicans would mean a loss of at least $15 million for the city. republicans are proposing cuts to the early childhood education program known as head start. job training programs, and various programs serving the

homeless. oakland with a 16.5% unemployment rate and low and moderate income residents relies heavily on that federal funding. and hundreds of teachers in oakland will get layoff notices next week. the school board voted lasts night to hand out 538 pink slips. state law requires that the notices be given by march 15th. but the district says it will not decide how many pink slips to send out until mid-may. the official announcement is expected this afternoon. san jose's mounted police unit will not be put out to pasture, at least for another year. supporters have the money to keep city police officers on horseback for the next 12 months. budget crisis in san jose put the mounted police unit in jeopardy. this afternoon the girlfriend of a man shot and killed near lake merritt in oakland is asking the question, why? she was with her sister and the victim who she identified as 33-

year-old marco mendoza. the three had just gotten out of a car at 6th and international last night around 8:30, as they reached the front door of the home two men came up and demanded money. the victims complied but mendoza was shot anyway. >> i see michael -- i got shot, i got shot! then he -- [not understandable] my daughter -- [not understandable] >> the only person he has. >> yes, he -- cousin over here too. but mother and sister and father in mexico. >> the women say the assailant spoke to him in spanish and the other men were with the robbers. police have no one in custody. it's been an incredible morning at the white house for two sisters from the bay area who had a private meeting with president obama and the first lady in the oval office ahead of a summit today on bullying. tara joins us now from the newsroom to explain why they

were there. tara. >> reporter: the summit is focused on stopping bullying at schools and online. and the sisters from mill valley are playing a big role in it. here they are earlier this morning, sitting down with president obama and the first lady in the oval office. sarah and emily buder were invited after writing a book with a bullying victim olivia gardner. >> she dropped out of our school [audio not understandable] so we decided to reach out to her. >> after the oval office meeting, president obama used his opening address at the summit to share their story. >> they figure they would send olivia about 50 letters but in the month that followed thousands of letters poured in from every corner of the country. >> they compiled the letters to create a book called letters to a bullied girl, messages of

healing and hope. we talked to sarah last night and she hopes this summit is a turning point in the national discussion about the problem of bullying and the people start taking it more seriously. >> thank you, tara. prosecutors in contra costa county now say they expect the law enforcement corruption scandal there to expand and include more officers. it started with the arrest of the head of the county narcotics task force and a concord private investigator. last friday, danville police officer steven was arrested. the two men are suspected of stealing confiscated drugs and selling them. prosecutors say they think there are more people involved. the police misconduct scandal is having a big impact on san francisco's search for a new chief. the police commission must decide on three finalists by next tuesday's deadline. city leaders met last night to review the two dozen remaining candidates. san francisco's acting chief

says his department will be retraining officers in the current drug arrest scandal but he does not think police misconduct is a widespread problem. however, some people attending last night's meeting claimed the department has dealt with one scandal after another in recent years, and they say the new chief should come from outside the department. a bay area juvenile it back in custody because of what his mother did. caught on tape, burglars clean occupant a northern california store. as we mentioned, rain is returning to the bay area. meteorologist mark is up soon to tell you how long you will need the umbrella. >> a lot of stomping on the peninsula this morning to raise awareness of a good cause.

in san mateo all lanes are back 'ol on northbound highway 101 following two accidents that backed up traffic to highway 92 and left one person dead. according to the chp, a silver car hit the sound wall around 5 a.m. minutes later, a motorcyclist, a honda and possibly a big rig were involved in a second accident. the big rig didn't stop but officers say he may not have known he was involved in the accident.

the motorcyclist was ejected from his bike and died at the scene. a young escapee from an east bay detention center is back in custody and oakland police credit his mother for his arrest last night. she's been trying to find her son since he escaped from the camp one month ago. last night she found him in east oakland after getting a tip and then contacted police. harris says she's not talked to her son since his arrest. tonight the guardian angels will return to mission district. lasts within the angels began street patrols in the mission following two weeks of violence. police say the spike in crime in the mission is due to a war between two rival gangs. the guardian angels will patrol the neighborhood tonight from 7 p.m. to midnight and throughout the weekend. the story we first brought you live today a break-in last night at a jewelry store, and the placer county town of lincoln has the family that owns the business counting its losses today.

it's about 30 mimes northeast of sacramento. surveillance video shows the thieves breaking a front window just before midst night. they then throw at least $50,000 worth of rings, watches and necklaces into a plastic garbage can they brought with them. in three minutes they were gone. the safe was not touched. this morning the new kaiser charter air service took an inaugural flight from oakland to hawaii after a ribbon- cutting ceremony. the mayor was given the honor of cutting the ribbon but needed to trade in her scissors for smaller ones that did the job. they took a tour of the boeing 737 before it took off. kaiser air will fly first-class passengers to hawaii twice weekly.

the new national unemployment report released this morning shows 397,000 people filed for first-time jobless benefits last week. that is 26,000 more than the week before. economists had expected an increase but only about half that much and claims for continuing unemployment insurance fell by 20,000 to 3.77 million. a report out today shows the number of u.s. homes receiving some kinds of foreclosure notice in february dropped to a 3-year low. according to realty track more than 255,000 properties received at least one notice relating to late payments les month. that's down 14% from january and a drop of 27% from february of last year. new scrutiny of how banks handle home repossessions and severe weather may have caused the drop. a special collaboration is stomping out hunger in a way you've never seen before, five dollars at a time. jade hernandez takes us to san

carlos to see who is drumming up support for those who need more than just a meal at the holidays. >> reporter: within minutes they had taken over the food bank warehouse here in san carlos. members of stomp teamed with the food bank and the national effort to stomp out hunger. stomp performers will be in san jose each month and $5 of each ticket purchased will go to this food bank. on average the food bank feeds more than 200,000 people a month in santa clara and san mateo counties. one in four people in these counties risk going hungry. this year the need is shot up 11%. the non-profit can't rely on holiday food donations. >> the food bank is seeing a lot more people now, people

that are in need. we have folks that have college degrees that, have professional degrees, that for the first time are finding themselves out of work. >> giving what matters means giving the food bank what it needs. and those are items including peanut butter, canned tuna, stews and chili. and you can drop those items off here in san carlos, even if you can't buy a stomp ticket. jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. stomp comes to broadway san jose april 12 through 17th. ticket prices start at $20. today students from low end come families will be able to sign up for free muni passes in san francisco. a youth back pass community clinic will be sets up at 3 lone 30 this afternoon on 16th and mission. last weekend the board approved the program. it will provide 12,000 students with free muni bus passes through june. organizers will be at today's clinic to help people fill out

the applications. and the clouds have been increasing over the past few hours across the bay area, even a few light showers, nothing extreme, not a big deal today. but still an overall change in the weather pattern expected for thursday. right now on live storm-tracker 2, there's the live sweep. rainshowers developed in the north bay earlier this morning. now that line as expected heading to the south as we do take a closer inspection from sausalito to san rafael and oakland. and some drizzle or light showers out there and offshore more activity developing and it will be a short-term deal only the next two to three hours as the activity begins to slide to the south and also east. as far as the current numbers across the region, it's mild out there. mainly in the lower 60s. still a few 50s showing up in santa rosa and napa. san francisco 58. and oakland the last check reporting 60 degrees.

the overall weather story for the today is this, mostly cloudy skies from light showers, tomorrow will be dry but temperatures will be cooling off for your friday. the weekend and other split deal with mild temperatures for saturday. for sunday, we bring in the chance of a few showers. highest chance for one the past bay area. here's the satellite and radar. you can see the approach of today's system. not a storm but still a impact our forecast in the short-term with the clouds and the light rainshowers. and in fact here's our forecast model. not showing a lot of rainfall there this afternoon but still that will be a spreading to the south. by 6:00 this evening, for the most part it will be dry with lingering clouds. and tomorrow morning partly cloudy skies, and that will be the theme for your friday. just partly cloudy skies and temperatures cooling off. for today, at 3:00, still a chance of a shower, 58 to 65 degrees. by 6:00, mostly cloudy, 53 to 58. and then by 9:00, partly cloudy skies, 48 to 53 degrees. as far as this afternoon, over the next few hours, still in the mild side. we're talking about 60s for san

jose, morgan hill and gilroy. here's a look ahead. your extended forecast tomorrow will be dry. for saturday, mostly cloudy skies, and we'll highlight the weekend forecast. there's a chance of a few showers on sunday, especially up in the north bay. and then by monday morning still some sprinkles, and i remember mind everybody to change the clocks. you know who forgets? >> who is that? >> me! don't forget to spring forward this weekend. >> we lose an hour sleep. all right. thank you, mark. officials will reveal the ruling of an investigation today on the mysterious deaths of seagulls in the port of san francisco. the seagulls have been dying at a rate of about 20 a month if more than a decade. a neighboring company that produces oil from animal byproducts has been blamed for harming the birds but officials say they're actually dying from inhaled mold. they present their find fogs the animal commission. what happened when lindsay lohan returned to court this

morning? and more of the baby animal that made a public debut hours ago at the san francisco zoo. some over the top comfort couldn't hurt. and our perfect dream factory's been built. i'm feeling sleepy already. nighty night.

been a bad day so far on wall street. big reason, that increase in people seeking unemployment benefits with a jump in the trade deficit. the dow down 223. nasdaq down 51. s&p down 24. some shoppers could have their debit cards declined even when they have enough money in

their accounts. j.p. morgan chase is considering a plan to limit debit card purchases to less than $100. the bank says that's because financial reform laws will lower fees paid on debit card purchases to just 12 cents per transaction. today an artist will present his design future a sculpture outside the new trans- bay terminal in san francisco. the artist wants to build a sculpture using salvage debris from the old terminal. officials will vote on the plan today. if approved the sculpture will be up in 2015, two years ahead of the new terminal. a judge in los angeles gave actress lindsay lohan two weeks to decide if she will accept a plea bargain that will send her to jail or face trial on charges of stealing a necklace from a jewelry store. it came during her court appearance this morning. if she pleads guilty or no contest, it would be a violation of her probation on a previous drunk driving charge and lead to jail time. she's accused of walking out of

a jewelry store with a $2500 necklace january 22nd. she said she forgot to give it become to the clerk. actor charlie sheen is not taking his sudden unemployment status lightly. today he filed a $100 million lawsuit against warner brothers and the executive producer who fired him from the sitcom two and a half men. his lawsuit claims warner brothers and a producer conspired against him as punished. a baby cola is making her debut today. she is not have a name yet. the zoo will auction off naming rights for her during an annual zoo fest fund-raiser next month. see more raw video on the website. just go to the video on demand section at ktvu.com. coming up on ktvu channel 2 news at 5, california's prisons are seeing a new menace inside

the penitentiaries. inmates are using contraband cell phones to commit crimes while serving time from drug deals to escape attempts to order hits. today, lawmakers are discussing high-tech solutions to disconnect those phones. that's in our next newscast at 5. thank you for watching. have a great day!