good morning. i'm jade hernandez. a bomb threat closed down a plane arrival at sfo. we have a live report for you straight ahead. and rain is rolling into the bay area. the reason it's making some bay area homeowners especially nervous. and important new developments from japan overnight prompting new concerns about the safety of the water. it's all ahead here on the ktvu morning news.

good morning. it's wednesday march 23rd. i'm pam cook. thank you for joining us. it sounds like it's going to be a pretty intense weather day. meteorologist steve paulson keeping an eye on things. very windy this morning, steven. >> that is correct, pamela. not only that also rain moving in. some of these are bursts of moderate to heavy rain. you can see the system beginning to spin in. it took its sweet time getting here. we'll have more on rain and storm tracker 2. i haven't seen anything too heavy. bent low ma picked up three quarters of an inch but anything as far as rainfall in that area could be tough. we'll fine tune the forecast and look ahead to the next couple days. here's sal. driving is going to be tough with the wind and rain almost all over the place. this is highway 4 as you drive up to concord. traffic is going to be busy and it's very wet. also the morning commute looks okay on 880. be careful as you head out. another traffic update in a few minutes. it's 4:31. let's go to pam. thank you, sal. topping our news this morning, federal agents and san

francisco police are teaming up to investigate a mysterious airline threat. ktvu's jade hernandez reports it involves a flight from the philippines that landed at sfo last night. jade, what happened? >> reporter: that's right. a bomb threat directed toward a plane arriving here at sfo left a lot of passengers on the tarmac because they didn't know why. they didn't know what was going on. let's take a look at video this morning. san francisco airport police say the threat came in hours before the plane was supposed to land. the call was described as "rambling in an unsubstantiated but not direct threat to flight 104". they didn't want to take any chances and searched the plane thoroughly. each was cleared by u.s. customs and border protection and eventually allowed to leave the airport without any problems. one person on board did have a medical issue, but that person was not taken to the hospital.

most of the passengers we spoke to figured something was going on the airline wasn't telling them about. >> lack of communication i think that really disturbed most of us. said it was a medical problem and that was it. but it didn't make sense why we were sitting on the tarmac for hours. >> reporter: flight 104 arrives from the philippines around 7:40 last nightful the passengers were told they could not use facilities or cell phones. we spoke to one passenger on board who described to us in detail what happened last night. he may not look familiar, but you most likely have heard his voice if you've seen the rock band journey lately, that end of the story coming up. reporting live from sfo this morning, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. well, the bay area has barely had time to dry out. and already a new wave of wet weather has arrived. people who live on hillsides are especially nervous. a flash flood watch is in effect through this afternoon

increasing potential for landslides. in san raphael the ground is already saturated almost an inch and a half of rain already fell over the weekend. u.s. geological survey says it's monitoring steep slopes prone to landslides. well, it could be weeks before crews tackle that massive rock slide in scot valley. a giant rock pile has been blocking nelson road since monday. a public works official tells us here at ktvu that the hillside is unstable and that the next storm could make things even worse. four homes above the slide on sky meadow lane are still without power. we talked to one woman whose home is running on a generator. >> surely there's true concern about the next storm coming in. they're talking five inches. i mean that's a lot of water. >> cars are unable to travel in and out of nelson road. so a footpath has been widened for neighbors. but, again, it will be weeks before clean up of that slide begins. 4:34 is the time. let's check in with sal for

traffic. i know i felt a lot of wind on the bridges this morning. >> very windy on the bay bridge, pam. it's windy almost everywhere on the causeway. just give yourself plenty of time. i'm going to show you some wet and windy pictures here. as you can see san francisco traffic wet and the wind is shaking our camera in san francisco. also giving us quite a bit of rain moving through. move along and take a look at the westbound bay bridge. that traffic is moving along relatively welcoming into san francisco with no major issues. if you are driving -- there goes cal train by the way. one of the early morning trains moving through the south bay. if you're driving anywhere in the south bay, traffic is okay. there is a wind advisory for the san mateo bridge as well. so wind advisory let me run them down for you. wind advisory for the bay bridge, san mateo bridge and for the richmond san raphael bridge so far. 4:35.

let's go to steve. sal, thank you, sir. our system which took its sweet time getting here is finally here. and it's starting to barrel in. we'll have rain in the morning. then turning showery in the afternoon. possibility of thundershowers as some of that cold air comes in. you can see the low it's right off eureka. watch it form off sfo and go parallel to the coast. as it does it's swinging in this precipitation. out ahead of it we've had gusts over 40 miles an hour. right now it's about 20 to 30. decent rain embedded within here. a line stretching from santa rosa towards st. helena and napa county and san pablo bay. marin county. also closer to the radar site to they're enhanced but east bay down to the santa cruz mountains as well. so far i've seen about a tenth of an inch to three quarters. rain rates will pick up fast here. upper 40s and low 50s. temperatures will be probably here most of the morning due to cloud cover. one system swings in and here comes the next one. this one will have more rain. we could see accumulative over the next four to five days

maybe four to five inches of rain, we're not going to get five inches of rain out of one of these systems. it will be the combination of all of these. morning rain, windy at times. then sun breaks, clouds, showers will pop up. thunder, cool, breezy. 50s, mid-50s, upper 50s, a few low 60s. and we have rain moving back in thursday. showers friday. one more system saturday and then sunday though it looks much better as the storm track starts to do to the north. thank you, steve. this morning oakland police are looking for suspects in a double homicide. police say two men and a dog were shot and killed right in front of a home on hear monoavenue in east oakland. it happened last night just after 8:00. police say both men were shot multiple times and died at the scene. several witnesses heard the gunshots, but so far police say they do not have a description of the shooters or the get away car. anyone with information is asked to call oakland police. a warning this morning in japan about the safety of the

water. the level of radioactive iodine in some tap water in tokyo has two times the recommended limit for babies and small children. people living in cities near the damaged nuclear power plant have already been advised to avoid drinking tap water there because of elevated levels of radioactive iodine which can cause thyroid cancer. but this is the first time that a warning has been issued in tokyo. tests show the radiation levels in tokyo's water is not an immediate health risk for adults. japan's government now says the cost of the earthquake and tsunami could reach $309 billion. that would make it the world's most expensive natural disaster on record. the death toll continues to rise with more than 9400 bodies counted and more than 14,00700 people still listed as missing. tonight the san francisco board of supervisors is hosting a fundraiser for the relief efforts in japan.

the supervisors will auction off various items including spending some one on one time with some of them. the fundraiser will be held on 16th street. that starts at 5:30. libyan leader gadafi appeared on tv to denounce the u.s. and coalition bombing attacks on his forces. gadafi told supporters in tripoli that "libyans are laughing at the rockets being fired." and he says in the end his forces will be victorious. so far the u.s. and european coalition have fired at least 162 tall hawk cruise missiles at a cost of $1 million each. this morning we are hearing more from the four new york times journalists recently released by libyan soldiers. the paper says the soldiers physically abused the journalists and threatened to kill them during the six days they were held. the times says they were tied up with wire and electrical cord, a scarf and shoe laces.

they were captured after mistakenly driving into a check point guarded by libyan forces. their driver is still being held. well, the cape continues to grow. in a story you will only see here on ktvu channel 2, what police in three different cities are now saying about a local string of robberies. and why our viewers are calling us about the case. and the new plan by the governor that almost guarantees a special election. but why it may backfire when it comes to finding a solution for the budget in time. good morning. traffic on highway 24 looks good coming up to the tunnel. tell you more about the morning commute straight ahead.

good morning. things are rocking and rolling here. pretty good wind about 30, 35 miles per hour in bursts of moderate to heavy rain. some areas we're focusing on right now santa cruz mountains. petaluma picked up an inch and a quarter. some of this rain will continue to pick up here in the morning. take a look at other areas especially toward lake county in our next segment. pam. thank you, steve. governor brown is considering an alternative plan in case lawmakers don't come to an agreement on a special election for the june ballot by the end of this week. reports say the governor may announce a november initiative instead to try to extend taxes. that scenario would bypass the republican opposition because

it would require a signature drive to get the measure on the ballot instead. in just a few hours testimony resumes in barry bonds' perjury trial in san francisco. the first witness will return to the stand for cross- examination. yesterday the former irs agent testified that the u.s. government found steroids during midnight raids of the labs in burl game. that evidence would eventually lead to bonds' grand jury testimony and the current perjury trial. defense lawyers say they are eager to question him. >> we've said all along we were looking forward to and welcoming the chance to test the accusations in court. >> meantime, bonds' former trainer is back in jail this morning. as expected, gregg anderson refused to testify against his childhood friend. he will remain behind bars during the perjury trial expected to last about a month. testimony will continue today in another high profile case, the chauncey bailey

murder trial. yesterday a caretaker at an oakland care senior center told a jury he heard the gunshots and saw the oakland journalist falling to the ground. prosecutors say ordered the killing and mack key drove the get away car. but saturday confessed to being the gunman and is expected to be a key witness in exchange for a lighter sentence. for the third month in a row, there has been a gun- related arrest at berkeley high school. three students were arrested when police found two guns on campus after one of them went off. police say around 8:45 yesterday morning two students were in the boys bathroom looking at a gun when it fired. the bullet went through the bathroom wall but no one was hit. >> i feel safe at my school. i don't feel like i'm in danger of getting shot, but it's a little concerning that there's kids playing with guns in the bathroom. >> police immediately locked down the school. during their investigation officers say they received a tip that another student also

had a gun. police removed that student from class and found an unloaded semi-automatic weapon. all three students were taken to juvenile hall. the principal says as a matter of state law they will be recommended for expulsion. a stockton man who may be linked to several bank -- bay area bank robberies is in custody this morning in arizona. surveillance cameras caught 23- year-old dustin burt in action at a chase bank in danville earlier this month. he was arrested during a traffic stop in arizona last week after officers discovered he had a warrant for his arrest. police say burt may be linked to other bay area robberies. he will be extradited to california soon. well, in a story you will only see here on ktvu channel 2, we have new developments in that series of thefts at public storage lockers. we first showed you this surveillance video last wednesday of a woman police say may be responsible for a number of storage locker breakins in

san francisco. since our story aired, a number of other victims began contacting us here at ktvu from fremont and castro valley. >> the person just waits, goes in to their storage locker and waits until everybody leaves and breaks into other ones. >> police say at least nine units have been broken into in fremont. the alameda county sheriff's department says they are now looking at surveillance tape from all three cities to see if there's a link. the sheriff's department says they believe a crime ring is responsible for the breakins in san francisco and are looking into a similar theory for fremont in castro valley. well, there's some more fall out this morning from the scandal involving the former head of the central contra costa narcotics team. prosecutors say they have dropped their first case in which norman was supposed to be a main witness. that case was against the owner of a massage parlor suspected of running a prostitution service. the d.a. is reviewing as many as 40

cases involving welsh. he's accused of stealing drugs from evidence lockers. conducting an autopsy to determine what killed an oakland skier. a search and rescue worker found the body of 58-year-old john hoffman yesterday at an expert run at sugar bowl ski resort. he was considered a very strong skier. teams started looking for him after his wife reported him missing. a medical condition may have contributed to his death since there are no obvious signs of trauma. safety concerns for our bridges and overpasses. an alarming new study says what needs to be done. and families in danger. the reason four u.s. senators are going after apple, google and blackberry over a certain app.

welcome back to the morning news. take a look at this. firefighters in colorado are making progress on a wild fire just west of denver. last night evacuees were allowed to return to their homes, but they are still being cautioned to be ready to leave again in case the flames spread or change direction. it's because of the high winds, air tankers are being grounded. the fire has burned 1200 acres, but so far no injuries have been reported and no structures damaged. the next round of stormy weather could mean more losses for bay area boat owners. at least 20 boats broke from their moorings as high winds and tides battled the docks. many boats are loosely floating but badly damaged after running into rocks or each other. now salvage operators are rounding them up before they sink to the bottom of the bay. >> unfortunately, this vessel and many of them in this situation are not worth the amount of money that it takes

to remove them. >> she adds the bad economy has led more owners to neglect their boats making them more vulnerable to damage. the santa cruz harbor that was hit by the tsunami surge is back open this morning. a sonar survey found no structures on the floor. making it safe again. the launch ramp will not be reopened again until tomorrow. the tsunami caused more than $26 million in damages there. also this morning, yo semitee national park remains closed. a weekend storm dumped more than three feet of snow and a rock slide that took down a major power pole. pg&e will have to fly in a replacement pole by helicopter. meanwhile cal's fire crews hope to get roads cleared some time today, but park officials say there's no time frame for when things could get back to

normal. a new report shows an alarming number of bay area bridges and overpasses are in need of repairs. structures in san francisco are the worst overall. transportation for america says 34% of bridges and overpasses are considered deficient in the city. in san mateo county it's 22%. same number for alameda county. santa clara county has 19%. >> as our bridges get older in the state, we're facing a greater and greater backlog of bridges that will at some point need repair in order to be safe. >> cal trans tells us just because a bridge is considered deficient, it does not mean it's in eminent danger, but it does take more work to keep it in use. transportation california says it plans to lobby congress for more federal funds to help fix those problems. all right. it's coming up on 5:00. and it could be a pretty rough commute. both this morning and then this afternoon i think. sal. yeah, i think so. this morning, pam, for sure. we have wind advisories on

three bay area bridges. the richmond, san roof female, bay bridge and san mateo bridge. show you live pictures of the commute approaching the bay bridge. certainly heavy rain moving through. some windy conditions. so if you're driving into or out of san francisco or anywhere in the bay area, give yourself plenty of time. no major problems right now on the bridge. moving along and taking a look at interstate 880, traffic is moving okay here near the coliseum. we've also been checking with bay area airports. and we're looking at highway 92. traffic is moving along okay. but looks like there is a traffic hazard on highway 92 eastbound. it looks like it was just -- i'm sorry it was just an animal running around there. watch out for it if you happen to be in that area. 4:54. let's go to steve. sal, thank you, sir. our system is moving in right now. get to it because it could be dicey here in the morning. very windy. the system slowed down. but it's right there and not moving much right now.

so for the morning hours we'll get moderate to heavy rain. and in the afternoon hours the cold unstable air comes in and possibility of showers and again thundershowers. let's focus on the areas right now. i just saw that boulder creek about an inch to an inch and a quarter. although picked up about a third to half inch. any rain is not good, but we'll still keep an eye on this. it looks like there's a back tonal some of this. some of that heavier rain right there should begin to move off in the next couple of hours and things should calm down a little bit. again, about an inch and a quarter. on the peninsula see some rain from san francisco to pacifica to half-moon bay and across all the bridges. no doubt about that. east bay, concord, starting to line up. back towards walnut creek and highway 24 and 680 north bay. napa, really starting especially along interstate 80 stretching from vacaville to fairfield over to vallejo right back over san pablo bay and over into richmond bridge and southern marin county. especially towards sausalito.

come out wide another ban stretching straight across from st. helena back over looks like petri fied forest over to santa rosa. and other areas having problems up into lake county. put this into motion here and you can see that some of these green cells are turning to white in higher elevations. so there's some colder air trapped in there. it does look like though there is a decrease in the rain to the west and also to the southwest. so some of this should let up. but any rain, pam, especially into lake county is a little tough. projected rainfall for santa cruz mountains between now and as we head towards the weekend could easily hit around four or five inches of rain. probably more likely two to four. we'll keep an eye on that. the storm track will lift north as we start to head to the weekend. >> all right. thank you, steve. four u.s. senators are asking google, apple and blackberry to disable and stop selling any apps that help users avoid drunk driving check points. now one includes a realtime data base of dui check points.

another helps its 10 million users tell each other about check points in the operation. the senators say innocent families and children are at risk when drunk drivers can avoid being caught. well, it's been a long night for passengers on board a flight that landed at sfo last night. what prompted a major response and investigation that continues this morning? we'll have a live report from the airport up next. two men and a dog were shot and killed in oakland last night. what they were doing when that violence broke out.