in san francisco this afternoon, what city crews are doing to get caught up before the next big storm. and later, we'll remember elizabeth taylor, the iconic actress and humanitarian who died this morning. her story ahead on the ktvu channel 2 news at noon.

good afternoon. we begin this noontime on storm watch. more rain moved through the bay area this morning. this was the scene in oakland just about a half hour ago during a very heavy downpour. in its path, rain has left a rash of traffic accidents, downed trees and flooded roadways. meteorologist mark tamayo will be along soon with information about how much rain we got today and how much more is coming. we begin with kraig debro on storm watch coverage. >> reporter: good afternoon. people wish the trees were strong. this was cut up after a resident called it in. some neighbors here say the heavy, saturated ground along with the rain and wind are being blamedded for this downed tree. for workers it's the beginning

of a long week. , sound of a chainsaw is all tom's heard. the winter spring storm calling in the cuss of the season -- cusp of the season has brought down trees. >> hanging trees, trees about to ta. trees on cars. you name it, we do it. >> reporter: this purple-leafed tree came crashing down the tree sat on private property and it fell on city owned property. >> even though it's a private tree we can cut it up for public right-of-way. >> reporter: the weather may have been a factor, a vehicle drove up an embankment and overturned. two people were injured in the car. and advisory in the bay area about high winds.

earlier similar advisories were issued for the richmond, san rafael bridges. most people are their eyes on the rain. at the manzanita mark and ride in mill valley, a combin nation of heavy, overnight rain and a high tide in this low-lying area near the stinson beach turnoff, formed a ops lake in the parking lot. >> this is one of the most popular places. people will search and drive in this lot looking for places to park. this is a very popular spot. >> reporter: midmorning some motorists kind of braked when the clouds opened you. here and in lower mount davidson, the homeowner is gonna have to pay for the cleanup of the tree, about $100. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. a three-car accident in orinda sent a 22 -- dash a 22-

year-old man to the hospital with minor injuries. it happened at eastbound 24th at orinda exit. one of the cars went often the freeway, fell to the onramp about 10 feet below, hit a guardrail and sent the guardrail flying into a parked car. no one was in the parked car at the time. as more rain comes down, some people in the santa cruz county town of scotts valley are keeping a close eye on a rockslide there. it blocked nelson road since monday. the only way to access 33 homes in the area has been a footpath. four homes above the slide are without power. the hillside is un-- hillside is unstable. it could be a while before they clear the debris. a meeting is scheduled at 4:00 this afternoon. and members of a church are keeping an eye on this building. it sits a the top of a hill that gave way.

one lane of park boulevard remains closed because of the slide. big band of moderate rain went through the bay area. still some going through the area. we can show you this. santarosa picking up .73. look at mill valley, over 1 and most of that happened this morning around the 4:00 hour. sanfrancisco, oakland hovering with over an inch. here's the latest on stormtracker2 radar. parts of the bay area picking up a break but quite a bit of coverage to he -- to show you closer to the city. the yellows correspond heavier downpours. you can still see some heavier downpours closer to bay point as this cell moves out to the north and the east. we'll continue to keep an eye

on the scattered showers this afternoon, the possibility of a few thunderstorms. i'll have details on that coming up. >> all right. if you have plans to get in a little spring skiing or snowboarding, take a look at this. this is what it looked like before dawn along interstate 80 at blue canyon in placer county. the forecast calls for as much as a foot of new snow and the higher elevations with more on the way tomorrow. chain requirements are posted on all of the mountain highways. the prosecution was scheduled to continue presenting witnesses this morning in the trial of the man accused of the murder of -- murder in the death of oakland journalist chauncey bailey. yusef bey and antwan mackey are accused of plotting the killing of bailey because of his reporting on the business, your black muslim bakery. it's possible the man who says bey ordered him to shoot bailey will take the stand tomorrow.

today is the second day of witness testimony in the barry bonds's perjury trial. the prosecution is hoping to make a big impression on the jury. tara moriarty has more. >> reporter: well, jurors have just returned to the courthouse after a 45-minute lunch break. the most live eting testimony we heard -- live oting testimony we -- live eting testimony was about how bonds's hands grew. the federal drug agent who spearheaded the balco investigation wrapped up his testimony and then steve hoskinks took the stand and things got interesting. he described how his drug abuse got out of hand and how he pleaded with bonds 'father to do something about it. he recalls how bonds's trainer

would take bonds in bedroom during spring training and would come out with a needle, presume blum -- presumably after injecting him with steroids. he testified how he grew during that period of time and he had to order more shoes. he said he decided to record a conversation with anderson, who is now in prison. that recording will be heard this afternoon. he also discussed how hing why uled the schedules of his wife and his mistress. some people who will be testifying later today, mike murphy, he's the giants' club manager and the vp of balco. now, that tape is going to be very interesting. jurors are going to be paying close attention to it. the defense has tried to poke

holes in the validity of that tape, saying it's been altered. so only portions of it will be heard. we'll have an update on that coming up late in the broadcast. i'm tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. developing news had noontime, dealing with proposition 8. the u.s. court of appeals for the 9th circuit issued a short brief today, saying while the legal fight over prop 8 continues, there will be no same-sex marriages. proposition 8 provides that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in california. and it will stay if effect during all of the legal appeals. residents in miss raw ta say -- misrata against moammar gadhafi's compound are having

effects. in benghazi rebels have formed a party. robert gates says nato forces could take control of the no- fly zone as soon as saturday. now, to the latest in japan. japanese officials have issued the first warning about tap watter in tokyo. parents in tokyo are being ops told not to give their babies tap water because there's two times the recommended limit of iodine. that layses the -- that raises the risk of thyroid cancer. also in japan they've been able to restore power at one of the damaged reactors at a nuclear power plant. the utility company says it plans to test-run a cooling pump at the number 3 reactor today. it's the first reactor to have electricity restored since the earthquake and tsunami cut off power to the plant.

since then, workers have been scrambling to try to keep the reactors and spent fuel rod containers cool by spraying them with sea water. but radiation has still been leaking. >> the u.s. has become the first country to block food imports from japan's radiation zone because of contamination fears. the fda has halted the import of milk, vegetable and fruits, produced in the area near the damaged nuclear plant. japanese food imports make up less than 4% of all u.s. food imports. ktvu.com has more on the japan crisis including additional stories about how you can donate to help the quake and tsunami victims. just click on the "japan quake" tab at top of the page. the government just released new information about the bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico. violence in an east bay city has taken two lives. we'll tell you what police are saying. meteorologist mark tamayo will be right back with the

updated forecast models, including how much rain will be in your neighborhood. i'll try anything once. >> ever try common sense? >> only in desperation. >> remembering elizabeth taylor including what ktvu just got from a u.s. senator.

it's the first major attack in jerusalem in several years. one woman is dead and almost two dozen are seriously injured after a bomb blew up at a crowded bus stop. it also blew out windows in two buses. israeli hots are blaming the attack -- authorities are blaming the attacks on military leaders. sad news today about the death of oscar-winning actress, elizabeth taylor. >> you are a pretty one, pint! >> she began her colorful career at the age of 12 as the star of the 1944 classic "national velvet." from there she appeared in more -- in more than 50 films. she won two cars, including "who'se afraid of virginia woolf." she was married timetables, including being -- married eight times including being married twice to richard

burton. she became an activist for a.i.d.s. causes after her friend, rock hudson died. she died this morning at cedars- sinai hospital surrounded by her children. >> she's always been a star. it's hard to know what made her a star. i would say initially it was her astounding beauty and sensitivity. >> she was plagued by ill health and was hospitalized 70 times during her lifetime. ed a cedars-sinai, doctors -- at cedars-sinai doctors said her condition improved and doctors expected her to go home. in hollywood, fans are gathering at her star. the family is working on a public memorial. u.s. barbara boxer talked about taylor's work on a.i.d.s. at a time it bass not popular.

>> i rely admire the way she used her fame to step out, in the early stage, when people were afraid to talk about a.i.d.s. and say i'm gonna fight to see that there's a cure. i've expressed my sympathy to her family and i -- i laud her involvement. >> you can go to ktvu.com for more on the life of elizabeth taylor. click on the u.s. and world tab. elizabeth taylor died today at age 79. today, oakland police are looking for suspects involved in a double homicide. two men were vote too death in -- a were shot to death -- were shot to death. it happened last night at 8:00. police say both men were shot to death and died at the scene. several witnesses heard the gunshots but so far police have no description of the shooters or the getaway car. if you have information, you are asked to call oakland police. there's also a shooting

investigation in concord earlier today. police confirmed to ktvu that a woman was shot last night around 10:30 on pine street. police say the victim suffered a gunshot wound to the neck but that her injuries were not life- threatening. so far police are not saying anything about the suspects or a possible met in-- motive. governor brown is considering an alternative in place there's no agreement by the end of this week for the june ballot. report say the governor may announce a november initiative instead, that would require a signature drive to get the measure on the ballot instead. the federal government says it now knows what caused that massive bp oil spill in the gulf of mexico last year. a report released this morning by the interior and homeland security department says a trapped piece of drilling pipe kept the safety device from sealing off the oilwell when it blue on april 20th. a norwegian firm hired to test

the safety device said the drilled pipe was improperly placed, causing it to buckle when the well lost control. the firm recommended changing the device called a blowout preventer. it's been a very active weather week across the bay area. the strongest storm is still developing out there in the pacific. right now i can show you quite a bit of coverage out there and also some breaks but the focus of the shower activity in parts of the south bay and east bay, milpitas, right around fremont. as we move the maps up to the north, it looks like we have a heavier downpour to the east of oakland, for 880 and also 580 as well. as we move the maps around, it looks like we have heavier downpours closing in on fairfield. apparently a good thunderstorm moving into solano county. that will be a concern at least

in the short-term and moving across the bay, not the north bay, not a lot to show you in san rafael. but we can show you this -- a live look outside, still lingering clouds and a few showers in parts of the north bay. hold onto the umbrella. santarosa, 54. hayward, 54. sanjose, at last check reporting 52. here's the overall weather story for today -- off-and-on showers, the possibility of a thunderstorm. the next storm for tomorrow that will be packing some heavy rain, especially for tomorrow morning. the weekend forecast, a chance of a shower on saturday but we will actually clear out the rain clouds and warm things up for the second half of the weekend. here's today's weather system. here is the next one developing upstream. that will be the key factor as we head into thursday. heaviest rainfall is expected from around 8:00 a.m. until 12:00. rainfall expectations about .75 to possibly over 2 inches and winds will be up there to

around 40, 45 miles an hour. here's the forecast model, showing you still some scattered rain showers out there and the possibility of a thunderstorm. by 10:00 not a lot to show you. we could have activity focused on the east bay and south bay and here we go with the approach of the frontal system, a strong one, tomorrow morning at 8:00 and 9:00. so plan on a very wet commute. possibility of a few thunderstorms. as we head into tomorrow afternoon we'll scale down on the intensity. 6:00, a scattered shower, 52 to 55. at 9:00, still a chance, and low to mid-50s. heavy rain expected for thursday. scattered showers for friday and then into the weekend for saturday, we'll hold onto the chance of a shower and then we get a break next week and also warming temperatures. but tomorrow, we'll have to keep an eye on the system for

the potential of flash flood watches. >> thank you, mark. federal police are teaming up to investigate a mysterious ail threat. it involves a flight from the philippines that landed as sfo last night. officers with bomb-sniffing dogs inspected every in of the cargo plane. the search came in response to a telephone threat hours earlier against the phillippines flight from manila to san francisco. the lead singer from the rock band "journey" was on the flight. we didn't know anything until we were told there's a bomb threat. i called my wife and then they said, you know, there's something going on in our plane. that's the only time i knew something was going on. >> agents took action the moment the jet touched down. they evacuated the passengers and crew members, and then moved the jet to a remote part of the airport. they searched the luggage for several hours but they did not find anything. still ahead -- a report on home sales just came out.

we'll tell you if it's encouraging. a lot of people have been rushing to the lottery machines in the last 24 hours.

stocks. ing-- higher now. right now, the dow currently up, 93 at 12,110. the commerce department says new home sales fell by

almost 20% last month. that figure represents the sale of 250,000 homes which is the lowest level on record. it's also lower than economists expected. they predicted a 2% rise in sales to 285,000 new homes sold. builders have struggled to compete with the wave of foreclosures that's lowered the price of previously occupied homes. no one matched all six numbers for the megamillions jackpot. it's roled over again. the-- rolled over again. the winning numbers are 1, 14, 5, 50, 53, with meganumber 43. that pushes friday's jackpot past the $300 million mark and close to a new record. the cash option is almost $200 million. the largest jackpot ever was $390 million in 2007 with two winning tickets in georgia and new jersey. coming up tonight at 5:00, we are on storm watch.

all of this rain is filling up the reservoirs and our cameras are checking out how full they are and if some are in danger of overflowing. that story and more coming up on the news at 5:00. thanks for watching have a great day. blah