i'm david stevenson in san francisco where an explosion rocks a busy intersection and shuts it down to traffic. that story is ahead. barry bonds former mistress takes the stand in his perjury trial. the personal details she revealed about him on the stand. good afternoon. there is a landslide and we'll tell you what the home owner's next steps are. complete bay area coverage starts right now.

this is ktvu channel 2news at noon. your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. good afternoon, i'm claudine wong in today for tori campbell. frightening moments in san francisco after an apparent underground explosion sent a manhole cover flying into the air. several streets were shut down as pg&e trying figure out the cause at 9:30 this morning at post and grant near union square. and that's where ktvu's david stevenson has the latest. >> reporter: good afternoon. take a look at the yellow police tape and the pg&e trucks in the background there. i'm standing near the intersection of post and grant in san francisco's union square shopping district. typically a very busy intersection for both cars and pedestrians. that all came to a halt this morning around 9:30 a.m. when a pg&e manhole cover in the middle of the intersection exploded 15 feet into the air. workers in the area heard a loud boom that shook some of the windows on this corridor. pg&e says it was caused by a cable failure underground.

police cordoned off the intersection at four blocks forcing a rerouteing of traffic. witnesses reported seeing smoke but no flames drifting out of the manhole. >> this was a report of an explosion. that manhole cover went up about 15 feet and landed right where it's at. there was no damages or injuries. >> the cable failure generated pressure in the underground vault. when there's a pressure build- up it causes the manhole cover to come off. >> reporter: now, union square has been the site of a number of other manhole cover explosions including this june 2009 incident in which a pedestrian was burned. pg&e says it's replaced about 100 of 1,000 manhole covers with new ones that allow pressure to vent. but they haven't gotten to this one yet. pg&e tells us no business has lost power. this section of grant street will be closed to traffic until they repair the damaged cable down below. it's not clear how long that could take, anywhere from a number of hours to as long as

tomorrow. reporting live in san francisco, david stevenson, ktvu channel 2news. >> thank you. right now pg&e officials are defending their actions following the san bruno pipeline explosion. they are appearing before a judge and the california public utilities commission to explain why they didn't turn over complete safety records following the explosion. the cpuc will decide whether to lower the proposed $1 million fine against pg&e. the contra costa county sheriff's department says one of its deputies shot and killed a suspect this morning during a traffic responsible around 1:15 a.m. in the 300 block of hanlon way in bay point. the suspect was 24 years old, a man with addresses in pittsburg and antioch. the sheriff's department and the district attorney's office are investigating. today the confessed killer of oakland journalist chauncey bailey resumed his testimony against two other men accused of taking part in the attack. the devaughndre broussard

began testifying against yusef bey iv and antoine mackey on wednesday. bey the owner of the former "your black muslim bakery" in oakland is accused of ordering bailey's death in 2007 because the journalist was working on a story critical of the bakery. mackey is the alleged getaway driver. the barry bonds perjury trial is under way in san francisco with his ex- girlfriend on the stand and her testimony has been at both times personal and tearful. we have more on what kimberly well to say to jurors. >> reporter: there are some awkward moments in the courtroom when barry bonds' former mistress revealed some intimate details about their nine-year relationship together. bonds arrived at the federal building just after 8:00 this morning. he was in the courtroom when kimberly bell told the jury she witnessed changes in bonds, changes that medical experts have testified are consistent with steroid abuse. bell testified that from 1999

to 2000, bonds developed acne on his shoulders. she observed changes in the shape and size of his testicles and that he experienced sexual impotence. she also said bonds became increasingly aggressive and almost violent request her. she said he admitted to her he used steroids saying "he didn't shoot it up every day like bodybuilders that it wasn't something he did all the time but that other baseball players did it." but on cross-examination, bonds' defense attorneys tried to impeach her credibility. bonds' attorney asked bell about the 20 media interviews she had done in the last decade about her relationship with bonds. bonds' attorney says sarcastically to bell, quote, you've had a tremendous amount of practice in telling this information to an audience." before bell took the stand, the jury heard briefly from long-time giants equipment manager mike murphy. he testified that bonds' hat size grew an 8th of an inch during the 2002 baseball season. an enlarged head is one of the side effects of the using of human growth hormone and other

performance-enhancing drugs that bonds denied using. stay with ktvu for more. rita williams will be back here live with a report and channel 2news at 5:00. live in san francisco, ktvu channel 2news. home owners in san pablo have spent the last few days watching the hillsides around their homes continue to slide and now they are looking for help. jade hernandez joins us live from san pablo with where that situation stands now. jade. >> reporter: it rained 21 days in march and this hillside just could not take it. this house right here was yellow-tagged by the city and the home owners are staying at a local hotel. we have been following them since their backyard started sliding. >> i removed this because we are not going to get any rain, and hopefully it will be able to dry out. >> reporter: this morning, leon walker took steps to ensure the ground could soak up something other than the

rain. beforehand, an east bay m.u.d. employee showed him and his wife a map of their area after he turned off their water. the utility wasn't the only visitor to the property today. the contra costa county assessors office sent two appraisers out. the assessors office can only survey the damage. it's up to engineers to determine whether the home can be saved. home owner leon walker says this doesn't just affect his family anymore. >> this is just the flashpoint of something that is a little bit bigger. no telling what's going to happen. this entire hillside is compromised, not just behind my house. the entire hillside. >> reporter: the back steps. walkers' home are suspended in the air. it seems that the walkers are paying the price for what used to be a scenic view of the 80. the assistant city manager updated us several times this morning about the situation which left homes tagged by the city and the city declaring a local, state of emergency. >> we'll also be going out and doing inspections today,

monitoring the hillside to see if anything is changed since our last inspections yesterday. >> reporter: trees are trimmed over the weekend in this backyard and we were told today for now that this eucalyptus tree right in the middle of the yard is holding up this part of hill side. the city plans to set up a donation fund for the six families affected by this slide. and we'll continue to follow this story. reporting live in sparks jade hernandez,ktvu channel 2news. capitola city officials plan to issue a disaster declaration tomorrow for damage caused by two record- breaking floods in recent days. water gushed into the capitola village and mobile home park from a drain pike that failed and flooded a few days before. now residents and businesses have thousands in repair bills and a disaster declaration will pave wait for federal assistance. the city hopes to repair the pipe within a week and damage to the police station fixed by the end of the month. also in santa cruz county emergency crews are resuming work today on an access road for families cut off by a mud

slide. tractors sat idle yesterday to avoid the sunday double time pay. it is going to take at least two more days to complete work on the temporary road. crews have not even started to work to remove the massic rockslide because geologists say the soggy earth is unstable and is moving. libyan rebels continue to push toward the capital this as state run tv just released images that reportedly show huge support for leader moammar qaddafi. people are swarming around what appears to be colonel qaddafi's car and hailing his leadership. nato assumes full command of the full operation to enforce the no-fly zone while rebels van on qaddafi's troops. opposition fighters retook two key oil complex over the weekend and also moved to the outskirts of mr. qaddafi's hometown but they are also fighting a new round of attacks in misrata where they have been control for weeks. president obama will make a speech about libya tonight at 4:30 p.m. you will find more coverage on

at 5:00 and online. new developments we brought you last week. what police are now saying about the man seen in this video burglarizing a church's children's center. and there is sunshine outside. we could be looking at an 80- degree day later this week. we'll have the full forecast coming up. >> plus, was it random, targeted? it makes us even more nervous. >> the investigation into a bomb in a exploded after being found in a common object.

southbound interstate 880 through oakland was a good place to avoid this morning. the emergency repairs on a section of concrete freeway pavement caused major backups for hours. look at the mess. that work started around 8:30 this morning and finished about two hours later. america's contractors are giving high praise to the "s" curve on the bay bridge. they named it one of the best construction projects of 2010. the "s" curve actually opened in september of 2009 as a temporary link to the new eastern span. critics immediately blamed it for several serious accidents including a fatal crash in which a truck driver plunged over the side. since then, there are extra

warning signs, rumble strips and clearer lane markings. experts in japan say high radiation detected outside the fukushima nuclear power plant is probably due to a partial meltdown of fuel rods. today, the company that owns the plant says plutonium has been detected in the soil near the reactors. hundreds of tons of contaminated water has been found in a number of places in the complex including the basements of several buildings. that needs to be removed before workers can restore electricity to the plant's cooling system. some experts say the situation is more serious than previously thought. traces of radioactive iodine have turned up in rainwater as far away as massachusetts. vacaville police are warning residents to be aware of suspicious packages. this as the investigation into a bomb found in a newspaper continues. now, you're looking at the hole left in the ground left on cashel court by a bomb that blew up yesterday morning. the paper was heavy and the neighbor said it blew up.

the area was evacuated. nothing was found. residents are worried. >> why are you nervous because of the newspaper thing? >> it's something that we do daily, pick up newspapers our driveways. we send our dogs out to pick up our newspapers. so, you know, think about what could have happened if something with to explode. >> federal agents are trying to determine if the victim was targeted and what kind of explosive device was used. the victim was seriously injured but wounds not considered light threatening. california is in the bottom third of states when it comes to people having enough food to eat. the food and research and action center in washington, d.c. is a nonprofit that works to end hunger. they analyzed numbers from gallup that asked people if there have been times when they didn't have enough money to buy food. california is 16th in the nation. san francisco, oakland and fremont came in 86th among metropolitan areas while san jose, sunnyvale and santa clara ranked 97th. last monday we showed you surveillance video of a man

burglarizing a san francisco church. now san francisco police have confirmed that they have a suspect in custody in that break you know at the lakeside presbyterian children's center on 19th avenue near the stonestown mall. they took 45-year-old chris harley into custody on friday. he is charged with burglary, traffic violations and violating parole. well, little has changed in san francisco since a controversial sit-lie ban went into effect. that was approved by voters last november and police began enforcing it this month in places like haight street. the "san francisco chronicle" says the law has resulted in people playing a game of standing up when police are around. the paper says officers have handed out few warnings but neither lawbreakers nor law enforcement seem to be making the law very effective. good afternoon. we have blue skies and pleasant weather in store giving you a live look at the bay bridge, san francisco this morning. we have a little cloud cover

at the coast and it's lingering at this hour. just a little bit of low cloud cover. outside of that, plenty of blue sky and our temperatures this afternoon sitting in the 50s, slightly warmer than yesterday. napa and santa rosa in the upper 50s. our winds generally light, breezy around oakland at this time. winds are expected to pick up just a little bit between 15 miles per hour and a little bit closer to the coast, 20 miles per hour for the afternoon. we have great weather. a ridge of high pressure building in for the week ahead. our temperatures are expected to be in some of the warmest that we have seen so far for 2011. so for this afternoon, partly cloudy skies, breezy, our afternoon high sitting in the upper 50s to upper 60s. taking a look around the neighborhood, 65 in santa rosa for the afternoon. 60s around oakland. 63 redwood city, mid-60s in san jose, morgan hill 67. the big game at at&t park with

the giants and ace, it's going to be breezy. bring the windbreaker and maybe a jacket to keep you warm. partly cloudy skies, 53. sunset these days about 7:30. so when a live, we'll have the sunshine but it's going down when a rye. take a look at the forecast for the week ahead. 70s, even heights inland and that's thursday. >> yes. don't take it for granted because the weekend is going to cool down a little bit. >> we are back into the 60s. >> i guess if we're dry we'll take that? >> yes. >> i got an email from a viewer who just said perfect timing for a vacation. >> all right, good. thanks, rosemary. several small earthquakes have rocked sonoma county early today. more than four quakes have hit the geysers since midnight near cloverdale. the first one was 1.0, the largest was 2.0. the latest quake to hit geysers was a little after 2:30 this morning. one of san francisco's famous cable car lines is not

operating this week. the city is doing repair and maintenance work on the tracks and underground cable that keeps the powell mason line running. people who would normally use the doors get to work can hop on buses that -- the cars to get to work can hop on buses that go on the same line. the powell mason line cable cars will run again starting on saturday. well, the alaska airlines section of the oakland airport looked like a luau this morning. the festive dancers and decorations were for the inaugural alaska airlines flight from oakland to hawaii. it was taking off this morning. the new flight is part of the expanding service between the bay area and the hawaiian islands and this morning an alaska airlines spokesman said the new flights are proof that the economy is improving. >> you know, hawaii obviously got hit pretty hard a few years ago. but it's really come back. we're just really filling our planes on all of our routes on

the west coast. >> there are going to be four flights a week from oakland and three from san jose. the first flight from san jose left yesterday. well, we are following developing news in marin county involving a tense situation with a big rig truck. we have chopper 5 on the chopper 2.

a live look at the big board. the dow is up 21. everyone watching what's going on in the middle east and libya but people are feeling good about the economy and things recovering so that they believe is driving the continual rally as we take a closer look at consumer spending and home sales. that apparently is -- appears to be what's behind this drive. so those are the numbers right now. we'll continue to follow them for throughout the day. as we said, consumer spending rose at its fastest rate in four months during february. it was up .7" but the increasing price of gas and heating oil are a big reason. commerce worries that continuing hikes in food and energy will lead to less money to spend on other item pending home sales are up. the index rose 2.2%. economist say sales were uneven across the country and

not enough to signal a rebound. we are just days away from the official start of the baseball season. but tonight, the san francisco giants and the oakland as will begin the three-game bay bridge preseason series. first pitch is at 7:15 at at&t park. the giants will be back on their home time for the first time since the world series. they will collect donations for the japan earthquake relief fund. game two tomorrow night at the coliseum, game 3 wednesday at at&t park. now to the ncaa and to a team that many thought shouldn't be in the tournament, that time now one win away from playing for a national championship. >> virginia commonwealth has made it to the final four knocking off the number one seed. >> they knocked off the number one seed kansas to punch their ticket to the final four and will face butler on saturday. the university of kentucky and the university of connecticut will play in the other national semifinal game this

weekend. well, today we could learn the identities of the seven coworkers who were fortunate enough to buy that winning $319 million megamillions ticket. an albany, new york store sold that winning particular for friday night's drawing. the seven lucky winners work at a new york state housing agency and together them divide the $319 million prize which means after taxes each person is expected to take home about $29 million. well, some baby pandas in china are starting kindergarten. officials at the giant panda research facility in southwest china say the baby pandas are certain to live away from their mothers and have moved into panda kindergarten. veterinarians say this will help them increase their skills. lately two twins have been entertaining crowds with wrestling. back to the developing news out of marin county. crews are on the scene of a big rig crash in tiburon.

the truck lost its brakes while traveling on san rafael avenue near tiburon boulevard and went careening down the hill. it flipped on the sides almost before entering the waters of san francisco bay. this all happened within the last hour. no word on any injuries. but as we said, we are sending chopper 5 that way and will bring you any updates as we get them. in light nuclear crisis in japan, several countries could be censoring episodes of the fox tv show the simpsons. the show frequently features near miss nuclear power plant disasters where they work. they want to make sure one featuring a meltdown does not air. coming up tonight at 5:00, we are going to have the latest on president obama's address on libya. now, we are going to show that address and you can see it here on ktvu beginning at 4:30. plus new possible fallout from the crisis in japan. scientists are keeping an eye on bay area drinking water.

what they are testing today to determine if our water is safe. we have chopper 2 over the scene so we want to take you there. you can see that is the remnants of this accident we have been telling but in tiburon. again, authorities are telling us that that truck lost its brakes. we'll continue to follow this throughout the day. our next newscast is ktvu channel 2news at 5:00. that's it for us at noon. have a great day, everyone. >> caption colorado, llc comments@captioncolorado.com