. complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is ktvu ktvu, channel 2 news. >> security measures are underway at this bay area high school after some serious incidents involving guns. >> good evening, i'm julie haener. >> and i'm frank somerville. and a school lockdown at this school just today. parents are concerned. ktvu's ken wayne is live at tonight's school board meeting where there has been hot debate about new security measures. ken? >> reporter: the school board is still meeting up there at this hour at the district headquarters meeting. there are a lot of ideas

tonight on how to stop guns from getting on campus. one after another parents, students and concerned residents expressed their frustration at what's happening at berkeley high school. just today another report of a gun on campus prompted a lockdown this afternoon. >> my blood has been bowling the last week. i'm scared for my daughter. i'm scared for her friends. i'm scared for her teachers. >> reporter: one idea is to issue student bams and restrict access to a few gates. it is said to have worked at other schools. >> we've looked at various protocols for the issues that you are now dealing with. some are very simple. we expect the students to wear their id badge on their neck when on campus. >> and they suggested security at an airport. >> is a pistol more acceptable than one on an april? i don't think so airplane? >> reporter: some said those

measures go too far. >> a drastic change on the berkeley high will have people to act out. when you treat people like animals, it is proven that they act like animals. >> reporter: berkeley police have made their recommendations to try to reduce gun activity. >> they are just recommendations. that is a decision for the school division to make. we have put a lot of time and effort into trying to make them as good as we can. >> reporter: the recommendation for improving security are expected to be made public tomorrow. there is bound to be some grumbling either way with complaints the measures are too strong or too weak. live in berkeley, ken wayne, ktvu, channel 2 news. we are getting late word tonight about the death of a soldier from pleasantton. he is the first native of that city to die in afghanistan. army specialist jameson lynnscog was killed yesterday. we spoke with his mother a short time ago. and she told us that her son was a medical technician and his unit came under fire.

she says as he rushed to help another soldier he was fatally wounded. the 23-year-old was due to be discharged next year. new troubles tonight for the san francisco police department. a judge has dismissed yet another drug case after viewing security video and deciding it contradicted police testimony. it is the latest in the series of misconduct allegations we've been following. ktvu's heather holmes viewed the tape at the center of this latest case. she joins us now live from the city's richmond district. heather? >> reporter: julie, it's what happened inside the third floor of this apartment building and what cameras captured that is raising concerns. i want you to take a look. this is the video of the three plain-clothed officers that swayed the judge. take a look down the hallway as police investigating narcotic activity walk inside the last apartment on the left. >> i clearly said no when i was outside. >> reporter: 23-year-old mclaren says he never agreed to the warrantless search of his apartment. saying when he refused the sergeant in charge threatened

to "freeze the place if he didn't give consent." >> at that point i didn't know what to say. didn't say anything. they proceeded in my door. i walked in and they followed me. >> they were lying about how they got into the apartment. >> reporter: san francisco public defender today blasted the officers involved, saying the sequence of events documented in the police report and police testimony during the preliminary hearing do not match what the video shows. he read from the police report. >> "wenzel then wentness his unit for approximately 30 seconds and then returned to the hallway and said" okay, you can come in now." that's clearly not through. >> reporter: there is no audio on the footage so no way to know what was said but do you not see him entering his apartment alone. after reviewing the tape a superior court judge dismissed the felony drug case against him, a medical marijuana

patient. even though these officers are caught red hand handed with a videotape that contradicts their testimony, they are not subject to any consequences. >> that was heather holmes reporting. >> now to the closing arguments of the rape case. this civil trial comes nearly four years after a 17-year-old girl alleged a group of baseball players gang raped her at a party at a home in san jose. prosecutors declined to file criminal charges saying there wasn't enough evidence. but the woman went ahead and sued two team members for $7.5 million in damages. several other defendants were dropped from the case. appeal denied. the california supreme court has turned down susan poke's appeal of her second degree murder conviction. the woman was sentenced to 16 years to life for the stabbing death of her husband psychotherapist felix poke in 2002. she said it was self-defense.

in the appeal poke's attorney argued jurors showed bias criticizing poke's performance in the courtroom when she acted as her own attorney. the court disagreed. at this hour crews in pittsburgh are working to repair a broken waterline. the sinkhole was discovered shortly after 3 this afternoon. pittsburgh's assistant manager said the broken line will probably have to be removed and replaced and that could take until midnight. news chopper 2 took these pictures at 8:30 this meaning. traffic is a problem but workers did reroute the line so no one has lost water. in berkeley tonight, a fire ripped through a guest-house prompting the evacuation of a nearby trader joe's grocery store and an apartment complex. the fire started shortly after 6:00 on berkeley way near martin luther king jr. boulevard. no one was in the guest-house at the time but firefighters did rescue two goats and a chicken. the small guest-house was

destroyed. the main house sustained minor damage. damage overall is estimated at about $46,000. the investigators say they are looking into reports that someone was playing with matches. a stretch of highway 101 is closed tonight as the highway patrol says it could take two weeks to re-open. a massive mudslide covered the roadway and caused it to buckle just north. the slide came down at 9:20 this morning. the chp says they may be open to open one lane possibly in two or three days. in the meantime the school district is closed. three nearby schools for the rest of the week because of concerns about transportation and food delivery. on the bright side all of the recent rain is filling reservoirs. and as we've been telling you governor brown today declared the drought officially over. coming up at 10:45 we will have a report from the sierra and show you the amazing results of today's snowpack survey. >> from japan come new reports

of spreading radioactive contamination from the damaged nuclear power plant in fukushima. the tests reveal significantly higher levels of radioactive iodine in the sea water. more than 3300 times above acceptable levels. plant operators acknowledge that four of the six reactors are beyond repair and will have to be scrapped. higher amounts of contamination are now being found farther from the plant. scientists at uc berkeley are performing tests on bay area water, milk and grass looking for radiation from japan. and ktvu's health and science editor john fowler was there today as the results came in. >> reporter: this confirms trace radioactive particles from japan have settled on the bay area, on the soil, the grasses and drinking water reservoirs. we were there this afternoon as uc berkeley ky veter discovered tell tale from the radioactive iodine. >> the measurements are very small. >> reporter: they tested it

from two dairies both containing isotopes. but grass is eaten by the cows that contain these isotopes. the radiation from japan is no risk. >> we don't expect it to have any effect on health. >> reporter: the same with tap water. it is no added risk. but researchers are excited by these findings building this new did he deck tore to expand their monitoring of air, water and milk. >> using radioactivity to tell us how the particles distribute in our environment and there is a unique opportunity as researchers to do that. >> reporter: scientists say there is no health risk today. but by tracking these isotopes today they will be better prepared if there is a major release in the future. health and science editor john fowler, ktvu, channel 2 news. the u.s. congress today pressed regulatory officials for answers on the safety of

america's nuclear plants and their spent nuclear fuel rods. diane finestein said she recent live toured the canyon's power plant. she learned that spent fuel rods are stored in pools similar to those leaking radiation at the damaged japanese plant. one expert said that's common practice in the u.s. >> the pools are often housed in buildings with sheet metal siding like that in a storage shed. i have nothing against the quality of sears storage sheds but they are not suitable for nuclear waste storage. >> the head of the nuclear regulatory commission said at some u.s. plants spent rods are stored behind reinforced concrete walls. a beautiful sunset after a warm day and temperatures near 90 tomorrow. our chief meteorologist bill martin has tomorrow's forecast in eight minutes. >> the storms are gone and the problems remain. coming up we will show you three homes suddenly sitting on

the edge. [ music ] >> well she impressed the judges on "american idol" tonight. we are in mcgee's hometown where she is warming people's hearts there. [ music ] . your morning commute can easily go from smooth to chaotic. for commute conditions that impact you. >> looking at a bay bridge toll plant is getting busier. >> count on live drive time traffic. the key information you need. with updates all morning long, live drive-time traffic weekdays starting at 4:30 a.m. on ktvu, channel 2 news in the morning.

. in the south bay a 97-year- old woman had to be rescued from behind a landslide late today. the slide has cut off dozens of residents on croy road above

morgan hill. emergency workers had to carry the woman 100 yards through the mud to a helicopter. she had suffered a stroke. crews have been working to clear that mudslide. a mud slide has swallowed up three yards and forced three families out of their mobile homes. lloyd lacuesta is live at the mobile home park where those homes are at risk of sliding into stephen's creek. lloyd? >> reporter: julie, they have now had three days without rain. but the result of a month's worth of rain continues to be felt. let me show you where three homes are losing their backyards and are in danger of falling into a creek. neighbors say a week ago the water in stephens creek began rising and the creek bank began eroding. as much as 15 feet of backyards crumb in-law -- you believe -- crumbled into the creek. >> their homes are on the

precipice there sliding into the creek. >> he was evacuated from issuing home for three nights. he is back now buts his three neighbors have had their homes red tagged. the park is putting them up in hotels. >> i understand the santa clara water district and the mobile home park are talking about a wall, a retaining wall to be started this summer. >> reporter: the mobile home park management did not respond to our calls. the santa clara water district told me tonight that seven years ago the park asked for help to prevent erosion. but the district says the creek is on private, not public property. residents received notices advising if their homes were on the bank to refrain from going into their backyards. >> a little concerned for our own safety. but like in calling the property management they didn't seem to think we were in immediate danger right now. >> reporter: some neighbors say they worry what will happen if it starts raining again.

live in mountain view, lloyd lacuesta, ktvu, channel 2 news. pg&e says it is taking precautions tonight to prevent a gas leak in a south bay neighborhood. landslide is causing a number of problems for a homeowner. sue sharon tells ktvu her front yard has fallen several feet over the passed few days. today pg&e crews examined a two inch gas line near her home to make sure it wasn't leaking. the utility says it installs a special valve as a precaution that will automatically shut off that line if there is a change in pressure. now to san pablo. city officials met behind closed doors tonight with homeowners affected by the landslide there. heavy rains last thursday caused the slide there. six homes are affected. two remain yellow tagged, meaning they are not considered safe to live in. the city of san pablo will hold another meeting tomorrow. it has already declared a local emergency which is the first step in collecting state and

federal disaster funds. >> two robbery suspects are behind bars but another suspect is still at large. it started when a woman called police to report noises inside her house. she barricaded herself in the bedroom until the officers arrived. a chase ensued when the suspect's car trashed into a parole car. the police set up a perimeter and went house to house, eventually arresting two of the three men several hours later. an update now on the san jose police officer involved in a hit and run crash this week. motorcycle officer is still hospitalized but described as lucid and recovering. police are asking for the public's help to find the hit and run driver. on monday afternoon the officer was following a traffic violator at south first and alma avenue when a light blue honda accord pulled out in front of him. the officer hit the car and was thrown from his motorcycle. a former infielder with the oakland as took the stand today

in the barry bonds perjury trial. he wasn't the only witness. rita williams tells us why no less than eight people testified today about urine. >> reporter: former oakland player testified that the barry bonds's anderson injected him in arizona parking lots during spring training 2002. asked for the effect he said i had more endurance, strength. he said anderson did not give him the designer steroids the cream in the clear. bonds is on trial for allegedly lying when he told a grand jury here in 2003 he did not knowingly take steroids or human growth hormone and that anderson never injected him. bonds did say that anderson gave him the cream in the clear but said anderson told him they were an arthritis balm and flaxseed oil. but former giant marvin bernard told him that anderson told him they were undetectable steroids. and the giambi brothers said

anderson called them steroid- like. >> prosecutors called eight witnesses today to testify about what's called chain of custody of barry bonds' 2003 union sample provided for a major league baseball drug test. prosecutors say it later tested positive in a ucla lab for the clear. >> this is a case in which the defense is fighting tooth and nail on every point so they put the government to its test and made them put on those witnesses, which tend to be pretty dry. >> reporter: in somewhat of a surprise the prosecutors said they only have three more witnesses to call in their case against barry bonds. in san francisco, rita williams, ktvu, channel 2 news. a federal appeals court in san francisco ruled today that state officials have the right to require ships to use cleaner burning fuel when near california ports. the 9th circuit court of appeals upheld the vessel fuel rules which went into effect. it is meant to improve the air

pollution quality in the ports near the ports. the shipping industry agreed the rules violated the commerce clause of the constitution. the island has lost a bid to become part of the national park system. bay area congresswoman george miller was among those hoping a national park designation could help with the island's long- term preservation. but federal officials informed miller they could not take on the cost of environmental cleanup and restoration. mayor island was the first permanent u.s. naval installation on the west coast and later became a navy shipyard. [ music ] >> what a day today. record high temperatures. and right now outside it's warm. winds coming out of the east. i've got 67 right now in santa rosa. 10:30 at night or 10:20 at night it is 67 degrees. 67 in concord. san raphael number is a bit inflated. it is about 67. you get the pick. it's warm out there now. nowhere to go but up tomorrow.

record highs today. well, they weren't hot but they were warm record highs. we will see some records again tomorrow. these are the highs from today. i will step out here. the highs tomorrow will be warmer than these. we will see some upper 80s. maybe a low 90. it will be the warmest day of the year by far. one of the nicest days we are going to see all week. because things change around. the weather system wants to roll in here. it could bring us a few showers for part of your weekend. back here 10:45. i have the computer model to take a look at your bay area weekend and that chance of rain. see you back here. a new turn tonight in the conflict of libya. up next reports of cia operatives on the ground. how they are joining the effort to oust moammar gadhafi. tenants call the owner of this building in oakland a slum lord. now hear how she is defending herself and the one thing she said after seeing our report. [ music ] ktvu, channel 2 news at 5:00, complete bay area news coverage.

. >> there is word tonight of a heightened u.s. presence in libya. the new york times and other media are reporting that cia operatives are on the ground now collecting intelligence for air strikes. and are also in contact with rebels. today the rebels lost more ground, retreating from the better equipped forces of moammar gadhafi. there are also reports that the u.s. is considering sending weapons to the rebels. the british prime minister said the united nations mandate to protect citizens could allow that, in spite of an arms embargo. >> and our view of this is this would not necessarily rule out the assistance of those protecting civilians in certain circumstances. later today the foreign minister turned out in london saying he has resigned from his post. >> here a follow-up report as an oakland landlord defends herself. last night we explained how a judge had ordered gardener to make critical repairs to four

crumbling apartment buildings. she says the conditions are not her fault. >> reporter: why haven't you cleaned up these properties yet? >> i have been doing that since 2001. >> reporter: but that's not what a judge decided when she ruled in favor of the city of oakland, demanding action from gardener. attorneys say she has neglected her four buildings, 55 units in all for more than ten years. >> reporter: they say you have allowed gas, electricity, water to be shut off to some of these buildings. why aren't you paying those bills? >> okay. i am not saying that i didn't do it. yes, sometimes water and gas is shut off because sometimes you need to have money to pay. >> reporter: but people have to live here. >> i know. i know. i pay. >> reporter: she took us inside one of her empty units to show us how she made repairs. >> i clean up every day. after i clean up they do come back again. >> reporter: tenants say she charges betweens 650 and 750 a month. on tuesday the tenants showed us more bugs and broken

windows. but she says her hands are tied by too many tenants who don't pay rent. >> reporter: could you ever live in one of these apartments? >> i don't live here. >> reporter: no. i'm saying could you? >> yes. yes. i could. >> reporter: public records show she and her husband live here near skyline in oakland, but maybe not for long. >> i am tired of this. i just would wish to sell all of my buildings and get out of oakland. >> reporter: she says she has tried to sell at least one of her buildings but that deal fell through. ktvu, channel 2 news. a judge has determined that a man from saratoga is competent to stand trial after a hit and run that severely injured a competitive cyclist. his attorney said he suffered from dementia. he hit the cyclist and her husband while driving on highway 9 in 2009. ashley jackson suffered

permanent brain damage. a plea hearing is scheduled in two weeks. one small bay area community is taking special interest in walking "american idol." we will show you the different ways they are supporting their favorite finalist. also why the iconic castro theater is lowering the curtain for eight days next month.

. one of the 11 finalists vying for the final of "american idol" is the pride of mountain house, a small town on the alameda san joachim county line. amber lee is live tonight where she watched the teen with her fans. >> reporter: julie, "american idol" fever is alive and well inside the home of mcgee's

biggest fans. the show ended but the excitement lingers as you can tell that they are using their cell phones to vote for their favorite finalist. every night her fans are glued to "american idol" to watch her perform. the 16-year-old was only 15 when she auditioned making her the only one auditioning this season. tonight she thrills her mountain house neighbors. >> we have someone to root for, you know, that we can bring back home. it is fun to vote for someone you know is here. >> when somebody does something in our community that is noteworthy we support them and root for them and stand by them. that's just who we are. >> it can be seen all over town four billboards including one by state 205. >> it gives our kids and our community a sense of pride. >> let's go, tia. let's go tia. >> reporter: about two weeks ago the community made this youtube video to cheer on their

hometown idol. during opening day of little league. >> hey, tia, we are voting for you in mountain house. >> reporter: seeing one of their own chase a dream, fans say, is inspiring. >> it just makes me want to achieve my dream. if she can do something from a small town, why not just go for it. >> it will be really exciting if she wins. and it will make the community, like, more out there on the map. >> we were told that two people driving along the freeway saw her billboard, went online and found out about this gathering and joined in. hopefully the hometown idol will make the cut tomorrow so megia mania will live on. back here live we want to show you this bumper sticker that the fans made in support of her. reporting live here in mountain house, amber lee, ktvu, channel 2 news. some busy fingers working the numbers there. you can follow all of the idol hopefuls. for the tab on the home page

look for more stories and a whole lot more. san francisco's castro theater is cutting back to save money. they plan to shut the doors every monday and tuesday in april, a total of eight days. this comes after closing a total of three days this month. the owners say it is hard to sustain a single screen theater. neighbouring businesses say they can feel the pinch. >> we keep track of their month lip schedules and their.com schedules and plan our rushes according to what's going on across the street. the castro theater specializes in classic, cutting- edge and campy films. it is one of only 12 single screen theaters remaining in san francisco. california is going after more than $2 billion in high- speed rail money that florida left by the wayside. the high speed rail authority voted to seek the money turned down by the sunshine state. florida's governor says even with federal funding the project is just too expensive. california officials saying getting just part of the $2.4 billion will allow them to

build the stretch. work there is set to begin next year. >> in sacramento today there was a local of finger pointing about the budget impasse after governor brown scrapped plans for a june special election on tax extensions. democrats are blaming republicans for the steal mate criticizing their 53 demands that included such things as corporate tax breaks and shifting the presidential primary to june. >> and you look at all of the little things on here. the only thing missing from this list is a pony. >> the tax increases and cuts the state hasn't done anything to become more viable in the following year. >> the governor hasn't been seen since he posted this message on youtube last night. his office declined our request for an interview. but they did tell us that one option now is to put the tax extension on the november ballot. without voter approved tax extensions, the university of california says it could end up with $1 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year.

school officials have already agreed to cut about half of that amount through layoffs, by decreasing enrollment at the 23 campuses. the university has not outlined how it might deal with additional cuts in state funding. the state is also moving to freeze the salaries of california's highest paid state employees. an assembly committee voted today to freeze the pay of workers earning more than $150,000 a year. the plan has many exclusions, including public safety and union workers. the killing of that mountain lion that we reported last night is raising questions about animals and humans coming into contact. tonight ktvu's rob roth examines why that contact often ends up with the animal being killed. >> reporter: here at wild marine county this barn owl is still recovering. it was struck by a car on highway 37 last month. the owl is just some of 4,000 wildlife treated here each year. many injuries are as a result of brushes with humans.

>> our population is growing and expanding. and there are, you know, a host of native wild neighbors that we have here. >> reporter: whether humans are persistently encroaching on wildlife or wildlife on us, encounters are often perilous for the animals. coyotes roam golden gate park. but after the coyotes attacked some dogs station fish and game wardens killed them. they shot a young deer that ran into a backyard in east oakland last year. yesterday a mountain lion wandered into a backyard and authorities afraid for public safety shot the animal to death. but must it frequently end like this? >> a lot of times actually doing nothing, letting, you know, people staying inside and letting the cat move on its own. >> reporter: but sometimes the animals win. the recent rains washed away a dam a family of beavers built in the creek in martinez. they are rebuilding. about four years ago downtown businesses were afraid the dam would cause flooding and wanted the beavers removed. animal advocates found a solution. >> what you see when martinez

did this is that compromise is really possible. and that there is really god reasons to do it. >> reporter: peaceful solutions to such conflict, say wildlife advocates, often come through education. that the more we know about wildlife, the less likely the need to kill it. in marin county, rob roth, ktvu, channel 2 news. the water system which displays tap water to san francisco and almost two million other bay area residents is undergoing a seismic upgrade. water managers gathered at lower crystal springs in san mateo county today to launch the $320 million project. it includes upgrades to crystal springs dam, to a water treatment plant in sanbruno and a 19-mile water pipeline that runs from hillsboro to daly city. the improvements are expected to take four years to complete. from politician to cartoon figure, arnold schwarzenegger's latest career move. >> it is warming up around

here. the record heat today. there will be some record warmth again tomorrow. warmer as we head into your thursday. i will have the complete forecast. thousands of refugees inundating a small italian island. where they are coming from and why they can't stay. [ music ]

.

on wall street today some encouraging employment news pushed stocks closer to a six week high. the dow jones industrials ended the day up 71 points. the nazdaq added 19. tomorrow is the final day of trading in the quarter. the business round table which represents ceos for the nation's 200 largest companies reports that 90% of its members expect sales to improve in the coming year. 52% plan to increase hiring during the next six months. the most upbeat corporate leaders have been since that survey began back in 2002. >> google has agreed to open itself up to audits every two years. the ftc accused google of using deceptive tactics and violating promises to customers when it launched its buzz social network last year. according to the terms of the settlement, google will also be required to give users a clear

and prominent notice and obtain express consent prior to sharing their information with any third party. the internet search giant revealed that kansas city will serve as the test site for its new ultra high speed internet service. gag will says the new fiber for communities service will be 100 times faster than most broadband. the announcement came inside a high school gym. google says kansas city offered the most efficient building opportunities. in news of the world tonight in syria, the president expected to announce major reforms in a speech to his people today. instead he took a hard-line and blamed the deadly anti- government protests on a foreign conspiracy. one analyst said it shows he is out of touch with his people. hours later, people took to the streets and more demonstrations are expected. in mexico, the mayor of the town of garcia survived a second assassination attack in a month. major rodriguez was driving last night when some or rather

mayor rodriguez was driving last night when some 40 men in 15 cars surrounded his armored car and opened fire. they kept shooting for 20 minutes. one of rodriguez's bodyguards was killed. another was injured. officials suspect drug cartels. in italy, some 18,000 refugees from north africa have arrived in a small italian island since january. but plans are now in the works to send them back to tunisia or to detention centers. italian officials say they can't cope with so many would- be immigrants. they have complained as well saying they don't feel safe in their homes anymore. >> an anti-tax movement known as the tea party is losing favor with the majority of americans. the survey found 47% of voters have an unfavourable view of the tea party. 32% had a favorable view but that's down five points from december. the poll also found voters have mostly unfavourable views of the democratic and republican parties.

we are getting a preview of arnold schwarzenegger's next career move. he will become the governorator which combines his two worlds as governor and movie star. it is being co-developed by stan lee of spiderman fame. it will be an animated t.v. show as well as a comic book also featuring his wife and children. >> the results of the latest snowpack survey to share with you tonight. how long it has been since the person taking the measurements since he has seen this much snow. >> and 69 degrees right now in san jose. even warmer tomorrow. but for how long? chief meteorologist bill martin is back with the forecast. [ music ]

. a houseboat goes up in flames in alameda. the fire was reported at noon today. it took 15 minutes for

firefighters to get the fire under control. the boat was destroyed but the fire did not spread to any nearby boats. still no word yet on what caused the fire. a female concord police officer has filed a sexual harassment suit against the department and the second highest ranking female office. she accused lieutenant robert hynman of making inappropriate passes. the allegations are false. this is the fifth such case in concord in four years. the higher ranking officer also sued concord in a sexual harassment case and received a settlement. former contra costa narcotics commander norman welsh is now facing more legal trouble. he was arrested for stealing drugs from evidence lockers. five people arrested in drug raids are suing welsh and antioch police officers for illegal searches and stealing their property. they claim they should have gotten their property back when they were cleared. in berkeley cal baseball

players are counting down the hours on a decision on whether the team will be allowed to play next season. the team was at practice today but this could be their last season due to budget cuts. about you a -- but a group stepped to the plate and are now trying to raise enough money to keep the program going. the founder of save cal sports stu gordon says they have raised $9.5 million so far. >> we are really close to where they want us to be which is $10 million. we are a few thousand dollars short and trying to raise the additional money. >> they have cut baseball and men's gymnastics in order to save the money. the chancellor is going to look at another look at the fate of the sports by tomorrow or friday. we all know there is a lot of snow up in the sierra but just how much. today the scientists hiked into the thick snow to find out. ktvu's ken went along on the snow survey. he has the numbers and the good news from the governor when it

comes to your water. >> reporter: in a howling wind on an obscure patch of snow high in the sierras, state scientists conducted their final snow survey of the year and the result. >> probably the most recent time we had this much snow on the ground at this location would have been in 1995. >> reporter: frank is the chief of snow surveys for the department of water resources. he says the snow here is more than ten feet deep. the snowpack measures 154% of normal at this location near tahoe and 165% of normal statewide for this time of year. well, in this meadow the state is not measuring the depth of the snow. they are measuring the water content. if you were to melt all of this snow i would be standing right now in about four feet of water. >> there is definitely more water up here than you could store in the reservoirs. >> reporter: currently lake shasta is at 91 capital. fullsome is at 67 and lake oroville is at 80%. they would have more water but officials have conducted major releases in anticipation of the

melting snowpack. there is so much water that today governor brown declared california's three-year drought officially over. >> we should be coming or going into october 1, the beginning of next water year, with i think above average reservoir storage. >> reporter: he says with a snowpack this large, a good water year is not in doubt. in el dorado county, this is ktvu, channel 2 news. union pacific pulled out a rarely used piece of equipment this week to help clear snow from a 50-mile section of its tracks in the sierra. for five days snow covered the rails between colfax and truckee. that is until this steam powered rotary snowplow went to work and cleared the snow and re-opened the tracks for limited use yesterday. the plow has been around since the 1950s but the snow hasn't been deep enough to use it for the passed 13 years. [ music ] and we are getting a break from the rain. if you can remember back a week ago, we were dealing with flood

advisories, winter storm warnings. just less than a week ago. here we are with record high temperatures today. current temperatures outside are what the daytime highs, wouldn't they, even for the spring months. but these are right now current temperatures. the san raphael numbers have been inflated. a bad reading from that site over at the civic center there. the forecast tonight, no fog in the forecast. winds are turning offshore. that is what's allowing things to stay warm right now. that will allow the temperatures to increase more tomorrow. what is happening is the air is sinking. kind of an offshore flow event basically. as the air sinks it warms. actually warms like 5 degrees per 1,000 feet. so it is going to be warmer in places like santa rosa and san francisco than it is in a place like clear lake which is higher. temperatures overnight in the 50s. that's mild. no fog. light winds. and a really nice day. as high pressure settles in over the top of us. we have got a warming trend that really has started this week. started on monday. and it is going to work its way into thursday tomorrow, which will be the warmest day of the

year and the warmest day of the week. and then temperatures start to trend down the other way. and that's because the high pressure is going to weaken. so tomorrow is the warmest day with temperatures into the 80s. maybe some low 90s. the high pressure week is on friday. clouds start to come in. friday night lots of clouds. and saturday don't let this freak you out. the chance of a shower doesn't look like a big deal. it is not a game changer. it is not going to shut you down. but the main impact will be partly cloudy skies on saturday. and maybe a few sprinkles. but temperatures are still in the 60s, upper 60s. still a pretty warm day on saturday. just going to be cloudy, maybe some sprinkles. forecast highs tomorrow plenty of 80s. 85 and look how uniform the temperatures are, too. the way the air is everybody is in the 80s. cooler coastside as you expect just because there will be some influence from the ocean or the bay. well, the ocean right now is running probably at 56 degrees. 78 right now or tomorrow in

daly city. five day forecast it's, you know, pretty darn nice. again, just stretch your mind and go back to last week. remember i said about weather memories? you almost forget what was going on last week. >> you do. >> it felt like winter last week and feels like summer now. >> like one extreme to the other. we will take this week, though, it's nice. thanks, bill. >> we are getting a look tonight of some of the best pictures ever of the planet mercury. nasa's spacecraft took the pictures of the planet closest to the sun. they are drawn by the comets and rotational pull. it is the first robotic probe ever to circle mercury. a new report involving a whale that killed a worker at seaworld last year. what the park has decided to let the what i will do.

whale do.

that killer whale that killed a trainer last year is back on the job, if you will. this is a video of him performing with other orcas at seaworld in florida. the whale dragged dawn by her ponytail and dragged her under the water to kill her. it was important for his

physical, mental and social health to get him back performing. >> mark joins us now with sports. the official start at baseball is tomorrow. a young giant gets some amazing news. >> oh, yeah, has one of those names that sounds like a ball player. they feel he plays like he belongs to the big time. as of today 22-year-old brandon belt is a big leaguer. giant fans started hearing his name of course quite consistently this passed off season. came to spring training, lived up to the hype and the team makes it official today. belt is the starting first baseman for the world champions. got a nice ring to it. he received the word right after today's final exhibition game in san francisco. our joe fonzi was right there. >> you know, how can i explain it, it is the greats moment in my career. it is short but that's what it is right now. i'm just excited. and i'm ready to get going. you are right, it feels surreal right now just like it is not really happening. i don't know what to think

about it yet. hopefully it will sink in here pretty soon. >> a little more than just exercise as the exhibition season concludes. giants sweep oakland, down 1-0. eliwhiteside bats from the right side. hits one to the left side. knocks in the tying run. then it is a rookie by the name of chris stewart coming through with the game decideer ending it against the as 2-1 the giants sweep the bay bridge series three straight. all real from here on out. one of the things about the warrior season coming to an end soon no longer banging my head against the computer figuring out to what say about them. another example of why the nba regular season is way too long. nobody looked really interested in a warrior uniform. steph currie up early to wright. they played with the stay off bound grizzlies early. and oakland's own product here is a reason to be interested. leon poke great story back and healthy. gets it to the rim and helping the family miss effort.

they pull away and lead it. tony allen, their leading scorer tonight. he will get what you call your basic high percentage right there. 21 points and eight re bonds. grizzlies out before the warriors 61-38 in the second half. because it's a local team that wins, there is something you won't see in the ncaa playoffs this weekend. we feature our final of the college final tournament santa clara versus iona. there you go ben with the slam. he had 13 points. tournament mvp kevin foster the bomb from outside. he had 16 to lead the broncos who win it 76-69. in the cit and why not. success is success no matter what tournament you are in. that's the sporting life for a wednesday night. but the real tournament, of course, everybody looking forward to the final four this weekend for the men. >> and the stanford women. >> stanford women around here. >> coming up this weekend.

>> yes. >> thank you. and be sure to join in the ktvu morning news that begins tomorrow morning at 4:30. the very latest on all of the landslides causing problems around the bay area. >> our coverage continues online at ktvu.com. thanks for joining us, everyone. >> good night.