starting today, it will cost you more to shop. we'll explain why and how somers are trying to -- some consumers are trying to avoid it. an thepped a natural gas evacuation. some oakland fans are worried about more than just baseball.

good afternoon. we begin in the map rine county town of kent field where evacuations are underway. construction workers hit a gas line at good hill road and diablo drive. it happened about two hours ago. the workers were installing a water line when they hit the two inch plastic gas main. people were evacuated from 12 homes near the leak but no reports of anyone being injured. as of today it's more expensive to go shopping in several bay area stores. tara moriarty joins us with the reason for the change and the reaction. >> reporter: for every $10 qlowp spend, you will -- you spend you have to cough up an extra five cents. that can add up.

now another city affected by the hike, el cerrito, where yesterday we caught up with one woman. she dodged the sales tax hike and saved $25. some people say the increase is so sleet that it won't affect them. others are thinking about shopping in other areas. >> that's quite a bit. i'm not sure where else i can go to. have to consider the gas will cost me to go to another city to save 1%. >> reporter: so it might be a wash. >> it might be a wash. >> for the last week i've been looking up here to get a big screen tv. now that you're telling me it's gone up, it's going to cost me more money, i'm kind of disapointed. >> so here's where the sales tax hike goes into effect. santa rosa jumped a%.

concord rose half a penny. they were tied to measures approved in november. the city is using the new tax rate to balance their ailing budget. i'm tara moriarty. the labor department reported good news about the unemployment rate. the report shows the nation's unemployment rate fell slightly to 8.8%. economists had expected it to remain the same. the report said companies added 216,000 new jobs last month and the current hiring frenzy is an indication that the recovery is ending and we're moving into job expansion stage. earlier president obama says we are not out of the woods yet. >> i will not be satisfied until every american who want as good job can find one and every american get as shot at the american dream. >> the president spoke during a tour of a shipping facility in

maryland that features energy efficiency delivery -- efficient delivery vehicles. he wants hybrid vehicles to help the u.s. reduce its dependency on oil. some residents escaped a fast moving house fire. unfortunately some of the pets didn't make it. it happened in the 2500 block of myrtle street. smoke billowed from the structure first. these are images of news chopper 2. two women are upset about their animals. >> we had reports of animals in the building. the crews found six cats and two rabbits that did not survive the fire. >> the fire was under control by 7:55 but firefighters tore through walls to make sure this was completely out. they began it -- believe it began on the porch but the cause

is under investigation. they say it does not appear to be suspicious. san francisco firefighters broke down a door to rescue a sleeping man from a burning home. it happened at a home on teddy avenue. it took firefighters less than 30 minutes to get the fire under control. we first showed you this story live on last night's 10:00 news. vers -- investigators say it started in a kitchen. the man had been cooking, left food on the stove and went to sleep. today the u.s. military is joining the japan search crews for submission people. they will be searching swamp and land the open openings. the search will cover several pretext churrs but exclude miles around the fukushima plant.

more than 16,000 people are still missing. we are now hearing that a u.s. recruiter is hiring american nuclear power plant workers to go to japan to help get the plant under control. the recruiters say their pay will be higher than normal and they'll have the satisfaction knowing they're helping to solve a major crisis. some debris washed into the ocean by that massive tsunami is making its way to u.s. shores. scientists say the biggest amount is expected to be off the coast of california, but it pales in comparison to the litter dumped in the ocean on a reg lar basis. kraig kraig -- kraig debro joins us to tell us about a serious tone among fans.

>> reporter: the tailgating has begun. there's not a sellout yet. this is the 33rd year for the people that oakland and in this city as well. some people are approaching the season as if it could be the last season. >> opening day, baby. >> reporter: the beaver and the baseball -- beer and the baseballs flowed. there were even pancakes being made. these t shirts read -- a reference to move the team. >> from day one he's been trying to go to san jose. >> reporter: the a's aren't just kristening -- christening a new season but collecting money for relief in japan. >> we have a lot more

information on japan. there's more attention that follows hideki. there's a lot of japanese, japanese-american folks in this area. >> reporter: there are signs written in japanese for hideki mat sue wi. expectations are high, just as they are every year. >> i guess we're excited every year to see what the a's can bring to us. >> i can't wait to go. >> so far, the team has collected or will donate $50,000 from those tickets sold to sunday's game, which is also japanese heritage day on sunday. reporting live, kraig debro,. we have another baseball related note, a sad one. we learned this morning that a giants fan was beaten and critically injured after last

night's season opener in los angeles. two men in dodgers gear followed three giants fans as they walked to their car after last night's dodgers victory. they said the attackers yelled slurs and started kicking and punching the men no one has been arrested. the owner of a pleasant ton apartment complex says it will make safety changes after a toddler wandered away from his home. he crossed six lanes of traffic before ending up at a walmart parking lot. pleasantton police said the boy made it to the police because he was able to open the front door, which has a low handle for people in wheelchairs. ahead, why police seem to be writing a lot or tickets these days. scary scene in a bay area city after a car crashed into a

building. >> it's another great day around the day. we'll tell you if it will last through the weekend. also, a warm weather river trip turned into a scary rescue operation.

the chp and san rafael police responded to an accident that happened about :35 in the 2100 block of east san francisco boulevard, not far from the richmond, san rafael bridge. several cars were damaged in oakland after a suspected drunk driver rammed into the vehicles on foothills and haven court just after 9 p.m. last night. take a look at the damage. we're told the driver and two other people were taken to the hospital but we don't know their condition. police tell us the suspect's vehicle was stolen. consumer advocates say it's an interesting coincidence that police across the country are handing out more tickets than they did a few years ago. the california highway patrol issued 200,000 more tickets in

2009 than 2007, an additional $50 million in revenue in two years. the chp denies writing tickets to raise revenue. they said it's due to cell phone use and scheduling changes. in libya, orders among rebels who are being told that only former military officers and trained volunteers are allowed on the front line. they're regrouping in the town which is considered the gateway to the rebel held eastern part of the country. reporters say they have more weapons and better communication equipment, plus defecttors from moammar gadhafi' regime are helping them organize. they said they who agree to a cease fire if colonel gadhafi pulled his forces out of cities. a big earthquake rocked the

island of crete. buildings shook as far as cairo, egypt. it ranged from 5.9 to 6.2. there's still no word of damage or injuries and there's been no tsunami warnings. greek is one of the most earthquake prone countrs -- countries. it's a disaster preparedness that the kent fire department will hold. kent field's fire chief says it makes sense it host this program, given the recent crisis in japan. >> be like a boy scout. be prepared. it's going to come here. we don't know what day. we don't know what hour but we need to be prepared. >> tomorrow's program starts at 10 a.m. and goes until noon and there's

no cost to attend. >> the city of san pablo is waiting to see if grand rapids brown will have -- the hill is still rain second and sliding. six homes have been yellow tagged since part of the slide occurred on public property. it needs money from the state to pay for it and hopes the governor will approve that emergency declaration. a rafting adventure on a homemade party barge came to an end. seven young men were on the american river yesterday when they hit some rapids in fair oaks. they lost control, capsized. three were thrown out. they all managed to hold on it a nearby tree as a sacramento fire crew came to their rescue. >> we hit the rapids, got closed on by a tree. we were hanging on to the tree for hour lives, had to climbing

up thorn bushes. >> they emerged, muddied, scratched and bruised. authorities say people who decide to go in the river should at least wear life jackets. good afternoon. we are looking forward to another gorgeous day, temperatures above average once again, giving you a live look at blue skies. we are looking at just a light breeze at this hour. the wind still coming in from the northeast but shifting westerly. that sea breeze will cool us down from the afternoon. westerly wind five miles per hour in oakland. northeasterly 12 in liver moshings calm in san jose. 74 in san jose. low 70s near palo alto.

concorde 74. 74 in liver mormt san francisco 64. 66 in oakland. if we shiest north napa 75. 74 santa rosa. we are looking at those high clouds. that, ahead of the system that will bring us a big cooldown by tomorrow. if we look at the satellite view we saw a clearly defined ridge. show it to you right there. we're getting this on shore flow that will return to the area, cool it down just a little bit. the bigger change will come tomorrow as a trough approaches the coast. the sea breeze returning. fair skies and temperatures in the 70s for the coast inland back into the low 80s, a slight dip for san jose. tomorrow bigger changes. it will be cooler, cloudier and breezy, especially for the coast as well as the mountains and the possibility of a little bit of light rain. it's not much at all. take a look at what's happening.

mostly cloudy by tonight. looks like precip over the mountain locations but here we're mainly dry. the north bay a possibility of a few sprinkles tomorrow. that's going to be about it. temperatures looking good. low 70s to low 80s in the afternoon. we settle into the evening hours, sun setting at 7:30. 75 at 6:00, so dinner time not bad. upper 50s, low 60s. five to six degrees cooler for areas around ?or -- around santa rosa and oakland. so, again, it's going to get back to spring like weather for the weekend, maybe a sprinkle for the north bai. we rebound. monday, tuesday back in the 70s. if you want to use the monthly pass to ride new nirks you'll need to use plastic instead of paper. for now on muni riders who want

a 30-day pass with unlimited rides need to use their old pals. muni riders had mixed reaction to the switch this morning. some told us they had problems with their clipper cards. others say it's more convenient. >> i can auto load it and don't have to chair ri cash with me. i can get on and it's not a problem. >> the price is still $60 but it is slated to go up to $26 in july. people that one oakland neighborhood said prostitution continues to be a plob lem. there was a rally near international boulevard and 17th avenue. they said prostitution has steadily gotten worse in the last five years with some pros stiewts as young as 12. some said pimps have threatened

them with violence if they get involved. >> what you're going to see because the neighborhoods come forward and help make cases against these motels, that we're going to be moving closing several of them over the next few months. >> the family that runs the lodge say they are being unfarly targeted. >> capitola is not saying what steps it will take since pg&e replaced several pleat ares with smart meters. the utility said it's standard procedure to replace broken meters with the new smart ones. they installed 17 after customers reported older ones were damaged in a recent flood. plastic bottles may be banned on a university. and also a teenager was

competing on "american idol," hoping to become a big star.

taking a live look at the big board on wall street. stocks are mixed. we mentioned earlier the two-year low on the unemployment rate down to 8.8%. that brought the dow to a new high. ford is outselling gm and oil

closing in on $108 a baimplet currently the dow is up 29. nasdaq is down one, s&p 500 is up three. >> uc berkeley students are deciding whether to ban the sale of bottled water. they are serious about cutting down on pollution. cal has set a goal of reducing trash by 75% next year. opponents of bottled water say money raised for the school include student-government programs. they'll vote next week but it's only advisory. a san joaquin teenager was one of two contestants eliminated last night on "american idol." thee a mag yay comes from mountain house. now that she's out of the running she will ping her normal life again. >> i'm pretty much going back to school, but it's not only that.

of course i'll be working on stuff as an artist and basically getting my stuff out there. >> the other contestant eliminated was the contestant from wisconsin. the numbers are. this year's oakland running festival brought in some big cash for the city. we first brought you these during our morning edition. more than 7,000 participated in a full marathon, half marathon and 5k. they brought in $3 million with each runner spending on average $450 over the weekend. merchants are searching for answers, including one simple crime solving tool. plus, the town of capitola was let by mudslides.

those stories and more coming up on our next newscast. thanks for watching. have a great day.