houses there is a park where kids play, and now there is this memorial for a mother of two that many people say is gone too soon. >> and this is hard for me because i never would expect to lose my mom so soon. >> reporter: margela similars is now without a mother. at 9:48 last night, officers responded to a call for a shooting. once on scene they were told that patrice burton had been shot. it appears burton was a victim of a drive by shooting. >> she never got into any trouble. she's never been arrested or anything. >> reporter: gladys burton is patrice's granddaughter. it's furgeson's understanding

that burton and a male friend went to visit friends. the other woman who was not harmed called burton's male friend who called burton to the hospital where she later died. >> she was just so happy and i still, i'm just in shot that i can't believe this. >> reporter: now one bit of joy the family says they can get from this tragic event is burton's daughters promise to mend relations with her family. san anselmo police are on the look out after a suspicious activity. a man tried to get a young girl to get into his van. an 11-year-old girl was walking when a man approached her and asked her to get into his van. he was driving a black boxed

van. the girl said no and he kept on driving. he was wearing black plastic glasses. the final piece of a fire department merger in san mateo county is now in place. the burlington city council approved a pilot program to test the plan. it merges five city fire departments. the merge would consolidate two fire stations and is expected to save hundreds of thousands of dollars. the u.s. department of agriculture is investigating alleged violations. according to the usda the investigation was prompted by two investigations last year that found malnourished goats. the city of oakland is building two new radio towers

as part of an upgrade to emergency police and fire communications systems. only on two tonight, sal castaneda is live in oakland with why those towers have some who live near them questioning their safety. sal. >> reporter: well ken i know this is kind of a weird shot but if you look behind me, this tower goes about 100 feet into the air here on the back of this oakland fire station. it is just a stone throw away from houses here in the oakland hills. people who live here tell us construction started late last week. luxy hardiman's home is across the street. she says no one she knows of in the neighborhood are known about the work. >> i spoke to a few of the neighbors around the corner, they never receive noticed as well. >> reporter: the tower is going up on city property behind fire station five. it's one of two new communications towering supporting a new radio system that has been sorely needed in

oakland for quite some time. >> there's been some well publicized incidents where our public safety radio system is aging. it's starting to not operate as officially and effectively as we need it to. >> reporter: which is why the city says the approval process was fast track. >> we have done an environmental review but it's a streamline project for the safety of the city. >> i'm thinking about radio activity, i'm thinking about my property value. i'm thinking about that 100- foot tower falling in an event of an effort quake or natural disaster on my home. >> reporter: city officials emphasize the tower is safe and are working hard to get the radio systems working by the end of this summer. sal castaneda, ktvu. coming up at 5:15, two of the richest men in america but their gas plan in front of

congress. mcdonalds is on a super sized hiring spree. they accepted job applications today at restaurants all across the country. the list of new jobs include two thousand crew and management positions in northern california. many of the restaurants are witching switching to 24 hour a day schedules. coming up at 6:00, tom vacar will have the huge bay area response to the country's national hiring day. more good news on the job front. unemployment rates declined in 24 states between february and march. only seven states saw decreases. and a new home construction

hit a seven month high. building permits rose more than 11%. while today's report is a positive sign, the numbers are far below what economists consider healthy. stocks closed hirer a day after suffering a one day drop in over a month. -- closed higher. johnson and johnson helped ring the bell. and gold hit a 15% high. the dow ended this day up 65 points at 12,266. nasdaq gained close to 10 points. and laboratories under fire today criticized for a lack of cyber security in a newly released report. the energy department inspector general says the lab failed to

protect security maintenance. the lab classified government information. we're just learning tonight about a close call for a government plane carrying the first lady. mrs.obama's plane lad to abort its landing at st. andrews yesterday. because it was too close to a military cargo plane. the planes came within 3 miles of each other. the faa requires 5 miles of distance. mrs.obama had to circle the airport to allow the plane to land. another air traffic controller is in trouble tonight, not for that problem with the first lady's plane. and not for sleeping on the job, how a movie got the worker suspended. and the president will arrive here tomorrow. ken pritchett is live in san francisco where preparations are already on the way. >> reporter: outside of several roads of prepositioned barricades, you wouldn't know a

big event is brewing here much less a visit by the president of the united states. he will be here at the masoni auditorium tomorrow afternoon. it's one of several events on a two day trip, private events, public events and major fundraisers. workers were sprucing up the venue this afternoon in advance of the president's visit. what will he say. a good preview took place this morning at a virginia town hall while bringing up the deficit. we spoke to his chief economic advisor today he said unlike republican plans the president takes a balanced approach. >> doesn't extend a trillion or more dollars to high income people that we can't afford. air force one will touch down tomorrow afternoon, his second bay area visit in three months. his first stop, facebook headquarters in palo alto for a web cast town hall. >> according to facebook, they all have jobs, not exactly the best place to contact people

who are looking jobs here in san francisco. >> reporter: of facebook the president will attend a fundraiser speech at the sonic auditorium. tickets were sold to the public from $25 to $2,500. >> i am going to ask him what are you going to do for the working and middle class people of the united states. >> i would want to know how he perceives for the future of the united states and how things are going with -- in his opinion how things are going with our economy. >> reporter: the masonic auditorium is just one even. he will attend a breakfast fundraiser with the plates costing up towards of $3,500. a complete coverage of the presidential visit continues on ktvu.com. we'll also be streaming the

town hall meeting tomorrow on our website. just look under the politics tab. arizona's governor has vetoed a bill to require presidential candidates to prove their citizenship. the bill would have required candidates to show copies of their birth certificates. 14 other states are requires the same type of legislation. pg & e will pressure test natch gas transmission pipes in antioch starting in may. it's part of a plan to test 150 miles of pipelines that have similar characteristics of the san bruno pipelines. in a new filing with state

regulators, pg & e says last year's gas pipeline explosion in san bruno was quote unpreventable. pg & e filed a response last night meeting a deadline imposed by the california public utilities commission. the utility denied that poor recordkeeping and its failure to properly identify welds in the pipeline played a role in the disaster. the school board is meeting to talk about student equality. the district has been targeted because of a disproportionate number of blacks and latinos who have been suspended or forced to the attend special education classes. it's the freedom bus, it's

an ac transit bus depicting the montgomery bus. >> with the freedom bus project is about is trying to promote our education, the teaching of civil rights and history into one event. into one project which we launched here at transit. the dangerous stunts thieves performs to get their hands on some copper in san francisco.

here's an unusual story, a nummi line was disabled after cooper thieves struck in san

francisco. it happened on fullton street between 11th and 12th avenue. around 12:00 last night someone climbed a pole and brought down 150-foot of cooper lines. the thieves took a big risk, handling those cables is extremely dangerous. police have identified of a man who was killed yesterday. quintero was heading to reno with his family when their suv crashed and overturned west of buchanan street. he was pronounced dead on the scene. his wife suffered a broken leg and their two children were also hurt. it's still not clear why quintero lost control of his

suv. a mediator has -- they are trying to prevent renovations which the group says will desecrate a sacred burial ground. park officials in san francisco are keeping an eye on the water near fisherman'd ward. it was spotted around 6:30 this morning at aquatic park. it covered an area about the size of a football field. it's not clear what caused the oil sheen which officials say has mostly evaporated. no swimming signs were posted this morning as a precaution. >> they say bio hazard. it's probably not that much of a hazard but it's just a precaution. we want to make sure, until we know what it is. >> those no swimming signs came down around 2:00 in the afternoon. two of the nation's richest men joined forces to push for

natural gas development. t boon pickens wants the government to do more studies on natural gas. their plan surrounds pracking which is illegal. >> what are our options? that's it. the only one that's going to remove 18 wheelers shuttling gas. >> a bay area company is harvesting the power of the sun to destill water. how this new system can pump water from the san francisco bay and turn it into fresh purified water. wildfires burning in texas have grown in size.

30 homes have been reduced to rubble. limited water supplies are hampers firefighters. >> we're running short of tanks with water in them. firefighters are having a hard time finding water. there's been a drought and it is hard enough to find water. >> there is nothing, there is nothing. >> i told my husband, i love this house i don't want to move. >> the u.s. supreme court heard oral arguments today. the justices appeared skeptical of a lower court's decision enabled six states to force utility companies to cut emissions. several justices suggested the issue is better left to congress and the environment protection agency. a decision is expected in june. fire fighters today received a sweet thank you for taking the train. people dressed as polar bears and penguins handed out candy

today. the company says it's telling b.a.r.t. riders thank you for cutting back on their impact on climate change. it's supporting the effort that riding the transit is -- >> we've kind of a wet weather pattern. it's not a big rain event but more nuisance showers in the forecast. there's the system i'm tracking. it's weak, doesn't have a lot of moisture with it. but it's going to get in here as we go into tomorrow and tomorrow evening. here's how it goes. wednesday morning increasing clouds. maybe a chance sprinkle in the north bay. by wednesday evening, later on in the evening we have a good

chance of light sprinkles and scattered showers. this is light, this is a nonevent. i would not even call this a storm system. it's just a system that's going to bring a lot of clouds. it'll drop temperatures down. so instead of today like we saw the 60s and even low 70s. tomorrow it's all mid-60s. wednesday and into thursday, this thing kind of rolls into thursday morning with a few more scattered showers possible. to the computer model specifically for the next 24 hours, no rain yet. now we get into wednesday 8:00 a.m. no rain yet. get a few breaks there, then wednesday at about 5:00 p.m. right there it shows up a chance of some showers. very light, mainly drizzle. a nonevent but enough to slow you down in the highways and enough to make some inconvenience for you. when we come back, we're going to take a long range computer model, a big weekend coming up and there's a lot of this in the forecast. a surgical success. the limb one northern california woman gained though

she can't really use it yet. we'll tick you inside the operating room. a slower speed limit on the golden gate bridge for those on two wheels, not four. a company found a way to make sure you have clean water if our area is hit by an earthquake as bad as japan. how it's using solar power to do it. plus, gold hit a record high today. we'll tell you what impact it's having on silver in the bay area. coming up next on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00.

today marks the 16th anniversary of the oklahoma city bombing which claimed the lives of 168 americans. victims families and survivors of the attack gather today at

the oklahoma city national memorial and museum to mark the somber occasion. timothy mcvay detonated a bomb outside the federal building on april 19, 1995. it was the most destructive act of terrorism on american oil until the september 11th attacks. today we're getting our first look at the results of a stunning transplant surgery. a northern california woman is the recipient of a new hand after losing hers in a car accident years ago. today she showed off her new hand and how it's changing her new life. this first picture shows just one moment of what turned out to be a marathon surgery last month to attach the donor hand you see near the bottom left of the screen to the patient hidden by the blue curtain. shortly afterward this is a picture of her two hands. the bandaged one is what doctors at ucla medical center worked 14.5 hours to attach. and then today, the woman behind the hand was revealed.

>> so far i can wiggle the fingers and after i'm in hand therapy for a few hours a day i'm able to pick small objects up with my hand. >> reporter: emily finell, a 28- year-old single mother from yuba city lost her right hand in a roll over car accident three years ago. and said she wanted a new one so she could better care for her daughter. >> i can't feel it yet. i won't have sensation until close to a year. right now it seems surreal i didn't have a hand for those five years. >> reporter: doctors today said emily's fighting spirit is what made her the right candidate to be the first person in the western united states to receive a hand transplant. >> i felt early on that if i told you you can't do something she was going to prove me wrong. and that's the exact type of determination we need for somebody to be a pioneer in medicine. >> i do feel like it's mine fully, but surely every day it becomes more and more mine. i think once i have sensation in it and i can feel it and i can function with it more, it's going to feel more and more

like mine. >> reporter: and finell says her new hand could have an unexpected benefit. she says right now she types 45 words a minute with her left hand alone. she's looking forward to getting her new right hand up to speed. she says there's a lot of better job opportunities out there once she's already looking into. new research shows using foul language can actually increase a person's tolerance of physical pain. scientists at keal university in england performed experiments on student volunteers and found they had more tolerance to pain if repeating foul language. ñsxóxgñ

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there is a speeding problem on the golden gate bridge. not from cars but from bicycles. golden gate bridge officials say they want to slow down bicyclists because there are far too many crashes on the bridge. ktvu's david stevenson is live on the golden gate bridge to tell us why there's an appeal. >> reporter: slow down is what officials are telling bicyclists. everyone in bad weather, the golden gate bridge attracting 3,000 pe pedestrians and

cyclists each day. now they want to make sure those who cross by foot and by wheel don't cross each other. >> we can envision that we can improve safety and bring the speeds down. >> reporter: bridge district spokesperson marie currie says that at 19 miles per hour most bicyclists on the bridge are going too far. studies show 164 accidents from 2000 to 2009. speed was a factor 30% of the time. a big divide between tourists and residents also causes crashes. >> on one end you have the tourists on the clunker bikes, and on the other end you have the amateur cyclists and the cyclists that train and that are out there all the time going much faster than that. >> everybody is snapping photos, whether cycling or walking. cyclists have to maneuver their way through there and it's dangerous. >> he was in my lane and

there's nothing i could do. i put my helmet down and hit him right in the nose, i broke his nose. >> if they can keep one side dedicated to cycling open at all times whether that way there would be less pe pedestrian and bicycling accidents. >> reporter: chp officers such as this one could fine speeding cyclists as much as $50. now to some developing news in san francisco, san francisco police are investigating a death that happened near the b.a.r.t. station on powell street. police say the man was taken to the hospital where he later died. they say he may have been

trying to go up on a down escalator. caltrain may not have to make any service cuts but fares would still go up. the agency had planned to cut train service, close stations and make other changes to save. the board will consider a new plan to keep the systems current 86 train schedule. it calls for deferred maintenance, higher fairs and parking fees and borrowing from other funds. tomorrow smart train officials are expected to approve more cuts. because of budget constraints, the agency will start with a much shorter line from santa rosa to san rafael. officials are also considering more belt tightening including puts off conduction -- putting off construction of stations. and the cell phone app that

will help you park and help you pay, coming up. according to the justice department, jack mison intentionally signed false tax returns from 2003 to 2007. mison owned and operated first pacific in san rafael. he admitted to reporting gross receipts of up to $86,000. mison will pay $133,000 to the irs and about $33,000 to the state of california. san jose is on a budget crisis but two hours ago it took a big step to rebuild its new sewage treatment plan. the city council says other wise customers could raise a stink. ktvu's robert handa joins us from that meeting. >> reporter: the issue is not as catchy as public safety or a baseball stadium. but what happens in these ponds

is just as crucial. the future of city sewage could become expensive. the sewage water comes in dirty and goes out clean. the pollution treatment plant has been doing it for 60 years. >> the original cost is $3 million. right now it's worth about 2 billion. >> reporter: the city council approved an environment impact study. a project that could cost $1.8 billion to fix major problems. >> we are in the primary area of the plant where waste water is slowed down to remove solids. in this area we have a lot of concrete and steel repair needs like that beam down there. where concrete is actually corroded and it could become structurally unsafe and fail. >> reporter: two engines are supposed to generate power but -- >> one of them has been out of service for about three years, four years right now. because these are so old, we

don't get parts for them anymore. so we use a part for one of the oldest ones to keep the new ones running. >> reporter: here's another problem area for the aging facility. this is one of the primary pump stations that handles 90 million-gallons of sewage every day. these are one of the original pumps built in the 1960s. >> reporter: a study will take about two years and customers will pay for any rebuilding, with a rate increase of 35% over the next four years tacked on to their property tax bill. live in san jose, robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. a 6-year-old boy who brought a gun to school is one of three students hurt in houston texas today. school police say the gun went off after it fell from the kindergarteners pocket. all injured students are expected today okay but they suffered cuts to their feet from flying fragments. police are now trying to figure

out how the child got the gun. fact finding panel says at least 846 egyptians died in the three weeks of protests: the new estimate gives official reports, eyewitness accounts and video of the violence. war planes are keeping up their air assaults on government facilities. the british military released this new video. uk officials also said they will send experienced military officers to bengazi to advise the rebels and protect civilians. the u.n. is considering a plan to send armed forces to libya to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid. renewed safety concerns for motorcycle riders. federal officials are issuing a very serious reminder today.

new guidelines to tackle alzheimer's. the benefit the áf the -- the benefit the doctors and patients will get from an early diagnosis.

new guidelines suggest diagnosing a person's risk of developing alzheimer's disease earlier than the current norm. the recommendation from the national institute of health and the alzheimer's association could more than double the number of americans receiving a

diagnosis of alzheimer's. the diagnosis is designed to help family members prepare for the expenses and care. and according to the highway safety association, 166 motorcyclist died in the first six months of last year in california. that's a 17% drop from the same period the year before. but nationwide deaths were down by 2%. experts credit california's strong safety and helmet laws. the use of helmets has declined. >> one of the most shocking results from our study is helmet use went down. one of the most important things to do to prevent injury while motorcycling is to wear a helmet so that's a concern. >> reporter: only 13 specified that the helmets must meet

federal standards. >> apple is taking action against samsung. apple says the galaxy line copies the iphone and i pad. they are also asking for unspecified monetary damages. samsung says it will fight the lawsuit. a pennsylvania father says his 9-year-old daughter bought $200 worth of games on an i pad before his password expired. the lawsuit alleged apple's last system gave a 24 hour period before the password expired. the man is one of many with sticker shop after their

children bought apps. and sprinkles back in our forecast, i'll let you know when you can expect those. tonight at 6:00, a company found a way to make sure you have clean water if our area is hit by an earthquake as bad as japan's. >> open the panels. plug in. >> reporter: how it's using solar power to do it. >> gold prices used a record high today. we'll tell you the interesting impact it's having on silver in the bay area. tonight on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00.

a slow economy and high unemployment may have contributed to a slow down in spending on prescription drugs. ims health says spending growth on prescription drugs slowed to 2.3% in 2010. that is the second lowest level in 55 years. patient visits to doctors offices dropped by 4.2% during that same period. and fewer people reportedly started new treatments for chronic conditions.

the obama administration today unveiled the plan to fight prescription drug abuse. the white house says accidental drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death in 17 states ahead of car crashes. >> prescription drug abuses is our country's fastest drug problem. according to the cds it is an epidemic. that is not a word that i or the nation's health community uses lightly. >> they call on every state to create a monitoring program that will keep track of all the drugs doctors are prescribing and that drugstores are giving out. >> as a long time police chief i'm a pretty cynical person. i'm incredibly optimistic that over this next year we're going to make a big dent to this problem. >> reporter: the plan also calls for more doctor training and increased law enforcement. the obama administration says it hopes to cut prescription

drug abuse by 15% in the next five years. the medical studies are not very surprising, finds that surgeons who drink alcohol to excess the night before a surgery created more errors the next day. 24 participants were told to either drink or not drink alcohol the evening before. those who drank made a higher score or made less errors. the incident happened at a small pizzeria near charleston. rather than asking the clients for the names, she wrote down black chick on one receipt and other black chick on the other

receipt. >> it was kind of wrong. i'm african american, so i didn't take it in an offensive matter at all. >> reporter: the manager said the incident was just all a big misunderstanding. the wine country has been booted off the best of list. tony keller's restaurant did not make the cut for this year's world's best 50 restaurants. it's now number 56 on the runners up list. but tony's per se restaurant was number 10. now we have much more news coming up at 6:00. julie haener is in our newsroom with a look at the stories we're working on. >> another air traffic controller has been fired. what he was doing that was transmitted into the air space. also at 6:00, what a whistle- blower claims was going on with animals at uc davis and why animal activists say it's all being hushed up. how this device could save

lives. plus the preparation under way right now for president obama's visit to the bay area and why republicans are calling one event a sham. it's all coming up at 6:00. the british royal wedding is just 10 days away. today london police scoured the city for any security checks. officials are checking every nook and cranny around the church from the land and the air. they are even doing a dog sniff around the church. and ktvu will be covering the wedding. you can watch the royal wedding here live at 2:00 a.m. on april 29th. take a look back at other royal

weddings including prince charles and princess diana. watch second look. >> we were talking about getting up at 2:00 in the morning. >> tell me how it goes. >> right bill. let's get up and watch the wedding. >> the last one i did get up and watched that one. >> really? >> yeah, i shouldn't be talking about that. warm weather despite the cloud cover. 69 right now in san jose. 69 in san francisco but it's cloudy. the clouds thicken up as they do the rain returns to the area. the weekend right now looks unsettled. the latest model brings some showers in there for the weekend. for many it's a holiday. overnight lows tonight are in the mid-40s, 48 in concord, 48 in livermore. we head outside, today was a pretty nice day despite all the cloud cover. this guy coming up to the coast

tonight or tomorrow afternoon. not a big deal. not a big weather maker but it's enough to give us weather like we had yesterday. it lingers into thursday morning. the computer model takes us into tomorrow morning. there are your showers 7:00 p.m. wednesday. then watch what happens at 10:00 or so. that's thursday into the thursday early morning hours. might be a little sprinkle on your morning commute. then gone. and then it should be nice for your friday and then saturday gets a little sketchy as you see more clouds increase. just an unsettled kind of goofy weather pattern. i'm just going to say it: these things keep coming. they are not weather producer, they are just nuisance showers. 63degrees for a daytime high in downtown concord for tomorrow. you can see out toward pittsburg. 63 in fairfield, 64 in

brentwood. lots of mild temperatures. these temperatures cooler than they were today because of more cloud cover. by tomorrow night, a few sprinkles in the forecast. thursday looks like a pretty nice day for the most part. a clearing day expect that you have some cooler temperatures than we would expect for this time of year. >> a lot of people going to be doing a lot of outdoor activity for the weekend. >> the weekend right now looks a little sketchy. we have a few sprinkles that could stick around. >> we don't want the easter bunny to get wet or those eggs. >> no, we wouldn't. there's word that orrin tucker has died. his family says he died on april 9th at the age of 100. tucker's orchestra had the 1939 hit, oh johnny, oh johnny, oh. he went on to make more than 70

records. sir elton john has announced he is going to return to las vegas to perform at cesar's palace while celine dion takes a break from performing. and the app that you could use to help you park in san francisco.

a former u.s. laurette has won the pulitzer award. driver's in san francisco will soon have a new mobile method of feeding the meter come this summer they can pay to park by phone. >> i would use my phone. just like a lot of other pay services are going to be going toward the pay phone. buying a jacket, buying a parking meter. >> reporter: drivers must set up an account set up to a card. the system will then send a text message alert when the meter is about to expire. a private firm will run the system and collect a fee per transaction. one driver told us that was a bad idea. >> if they are contracting to a

private company and they are making money off of our -- i don't know i think that money should go back into the city, we're kind of broke. >> the pay by phone system is part of the sf park pilot program outlying last year and this park is pretty neat. starting thursday smart meters and sensors will send out realtime information to help drivers find open parking spaces so you don't have to driver around the park over and over again. officials hope to have the pay by phone system up and running by summer. the excitement is building tonight for president obama's arrival here in the bay area tomorrow. the criticism some have about his travel plans. also ahead on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00 -- >> mcdonalds invites the jobless in. not so much for a cheeseburg cheeseburger but for a career. i'm tom vacar, that story still ahead.

i think the town halls are simply to appear connecting with normal americans. >> reporter: the barricades are up, the bay area is getting ready but tonight republicans are taking jabs at president obama on the eve of his arival. the presidential visit is our top story tonight. good evening i'm ken wayne, frank somerville is off tonight. >> and i'm julie haener. president obama touches down in just a few hours. the president will pull off a political first. a town hall meeting on facebook but he will also have a tight schedule of fundraisers that are raising political eyebrows. ken wayne has that story. >> reporter: president obama will be right here at the masonic auditorium. it is one of three majo