i'm sorry. >> reporter: sixth street between market and howard is a hot spot marked by everything from loitering -- to violent crime. like this shooting two weeks ago. >> it's been so disappointing. >> reporter: business owner steve barton says he's fed up with the crime and tired of fighting city hall for the past three years to make good on its promise of building a police substation. >> it's just a two block area that doesn't ever seem to get controlled. and i mean if they wanted it to, it would. >> reporter: then in may, barton was attacked and robbed at his restaurant, the outcry prompted sfpd to increase patrol and park a mobile police station every day. >> since we've been stationed here we've seen a lot less drinking in public, a lot less drug dealing, the merchants seem to like us. >> reporter: but the demand units are mobile and leave the neighborhood at night.

a substation is permanent and key to the redevelopment of this neighborhood. >> this would certainly help solidify the deals that are in the pipeline now and hopefully attract more businesses. >> reporter: right now the sticking points are in the details like staffing, and whether this substation should be fully outfitted or something more sparse. construction plans have actually already been permitted. which means once the city council will give the green light, work could start as soon as next month. the san francisco board of supervisors budget economy restored police after a marathon budget session that wrapped up in the wee hours this morning. the $6.8 billion budget retains a police academy class. it also kept funding for security. mayor ed lee has proposed to contract out hospital security. the full board is now set to

vote on this budget on july 19th. san francisco fire officials said late today the cause of the fire that killed two firefighters last month was accidental. investigators say the fire was likely caused by wiring. the exact cause has yet to be determined. but investigators say the fire that killed perez and valerio was not deliberately set. union city police say they arrested several members of a criminal -- officers from four agencies served the warrant at a home on ninth avenue between c and d streets. union city police say they are not yet releasing the names or the exact number of those arrested. investigators say the arrests are connected to a robbery and shooting in february of 2008 as a busy neighborhood park. it's a story we covered back in

february of 2008. 28-year-old juan carlos gomez was killed, another man suffered serious injuried. yet another brazen copper theft to tell you about. thieves ripped the wiring from two softball fields at kennedy park. the damage is estimated at $2,000. all for just a few hundred dollars. many people around the bay area are heading to a few cities where they can buy fireworks legally such as gilroy. ktvu's robert handa is there to show us how some holiday revelers are turning to the internet to skirt the law, robert. >> reporter: the >> reporter: -- julie, all fireworks are illegal if you use them outside of an area that allows them. that makes it tough on law enforcement who have to focus on illegal use but also on

illegal fireworks. eric rockman is buying legal fireworks in gilroy. but is also familiar of illegal fire fireworks. he said his teenage son were able to buy them. >> the kids get them. he did last year. but it's not going to happen this year. >> reporter: how was he able to do that. >> i didn't pursue that. i know he didn't leave town, so he got it from some where. >> reporter: sellers hide their tracks or use secondary sellers. some sellers we saw displayed only legal fireworks but if called they say there are illegal fireworks available. >> one of the fireworks went off in his hand and severely

injured his hand to the point that he may lose some fingers. >> reporter: in gilroy, they hope a warning will be enough. >> with every purchase there's a letter that -pl comes from the city of gilroy. that explicitly tells them why they sell them. why in gilroy and why not to transport them in a car. >> reporter: the more powerful illegal fireworks could result in a felony. live in gilroy, robert handa, ktvu channel two news. americans will be flying more and driving less this holiday weekend according to aaa. i want to show you a live picture of emeryville. aaa is forecasting 29 million americans will travel 50 miles or more from home to celebrate independence day. that is down 2.5% from the 40 million people who hit the roads a year ago. aaa says even though gas prices have dropped recently, there are still about a dollar higher than this time last year and that's effecting the number of

people who plan the drive. and where there are drivers there are law e nforcement officers. the sheriff's department, and police departments are all planning to be out this weekend. stepped up patrols, drivers are urged to plan a safe way home with either a designated driver or calling a taxi or taking public transit. for the latest on traveling this weekend, including any flight delays and special sections on gas prices and other items, go to ktvu.com and click on the holiday travel tab. >> ralley's grocery stores have raised money to keep state parks open. they will donate a nickel every time someone uses a reusable bag. 70 of the 72 state parks are

slated to close. and ferry ran this morning. each side blamed the other for the confusion. once the word got out passengers started showing up. at issue are severance packages as issue. if that doesn't happen, there could still be a strike. target store opponents in san rafael did not get enough signatures to put a referendum on the november ballot. marine county elections official say keep it local san rafael needed only 37 more signatures. the group is seeking to overturn san rafael's city council approval to open a target there. when classes resume at uc berkeley nearly 1/3 of the freshmen will be from out of state. preliminary figures show 32% of freshman will be from out of state. that's up 3% from last year and

11% from 2009. nonresidents pay $40,000 in tuition, that is almost triple the instate rate of $20,000. the fire at the kappa sigma fraternity 10 days ago destroyed the house and everything in it. fraternity brothers say the community has rallied to help them. there were so many donations they say they wanted to pass along much of the clothing and toiletries to the sacred hard community center. >> just giving them a bag of food brought tears to their eyes. i want to see that again just to know we're helping them out. now to an emotional story. a 19-year-old native from fremont got a heros welcome today. mike mibach was there as the

young men returned home from afghanistan and shared what independence day means to him. an escort for a u.s. marine. riley walter, his hometown street filled with family and friends. in the driveway a hand shape and a hug from dad. >> probably the proudest guy in town right now. >> reporter: and a long awaited kiss from his high school sweetheart. >> it was one of the greatest feelings, just being home. i'm just really glad to be home. >> reporter: riley welter comes home on a holiday weekend when the nation is said to celebrate the red, white and blue. and this young 19-year-old man knows even more now the importance of independence day. >> it makes me more proud, it love serving this country, our great nation. we were doing great things over there. >> your service, our freedom. >> reporter: patriot writer penat is a veteran himself with

a son of his own in the service. >> we need to celebrate more as far as old glory, the red white and blue. god bless america, you are here in the land of the free. because of the brave. >> lance corporal walter served seven months in afghanistan, second batallion. his mother mary walter on her son's return this holiday weekend. >> it means so much to me now. i'm so proud of him and the country and what, i'm just proud. i'm a little overwhelmed right now with the emotions. >> there's no doubt in my mind they raised me as good as possible. it doesn't get much better than that. >> words from a proud son, a u.s. marine, home to celebrate his nation's independence. in fremont, mike mibach. ktvu. maria shriver makes it official. what she did today inside a los angeles courtroom. >> i'm bare feet so that's kind

of scary. >> reporter: colonies of bacteria, before you hit the beach find out the dangers that may be lurking just underneath the surface of the sand. and we've got a big weekend coming up. you know that it's getting a lot warmer out there. a bit of a sea breeze but no fog. i'll tell you how hot it'll be tomorrow.

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with no slips or envelopes. take a step forward and chase what matters. in los angeles today, maria shriver filed for divorce from her husband of 28 years arnold schwarzenegger. they've been separated since november. that's when arnold schwarzenegger admitted fathering a son with their housekeeper. they have two daughters aged 19 and 21. trouble over seas tonight, a flatila was stopped in greece

just hours after it took off. bay area residents including a well known actor are on board one of those ships. rita williams spent the day in marin county where she spent the day on what happened. >> reporter: this san rafael dining room became the impromptu command center for news about the ship. steve grisies wife is one of six bay area people including color purple author alice walker on board. >> yeah i'm concerned. i've been concerned from the beginning because they've been making threats of violence. >> reporter: why didn't you go on board? >> because i'm a coward. >> reporter: marin music teacher jewel stayed behind to be the coordinator of the trip. and several hundred activists who say they want to deliver aid to the palestinian people. >> indeed it's political. it's about the human rights of

the people of gaza. >> reporter: the u.s. ship audacity of hope left with great fanfare earlier today from greece. only to be escorted back to shore a short time later after a brief send off at sea. the ship is carrying thousands of letters of well wishes to the people of gaza. >> we're the mailman. >> reporter: last year's flotila ended with commandos stopping the fish to seize what they called humanitarian aid. officials say the flotila is a bad idea. >> gaza is ruled by hamas. which is a terrorist organization according to the european union and the united states government. and therefor we have no choice accept to patrol what comes in.

>> reporter: for now, that u.s. ship is stuck in a greek port, but the bay area people say they are going to get to gaza. reporting live in marin, rita williams, ktvu u channel 2 news. leon panetta became the 23rd secretary of defense. >> throughout our history, patriots have fought to preserve our freedom and our independence, you today's patriots are making great sacrifices and fighting to keep america safe. >> the 73-year-old panetta is the oldest incoming defense secretary in history and the first democrat to run the department in more than 40 years. the maker of farmville and

mafia wars is going public. the game maker could raise $2 billion. the stock market has had its best week since july of 2009 with four days of triple digit gains. bay area analysts say there are a number of factors that play, a rebound in manufacturing, also commodity and energy prices appear to be stabilized, japan is recovering from that massive earthquake and tsunami, and the greek debt crisis is improving. >> i think you could take the view that the economy is almost spring loaded for growth. >> for every thousand dollars invested in the s & p500 since market hit bottom, investors have more than $2,000. since monday the dow has climbed 685 points. today the dow was up 168 points closing at 12,182. the nasdaq was up 42 points. those of us heading to the beach this fourth of july have

to contend with a new health warning. not about the water but the sand. studies show as much as 10% of people who have close contact with beach sand get bacterial or viral infection. the surface is not usually the problem. the sun's rays help keep bacteria down there. but dig down and you may find bacteria such as salmonella, staff and polio. >> bare feet so that's pretty scary. >> i'm not that worried about it. no. >> reporter: experts say you should clean your hands before handeli, g food at the beach and wash thoroughly after you get home. and some people are going to be spending their holiday weekend at the ski slopes. they say they haven't had skying in july since 1995. squaw valley, sugar bowl and kirkwood are also open this

weekend. >> what a contrast between that in the sierra and the day we had today. it was spectacular, bill. >> i spoke to some people at sugar bowl and they said the snow is melting rapidly. they are getting into the 80s and snow is melting rapidly. here is mike's suggestion. if you're up in the rivers, up on any of the big rivers please be careful. this is the time of year when they lose the flow but not as strongly as they are now. so there's a lot of current on those rivers. dangerous on the sacramento and the yuba. 70-degree out in san francisco. lots of 50s for the night's lows. fog tries to reform tonight but it's having a heck of a time. this is frank's favorite map. i love this map too because it shows you the microclimates. out toward the antioch, look at these numbers past the mount diablo. you get the picture between the

coast and inland, you're going to go from 73 to close to 100. forecast highs and as we go into saturday, little patchy fog but not a lot. and if you're going to the beaches you will see plenty of sunshine. i'm almost sure of that. there'll be patches of it but it'll burn off. by noontime phos most everybody is looking at the sun. fire danger always scary on the 4th of july. but when you get record rainfall just a few days ago. that helps greatly. so i mean be careful with fire. report anything that's suspicious. 911 if you see somebody doing something wrong with fire. but with fuel moistures up i think the folks, the fire crews around the area and around northern california are going to have a little easier goal of it. forecast high 97, 95 in livermore. 95 in san jose, 95 in morgan hill. wow, what a beautiful weekend. we live in a place, you don't

want to go any whereful stay home, there's plenty of things to do around here. sonoma county coastline. all beautiful places to be this time of year. just be careful when you're out there at the beaches and watch out for the rips. >> thank you, bill. another big adventure is in the works for the san francisco girls' chorus. we took this video of the boys and girls choruses together rehearsing for the inauguration of president obama. tomorrow the girls' ensemble is heading to cuba. their free performance is at 8:00 tonight on fillmore street. the girl's final is set. 20,000-calories consumed in

just minutes. what cory chestnut says he does to stay healthy ahead of the hot dog eating contest.

man: everybody knows you should save for retirement, but what happens when you're about to retire? woman: how do you go from saving to spending? fidelity helped us get to this point, and now we're talking about what comes next. man: we worked together to create a plan to help our money last. woman: so we can have the kind of retirement we want. now, you know how this works. just stay on the line. oh, yeah. fidelity investments. turn here.

joey chestnut. san jose's joey chestnut says he's hungry for another

win. today the con tes contestants all weighed in at city hall and took photos with mayor bloomburg. joey says he runs and counts his calories when he's not in the hot dog competition. but he estimates he will eat 20,000-calories in that competition. >> he needs to find something to do. >> can't be good for you. mark is here for you. a change in the giants. >> a couple of tough losses in chicago. you're right julie. detroit city the place tonight. things are looking all right, they are in progress. they're in the 8th inning. they're happy they didn't have to face that guy. justin verlander. and he won't pitch. that's an rbi double. aaron rowan scores. that's the score right now in the top of the eighth. baumgartner pitching a beauty

for the giants so far. meantime should be an interesting night for the oakland a's. rich harden is back with the team. the off injured right hander hurt himself on the first day pitcher's reported to spring training this year. he's finally back and ready. he admits that rehab can be a drag. >> it's tough. i mean it is. but really just take it one day at a time and just work to getting back out there on the mound. that's all i can control. >> i went a little longer than i wanted but yeah hopefully, we give this team a strong second half here. we will take it to wimbledon, a spirited semi final and we have the match upset for sunday. you know about rafael nedal he's already made it. and earlier today novak yokavich number one player in the world no matter how he does

on sunday's final. that was match point. and great match it was. that is the sporting life full highlights, giants and a's tonight at 10:00. >> we'll see you then, thank you mark. coming up on tv 36 at 7:00, when jack was born, doctors warned his parents he may not make it. not only has he overcome his health problems he can now literally call himself a champion. our exclusive story in 30 minutes on tv 36. thanks for joining us.