complete bay area news coverage, starts right now. this is ktvu channel 2 news at noon. >> san francisco firefighters remember a tragedy from six months ago today. and this comes as the department is facing a financial punishment. good afternoon, am tori campbell. the san francisco fire department is facing a $21 ,000 fine, it is based around a

house fair that claimed the lives of two firefighters. tara moriarty joins us with the department's reaction. >> reporter: 4 firefighters were supposed to be on the truck that responded. there were only three and that is a serious violation according to this cal osha report. where was the 4th? he was here getting fitted with a face mask. they were left with $21,000 in fines in which the firefighters died. we spoke to her, she said they plan to fight them. they already wrote a letter to them and plans to have a conference with them next week. >> the citations that were sent to us, we have evidence that their -- they don't have merit, none of them are of the willful

nature, which means that the policies that were not followed -- the employer knew that those policies could lead to the death of those members. >> 46, come in, give me an update, what is your location? >> now on radio recordings you can hear them ask for them and receive no response for 10 minutes firefighters here say that is because they were fighting the fire and the third person was manning the hoses, they cite a break down of communications as well as the fire chief walking into the house fire alone. the news is hitting some firefighters hard, especially those at station 26. this is the 6 month anniversary of their death and some told me this morning that hearing perez's voice on the calls on television this morning really brought tears to their eyes as they still try to make sense of what happened that day. we are live in san francisco, i am tara moriarty, ktvu channel

2 news. >> thank you, tara. >> reporter: they will pay a record fine for a deadly explosion near sacramento. investigators found knee utility installed the wrong gas pipe and was slowing responding to reports of a leak on christmas eve 2008. the blast killed a 72-year-old homeowner and injured 5 other people in rancho cordova. the 38 million dollars is the largest safety related fine ever levied by the public utilities commission. 10s of thousands of people in the bay area and santa cruz county still have no power this afternoon. high winds overnight brought trees, branches and power lines down. that knocked out electricity for homes and businesses throughout the region, pg&e just give us new numbers, santa cruz county is the hardest hit with more than 21,000 customers without power, there are 440 p the south bay, 1 semi in 170 in the east bay, 40 in the

north bay and 30 open on the peninsula and none in san francisco. strong winds are blamed for the destruction of 4 homes in and around the bay area, three homes were crushed yesterday by blown over trees in santa cruz county. another home was destroyed in vacaville. a wind advisory expired for the bay area. the wind toppled many trees like this one yesterday. it hit a hus on ascot drive. experts say the roots of some of the trees just could not stand the force of the wind and that more may fall. >> i want to call it what the bad root fall so the whole tree, root ball and all like their one here, the root system is just no good, so, yeah, they could have more. >> so many trees fell that crews are prioritizing the calls and could take a couple of days to in clean up

everything. high winds are blamed for a grass fire that took four different agencies to battle. the fire was spotted just before 6:00 last night. it began and quickly spread to 193 acres. firefighters say 67 mile per hour winds made the flames hard to control. to make matters worse the fire was in a rural area where there were no fire hydrants. crews say they had to truck in their own water to battle the fire. some homes were threatened but were not damaged by the fire. firefighters did not leave the scene until 2:00 this morning. the young women suspected of killing nursing student michelle le was back in court this morning. claudine wong joins us to explain what happened in court and a big change in the suspect's condition. >> reporter: she was only in court for a few moments today but this is the first time we have seen her since she gave birth to her second child.

this is video from court today. the sheriff's office confirming to us that she gave birth to a baby boy early last week. according to authorities she delivered her healthy baby at a local hospital but that baby was then given to child protective services and she was taken back into custody. she was in court today in her jail suit. she is facing charges of murder for the death of michelle le. she was 26 years old and studying to be a nurse when she disappeared from kaiser hospital in hayward. her body was discovered almost four months later. her family was in court today but did not speak. in court today her attorney did ask for more time. she and her attorney spoke only briefly. it is unclear if their working relationship has improved. back in october she filed a motion asking for another attorney but the judge denied that. today her lawyer stopped briefly to talk to reporters but said very little. she did confirm at least for now she would not seek bail.

>> we are not proceeding at this time. >> what about the baby. >> a healthy baby. >> boy or girl? >> i have nothing further to stay. >> again we did confirm she had a baby boy despite earlier complications while she was in custody things apparently went smoothly, the judge granted more time for discovery so every 1 is back in court in early january. live from the newsroom, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> a possible homicide investigation is underway in stan is stanislaus county this morning after a man found a baby. the sheriff's department says paramedics quickly responded to the scene where they pronounced the baby dead. the exact age is not known yet or the gender. tensions appear to be running high around the occupy san francisco encampments as protesters wait to see if and

when the city will enforce the deadline for them to move out of justin herman plaza. in one case a protester confronted street artists trying to figure out where to set up their booths. she accused them of circulating a petition against the occupy protesters. >> the steve ring for sure. i mean everyone is more cautious with their things and won't leave their booths, and i mean they are noisy and they make rants and they want to know why we are not happy that they are not here. >> i don't know anybody is stealing. i know we don't have any money to buy anything from them and we don't have to apologize for that. >> police are still in the area and have been keeping an eye on them. the nation's unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in more than 2 and a half year, down to 8.6 down from 9% in october, private

employers added 140,000 jobs last month. the president touted the numbers and said the u.s. is on the right track. >> despite strong head winds this year the american economy has now created in the private sector jobs for the past 21 months in a row. that is nearly 3 million new jobs in all. >> today marks the 34th consecutive month of unemployment above 8%. as you may remember, the obama administration promised that unemployment would not exceed 8% if we passed other stimulus bill. >> excluding those who have stopped looking for work more than 13 million americans are unemployed, president obama says congress must extend a payroll tax cut to ensure the growth in jobs continues. more jobs are headed to downtown oakland, the international call center company call socket has bought the tribune tower for about 8

million dollars. call socket plans to upgrade the facility and hire 300 people. the building was foreclosed after the previous owner defaulted on a loan. the 88-year-old building was the long time home of the oakland tribune newspaper but was heavily damaged in the earthquake. just ahead a joyous and emotional homecoming for troops on the peninsula, we will telling you why this one is even more special for them and their family. sunny and clear outside but still breezy in the hills around the bay area, rosemary or ross could is up soon to tell us if more wind is in the forecast. and finishing touches are being made as oakland prepares for its annual children's holiday parade. state farm. this is jessica.

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a joyous home coming is taking place in the bay area today. more than 60 soldiers from the california national guard arrived home from iraq this morning. the troops land at moffitt field and are reuniting with family and friends at the san mateo national guard armory, some could not wait to cheer on their favorite team. >> are you going to the game? >> yes, we are. >> which game. >> we are going to sunday's

game sir. >> we will be there against the rams, we will be right there and with the steelers too. >> they are with the 297th medical company and the final guard unit to return from iraq as the u.s. winds up its mission there. less than an hour ago republican presidential candidate herman cane said he will make an announcement tomorrow about the future of his campaign. he has been dogged in recent weeks with accusations of sexually inappropriate behavior, including one woman's allegation this week she had a 13 year affair with him. he says he is heading back to georgia today to meet with his wife about whether to continue his bid for president. the fbi reportedly has stepped in to investigate possible financial irregularities at hercules city hall. it has been taken over by the public corruption unit. one year ago they fired their city manager charlie long after he had warned the city it was

heading for a financial crisis. long also recommended phasing out more than a million dollars worth of city contracts with the firm founded by the previous city manager. concern is growing in richmond this noontime for an at risk elderly man who has been missing for three days. 63-year-old orson brown lives at vintage estates convalescent hospital. he has alzheimer's and is a doesn't. any one who sees him should call police. he is facing charges after firing a shotgun at a man. he smiled broadly after being arrested. he is there to attend a funeral.

police say he was involved in a fight wednesday night. police were told mcclain held a gun to a man's head and fired a shot beside his ear. he was released on bail and is still expected to play sunday when the raiders visit the miami dolphins. new smoking restrictions could soon be in effect in mountain view. the mountain view voice reports the city is considering banning smoking at outdoor dining areas. smokic would also be banned within 25 feet of the windows and doors of most public buildings. nightclubs and bar owners have come out against them, saying their businesses could be hurt. palo alto, gilroy and sunnyvale already have similar rules in place. a runway expansion for a marin county airport is close to taking off. orioler this earlier their week it was determined the plan would not significantly impact the environment. the 11 million dollar expansion plan would lengthen the runway by 1100 feet.

marin county supervisors say that will make the airport safer for pilots and bringing more business. san francisco international airport's terminal 2 is now lead gold certified in sustainability and it is the first airport facility in the u.s. to achieve this ranking. the award ranks buildings according to energy efficiency, water conservation and environmentally beneficial details like floor to ceiling windows to reduce the use of lighting and organic food. it opened in april and it is 15% more energy efficient than building codes require. good afternoon to you, a live look there at the bay area and into the city. all right sitting in the low 70s at this hour. wall to wall sunshine across the bay. the winds have died down in many spots although still blowing in some areas. the temperature 72 santa

rosa, mid-70s napa, 71 fairfield. 71 in the city. 72 mountain view. widespread 60s out there as well, 69 in concord. the winds have been the driving factor in these temperatures. the overnight hours we didn't see temperatures fall as cool as we typically do and now, because of it we are watching perhaps some record heat in for the afternoon on this early december day. the winds still cranking right around napa 36, 20 santa rosa, 31 at fairfield. the airport there. 15 in hayward, 10 and 15 around parts of the bay area, 20 oakland hills. we will not lose those winds they will stick around for the next 24 hours. satellite radar shows you the next system, again a dry storm but will crank up the winds again and we are looking at the possibility of a wind advisory late tonight through tomorrow morning. this time around for the hills above 1000 feet northeast bay as well as santa cruz mountains

10:00 tonight through 10:00 tomorrow morning. the rest of us enjoying sunny mild weather with winds isolated and not as bad. 72 degrees expected for berkeley, 73 city, 71 oakland, the north bay, 70s a possibility. these temperatures anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees above norm at. and again, we may actually see some new records by the end of the day. 74 mountain view, 72 san jose. 68 degrees this afternoon in santa cruz, 66 half moon bay with plenty of sunshine. it is a gorgeous day to get outdoors if you have that opportunity. for the weekend we are going to remain dry. but notice the temperatures do begin to drop off. once the wind goes away our morning lows colder, our afternoon highs not quite as warm. in the extended forecast here you see no rain in sight. temperatures just sitting in the 60s with plenty of sunshine. >> right and pretty dry. all right. thank you rosemary. >> you are welcome. >> oakland is getsing ready for

the 12th annual children's holiday parade tomorrow. this morning workers put the finishing touches on the 101 floats and this is the only holiday parade in the country that features marching bands from outside the u.s. >> it is going to be a great day in oakland. we look forward to having everybody join us on broadway. >> 100,000 people in fact are expected to line the parade route. the parade gets underway at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon. the starting point is 11th street and broadway and hosted by claudine wong and dave clark. watch it right here on ktvu channel 2 and also broadcast on pbs stations and the armed forces network. go to ktvu.com for more on the parade and also find more information about other holiday events around the bay area, click the weekend extra tab near the top of the home page. another event to tell you about, tonight is opening night for zoo lights at the zoo.

tonight it will once again be transformed. highlights include a candy cane rides area, rocking around the christmas tree and a children's zoo and a light show, zoo lights run until january 1st but closed for christmas eve and christmas day. just ahead a check on stocks and a serious problem forces honda to recall thousands of cars and vans. plus the number 1 concern of drivers in a new survey and it is not drunk drivers.

a surprise drop in the u.s. unemployment rate. we mentioned earlier sent stocks higher today. capping a week of extraordinary gains. investors were also encouraged after germany's chancellor made tough remarks about fiscal discipline in the european union, taking a liver look at the big board, the dow up 14, the nasdaq up 5, s&p is up two. we are following a developing story in the east bay, all bart trains are being held at the mccarther station.

we will have more later. honda is recalling cars because of an air bag problem. they may inflate with too much pressure, which can cause injury. honda says there have been 20 accidents related to the problem, including two deaths in 2009. the recall effects accords, civics, odesseys and more built in 2001 and 2002. they are now dealing with those who text or talk on cell phones behind the wheel. they say the concern more than doubled from a year ago, 39% say drivers who text or talk behind the wheel are their biggest worry, speeding and aggressive drivers came in second. last year it was the other way around. this is a day of mixed emotions for us here at ktvu. we are a little sad because one

of our co-workers kathy ortiz is retiring. ktvu gave her a limo ride. she doesn't normally come to work that way but we are happy for her. she began here at 1980 and edited film for the 10:00 news, which was their only at the time. she became the supervisor and is a major reason we get on the air every day. we say good luck, we love you and we will miss having you here at work. tonight -- actually this afternoon at 4:00, free christmas trees, that's right, get yours for free, all you have to do is show up and cut it down on open land right here. why this is happening and what it has to do with saving the environment. again, our next newscast is at 4:00 p.m. today because college football, ucla versus organ.

thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news, we will see you next time newsbreaks and we are always here on the internet. have a great afternoon and thanks for watching. send comments to comments@captioncolorado.com captions by terry james, caption colorado, llc. including barista prima.

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