a somber anniversary mark, the end of a very long war,. >> how low-interest loans may help one shopping area rebound from a devastating fire. >> a search now for a suspected serial rapist tied to frightening crimes in the east bay. the strong lead for hundreds of miles away. >> this military transport is usually loaded with weapons or troops. today it's being loaded with toys. we'll tell you how you can help out the marine corps toys for tots drive! good morning! welcome to mornings on 2. it's thursday, december 15th.

and starting today, victims of last monthly's huge fire in berkeley can start applying for low interest loans. ktvu's craig death slow in berkeley to explain how a declaration by the federal government is making this possible. good morning, kraig. >> reporter: good morning, tori. this is the problem right here, this building burned on november 18th, and you can see that clearly the people living in the building re going to be eligible for those loans but the first floor actually faces telegraph avenue, and the bottom floor many of those places are occupied by businesses, and the owners of course will be among the first in line for loans. many of the tenants at that building are students at cal. yesterday the state declared the area a disaster zone and that makes some people down here eligible for those loans. among those people, students and business owners eligible for the small business administration loans. tenants are eligible for 30- year loans, up to $40,000. businesses will be able to borrow up to $2 million.

so places like gordoes, cafe finish raleigh's could qualify. homeowners eligible for 2% interest rate loans and businesses can get loans at 4.25%. the spa will be opening an ross here at the center for independent living, and the management there cleared out a space so they could set up shop there, and business owners and students could walk down there and fill out the paperwork. we're trying to reach the president of the telegraph avenue merchants association for further comment. reporting live, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. a sheriff's deputy is under investigation for charges of rape. 27-year-old david reta of union city arrested tuesday as he showed up for work at the santa rita jail. he is accused of raping a female acquaintance in moraga on september 9th. a contra costa sheriff's department spokesman he is reta

was booked at the martinez jail and released on $125,000 bail. authorities in san diego on the lookout for a man suspected of a rape here in contra costa county. they found the man's car at a rest stop near camp pendleton after midnight. authorities searched the area for about an hour, but they came away empty-handed. the suspect is identified as steven paul clark, from oakland. he is registered as a sex offender in texas. we're still gathering information about the attack. he is suspected of in contra costa county, considered armed and dangerous. a flag lowering ceremony in baghdad this morning marked the end of the u.s. military mission in iraq. speaking at the ceremony, defense secretary leon panetta said the sacrifice of u.s. troops has not been in vain. coming up at 7:15, ktvu's pam cook will show us how some

iraqis are reacting. a court hearing this morning at 8:30 for two suspects charged with a brutal beating of san francisco giants fan bryan stow. marvin norwood and louis sanchez are a accused of attacking stowe on march 31st. both men have pleaded not guilty to the charges and are being held without bail. a date for a preliminary hearing is expected to be set during this morning's proceedings. meantime, stowe is continuing therapy as he recovers from severe head injuries. reports this morning that cases of rent fraud here in the bay area are on the rise, with scammers out there renting out houses they don't own. now, officials say to avoid this kind of fraud, there are a couple things you should know about if you're renning. insist on meeting the real owner, do not rent if you can't inspect the inside. don't wire a deposit in

exchange for the house keys. and be aware of rent as that are just too good to be true. get a written rental agreement, and be suspicious if the owner doesn't want any information about you. time is 7:04. in belmont a woman in a wheelchair was injured after an elevator in her living facility started to free-fall. this happened at the leslie terrace senior facility where the 67-year-old woman lives. she says the elevator suddenly dropped, throwing her out of her wheelchair. an emergency brake system stopped the elevator before it reached the second floor. a state industrial department now investigating why that elevator malfunctioned. hard to believe but it's just 10 days now until christmas, the u.s. marine corps teaming up with a radio station to make this a happy holiday season for some bay area children. ktvu's bronco joins us live from san jose to explain and show us what they're doing.

good morning, lorraine. >> reporter: good morning! with the toys-r-us on blossom hill road, we're doing something very cool this morning. they've teamed up with 97.3 to collect toys for tots and also purchase thousands of dollars in toys. they've got their huge military transport here. you can see how big this wheel is, almost as tall as me. and right now what they're doing is loading their military vehicles seven tons with thousands of toys. and i'm with gunnery sergeant james haslett and he will tell us what they're doing here. >> thank you for having us. the marines here, they're loaded toys, we spent and $12,000 so far from what we raised in the last couple weeks. it's been really good. and we're finishing up some of our purchasing and after that we'll be bringing them all these toys to the warehouse, where we actually issue all the toys to all of the families that have requested toys some that's why -- we're doing now. >> who are these toys going to?

>> so each reserve station has a boundary we're assigned to. and in that boundary for a -- we have marin county, san francisco county, and san mateo county. in those counties unfortunate families you could be mothers of children of three, that can't afford it. they'll request on our website and on the website we'll make contact with them in. they'll come to our warehouse and pick up the toys. so it's definitely the area san francisco area for sure. >> times are tough right now. but are there so many of us that can afford a few dollars to get a toy. how can we help out? >> right now, any toy drop site that have been requested, if you see boxes throughout toyota dolorships in the area or toys- r-us box in any stores you go to, convenience stores, department stores, if they can afford a dropoff, that would be outstanding. >> all right. and you'll be out here until 9 a.m., collecting toys. and this is a very exciting thing for you. it's your first year. >> yes, ma'am, it is. it's our first year.

and again it's been definitely time consuming taking away from any normal duties. but at the end of the day i what it's for and i'll put as many hours i need to in for the community and the families. >> and real quickly, what is -- what do you need now? i believe there's a need for something specific. >> again, the zero to 3 age group for boys and girls, and 11 plus girls. that's where our critical shortfall is at this time so that would be our definitely goal. >> the marine corps will be here until 9 a.m. they have already loaded tons of toys into their 7-ton military vehicle. they would like more so if you can can come out and help out that, would be great. >> all right. very impressive. thank you. >> they're working! >> sal is working too. he's watching the roads for you, but warning you it's wet out there! >> yes, that means it's going to be just a little bit -- take a little longer to get to work

today. good morning to you. as we look at the bay bridge toll plaza, the traffic is backed up -- back up of about 15 to 20 minutes, and you can see traffic is stacking up here. let's look at highway 4. stop and go, in antioch, and get a little bit better in pittsburg, slows again in bay point some off and on with the stop and go traffic. benicia bridge southbound 680 from martinez to pleasant hill you'll see stop and go traffic. if you're driving on 80 westbound between pinole and richmond, it is going to be a little slow heading down to the 580 in change. if you're driving to the richmond bridge, the traffic does look pretty good. if you are driving on 880 southbound, it begins to slow between the -- about 238 down to union city. and then some slow traffic again on highway 680, southbound and northbound near val seatoes road where police are clearing out a crash involving a big rig. northbound 280 is slow. you can see northbound 280

traffic is going to be slow from about bird avenue up to highway 17. 85 is also slow, northbound from 17 and pockets to cupertino. let's go to steve. >> thank you, sal. it's raining out there. no, really! not something we've said much since october. it's just been one of those patterns where we're not getting any of the rain. at least we're getting some today. two bands going through. system santa rosa says partly cloudy, so system is probably already scooted through there. and in the sacramento valley up into the sierra, but our system is giving us finally some rain here. so this system gives morning rain, not a lot. light rain for most. clouds, fog, lows in the 40s. easterly breeze until that front goes through, then a westerly northwesterly. the system will intensify in southern california, and that means the wind will pick up. but the rain will end here 9 or 10:00, then clearing from north to south. partly sunny, partly cloudy. two bands here, southern end of the peninsula towards san jose, and also up to the foothills.

then another line through the delta, towards decent rain towards eastern contra costa county, and also back over towards pinole, right around crockett as well. vacaville, .30. brentwood .14. san francisco .06. most locations are around .04. lows in the 40s for everybody here. 42 now up in santa rosa. so their low going down. mid-40s to the cloud cover and also the rain. our system looks like one and done as it moves through in southern california. as it begins to wrap up we'll see more of a north-northeast wind develop maybe late tonight, tomorrow morning. morning rain gives way to partly sunny skies, cool to mild on the temps. mid-50s. but the trend is to warm things up as we head into tomorrow if also the weekend. we'll get that north-northeast wind, look like highs in the low 60s, lows will be cold but the days sunny, mild to warm and dry and maybe windy early

next week. >> all right. thank you. a dog that was thrown outs of a car window in monterey has been found alive. one-year-old frosty was found in the backyard of a monterey home yesterday afternoon. the spca says he was badly injured and dehydrated and had to undergo major eye surgery. despite the ordeal, frosty is in good spirits. 10 days ago witnesses reported seeing the dog tossed from a car and that sparked a massive search. >> everybody loves that dog. what an incredible story. a traffic disaster down in southern california. 10 miles of freeway near los angeles closed indefinitely last night. thousands of drivers stranded for hours, what is happening out there now. gavin newsom returning to a former job, while still working as lieutenant governor. also, what's in a name? why there's a new drive on facebook to change the name of stockton. ♪

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for once we're getting rain into december. not a lot but almost a quarter, third inch for a few. it will go through in the morning, then partly sunny and clear tonight. then we start talking about winds. >> thank you, steve. a somber ceremony in iraq this morning marks the end of the u.s. military mission there. pam cook joins us now with the mixed feelings of both americans and iraqis after nine years of war. pam? >> reporter: there are no claims of mission accomplished at the ceremony in baghdad this morning. defense secretary leon panetta said the sacrifices of u.s. troops were not in vain, but he also predicts that iraqis will be tested in the days ahead. as the ceremony this morning, the flag of the u.s. forces in iraq was officially retired.

according to army tradition, the flag was wrapped around a flagpole and then covered. it will be brought back here to the united states. defense secretary panetta spoke of a new relationship between iraq and the u.s. >> together with the iraqi people, the united states welcomes the next stage in u.s.- iraqi relations, one that will be rooted in mutual interests and mutual respect. >> 4500 u.s. troops were killed during the nine years of war in iraq. another 32,000 injured. hundreds of iraqis took to the streets of fallujah to celebrate the departure of the u.s. troops. take a look at the crowds there. fallujah was the site of some of the fiercest battles in the war, and people there hope the withdrawal of u.s. troops will stop the violence. some of the u.s. troops leaving iraq will not be going very far. at least 4,000 will stay in kuwait, and could be used as a

quick reaction force in iraq if needed. dave. in syria, an activist group says army defectors have killed at least 27 soldiers in fighting today. if that is true, this would be among the deadliest attacks by rebel troops since the uprising started nine months ago. the rebel troops want syria's president to resign, and increasing number of government soldiers have joined the rebel forces. in egypt, accusations now of voting abuses in the second round. elections there. the voting in this stage is taking place in mostly rural parts of egypt. and there are accusations election officials at polling stations are filling out the ballots for the elderly or for confused voters. but one election official says there are only helping out the ill literal voters. the fitch credit raitting

agency has downgraded many europe's banks. that's despite last week's new agreement bin european leaders. the worries caused european interest rates to climb. and ace french court found former president jacques chirac guilty of embezzling public funds and other charges of the party he led for a long timing. he was given a two-year suspended prison sentence so no time behind bars. chirac is 79 and did not take part in the trial after doctors determined that he suffers severe memory lapses. and the latest debate among the republican candidates is tonight in sioux city, iowa. it's the last debate for the candidates before the iowa caucuses on january 3. all of the top candidates are scheduled to take part in tonight's debate. it's expected new front-runner newt gingrich will be the target of the other candidates.

later today, indycar will release its first report on the investigation into that deadly crash that killed superstar dan wheldon. he was killed in the opening laps of the season finale at las vegas motor speedway in october. the two time indianapolis 500 winner was involved in this 15- car crash. that tragedy raised many questions about safety on the racetrack. and the very busy stretch of freeway in southern california expected to be closed through the weekend after this huge tanker fire yesterday. that tanker filled with thousands of gallons of gasoline exploded on highway 60 under paramount boulevard's overpass in the area called montebello. the l.a. times says that overpass will have to be demolished now. one firefighter broke his leg battling the flames. traffic is flowing slowly but little smoothly on some of the

alternate routes to state highway 60 in the area. and there are reports that show a typical bumper-to-bumper commuter jam on interstate 10, and that's every day, all the time. the cause of this incredible fire still under investigation. coming up on 7:20, there's a facebook campaign to change stockton's image by changing the city's name. among the suggestions for a new name, port city, north modesto, and even hug town. but some people say a new name won't solve the city's problems, including a record homicide count, high foreclosures, and a listing by forbes magazine as the most miserable city. >> stockton is fine. that's not going to make any difference in the crime rate. the people that live here will make the difference. >> stockton is stockton. hopefully things will get better. >> so far the facebook campaign has only gotten about 30 likes. it was named the naval war hero commodore stockton more than a

hundred years ago. the online reservation network called open table just released its list of the top restaurants in america and one bay area city was snubbed. that list, the best restaurant list, only includes 10 california winners out of 100, three of which are in the bay area. the farmhouse inn and restaurant in forestville, and there's the french laundry in yountville, and madrona manor. not one san francisco restaurant made the list. lieutenant governor newsom is getting the back into the food game once again. gavin newsom has become involved with plum jack, a wine and hospitality company he helped found. when he he became mayor of san francisco, he stopped become from involvement with the company, but now he's looking for new opportunities, both in the bar and the restaurant arena. he also wants to open a new restaurant. last one he opened was the balboa cafe mill valley in

2008. today is san jose's fifth annual day without a bag to mark the occasion, several members of the san jose city and city council will model the latest in reusable bags that westerfield mall. it's a way to remind people that san jose's ban on plastic bags begins next month. and alameda county is getting closer to its own crackdown on plastic bags. the alameda county waste management authority is supporting a measure to require retailers that fresh or packaged food to charge customers a dime for these bags. it will coos require that all bags be reusable or made of recyclable paper. vid cities can opt out of the bill if it passes in alameda county. you may want to grab an umbrella this morning. weather is different today. steve paulsen will have the forecast as we look at this live picture outside to tell us how this morning's showers, how long they will last. new specifics about construction plans for a big

box store in san francisco. why residents usually oppose the type of business are supporting it. >> good morning. if you're driving in san jose or pretty much anywhere, seems slow traffic is being slowed down even more by the wet weather.

construction on the first target store is expected did start next to month be a new anchor in san francisco's met ran center. they plan to renovate the building's interior through the winter months after they finish construction. san francisco generally opposes big box stores, but this was more acceptable to city residents because it helped revitalize the area and some of my friends make it sound upscale calling it tar-zhay. >> it's a boost. hey, sal, everybody

behaving out there? >> no. dave, no. you know what? we have something about rain that makes people -- some people can't quite -- cannot drive in the rain. of course, you can. but other people cannot. so that -- you have to plan for them this morning. you the good driver, make sure that you leave the house early, and give yourself extra time. because it is going to be slow out there. now, obviously, people do drive slowly and with good reason when it's wet so you have to plan for that as well. let's look at the commute here on 880. that has become really bad just yet. if you're driving on the approach to the san mateo bridge, it looks good. bay bridge backed up to about the oakland army base over crossing us, with a 25-minute delay. now let's go to steve. >> sal, as you know, because we haven't had any rain, the roads are slick due to the oil and -- >> just like driver's ed. >> exactly. thank you. we do have some rain moving through. almost tunnel there's two bands, one in the south bay now heading morgan hill to gilroy,

another just going through right about delta, so we do have some mostly cloudy, cloudy skies. our system held together. that's a positive sign in a month where we haven't had any. decent rain up north. finally eureka rain as well and sacramento getting okay rain, some snow in the sierra the not a lot up there. the advisories for wind. around 101, monterey highway, morgan hill and the santa cruz mountain light rain, then a band from antioch to mount diablo, and right back towards berkeley. there's a little rain still holding on. descent totals towards vacaville, fairfield, brentwood, mill valley did pick up a quarter inch. william tweeted me, said .07 here, light rain. also elizabeth in sacramento sewed good rain, then it stopped. so the front is going through. 40s on the temps for everybody. and our system you can see the lows spinning as it heads into northeast california. it's going to really intensify

in southern california, and result for us is wind probably tonight, tomorrow. 50s on your temps today. tomorrow looks sunny and warmer. and with the weekend always in view, it will be dry. mornings cold but days mild to warm, considering we're running out of daylight here the days are so short. >> sounds like twitter nation is very active in the weather. it's 7:28. two recent sexual assaults in one bay area neighborhood, the tape police hope will load to a break in the disturbing case. and how the government is getting involved in berkeley today to help people who are affected by a fire last month. >> also a youth soccer coach facing very serious charges and there's a bay area connection.

part of a popular road in berkeley has been declared a disaster zone. kraig debro is on telegraph avenue to explains why this is actually good news. good morning, kraig. >> reporter: good morning, tori. the short answer is, it allows people affected by the fire to be eligible for low interest loans. people are depending on the loans because business has been off, but they're also depending those still open on the street fair. that will be very important the next two weekends. but for those who have already lost their businesses, it's too late, they are going to be depending on the low interest

loans. i just talked to a guy who is the chairman of the telegraph avenue merchants association. right now people on telegraph avenue between haste and channing especially, they're going to eligible for loans directly related to the fire, this 95-year-old building. the fire destroyed some businesses, but other businesses are affected as well. speak to be allgaier, he tells me that if you are on this street, it maybe -- you can prove you're affected by what happened here by bringing in receipts. he tells me that some receipts or businesses here are off 50% so that's one way you can prove you're eligible, showing receipts from last november, last december, and then versus this year. the other thing about these spa loans is anybody in a six- county area is eligible. the sba, small business association, announced this program and people in counties or having businesses in

counties as far as san joaquin valley can actually apply for the loans. if you have to show that you have been damaged by a business. so the sb office will open at 9 a.m. this morning right here at telegraph avenue at the center for independent living. the people there have given the sba space so the people that live and work here can walk down the street and apply for the loans. and again, we're supposed to talk to al geyer, next hour. >> thank you, kraig. governor jerry brown is looking to help in last month's windstorm in southern california it. left more than half a million households without power for days. state officials are asking the government to declare a disaster in that area. that would allow victims to apply for low interest loans to help with the rebuilding from says. hundreds of people packed the san francisco community meeting last night talking

about two recent sexual assaults in the mission district. the police told the crowd solving these cases is a top priority. in a new video of the suspect was released, and this was taken after thursday's attack. police say the victim was walking along 24th street about 6:30 in the morning, when the attacker came from behind, dragged her around the corner to fair oaks street and raped her. a friend of the victim says poor lighting in the area is a big issue. >> she just voiced that it was particularly dark in the area where she was attacked, and she wished it was in that area as well as any area that's dark, that she wishes those areas particularly on the sidewalk were lighter. or better lit. >> last month another woman was also the victim of an early morning attack on 24th street. pg&e spokespersons say they're investigating putting in extra lighting. meantime, there will be a heavy

police presence on the 24th street corridor, and the police are also offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. we've posted that new surveillance video we just showed you on our channel 2 website. just go to ktvu.com, look for the video player right there on the front page. a soccer coach with ties to vacaville is accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy. and authorities say there could be more victims. police arrested 29-year-old christian runze and the victim is a 14-year-old boy from vacaville that is where runze was a youth soccer coach for two leagues. police say the abuse occurred over a four-year period. neighbors reacted to news of the arrest. >> i'm shocked. i'm very shocked. i just can't believe that he would do something like that.

>> deputies say runze was a foster parent to a six-year-old who has since been removed from his care but there's no evidence the foster child was sexually assaulted. a schoolteacher aide is facing numerous serious charges though none happened at the school. 39-year-old stephanie elliott worked at spring hill elementary in lafayette on friday she was arrested at the school on charges of sexual assault on an unconscious woman in july of 2010. elliott is due back in court on december 22nd to enter a plea. oakland police investigating an overnight shooting that injured one man. police found the shooting victim in an apartment complex parking lot on 81st avenue, just after midnight. he was rushed to the hospital in serious condition. right now police say they have no suspects and no known motive. a public memorial service will be held tomorrow in oakland for little hiram lawrence injure. the boy was shot in the head

during that mass shooting outside a west oakland liquor store last month. doctors took him off life support last week. the funeral service will be held at this church at 1034 66th avenue in oakland. it's open to the public. it will begin at 11 a.m. tomorrow is sentencing day for barry bonds. bonds will return to the same federal courthouse in san francisco where he first gave his grand jury testimony in the balco case eight years ago. he was later convicted of obstruction of justice for lying to that grand jury about his alleged steroid use. prosecutors are urging the judge to send bonds to prison for 15 months. lawyers for bacteria's home run king want a punishment of probation while they appeal bonds' conviction. we've asked our viewers on facebook were they think bonds should serve time in prison?

amanda wrote -- let us know what you think. post a message to the ktvu channel 2 morning news team on facebook and we'll share some of your comments in the 8:00 hour. the woman on time's person of the year issue is from california. the magazine is paying tribute to the protestor this year. the l.a. times reports the woman pictured on the cover is sarah mason, an active member of the occupy l.a. movement. as for the artwork, it's by the same street artist who created the barack obama hope posters before the 2008 presidential election. an ex-convict who police say is connected to last man's fatal shooting near the occupy oakland encampment now faces charges of sexual assault. the oakland tribune is report that 31-year-old isaac

mcdaniels is one of several men involved in the november 10th beating and shooting of the man. he was arrested monday. while looking for him, police say dna evidence linked him to a sexual assault. police say mcdaniels attacked a 21-year-old woman at gunpoint on november 15th. it's 7:39. we want to check in with sal for an update on the commute and apparently an accident in oakland? >> that's right, there's an oakland accident or there was an accident in oakland, and i wanted to let you know that this happened awhile ago. but we want to show it to you. this happened well before the morning commute. but this is on the harrison street offramp from eastbound 580. niece are the things that can happen when the roads start getting a little slippery. the person inside this car was taken to nearby hospital. police don't know if alcohol was involved. but the entire offramp was shut down for a while. the only good news is it cleared well before the morning commute. right now traffic in that area

is moving by well but just be careful because the roads are wet. let's go to live pictures now. i want to show you that the roads are wet. steve has been telling you this is not a torrential downpour, but it doesn't matter because all it takes is a little water. i've been getting funny weights tweets about this! some people are the opinion that a little bit of water goes a long way in messing up the commute. and they may be right. it's a 25-minute delay there. 880 north and southbound, traffic is moving along well. we also are looking at the nimitz freeway here, southbound 880 is very slow now from 238 in pockets, all the way down to fremont. and of course northbound 680, still clearing a truck that went over the embankment, little slow in that area but that's the kind of thing that happens during these wet conditions. :30. let's go to steve. >> twitter nation is alive and

well this morning. very good information. if you want weather, traffic or weather information, we appreciate it. but lots of good reports on some of the rain. we need it but just looking, the 7 to 10 day, and the 15 day outlook are bone dry for us. so i hope this isn't one and done until the end of the month, but that's the way it's looking now. in fact, if anything, we may -- start talking about record highs as we head towards maybe saturday and after christmas. just doesn't bode well or look well for rain but today we'll take it. union city, oakland, san francisco, palo alto, so that's about a 10th inch about the rain totals. you can see on live storm- tracker 2, there's a little towards morgan hill, gilroy, santa cruz mountains and a band

slicing through parts of east bay, become over towards walnut creek. maybe highway 24, but it looks like it's washing out. this is our cloud rain forecast. and you can see after about 10:00, there's really not much left. maybe a few -- but by noon to 3 we'll clear things out and then we'll draw our attention to the system developing in southern california, which will give us wind tomorrow. so that's the way it's looking now. morning rain here, gives way to partly sunny, fauquier skies. 46 to 52. then later this afternoon we'll see some clearing taking place. highs today held in check but then tomorrow we'll start to warm up. they're in the 40s now. santa rosa has dipped to 42. so we'll see if they get into the upper 30s in the next hour or so. our system is on its way to southern california, producing rain in sacramento valley and some snow in the sierra but the winds tonight at 10:00. you have to travel in the mountains, may not be as bad as tonight because that wind can crank up tonight.

but today morning rain and highs in the 50s. 57 san jose. 55 concord. 56 santa rosa. 56 san mateo. sunny and dry and warmer. highs in the 60s. friday into saturday. but the wind will be a factor for while. then maybe more wind again early next week. >> thank you, steve. it is 7:42. new weekly jobless report is just out this morning. what it's saying about the labor market and some good news about local jobs and one particular industry.

stocks are mostly up thanks to stronger labor market and

manufacturing data, while higher quarterly profits from ned ex hoping boost stocks. fedex up almost 5%, and the rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 3.94%, matching the record low set in the fall. nasdaq is down about 2, s&p up 3. the number of people signing up for new unemployment benefits hit a three and a half year low. 366,000 people filed initial jobless claims last week and that's down 19,000 from the week before. if the number holds steady at that level, it would indicate hiring is gaining enough strength to lower unemployment. the jobless rate now stands at 8.6%. the bay area's technology industry plans to hire about 28,000 new workers in the next year. that is a 5% increase across the tech sector but it

represents a slowdown from a similar survey done last spring. that's when tech companies planned to hire nearly twice as many people. still, the technology industry has just a 3% unemployment rate. that's about one-third the total local jobless rates. boy, there's stinging criticism in washington, d.c. this morning about california's high speed rail project. ktvu's allison burns is covering a congressional hearing about the billions of dollars being spent to connect the bay area to los angeles. allison. >> reporter: dave, the chairman of the house transportation committee just said the california high speed rail project seems to be imploding every day. this is a live look at the hearing room. california politicians, business leaders and farmers are here in d.c. today, the committee chairman presented a list of problems with the high

speed project, krystin sizing the skyrocketing price tag and the route. >> there's more cows than vegetables, i guess, along the corridor that they chose than riders, and by picking the wrong location, i think they set off on the wrong foot. >> members of congress are also pointing out that new surveys show two out of three californians are now opposed to the project, some here in congress want to try to take back the $4 billion the federal government has given to california for high speed rail. that's unlikely to happen. but we're going to keep watching this hearing and have testimony from some local members of congress during my next update in about an hour. allison burns, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. it's 7:48. president obama says he'll sign a $662 billion defense bill just passed by the house. that's after language was taken out that would have required

military custody of terror suspects. the obama administration wants to reserve the right for civilian trials of accused terrorists. the senate is expected to pass the measure today and send it to the president. the white house says president obama has concerns about some provisions in a one trillion dollar year-end spending package just unveiled by republicans in the house. the measure funds the day to day operating budgets of 10 cabinet departments along with thousands of federal programs. current funding for the government runs out at midnight tomorrow. a holiday display is causing controversy at travis air force base in fairfield. a nativity scene and menorah were set up to celebrity the holidays. but a group called the military religious freedom initiative or foundation wants the displays to be taken down. they say the declarations are unconstitutional and should be moved to a chapel on the base.

>> it's jesus, what everybody believes! it's what our country was founded on. it's upsetting. >> every one in the military takes a oath to defend not somebody's particular perspective of the new testament, or the torah or koran but the u.s. constitution. >> commanders at the base say they're considering the request to move the display but no decisions have been made. the washington post now reporting the heroics of a medal recipient were exaggerated by the marine corps. president obama presented 23- year-old dakota meyer with the medal of honor in september. the report from the marines says meyer ignored orders and rushed into enemy fire in afghanistan. rescuing 36 u.s. and afghan troops. however, the washington post conducted its own investigation and claims although meyer is deserving of the medal, most of the story behind his actions are not true.

in idaho, seven rescued miners are recovering this morning following what is called a rock burst. this happened last night in the lucky friday mine. one miner was taken to the hospital, six others were treated and sent home. federal safety officials are investigating what happened. two miners died at the mine earlier this year in separate incidents. an india more than 100 people are dead and dozens more are ill after drinking a tainted batch of bootleg liquor. people in an eastern village began getting sick from the illegal concoctions on tuesday. police say the liquor was laced with toxic methanol. the booze was sold for about 20 cents for each half liter to pour villagers and day laborers. seven suspected bootleggers have been arrested. one of the world's smallest babies is getting ready to head home. baby melinda weighed 9 ounces

at birth and could fit in the palm of her doctor's hand. she was born premature at 24 weeks, over the summer in los angeles. she has been in the hospital months and doctors hope to send her home by new year's day. >> smaller than the coke can! that's what i tell everybody. >> it's a huge miracle. she's alive! and she has made it. they thought she wasn't going to make it. >> doctors say she now weighs 8 times more than she did at birth. she is believed to be the second smallest baby to sur live in the u.s. and third in the world. well, earlier this morning nominations for the 69th annual golden globe awards were announced in los angeles. >> best animated feature film, the adventures of tin tin. arthur christmas. cars 2. p, ss and boots.

ringo. ors. >> one of those nominees, cars 2, was produced by the bay area's own pixar. fox's new tv series, the new girl, received several nominations against favorites like modern family and "30 rock." the golden globes hosted by ricky gervase is scheduled to be running sunday, january 15th in beverly hills. >> i think the artist got the most nominations and that's a silent movie but -- rivers by critics. >> love it. >> all right. an unexpected but cute houseguest. how a baby seal found its way inside a home. plus, the reason police arrested two suspects who they say were hanging around a secure storage yard. [ male announcer ] for andy, tracking his spending with citibank

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6,000 customers to lose power tuesday night. many of the restaurants affected by the outage tried to use backup generators but failed. pg&e says most of the power has now been restored. but some restaurant owners had already cancelled reservations before the power was back on. palo alto police have arrested two alleged copper thieves, brandon groover and richard were arrested on sunday near a closed business on east meadow circle. police say they entered a secure storage yard at crystal technologies and broke into a shipping container that held copper pieces. both men were booked into the san jose main jail. a singler from santa cruz is just one vote away from the x factor finale. that's chris renee, a former trash collector from santa cruz. last night chris performed with the three other semifinalists

who were still on the show. then his fate was handed over to america, the voting began. the results of the viewer poll will be announced on tonight's show. one of the four contestants will be sent home. the final 3 will compete for the $5 million grand prize. it all begins at 8:00 tonight, right here on ktvu. make sure you join us tomorrow morning at this time. we'll talk live with the contestant who eliminated tonight. in most cases, you wouldn't want to find an intruder in inside your house. but this next story may be an exception. look at this. a woman from new zealand found this in her home. that's a cute little baby seal, really comfortable, even taking a nap right there on her couch. conservationists looking around for that baby seal all afternoon. it apparently wandered away from its mother into a residential area, and somehow

got through the cat door of that home. it is 7:57. such a strange story! there's a search also underway for a suspected serial rapist tied to frightening crimes in the east bay. investigationors are now following a strong lead, but it's hundreds of miles away. >> reporter: we're live in walnut creek, where dozens of parents say they've been blindsided upon learning this jcc is shutting down it. will affect dozens of kids and families, coming up. >> two local marine units and a local radio station are collecting tons of toys in san jose this morning. we'll tell you how you can still help out, in the next hour, when mornings on 2 continues.

good morning! welcome back to mornings on 2. it's thursday, december 15th. new this morning, ktvu has learned that the contra costa jewish community center is unexpectedly shutting down tara moriarity is in walnut creek with the details. so what do you know? this will affect dozens of parents. >> reporter: yes, it really will. there are 80 families that have

their kids in pre-school here. there's also a senior center, there's a pool, a lot of facilities that are housed in this building, and parent just learned last night via e-mail it would be shutting down within 48 hours some you can understand the frustration, where we will send the kids. right now we're joined live by linda at -- a parent here and has two kids here. how did you find out about this and what was going through your head? >> well, yesterday we received an e-mail about 6:00 last night, an anonymous e-mail that said please real, very important informing us the jewish community center all of its facilities would be closing friday at the end of business. the teachers just found out yesterday afternoon as well. we're totally devastated. there's -- kids that have gone here since the time they're 18 months to five. my son is one of them. he's in the kindergarten program here. the teachers are the best. this is the most amazing pre- school. and we're all displaced right before the holidays, mid-year. nowhere to go. and you can imagine our shock

and surprise. >> according to the letter that was received, it mentions something about having financial difficulties. did you know anything about this. >> you know, we had heard to the grapevine there was some financial troubles. we didn't know the gravity of it, how desperate the situation was, that the doors would shut in 24 hours. i think had we been informed earlier, we probably could have rallied together, done something like we're doing now, which is alerting media. fund-raising. something, something even on a grassroots level to save our school. when you're blindsided with 24 to 48 hours, there's not much you can do to come together as a group, especially with the holidays penning and people are all leaving on saturday to go celebrity hanukkah and christmas in other places. so that's the difficulty, is the timing factor and of course we're also very upsetted by the impersonal nature of an anonymous e-mail that we got from -- we're not even sure who sent it. >> thank you so much for joining us live this morning.

we appreciate it. we understand at 9:00 you'll be confronting the school officials here, asking for more answers some good luck to you. we will stay on top of this story and let you know what happens, where the families are expected to go and what the response is from the jewish community center. tara moriarity, ktvu channel 2 news. an alameda county sheriff's deputy under investigation now for charges of rape. 27-year-old david reta of union city was arrested tuesday as he arrived for work at the santa rita jail in dublin. he's accused of raping a female acquaintance on september 9th. a sheriff's department spokesman says he was booked into the martinez jail then released on $125,000 bail. authorities in san diego searching now for a man suspected of rape here in contra costa county. the suspect's car was found in a rest stop near camp pendleton, just after midnight. authorities searched the area for about an hour, but they

came up empty-handed. the suspect is identified as steven paul clark of oakland. within the past hour, contra costa investigators told us he is wanted in connection with a rape that took place on saturday. he is also registered as a sex offender in texas, and he is considered arm and dangerous. pleasant hill elementary school is warning parents to be on alert after a suspicious incident. the school sent out a message yesterday after a man was seen driving around in the school's parking lot. officials say the man blocked traffic at one point and began to videotape the front of the school. the man is described as being heavyset with dark shoulder- length hair and several tattoos on his arms. he was riding in a silver late model hatchback. a flag lowering ceremony in baghdad this morning marked the end of the u.s. military mission in iraq. speaking at the ceremony, defense secretary leon panetta

said the sacrifice of u.s. troops has not been in vain. coming up at 8:15, ktvu's pam cook will show us how some iraqis are reacting to the departure of u.s. troops. within the next 30 minutes, the court hearing will be -- get underway for two suspects charged with a brutal beating of san francisco giants fan brine stowe. marvin norwood and louis sanchez are accused of attacking stowe outside of dodgers stadium on march 31st. both men have pleaded not guilty to charges and are being held without bail. a date for a preliminary hearing is scheduled to be set during the proceedings this morning. meantime, stowe is continuing therapy as he recovers from severe head injuries. some u.s. marines were up real early this morning. they've been shopping for toys in a great program certain to make a lot of bay area children happy this season. lorraine blago joins us live

from san jose to show us all the toys they've collected so far. but they want even more donations, right? >> reporter: you're absolutely correct, dave. good morning, i'm surround by cart pulls of toys here, which isn't unusual for a toys-r-us, especially this time of year. but this is an extra-special shopping morning. that's because alice 97.3 and the marine corps out here are collecting toys for toys for tots and i'm here right now with the morning show. how are you this morning? >> we're wonderful! thank you for being here. >> hello, amongst on 2! >> tell us what you're doing and why it's so important. >> well, we've been doing that for a few years. every year we try to gather up as much money as we can from very nice people who listen to our radio show, and we take that money, bring it straight over to the toy store and buy as much as we can for the toys for tots program. >> i understand you have 32,000 dollars to spend here in toys-r-

us, which isn't that hard. you must hear great stories. >> we definitely do. we hear all the time as we begin to gather the money and talk about the toys for tots program, with hear from people like, how do i sign up for that? how do i -- we don't have any money this year. so those are the stories you want to hear, like special guy gave us 25 bike set-ups so some kids will get some really great bike. remember your first bike? >> of course. >> we usually -- this happens almost of year, this year a kid named jake showed up last week, and he walked up with his piggy bank and emptied into our little jar, and that is huge to see a little five-year-old giving all the money he saved over to a charity. it's nice. so he walks away broke, by -- oh, well. >> but full! >> but happy with the christmas

spirit. >> that's another great thing, when you see someone young getting into charity. it's nice. >> yes. and you will be here until 9:00 this morning. >> right. >> so come on down. they still need lots of toys, they especially need toys for children zero to three years old. they need those more than the other ones, but of course whatever you can bring out and any money you can bring out of course would be helpful. we want to make sure all the kids in the bay area have something to open christmas morning. >> thank you. it is 8 minutes after 8:00. such a good cause there. >> really is. >> sal, what is happening on the roads, still some slow spots i imagine with the rainfall this morning? >> that's right. and also some muni delays at 4th and king, a mechanical problem there, so the k and the t -- the k is the t, changes into that, so you will see some delays. but look at this slow traffic. this is because of a crash northbound 680, where they're trying to get a truck that went

over the embankment out. and at first it didn't cause a huge traffic jam because it was so early. this is the non-commute direction, but if you look a little your tv screen, it is horrible. now i want to go to the maps, show you where this as many it's on the sunol grade, northbound 680 at balance seatoes. also slow coming down from pleasanton. avoid this area if you can. south bay we have slow traffic on northbound 280, up past highway 17. up see the solid line of red on the 85 as well. and on eastbound 92 right near highway 1, there's a crash coming out of half moon bay. most of the freeway is blocked there. you have to find your way around that. now let's go to some -- another live picture. this is the bay bridge toll plaza, that's backed up for about a 25-minute wait. here's steve. >> thank you. we have some rain going through, want to mention real quick here on twitter, david in novato sends me great information, but informed me he

has a 5-foot python named stella. and whenever i come on, stella perks up a little bit. now -- i don't know! i don't know if i should be concerned or what. >> yes, i would be a little worried. >> you're my favorite python, i want you to know that! he sent me a picture to confirm it. we do have rain now. a lot of this is ending. 8:00 observations say cloudy to mostly cloudy. this system went by and didn't to much. palo alto, mountainview, .07. brentwood did pick up .14. i don't know the last time i have seen vacaville be the leader of the pack, but they were. heavier amounts to the north but we didn't get too much. you can see there's just a little let. not much. there was some in santa cruz, snare valley, a little between livermore, sunol grade, around danville, little towards antioch, maybe the delta.

but we're about done. santa rosa temperature going down so the front going through here. upper 40s to 41, 49. covers the spread on the lows. the system will develop in southern california, and intensify. as it does, that means high pressure building into the north, the wind will turn northeast. looks like we'll get breezy to windy. i don't think it will be like a couple weeks ago. but we're going to see some warmer afternoon highs. today in the mid-50s. but tomorrow sunshine and dry pattern, and temperatures near 60 degrees. the mornings will be cold. and looks like the coldest morning maybe begin more winds on monday into early tuesday. >> thank you. time now 8:11. light to moderate snow forecast for the truckee area for at least another couple hours. and they have a high wind advisory in effect. we're looking live now. this is a live picture eastbound highway 80, near truckee, at kingvale. snow has been falling there on and offer since early this morning. and they are really praying for snow in that area, hoping this morning's snow is a sign of god

things to come. yesterday at the donner ski ranch, the ground is pretty much bare. workers say it's bad for business, considering how late it is in the season. >> we're begging for snow. we need snow. we're desperate. >> there's just a couple days left before the start of the christmas holiday season. and resort employees say this is generally the busiest time of the year. they say if they don't get snow soon, could cost them up to 40% of their yearly revenue. >> wow, that's so sad! pictures of the slopes completely bare of snow. all right. it's 8:12. the new list has just come out, the big hits on the internet. also, a tragedy, this one involves hundreds of birds. you won't believe what experts say probably caused their deaths. also a san francisco man pulls out his video camera just moments after a police shooting. @@ a

good mostly cloudy. cloudy skies, light rain. most of the rain winding down. we're about down to a 10th inch to a third. that's it. looks like we're done, sunny skies later today, then breezy to windy but sunny into friday and the weekend. mixed emotions this morning as the u.s. officially ends its military action in iraq. we were watching as the events unfolded just hours ago. pam cook in our studio to tell us about the reaction. pam. >> reporter: the defense secretary flew in to baghdad for the ceremony that took

place at just about 2 a.m. our time. there were no claims of mission accomplished at the ceremony in baghdad this morning. the special flag of the u.s. forces in iraq was officially retired. now according to army tradition it was wrapped around a flagpole, then covered and it will be brought back here to the united states. defense secretary panetta spoke to the u.s. troops who have nixed feelings about leaving iraq. he says the sacrifices of u.s. troops were not in vain, but he also predicts iraq will be tested in the days ahead. >> you will leave with great pride, lasting pride, secure in knowing that your sacrifice has helped the iraqi people begin a new chapter in history. free from tyranny, and full of hope for prosperity and peace, particularly for this country's

future generations. >> take a look at this. this is hundreds of iraqis who took to the streets of fallujah to sell operate the departure as u.s. troops. fallujah was some of the fiercest battles in the war and people there hope the withdrawal of u.s. troops will stop the violence. the troops are also leaving knowing that 4500 u.s. troops were killed during the nine years of war in iraq. another 32,000 were wounded. tori. >> thank you, pam. this march a race will be held to honor pat tillman after 9/11 the san jose native left the nfl to join the army, in 2004 he was killed by friendly fire while serving in afghanistan. yesterday the pat tillman foundation announced plans for the san jose 40 8-k scheduled for march 11th. proceeds will benefit the

foundation's scholarship program. today the san francisco planning commission will look at environmental concerns about the america's cup yacht race. the national park service and organizers of the yacht race are arguing over the world at alcatraz will have in the event. the park service submitted 22 pages every comments about the environmental impact to the area that includes alcatraz. the city says it wants to close alcatraz to the public so they can host private viewings of the race. this is called within of the worst mass crash ever seen. 1500 making tory kills, 3,000 others were hurt, after they made a crash landing in utah on monday. they apparently mistook snow for water. they slammed right into the snow covered ground. volunteers working now to rescue some of the birds by releasing them back into a nearby pond.

looks like the effort to bring coho salmon back is starting to pay off. researchers with the gold ridge conservation district say they're seeing a lot more of the fish in the russian river watershed in. some areas where they used to be only 50, now there are 250. and they say these are definite signs of recovery but still a long way from the end goal. this morning a search continues following a police shooting in san francisco. it happened after a traffic stop in the city's lower nod hill area yesterday afternoon. police shot and wounded a man who they say opened fire on two police officers. one of the neighbors took home video of the scene just moments after the gunfire. >> three shots, boom, boom, boom. like two seconds, then boom, bomb. >> i heard the sounds and came down and looked out the window, you can see all the the gruesome stuff. >> the suspect was taken to san

francisco general hospital with what police are calling serious injuries. police are still searching for a woman who drove off in the man's car. this morning google released its fastest rising search terms of the year. rebecca black topped the list. she is most known nor her single, friday, which gained popularity on youtube. the social networking site google plus came in second, and hurricane irene is number three. when it comes to the fastest rising image searches, planking, one, when a person lies down and stiffens up in an unusual location. "sports illustrated" swimsuit model kate upton at number two. not a surprise. followed by pop star justin bieber. and the 2011 word of the year seems to be following the same theme as last year's. the editors of the webster dictionary chose the word pragmatic, anaative which means practical and large cal.

it was looked up so often on the website, the word was the most pragmatic choice. last year's word was austerity, which also made the list this year with ambivalence, insidious, capitalism and socialism. >> words i use all the time. >> of course! >> time is 8:20. we haven't talked about apple lately but there's a new rumor, their plans in the middle east. and it's been a rainy morning in the bay area. meteorologist steve paulsen will tell us what we can expect this upcoming weekend. >> this morning it's not a good idea to take 680 as you drive up to the sunol grade. but what is the pragmatic alternate? we'll have it coming up. ñçbñ

strong earnings from fedex and word that new unemployment claims dropped sharply, helping wall street sending stocks higher after three down days. also the nation's biggest retail group says holiday shopping season is looking brighter and now looks for holiday sales in november and december to rise 3.8%. right now the dow is up 59. tomorrow the popular bay area company behind the world's most popular online games will started selling more than

games. zynga, the developer of farmville and castleville, will start selling its own stock publicly. the company has hundreds of millions of game players every day, and is the dominant player in that growing market. apple, no comment yet on the report that apple plans to open a research and development center focusing on semi- conductors in israel. papers say an sample a global leader in innovation and it's been the small investor in research and development. if this report turns out to be true, this would be apple's first r&d center outside of california. >> wow! it's 8:25. check in again with sal. you've been showing us some really slow traffic pictures. >> sunol grade, this is because of a crash with a big rig that went over the side. now the injuries are minor but the truck is still blocking the two right lanes as they fish it out with a tow truck that has very long -- almost like a crane, northbound 680 at first

the accident that is not cause a big backup because it happened early but now it's causing a huge backup and the alternate route would only be to try to somehow get on the freeway after val seatoes road. some people know some of the backroads around, and if you can only go as far and get on the road afterwards that, would be your best bet because it's not really practical to -- or pragmatic, if you will -- i love that word -- it's not really that way to try to find an alternate if you're going around on 880. that will won't work. it's too long of a way to go around. so try that, or just leave yourself extra time. let's move along and look at 880, the traffic still wet but moderate. and also this morning locking at the bay bridge toll plaza, backed up for about a 10-minute delay. >> thank you, sir. we have finally some rain going through, but the extended outlook i'd like to say there's more on the way because we need it. the ground is so parched. i was up on my hikes, runs, the

ground look like it's july. it's going to suck up -- we need a series of systems. this won't do much. that settles the dust a little bit. but this system is heading to southern california. steve brains in tahoe said just starting light snow up there, the ground is bare. you can't see any snow at all. it's just a far cry from last year on when we had so much rain and so much snow. not this year so far. vacaville, though, very rare when they get the most. so far last 24 hours. a third inch, mill valley, oakmont, quarter inch. brentwood, .14. and some of that rain still holding on in the east bay towards the south bay, but we're about done. so 40s on the temps. san jose 46. napa 46. concord 46. san rafael as well. santa rosa at 41. lows on our way to southern

california and it's really going to wrap up down there and hang around for the weekend. so for us it will mean wind. for southern california, could be more wind, rain and maybe some more snow in the mountains over the weekend. for us, it's dry, it will be warmer as well. the days, weekends looking dry. mornings cool. >> time is 8:27. trouble at a coffee shop. we'll show you what happened overnight. >> and in berkeley, how the government is getting involved helping people who are affected by a fire last month. >> plus this very special gingerbread house, why it really hits home for us here on mornings on 2.

good morning. welcome back. today some residents of berkeley, business owners as well, affected by that big fire last month, they can start applying and recovering for -- with with low interest loans so they can rebuild. kraig debro is on telegraph avenue now with all the details. good morning, kraig. >> reporter: good morning, dave. that application process begins about a half hour from now, down the street from here. retailers depend on the holiday season to make some money before the end of the year. down here, that's no differently but the fire has changed that. that's why this holiday fair over the next two weekends will be very, very important to a lot of residents here and a lot of businesses and that's because of course that fire that simply gutted a 95-year- old building down here on telegraph avenue. starting about half hour from now, people affected by fire from business owners to students who lived in the

building, could apply to are for loans and according to the sba, the small business administration, it's not just those people, it's anybody and a six-county area them could apply for the loans. people in san joaquin county can apply for the loans. of course,th further away you get from ground zero, from the fire, the more proof you have to provide that were you affected by the fire. i talked to al geyer, a business owner and also the chairman of the merchants association, and he says some businesses here have lost up to 50% of the business since this fire. so that would be one way people would prove they have had losses. if you're a person who was renning here, you lost your home, from that building, you could apply for loans up to 40,000 dollars at 2%. if you're a homeowner here you can apply for loans at 2% or 3% up to $400,000. and if you're a building owner, you can also apply future a business loan and up to $2 million. and again, that all begins in about a half hour from now, just down the street from here

the sba setting up an office at the center for independent living and that organization donated the space for the people that need it. kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. tomorrow is sentencing day for barry bonds. bonds will go back to the same federal courthouse in san francisco where he first gaye his grand jury testimony in the balco steroids case eight years ago. bonds was later constricted of obstruction of justice for his testimony before the grand jury about his alleged steroid use. prosecutors want the judge so sends bonds to prison for 15 months. however, attorneys for baseball's home run king want a punishment of probation, while they appeal his conviction. we've been asking our viewers on facebook this morning whether they think barry bonds should serve time in prison.

>> we still want to hear from you. post a message to the ktvu channel 2 morning news on facebook. hundreds of people packed a meeting lasts night, talking about two recent sexual assaults in the mission district. solving the cases is a top priority and a new surveillance video of the suspect was released. it was taken after thursday's attack. police say the victim was walking along 24th street about 6:30 in the morning, when the attacker came from behind, dragged her around the corner to fair oaks street, and raped her. then last month another woman was also the victim of an early morning attack on 24th street. some are saying poor lighting in the area is a big issue. pg&e says they're looking into the extra lighting and the idea of extra lighting and meantime, there will be a heavy police

presence on the 24th street corridor. police are also offering $25,000 as a reward for information leading to an arrest. we posted the new surveillance video on our channel 2 website for you to look at. just go to ktvu.com, look for the video player right there on the front page. it is 8:35. a damage, fire may shut counsel a san jose coffee shop today. it's in a strap mall on center road. firefighters say it appears the fire originated in a kitchen. the cause is still under investigation. the cafe will be closed until repairs are made. a little dog that was thrown out of a car window in monterey has been found alive. one-year-old frosty was found in the become yard of a home in monterey yesterday afternoon. the spca says he was badly injured and dehydrated and will

have to have major eye surgery. despite all of that, frosty is said to be in good spirits. 10 days ago, witnesses reported seeing that little dog thrown out of a car and that led to a massive search for tim. in san francisco, the gingerbread house competition of the palace hotel is heath up. it's the final day of voting approaches. right now the houses are on display in the lobby of the palace hotel. each house was designed by a guest builder, teamed with a palace hotel chef. first second and third-prizes will be awarded and donated to the charity of each winner's choice. this is video of the gingerbread house that i helped design, with chef allison campbell. it's called occupy the north pole. and the charity that my house will benefit is the monument crisis center. the charity benefits the neediest of the 99%. visitors can vote for their favorite display at the palace

hotel lob rio from now until december 31st. so i have to say, the chefs do all the work. i put a couple gumdrops on the roof and that's about it. so kudos to them. it's a lot of fun. and i couldn't resist the theme. trying to think of something newsy and it happened to be the day i had to pick the theme was when the occupy oakland broke loose. >> which you had 91. >> oh, yes, and for a good cause. >> very good. let's check in with sal. >> i knew about this, dave. >> i know you knew about it. >> because she tweeted it before it was on tv. i follow tori campbell on twitter. there you go. good morning, everybody! let's -- hasn't been a very good commute, and we want to show you this picture. it's at a standstill. this is within of the worst commutes we've seen on the sunol grade in a long time. we just got word right now from chp they send out e-mail to the media that this truck will be there until 10:00 now as they try to fish it out of the ditch. northbound 680 at balance

seatoes road, trying to get on the road after this exit. at this point, you may consider going the wrong way around. last seem i said i wouldn't do it. now finding out that it's not going to be open until 10, i might go 880. i might just do that. get a cup of coffee and prepare for a long drive. i wouldn't be stuck in this at all. there's a motorcyclist there, it's legal to split lanes. that guy is going to be okay. let's go out and look at 237 west bound. that's slow there. i want to mention 680 southbound is also slow even though none of the lanes are blocked because rubber neckers. and as we pull back, just a neat view, it's a view of the maps here. you can see the traffic is going to be slow here as we pull back even more, as i show you the bay area. look amount the red on these maps. it is red everywhere. there's a lot of slow traffic because of the wet weather. please give yourself time all know now that we go to steve,

steve said it stopped rage. >> did you say 10 a.m. on that sunol grid? >> yes. >> bad news. >> does that -- livermore split? >> it's before. that it's on 680, coming up through pleasanton, to pleasanton. >> thank you. now there's still a little rain around. looks like front has gone through. we did get something, unfortunately this may be it for us for a while. the 7, 10, even the 15-day outlook is very dry for us. that is not the case though for southern california. this system is going through us now will intensify in southern california, and if you have travel plans there, a lot of rain will fall around san diego and l.a. on sunday. so not much for us, but we've got a little out of this system. it's on its way out of here. vacaville picked up a third inch. mill valley a quarter inch. brentwood .14.

our observer tom in blossom hill in san jose, only .10. our system there, not much. antioch towards livermore, little over to the east of milpitas and fremont so few little showers left around. 41 santa rosa to 50 mountainview some 9-degree difference here. but i think the system will start to see some clearing here, not couple hours here, then upstream it's very quiet. but again, this system will wrap itself up down there, and we'll get wind out of this north-northeast wind starting tonight if not tonight, tomorrow morning. highs in the 50s today. but all signs point towards a sunny weekend. the wind will probably tail off by saturday morning. but the morning lows will be cool. but the days will be mild to warm. >> thank you, steve. it's 20 minutes before 9:00. a big raid in the east bay drug agents move in on a business, and a big home in another. and a hot debate here in california. and today in washington, d.c., right now, congress is taking a close look at high speed rail.

>> we're live in walnut creek, where eye jewish community center is shutting down what is less than 48 hours' notice. why parents are so angry, when mornings on 2 continues. ♪ [ female announcer ] this time of year you have a lot of festive meals. and safeway helps make every holiday meal a special occasion. so you can make all of your gatherings,

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good morning.

the sunol grade traffic is just terrible. look on the left. now on the right is a commute direction, but you're not seeing all the slow traffic coming down from pleasanton. someone asked me why they didn't fix this later in the morning. they want to be absolutely clear or sure it is out of there by the afternoon commute. northbound 680 and there until 10 a.m. let's bring you up to date on other top stories we're following right now. this flag lowering ceremony was held today in baghdad, marking the end of the u.s. military mission there. after nine years of war, all american troops are due to leave iraq by the end of the year. back at hope, a court hearing underway in los angeles for two suspects accused of beating san francisco giants fan bryan stow. a preliminary hearing date is expected to be set for marvin norwood and louis sanchez. and right now in washington, d.c., a congressional committee is

investigating california's high speed rail project. as allison burns reports, the lawmakers want to know why the project is billions of dollars overbudget. allison. >> reporter: dave, the criticism has been fierce this morning, some members of congress calling the california high speed rail project a boondoggle. they say it's in shambles, a waste of taxpayer dollars. let's get right to a live look at the hearing room. now a panel of 6 california lawmakers just wrapped up their testimony. this panel is going to include the head of the high speed rail project. critics say the dollars 100 billion price tag is outrageous, and they say there won't be enough ridership to cover the cost. >> that may make for a very good hollywood movie, build it and they will come. but i don't think that's what the taxpayers say when they sent us here. >> supporters say high speed rail from los angeles to the bay area will alleviate traffic congestion and create tens of thousands of jobs. they say waiting on the project

means it's only going to cost more. >> if they had not invested in hoover dam in the 1930s, think what it would cost today. >> the members of congress even suggested that the federal government try to take back $4 billion it's invested in the project. we have a crew in the hearing room now and we'll have more live on ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you time is 8:for example gee president obama says he will sign a $662 billion defense bill just passed by the house. that's after the language was taken out of it that would have required military custody of terror suspects. the obama administration was to reserve the right for a civilian trials of accused terrorists. the white house says the president has concerns about some of the provisions in a

$1trillion year-end spending package just unveiled by republicans, which pays for the day to date operating budgets of 10 cabinet departments and thousands of federal programs. funding for the government will run out at midnight friday. new this morning, some parents are scrambling to find a new school for their kids after a surprise announcement from the contra costa jewish community center. tara moriarity joins us live from walnut creek with details of the abrupt closure and reaction from parents. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, parents are just arriving now and they learned last night that this entire building but includes a pool and a senior center would be shutting down in less than 48 hours. there are 80 families with kids who attend the school. they feel completely blindsided, as do the 13 teachers who will be let go tomorrow. we were just inside the building, i took a walk in there to meet some of the

teachers. there were a lot of tears. the children still don't know what is going on. the head of the facility picked me out of the building and told us the contra costa had no comment. >> i'm outraged. and deeply saddened. i think a tragedy has befallen the jewish community. my daughter is a 4-year-old in the early childhood center, and to us it means more than just her education, which for us is paramount. it's the threat to the jewish community that there's no haven for children and elders to have a resource. >> there are not only children affected here but seniors, some with alzheimer's, who will no longer have the facility to use. reportedry, this got into some trouble financially bus of mismanagement. but none of the parents were made aware of the situation. they said they would have done something to save the center. tuition here is not cheap, about $10,000 a year. and with such little notice,

many parents are scrambling to find a new place for their kids to attend. most places here do have wait lists so they really are in a quandary. we'll have much more on our news at noon. tara moriarity, ktvu channel 2 news. does a facebook campaign to change the image of the city of stockton by changing its name. suggestions include port city, north modesto, even hug town. however, some of the residents say a new name just won't solve the city's problems, which include a record homicide rate, high foreclosure rate, and a listing by forbes magazine as the most miserable city in america. >> stockton is just fine. not going to make any difference in the crime. it's the people that live here that will make the difference. >> stockton is stockton. hopefully, things will get better. >> so far, that facebook campaign only received about 30

likes. stockton was named for the naval war hero, commodore stockton, more than 100 years ago. the online reservation network opentable has released its list of the top restaurants in the country, and one bay area city has been left off the list. the best restaurant list only includes 10 california winners out of a hundred, and three are in the bay area not one san francisco restaurant made the list. govern in newsom has gotten involved again with the wine and hospitality company he founded he he became mayor of san francisco. he stepped become from any involvement with the company but is now looking for new opportunities on the bar and restaurant fronts. he also wants to open a new restaurant. the last one he opened was the balboa cafe mill valley in

2008. the latest debate among republican presidential candidates will be held ton in sioux city, iowa. it's the last debate for the candidates before the iowa caucuses january 3rd. all of the top candidates are due to take part in tonight's debate. it's expected new front-runner newt gingrich will be the target of the other candidates. back here at home, today investigators will tell us a lot more information about a big pot club raid in the east bay. agents targeted two locations, miles apart. a pot club in newark and a home tied to that club in danville. ktvu news took this video you're looking at of the raid in newark yesterday afternoon. state and county drug agents spent hours inside the happy wellness center on jarvis avenue, removing several items. the center opened just a couple months ago. it's the last remaining pot club in newark. >> i'm really mad because i just started working here three weeks ago and we -- we do run

everything so professionally. we make sure everyone has the validation. >> i've been to quite a few of them and this is very professional. >> drug agents also searched a large home in did notville. that's where the three owners of the pot club live. officials say one man is a convicted felon with a long criminal record. a message of caution for bay area renters. the scam that authorities say is being fueled by the foreclosure crisis. also police arrested a youth soccer coach in yolo county and think this case could grow. ♪ making your way in the world today ♪ ♪ takes everything you've got ♪ wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪

♪ you want to be where you can see ♪ ♪ our troubles are all the same ♪ ♪ you want to go where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪

♪ you want to go where everybody knows your name ♪

welcome back. our time is 8:54. a soccer coach with ties to vacaville is accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy and authorities say there could be more victims. 29-year-old kristin runze was arrested in his home in esparto in yolo county. the victim is a 14-year-old boy from vacaville. that's where runze was a youth soccer coach for two leagues. police say the alleged abuse happened over a four-year period. some of the neighbors reacted to the news of the arrest. >> shocked. i'm very shocked. i just can't believe that he would do something like that. >> dependencies say he was a foster parents to a 6-year-old who has since been removed from the care. investigators say there's no evidence that foster child was sexually assaulted. a school teacher aide is now facing several charges.

39-year-old stephanie elliott worked at spring hill elementary in lafayette. on friday she was arrested at the school on charges of sexual assault on a unconscious woman in july of 2010. she is few back in court december 22nd to enter a plea. a new report out this morning shows that rent fraud is on the rise in the bay area. with scammers renting out homes they don't own. to avoid this type of fraud, there are few things renters can do. insist on meeting the owner, don't rent if you can't inspect the interior. don't wire a deposit in exchange for keys. be wary of rentals that are too good to be true. and get a written rental agreement, and be suspicious if the owner doesn't really want any information about you. that would be a good red flag. >> yes. good advice. sal, any advice for those folks still stuck in the parking lot in sunol? >> it is.

it's terrible! 680, don't go on there until after 10 so we'll clear it. look how terrible it is, northbound 680, backing up from fremont up past val seatoes. ors and i didn't understand the question, that's the livermore y there. so after that y, the livermore y, get on the freeway after that. it's backed up for about 10 minutes on the bay bridge. now to steve. >> thank you. still little rain left, and that's about it. we'll be done cloudy in the morning, rain ending and partly sunny skies. we start to increase the wind tonight into friday. saturday dry. highs near 60 degrees. no more rain after this for a while. that's the way it's looking. >> okay. that's our report for this morning. thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news. we'll see you the next time news breaks. and join ktvu channel 2 news at noon for a special report involving the homeless in the south bay. we're always here for you at

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