the california supreme court has made its decision about $1.7 billion and 400 redevelopment agencies. now, the question is, what's next? good afternoon. i'm claudine wong in for tory campbell. topping our news today, we'll talk about this ruling anownlsd by the state's highest court just two hours ago. the question was, did the governor and state lawmakers have the authority to eliminate community redevelopment

agencies and redirect that money? ktvu's lorraine blanco joins us live with the details about the decisions and what's next. >> reporter: this decision is more than 100 pages long and the bottom line is that the state has the right to dissolve agencies when it's necessary and proper. in this case, it's necessary to alleviate a fiscal agency. it allows california to seize $1.7 billion in funds to close the budget's shortfall. getting rid of redevelopment agencies is a proper exercise of legislative power, the court said. this is a blow to cities like the city of san jose that filed the law suit. we talked to the state's chair of redevelopment agencies. she says that the state needs to step up and put californians back to work. some still has a 10.7% unemployment rate. fortunately, we are in a tech

area and we are seeing tech renaissance. we still have construction workers out of work, lots of workers out of work and we need economic development to spur job creation. today's decision was split. the high court affirmed the state's trite get rid of development agencies but it upheld prop 22, banning the state from raiding government funding. the state can't force payments from agencies as a way for them to do business. mayor chuck reed is out of town but released this statement. now, san jose stitty leaders say that big projects won't be -- san jose city leaders say that big projects won't be affected like the san jose b.a.r.t. and a possible big stadium because those projects are financed privately. >> thank you, lorraine. a police dog end a five-day

standoff between san jose police and a man armed with a machete. officers were called to the water stone apartment near the west capitol expressway around 2:35 a.m. where a noisy tenant had threatened a security guard. he had barricaded into his apartment and yelled threats at police. negotiators tried to talk to him. the man walked out holding a bottle of alcohol. >> we wanted to make sure he didn't get back into his apartment. the canine was deployed. with the assistance of the canine, the officers were able to take him into custody. he sustained injuries because of the day neighbor biting him. >> the man was taken to the hospital with that bite wound. police will release his name when he is booked into jail a littler today. heavy fog caused traffic delays. you take a look outside. under all that fog, that is the

bay bridge toll plaza. chopchp issued a development. there was fog advisories in the bay area. the fog is also causing major headaches at sfo where incoming flights were being delayed. meteorologist steve poulson joins us with a look at what's causing this fog and when it's going to go away. >> we have a lot of high cloud coming but we havecoastal fog, some inland fog. most of i is starting to lift a little wit. closer to the bay, we'll continue to have that fosmght the higher clouds will prohibit them from forming. if you are in that fog, you can be cold. lot of low 50s out of that fog. mount view, 63. in the fog, it's a different story although some of that is

now filtered sunshine. we're going to be dealing with some drizzle late tonight and to. coast and inland fog and hazy conditions more coming up in about 10 minute or so to talk about the upcoming weekend, claudine. >> thanks, steve. investigators are looking for the cause of a fire that badly damaged two homes in the berkeley hills. it broke out around 8:30. flames already spread from one home to the other by the time firefighters arrived and there was fear that the flames would spread to other homes. 15 nearby homes were evacuated. firefighters say that everyone inside the burning homemade it out safely. >> i do have a report that there were three occupants associated with this particular building that needed some assistance. >> four firefighters were treated for strain and heat exhaustion the haywood fire department is investigating a fire start by a christmas tree. you can see the fire that

gutted the apartment. firefighters were able to rescue a small dog who did suffer from some smoke inhalation. the york shire poodle mix is being cared for at an animal sheller until it can be reunited with its owners. occupy oakland did not take long to find another place to set up a new camp. a handful of demonstrators moved in across the street from where police dismantled a camp. a raid came shortly after the property owner urged the city to remove those protesters. >> we stayed out here last nights moved our stuff to a public sidewalk. hopefully we'll continue to feed the homeless and continue to be a drug and alcohol free zone. >> there is police presence in that area but it's not cheer how they're going to respond to

this new camp anger from some oakland fans as the a's continue to push towards the south bay and a possible new stadium there. this afternoon, there are questions about the team's tactics of trading many star players. just how much the team is willing to sacrifice to make the move. new at noon, ktvu's kraig debro joins us with that story. >> reporter: the anger is over the method that lou wolf they feel is using. some wonder if the ends justify the means. the a's trade gio gonzalez, trevor cahill, and bailey. a's fans are being asked to have patience. >> r. >> that's not any comfort to a fan who is looking at next season and saying, should i buy a ticket to the game?

there is no clear answer to that you know what they are putting on the field next year is going to be very young, very inexperienced and likely pretty mediocre. >> reporter: the a's, the city of san jose and base san jose, that's a private entity which admits getting some money from the oakland a's want the a's to move from the city of san jose. there is at least one problem with this plan. major league baseball granted territorial rights to the san francisco giants years ago and reaffirmed it in 2000 and the giants are not about to cede the largest bay city to their rival. san jose is ready for a time. >> san jose has stood in the shah yo of san francisco for a long time. >> that's about to change. we are the 10th largest city in america. >> the a's play in the oldest

stadium in major league baseball. some people are suspicious about why the a's are making these trade but the a's do have a history of trading players with a couple of years under their belt exchanging them for young talents before the players move on because of free agency and the a's don't get anything in return the area where the proposed a's stadium will be built is a 14-acre site near the hp pavilion in between west fernandez street and west avenue. according to the san jose redevelopment agency, the land is valued at $24 million. the city is offering the a's owner an option to purchase it for less because of a drop in property value. the search is on for a felon who police say is also

facing hit-and-run charges. erica rojo is wanted for two charges, one for theft and one for felony ihne. when she saw plays watching her, she sped off, jumping a curb and hitting a man. he is expected to recover. rojo fled that scene. a crash involving a transit bus and a semi. why authorities say it could have been much worse. and we told you it was a foggy start to the day and that fog continues. what we can expect and the possibility of rain as we wrap up 2011. steve is coming back with your forecast. >> he does not know that he is being surprised. >> and a very special dog gets ready to leave the bay area. how he will change the life of a nine-year-old boy who has no idea he is on his way.

there are new developments involving the san jose mother accused of tossing her child out of the car. the young mother is not going to face attempted murder charges. she will face felony child

abuse charges. it was determined that the woman's severe menta illness caused that. there is word that a baby was sickened from a rare bacteria that may have come from a baby formula. the illness is not due to enfamil. so far, no trace of bacteria was found in the formula. a college football player getting ready for the rose bowl has proven he is at the torch his game when it comes to a crisis. oregon guard mark asper saved a man from possibly checking to death at a beverly hills restaurant by performing the heimlich maneuver. >> because the guy seemed old, i didn't want to break his ribs. he could handle a full heave force. >> he learned the maneuver as a boy scout. his heroic action took place

during the annual beef bowl. the oregon ducks face wisconsin next week. thanks to an outpouring of support from people here in the bay area, a texas boy is about to get a new canine buddy. guide dog for the bland is sending a dog to be a buddy for a blind nine-year-old boy. natura was being trained to be a guide dog but was dropped from the training because of her fear of flying. her mission will be to help prepare the child with responsibilities involved with taking a gield dog. the nine-year-old does not know he is being surprised with a canine buddy. >> natura will be his companion. hopefully, one day, develop a guide dog. >> because of her fear of flying, she's going to be driven from san real to texas by a group of volunteer drivers.

new poll of iowa voters shows major shifts and changes in the first in the nation republican primary. this comes only days ahead of next week's iowa ka cusses. fox news' jennifer davis is in washington with the highlights despite flurry of appearances around iowa, a new cnn time poll shows newt gingrich in a free fall. he had been under attack and says he is not surprised by the numbers. >> i think anybody who has 8 or $9 million of negative advertising, much of it false, is going to slide for a while. >> the new poll shows the quickly changing landscape as the caucuses approach with mitt romney edgingslightly ahead. >> it's encouraging. some had me down by 5. some have me up. who knows. >> reporter: rick santorum benefited from a surge. his visits to all counties appears to be paying off. >> he is peaking at the right

time. can he win in iowa? i'm not so sure that he could win but a third place is a win for santorum. >> reporter: things are not looking so bright for michele bachmann. she is now bringing up the rear and lost her iowa chairman who defected to ron paul. >> i'm going to do everything i can in the next few days to help in iowa and beyond. we're going to take ron paul all the way to the white house in 2012 former mcgovernor gary johnson was barely registering in gop polls. he has announced he is dropping out of the republican race and running as a third party candidate for the libertarian party. in washington, jennifer davis, fox news. an investigation is croon going between a semi-truck and a bus. the crash sent the bus driver to the hospital with minor injuries. no passenger was on the bus and no other injuries were reported. there was extensive damage to the bus and the truck and it's

unclear what led to the crash. vta and other transit area agencies have special holiday programs. they will be free. valley transportation agency, or v t.a., caltrain, golden death buses and ferries are on regular saturday schedule. b.a.r.t. is offering special new year's service as well. trains are going to run three hours longer than they usually do overnight. service will continue until 3:00 a.m. on january 1 , new year's day during those extended hours, the trains will run on their normall interval and can you go to ktvu.com for more information on new year's schedule for all bay area transit agencies. the information is in web links which can be found near the top of the page. new york times is gearing up to ring in 2012 with a party of the year.

workers are there putting on the final touches on the new year's eve ball do. more than a million people are expected to crowd in there and watch. the celebration features star- studded musical performances, balloons, confetti and much more. well, going down towards san jose proper, you probably have mostly cloudy skies but it's on the mild side. north of that, we are dealing with either a lot of clouds or dealing with some fog or combination of both. there is a system to the north producing some rain there. you are seeing clouds increasing throughout the day but temperature, well, they are probably going to top out here in the next hour or so. as the cloud start to increase here rapidly. some rain has made it. how about that? it's been a very dry dry december, crescent citypicked up about an inch of rain. in meant sino county, lake county, late tonight and tomorrow and along the coast, we might have a little bit of

rain here. the system looks good. there will be a lot cloud cover. there will be some really good rain to the north, not just for us. 60s in mount view and san jose. low 50s to mid-50s unless you get some of that fog and then otherwise, you are here the mild to warm category but if you are in that fox you can see it's still cold. you can see where everything is pointed, right towards oakland. for us, the whole system, we are just on the surge edge so there is not a lot of oomph left to it. the system will come in and buckle a should give us a local drizzle. san francisco, .12 officially at this month. could go down as the second driest after. mammoth mountain, they are making their own snow but they

only have two inches of snow as opposed to 200. 80-degree temperatures by sunday and monday around san diego. for us, we are look for a warmup. mostly cloudy skies and then tomorrow, a weak system but we'll go with cloudy skies, light rain towards the north bay but this is not a very strong system. clouds increasing. still some pockets of fog around. temperatures, if you are out of that fog is not bad. fur in that fog, it could be on the cool side. 60s to mid-60s down towards the santa clara valley. claudine, we'll cloud it up, get it out of here and then the weekend will be warmer, especially on sunday and monday and i won't see you until next year so you have a happy new year. >> happy new year. i mean, i like the sun. i know you bring me sun but skiers get impatient. >> i know. unless they are making their snow. a lot of them are. >> if they are high enough.

>> right. >> when you come back to the new year, bring that in with you. >> i'll put your order in. >> thank you, steve. >> any time. the holiday season is making for some unhappy people at the happen yels place on earth. there was gridlock there. the park closed down ticket sale for several hours but visitors in the park were already complaining of long lines and say it took hours to get on a ride. >> it's frustrating to pay $300 for three people to go into the park and only get to ride three rides for $100 for a ride almost. so i would say it wasn't worth it, definitely. >> disney says that the holidays are one of its busiest times and say that people should expect a crowd. the park does expect to resume normal operations today. some theme parks in florida were forced to turn people away yesterday. large crowds forced the closure the island of adventure and three out of four disney parks. even some people had had tickets were turned away and

told to come back another day. well, there are a lot of positive thoughts on wall street as the year draws to a close. that's ahead. and people at the bay area continue to open their heart to the victims of that major fire in san francisco. ahead, how you can also help.

trading is expect tobd

light because of the trading. but the news is looking good. they are hoping that the housing market is poised for a growth a fire alarm gutted a san francisco apartment, thousands have helped those left homeless. clothes and necessities were donate two days after the fiemplet orangers say that the big niece is for housing, especially less expensive units. community groups have been coordinating their efforts through the website which has a wish list and for those who would like to donate more on the state's supreme court later on today. california will be allowed to die solve its redevelopment agencies. the impact it will have and in particular the effect on the area's biggest city. also a lack of rain is putting a dampers on traditional new

year's eve skiing. how tahoe is preparing despite the lack of snow. those stories and more coming up at 5:00. thank you for trusting ktvu for your news. have a great thursday day, everyone. [ female announcer ] they've been off limits to dieters

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