it's apparent a lot of people are back this week. let's look at highway 4. it looks good coming up to the willow pass grade. i just checked in with chp we are off to a very nice start on this wednesday morning. it is nice drive as you drive over to the downtown oakland area on 880. and northbound 101 downtown san francisco traffic looks good. just looking around here and the only thing we have going in san francisco is a ramp closed from park city to northbound at 101. that is closed and of course you know about that. the rest of it is moving along pretty well. let's go back to the desk. it was a closest race in the history of the iowa caucuses. mitt romney beat rick santorum by eight votes. romney received 30,015.

santorum 30,007 votes. ron paul comes in third with 21%. newt gingrich in fourth with 13%. rick peppery 10%. and michele bachmann 5%. >> what wins in america are bold ideas, sharp contrast, and a plan that includes everyone. >> the future is in doubt for candidates that did not do well in iowa. michele bachmann insists she is staying in the race but texas governor rick perry indicates he may drop out. >> i decided to return to texas and assess the results of tonight's caucus. determine whether there is a path forward. >> there are many more chapters to be written on the path to our parties nomination. and i prefer to let the people of the country decide. >> now the candidates have

their sights set on new hampshire. the primary there is next tuesday. mitt romney's campaign will get another boost. the democrats also caucused in iowa last night with president obama the unchallenged winner. the president addressed hi supporters in iowa in a video teleconference from washington, d.c.. >> because of all the memories i have of being in your living rooms or meeting you if a diner, i have never lost that same source of inspiration that drove me to embark on this journey in the first place. >> this morning president obama is heading to cleveland, ohio where he will continue to push his economic agenda. this is video of people that lined up for hours to get the free tickets to hear the president speak at a high school today. also new this morning, police are trying to get a

burglar suspect on telegraph hill in san francisco. ktvu tara moriarty joins us now with what police are doing this morning and why they are having a tough time catching the suspect. tara. >> reporter: this is a pretty stubborn burglar. we are here at the near chestnut and this is a cop car you can see here. there are five officers that are staking out this guy. if we pan up we can see where we are. this is the landmark. this is coyte tower you see right there. this light that is shining that is where police believe the suspect is hiding. you can see where the big ladder truck. a big fire truck and those lights are shining right on the area where they believe he is hiding. if we pan up to the top of the hill, you can see a house with a light on. that is where police say the man broke in and stole a ring. a woman saw him called 911 and when the building manager appeared authorities say the suspect pushed him and jumped over a balcony and down a sheer

cliff. >> if you look at the hillside, it's pretty treacherous. the brush is pretty? tough there. we're not going to risk someone's life going after a burglar suspect now. we'll wait until daylight. >> reporter: all of this happened around 5:00 last night. that means this guy has been out here for almost 12 hours. police can see where the suspect is hiding in tall bushes. every once in awhile it will start to move and he will yell out something. the fire department asked him if he needed help. he said he didn't need help. the only real description they have of the suspect he is white and has two backpacks on him. coming up we'll tell you why this may not be the first time this suspected burglar has struck this neighborhood. we're live in san francisco i'm tara moriarty. in overnight news a christmas tree set on fire

after it was left at the curb for pick up. our ktvu news crew captured video of the tree. look at this. this is at bay and mason street in san francisco. it happened just before midnight. a scooter parked nearby suffered damage. that was a man walking by the scene and kicked the burning tree away from the scooter. there are reports at least one other christmas tree being set on fire in the area. the suspect in the los angeles arson case is scheduled to appear in court today. the german national is accused of setting more than 50 fire. coming up in eight minutes we'll have a possible motive in that case. one san jose police officer remains in the hospital this morning after a wild and dangerous chase. investigators say a man on the run for a minor offense lead officers on the high speed pursuit across several neighborhoods yesterday. the carjacking suspect was

behind the wheel of a stolen suv when he rammed into four patrol cars. several officers suffered cuts and bruises. one officer suffered several injuries. >> the suspect struck him directly from behind. the officer didn't see it coming. one minute he's looking for a suspect, the next he's pinned inside his vehicle. probably in a lot of physical pain. >> 30 minutes later they finally brought the chase to an end. they used their carps to pin the stolen suv between them. then used a taser to arrest the struggling suspect. he's been identified as 27- year-old al honda oregon salles. he has two prior convictions including stolen property. time now is 4:36. traffic is flowing normally through a section of highway

142 and gilroy. that is after a big rig shut down the road for five hours yesterday evening. that was right near frazier lake drive. chopper 2 has the picture of the wreck. 30 gallons of fuel leaked on to the highway. 21,000 pounds of empty card board boxes. the truck driver suffered minor injuries. also new this morning, astronomers are reviewing footage of a meteor shower. it's hard to see without a telescope, but if you look closely you can see meteors. it's described as one of the most intense of the year. with up to 100 meteors passing through the sky every hour. the meteors are believed to be from a comet that broke apart several centuries ago. the state assembly is set for when both chambers

reconvene today. first and foremost is how to balance a $20 billion budget. other hotly contested items promise to be whether to raise the state minimum wage to $8.50 an hour. a bill allowing health insurance rates. and whether or not to make the california utilities commission subject to public records disclosures like other agencies. a state appointed panel is wanting to halt plans for high speed rail. the report adds the long-term costs are too high and doubts that anyone will pay for it. the total cost of the project has more than doubled to $98 billion since voters approved $9 billion in bonds back in 2008. but rail supporters call the report flawed and said the project would generate thousands of jobs.

4:38. want to go back to sal for a look at the early morning commute. hi sal. >> hello pamela. good morning, to you. things are doing pretty well. it's obvious a lot of people are back. today we should have another moderate day. yesterday was just a little lighter than usual. because just a small percentage that have this week off too. not that many. i think a lot of people are on their way back. you can see the east shore freeway. no major problem there is. the morning commute westbound bay bridge is light. already people there in those cash lanes. this mornings drive on northbound 280 looks pretty good right through downtown san jose. by the way, ace train is running today as a normal schedule. let's go to steve. >> sal. >> yes, sir. >> pam and myself noticed more cars on the road today. >> yeah we're getting back to it. we do have a little system spinning clouds in. nothing compared to yesterday when we had that fog.

napa airport is the only one that says fog. it will be another sunny day. you can see a little low spinning there. it doesn't have anything to it. 30s on the temps. a little cooler here this morning. 38 san rafael. 39 concord. and mid 30s santa rosa and also towards napa and low 40s especially toward hayward. jet stream staying to the north. it's a very stable pattern if it will get quieter for us. s ten-day outlook has high pressure parked on top of a very deep cold system in the great lakes. 50s and 60s for your temps today. 67 in san jose. 62 oakland. 64 san mateo. and 63 in antioch. more the same on tuesday or excuse me thursday then a little cooler on friday. then with your weekend in view

it will be sunny side up and mild to warm. >> thank you. it's a snow survey without much snow. how concerned should californians be now that the water level is the lowest in nearly a century? and a jolt to coffee lovers. prices are headed higher. we'll tell you why. good morning, if you are driving this morning and coming up through san rafael or coming down to nevada. it's a good drive to marin county. we'll tell you more about the morning commute and the bay weather.

not as much fog this morning. it will be mostly sunny and mild to warm. a few 60s and upper i haves. the first sierra snow service was easy. it also madements map very easy. there was just one seventh of an inch of water content. it makes the smallest snow pack in more than 80 years which has some water officials concerned about the annual total. >> we already lost december and losing half of january. then you are starting to think well, we're just not going to catch up. >> now the californians actually don't need to worry about hearing about drought conditions just yet. that is because our reservoirs are above normal after last

years heavy snow pack. which kept the snow on the hill tops late until spring. a german man arrested for a string of arsons will be in court today. 24-year-old harry burkeheart is being held without bail of one count of arson. he may have been angry because his mother quasarsed on fraud charges and faces extradition. the fires started the next day. san francisco sheriff michael is looking forward to his last official act in office today. he will chrisen a wrecking ball that will start the depression era of county jail number three in san bruno. he promised to close that jail when he first ran for sheriff 32 years ago. the last prisoner was transferred out of that building five years ago. he is retiring this month. oakland police are pleading for witnesses to come forward and help identify the man that shot and killed a five-year-old

boy. funeral services for gabriel martinez junior is set for this friday. he was shot last week outside of his father's taco truck. the boy's father said the gunman ordered food and pulled a gun and opened fire. police say a lot of people were present and they are frustrated more tips have not come in. >> we don't want to have a person that just killed a child running around in our community or in any community. we want to bring that person to justice. >> now police say the gunman drove off in a silver colored american made car. a female passenger was inside. if you have any information please call oakland police. across the bay crime continues to drop in san francisco. the latest statistics show violent crimes fell 6% between 2011 and 2010. there were 50 homicides in both years. aggravated assault dropped 9%. rape down 12%.

burglar was down 5%. and robbery off 2%. star bucks is raising some of its prices as it faces rising ingredient costs. starbucks says prices will go up a dime for its tall benches in the north -- beverages in the northeast and sun belt states. in california we won't see higher prices yet any way. religional retailer has gained its finished its spinoff of ortured supply. they planned to make it part of sears tools and science. orchard supply has 87 stores including 34 in the bay area with plans to expand now that it's on its own again. a woman that filed a lawsuit against honda in small

claims court is awaiting the decision of the court commissioner. heather peters presented her case yesterday. she claims her honda civic hybrid never came close to getting the advertised 50 miles 50 miles per gallon. the court commissioner is expected to issue his ruling sometime this week. construction is under way on the bart connector to the oakland international airport. concrete columns are going up along hagenburger road. porters say the project will create jobs. critics of the half a billion dollar project say the current shuttle to the airport works just fine and the money could be better spent elsewhere. three san mateo county garbage workers are recovering after a frightening hazardous materials incident. police evacuated the area after the workers got sick. they had been exposed to trash

in a dumpster containing acid, ammonia. >> it corrode metal and burn your skin and the resin if you get it on you is an irritant. it would cause reaction similar to a very severe sunburn. >> fortunately the workers were only sick far short time and released from the hospital last night. police are trying to determine who put the chemicals in the dumpster. members of the occupy movement in walnut creek plan on making their voices heard today. they hope not to lose steam. it's staging weekly anticorporate protest. they plan to gather at 3:30. that is right in front of the bank of america there. organizers say they have plenty of extra signs available if people can't bring their own. also today the city of alameda will hand over keys to the animal sheller to a grown

up of volunteers. the city will pay friends of alameda animal shelter $300,000 a year to run the facility. this will save alameda at least $600,000 a year. the city ran the shelter for more than 100 years but it's handing over control to save that money. 4:49 is the time right now. a first for san rafael. the city swears in a female police chief. some of the other bay area cities that have women as police chief. whether president obama will be reelected.

welcome back to the ktvu morning news. british police are investigating a murder after the discovery of a body at one of queen elizabeth estates.

the body of the woman was found on new years day by a man walking his dog in a wooded area. the body has been there at least a month. it's unclear if the woman was killed at the scene or taken there after her death. >> we'll continue our inquiries over the next days and weeks to establish who she is and how she came to be here. >> parts of the nearly 20,000- acre royal estate are open to the public. the queen and her husband were actually attending a church service in the estate when that discovery was made. you probably heard about predictions that the world will end in 2012. well a man that proclaims himself as mexico's grand war lack is sharing his future. he read tore row cards. he predicts president obama will lose the election and syria will be more of an international problem. he claims an 80% accuracy rate.

he has had mixed results. last year he foretold the euro would weaken and the recession would return to some economies. he also predicted in 2008 the death of pop diva brittany spears. >> i wonder how the readers will do. >> good morning everybody. let's go out and take a look at what we have now. the fog is not as bad as it was yesterday. i will tell you why. because as traffic reporter i look at the cameras. this morning when i look at the board here i have the little thing i can see everything. almost every camera i can see yesterday i could see two cameras. we'll ask steve to decipher all of this for us. you can see clearly on 880 here and traffic is moving well. the morning commute westbound

bay bridge that looks pretty good. no major problems. one of the things that does happen is the sun does come up. the dew point changes. people -- the weather might change. we'll keep you posted. and the commute in the contra costa county looks good here. antioch and bay point. still not a slow down. a lot more cars out there. let's bring in steve. >> have you been taking meteorology classes? >> no, i learn from you. not as foggy today. >> that is correct. you are correct around sunrise we get the coldest temperatures. we could see some more fog form. napa airport at last check the only one seeing ground fog. a lot of high clouds over us. they will clear out. the forecast colder this morning. 30s a lot more than we saw yesterday because of the decrease in that fog. there is also decent little breeze in the east bay hills. so we are seeing a little bit more drier air come in here. it will be sunny to mostly

sunny today. 50-60 by noon. it looks sunny and mild to warm. 58-68. warmest temperature should be near santa clara valley. there is a low spinning there. 30s though. upper 30s for some. low 40s for others. city is the warmest at 38. we do have the high pressure here even though there is a weak low over us. it doesn't do anything. it spins in a few high clouds and a little bit of a breeze. some of the higher elevations. mostly sunny. more fog on the coast today. some 60s around for almost everybody unless you are close to the beaches then there is a little bit more fog. the extended outlook i wish i could say there is rain. i see nothing. nothing. seven, ten, 15 days it is brutal. it will cool down late thursday and friday. the system will get out of here and warm for the weekend. pamela. >> thank you. san rafael swore in its first female police chief last

night. you can take a look. a packed city council chamber welcomed diana bishop to her new post. she started her career 23 years ago as a patrol officer in santa clara. bishop calls her new job the right fit at the right place at the right time. after the ceremony she told us when female officers were not so welcomed by other officers but that has changed. >> looking back a couple of us were trail blazers where we smoothed the waters so the women that come in now don't have to worry about stuff like that. >> female police chiefs were also there to welcome her ranks. the bay area largest city could be getting ready to make a big change when it comes to pot clubs. what is lead together change of course in san jose. and happening right now san francisco police are in a standoff with the burglar

suspect. what is making this so difficult to find him.

we are live in san francisco. police are trying to catch a burglar hiding in some bushes off telegraph hill. we'll tell you what he stole coming up. and overnight