what authorities decided to do today concerning l northern california search for victims for serial killers. the search was suspended today for additional human remains said to be the victims of two convicted serial killers. they are still focus on an area

north of linden. tara moriarty reports. >> reporter: excavation on a massive grave came to a halt this morning due to the rain. >> right now the ground is unsafe conditions for thest kava tour to continue digging. >> reporter: over the weekend crews dug a 45-foot pit near an abandoned well pulling skull fragments, more than 300 bones, a purse, and a ring with possible initials engraved on it. >> this is the most gruesome crime scene i have been involved with. >> reporter: authorities pinpointed the remains using a map drawn by shermantine. him and his partner herzog were called the speed killers. >> eventually what will happen we will be asking them far sample of their dna so that will help us in the recovery of these remains when we submit

these to the doj crime lab for dna analysis. >> reporter: deputies say they may also excavate another well a quarter of a mile away. they urge anyone who think their family member could have been a victim in this case to contact the san joaquin hot line or e-mail. >> they are also digging through a site at caliver cast county. they are work to identify other remains found there. authorities say the case involving wesley shermantine and loren herzog began with their first killing in 1984.

they sentenced shermantine to death and herzog -- the rain arrived overnight and it's still falling around the bay area. this is a live look outside. the winter rainfall was steady at times and more is expected throughout the day. and in oakland the rain was heavy enough for people to break out the umbrellas. there were similar scenes on the san francisco side of the bay and the north and south bays. rosemary orozco is here now in the weather center with more on this rain. >> good afternoon to you preponderate rain continuing to shift south and east over the north bay. and seeing sunshine over santa rosa. take a look at san jose. let's get a little bit closer. campbell, los gatos, possibility of small hill reported there. morgan hill and gilroy steady

rain. fremont over to mountain view it's moving to the south. redwood city you are about to come into dry weather in the next half hour or so. hayward will begin drying out. oakland and san francisco beginning to see a break. over the north bay cloudy conditions but we are looking at partly cloudy skies in some areas. santa rosa reporting mostly sunny skies. so far we have seen a half inch or less out of this system. take a look at what we have seen. not all said and done just yet. .58 over ben low man. almost quarter of an inch for santa rosa. so again we continue to watch this move out here. we will be with scattered showers throughout the day today. sfo reporting delays. we'll take a look at the winds and show you the future cast models. affirmative action is once again back in the spotlight. this morning a federal appeals court in san francisco heard

arguments to repeal the voters approved ban on affirmative action at uc admission offices. allie rasmus joins us live from san francisco to explain why some say the ban has been a disaster. >> reporter: proposition 209 was passed by california voters back in 1996. it prevents public institutions and universities to consider race and ethnicity in the admission factor. students from uc berkeley, oakland tech, and berkeley high school came to today's hearing. an organization called by sued to have prop 209 overturned. the plaintiffs say that since prop 209 became law 16 years ago, the enrollment of black, latino, and native american students has decreased.

blacks and latinos represent 50% of california's population but make up less than 15% of students in the uc system. >> the university of california has got to be able to use measures that are now barred by prop 209 to be able to create a level playing field in the admission system. >> reporter: proposition 209 supporters argue an admission process that ignores race and ethnicity is the most fair. >> it guarantees everyones right to be treated fairly and not be discriminated against. >> reporter: opponents of prop 209 challenged its legality back in 2007. hastings law professor says it's difficult for an appeals court to reverse its own decision. >> because there is already precedent here in the ninth circuit says prop 209 is constitutional. >> reporter: now the three judge panel in the ninth circuit can take anywhere from

3-4 months to reach a decision. both sides say whatever the outcome they will appeal. it's likely it could go to the u.s. supreme court. >> thank you. president obama today sent congress a new budget which calls for both government spending cuts and increases. speaking to students at a community college in virginia, the president says his budget plan would reduce the budget by $4 trillion over the next ten years. as he has in the past he's preppies opposing to eliminate bush era tax deductions for the wealthy. it would also put in place a rule named for billionaire warren buffet. it would insure to make sure house holes making $1 million annually pay 30% of their income. their budget proposals are necessary to keep the economic recovery moving. >> but the main idea in the budget is this, at a time when

our economy is growing and creating jobs at a faster clip, we've got to do everything in our power to keep this recovery on track. >> republican leaders today are already rejecting the president's budget proposal. they say increasing taxes on the wealthy punishes job creators and spending cuts are inadequate. president obama will be in the bay area this week. this is video from the president's last visit to san francisco in october. he's appearing at two fundraisers in san francisco on thursday. the first is a $35,000 a plate dinner for 60 guests at the home of novelist robert maylor anderson. and then he will appear at a larger event. tickets to that cost from $100 to $7500. hayward police are investigating the discovery of a body early this morning. police found the body at c and seventh street which is a residential area east of downtown. ktvu lorraine blanco joins us live from hayward. you were the first on the scene

this morning and you have learned important information from police and neighbors. >> reporter: yes, we were first on scene at 5:00 a.m. this morning. scene as you can see police are still here right now. they are waiting for a search warrant to go inside this home. now some neighbors out here tell us they are not surprised by this violence. a massive police presence peppered a neighborhood. they are trying to figure out what lead to a man gunned down in a driveway. >> i heard a group of several shots. >> reporter: it's a neighborhood where families know each other well. >> my kids come out here and play we as neighbors we sometimes come out here and barbecue. i'm very concerned. >> reporter: but lynn tells us they have had problems at the home where the body was home. >> it was vacant. they had a lot of homeless

people. i have kids. i can't afford to move. >> reporter: they are hoping to get a description of the suspect and a better idea of his vehicle. >> a vehicle was seen leaving at a high rate of speed. that was at 4:30. >> reporter: the victim is is a man in his 20s. he's am livermore resident and started staying here at this home very recently. if you have any information call hayward police. >> thank you. a 56-year-old shooting victim remains at john muir medical sister. he's one of four people shot. two other people were shot during a fight outside a hall saturday night. and a man was injured outside a bar early sunday morning. the wife of san francisco

sheriff ross mirkarimi will testify at his upcoming abuse trial. eliana lopez will cooperate and take the witness stand. however, lopez may limit her testimony if she is not granted immunity by the district attorney. she wants lopez to be granted immunity in case she is charged with child endangerment. they have denied any domestic abuse occurred. another state moved a giant step toward same sex marriage. you'll hear what happened today. we'll check the situation in the sierra to see which is getting new snow today. rosemary will have more on the bay area weather next. ♪ one moment in time >> and the mystery of whitney houston's death. we will hear what police in southern california just said last hour.

the los angeles county coroner said it could be weeks before they determine the cause of whitney houston's death. she was found dead in the hotel room of her beverly hilton hotel room. pathologist completed an autopsy on her over the

weekend. they have found a number of bottles of prescription drugs in her room. but nothing illegal. >> we are not going to comment any specifics about miss houston. the condition of her body, the condition of the room, or anything we may or may not have found in the course of our investigation. >> the coroners office has careered houston's body for release to her family. but it's waiting there pending funeral arrangements. >> jennifer hudson performed houston's signature ward at last nights grammy award ceremony. grammy's host ll cool j offered a prayer. >> we thank you for sharing our sister whitney us. today our thoughts are with her mother, her daughter, and all of her loved ones. and although she has gone too

soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit. >> producer said a full blown attribute was not possible because houston's death came so soon before the broadcast. ktvu.com has more on the whitney houston story. you can also watch a slide show of photos dedicated to the legendary singer. new jersey state senate passed a bill to recognize gay marriage. the vote does not mean that same sex none chills will be a reality in new jersey soon. governor chris christy has promised to veto the bill if it makes it to his desk. the new bill takes effect on june 7th. walnut creek police are looking for more possible victims of a caretaker who may have defrauded her elderly

clients. 43-year-old dayna drew of walnut creek was arrested at a target store after using a stolen credit card. officers conducted a search of her home and found information that was stolen from an elderly person. she may have told stolen from other clients. a 25-year-old woman was killed after her car flipped off an overpass in concord. the highway patrol says she was headed northbound on the highway 242 connector to highway 4 just before 4:00 yesterday afternoon when her car left the road and rolled over. the woman was thrown from the car as it fell on southbound 242 below. she was pronounced dead at the scene. there is no word on the cause of crash. traffic is about to get a lot smoother on the portion of highway in eastern contra costa county. the 13-mile stretch of the road

runs from 160 interchange. the cities of brentwood and oakly are take -- oakley are taking control of the portion of the road. tonight the public will have a chance to hear how cal tran is planning to improve traffic conditions on a major bay area freeway. this is a live picture from interstate 80 in berkeley. cal tran is launching a $93 million plan to improve safety on i-80 in alameda and contra costa counties. the changes include ramp metering and hov bypass lanes. snow is causing problems for drivers in the sierra. interstate 80 was closed for a brief time this morning after several trucks got stuck in heavy snow near gold run. we just checked with cal tran. chain restrictions are in effect on the mountain pse for all vehicles expect those with four wheel drive or snow

tires. a winter weather advisory is in effect at the 4,000-foot level. good afternoon to you. some of that lower elevation snow right here over the bay area. some of our highest peaks may get a dusting. we are talking mount hamilton even the spotters reporting snow and rain snow mix down to 2600 feet. that is what is going on here. it will be atrichous ride up the hill. it has been hectic around here today. we have cloudy conditions but we have clearing in some areas. we will continue to see that improve as we progress through the afternoon. take a welcome at storm tracker two. santa rosa reporting partly cloudy to mostly sunny skies. you can see the storm as it continues to shift and move southeast. the center of the storm over the state at this hour and that is what is creating the very

unstable weather. we're looking at scattered showers. a few reports of hail. and then as this continues to move on out of here the winds will go with it as well. the winds have picked up at times. if you are flying out of sfo oakland reporting gusts as well. take a look at the rain beginning to dry out over oakland. this will continue to shift throughout another course of the day. but over the north bay just a few scattered showers in the forecast at this time. the winds continue to blow at sfo anywhere from 22-26 miles an hour and the gusts even stronger than that. let me show you some of the current gusts reported. santa rosa reporting gusts near 25 miles an hour. that picking up in the last hour or so. mount diablo reporting 30. 38 is what we saw last hour. 30 miles an hour in oakland.

and 25 miles an hour in hayward. the winds will begin to die down once the system pulls through. also worth noting a high surf advisory. that is actually going to last until tomorrow and we talked about the lower snow levels. definitely a winter storm on our hands. take a look at the forecast here. noontime you can see we do begin to dry out. the evening drive should be okay. we will have ample moisture in the morning. 51-degrees in san francisco right now. 50 in oakland. 53 in napa. 50 for you in redwood city. 56 expected for berkeley today. 56 for san rafael. looking at 57 san jose. your extended forecast even though we dry out we will remain on the cool side. upper 50s in the forecast for your afternoon high. valentines day into wednesday. thursday and friday we begin to see a rebound. mid 60s and upper 60s. and then as the weekend approaches it looks like the

possibility of more rain in the forecast. >> all right, thank you. doctors recommend that we all avoid overeating. now it seems this advice is especially important for the elderly. a new study shows senior citizens that consume more than 2100-calories a day is twice as likely to suffer from memory loss. older people run the loss of mild cognitive impairment. it's a condition that falls between early alzheimer's and the normal forgetfulness due to aging. they are not severe enough to be noticed by others but can interfere with day-to-day life. apple is making big news on wall street. also it's that time of year ago. why you may have more cookies in your house.

after last weeks modest decline stock prices are on the rebound. markets around the globe have rallied. taking a live look at the big board. the dow is up 80. the nasdaq up 26. s & p is up 9. shares in cupertino based apple broke the 500 mark for the first time today. apple has been on a rally for more than two weeks after they reported staggering sales and profits. right now apple is trading at

$500.95 and apple could also make an outright claim as the most valuable company in the u.s.. it's not worth $465 billion compared to exxon $400 billion. there san app for that. girl scout cookies that is. there is a kickoff for the annual girl scout cookies sales. they are using new software that lets people pay for their cookies with a debt or credit card through their smart phones. it's powered through the intuit app. the oakland a's are making a $36 million bet on cuban defector yoenis. they have signed the 26-year- old outfielder to a four-year contract. under the deal he would automatically become a free agent at the end of the 2015

season. the a's reportedly outbid the miami marlins to sign him. thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2 news. we'll see you the next time news breaks. be sure to join us again at 5:00. we are always here for you on ktvu.com and mobile ktvu.com.