just wasn't meant to be like that. >> new to be -- dock is a little bit. >> reporter: today two new docking are much stronger at a cost of $1 million each. >> fortunately fema and cal mean have reimbursed 40% of the cost to do that work. >> even though we don't see these every 30 years or so, when they do happen it's destructive. >> the things that -p happened in japan were devastating those people. i mean people lost their jobs, their homes and the nuclear power plant and all that. that's the real issue. for now the harbor district

still need to repair 20 docks a project that won't be completed -- several fukushima villages were abandoned over radiation fears. that's the memorial outside okawa elementary school where 74 children and 10 teachers died. here is a stunning picture that shows the incredible power of the water. it actually lifts a tour bus right on top of the community center. and the plan now is to leave that tour bus there as a permanent memorial. ktvu.com has posted a slide show of two dozen of john's

photos from his time in okamamachi. jurors will see stills of mirkarimi's wife. >> reporter: gasia there were a number of new developments in the ross mirkarimi case. both sides are preparing to question potential jurors on monday but today we got a sense of the domestic violence expert who a judge today said won't be allowed to testify in the case. uc berkeley law lecturing and nancy lemon learned this afternoon that she will get to testify in the case of mirkarimi. after a december 31stparty. lemon can testify about the

behavior of batterers and why women remain in abusive relationships. mirkarimi's defense worked to get her to testify. mirkarimi and lopez have a 2- year-old son who witnessed the abuse. prosecutors could use a 55 second video that shows lopez displaying a bruise allegedly caused by her husband. mirkarimi's defense worked to oust that video, given that lopez will not testify. >> you cannot cross question a video. you can't ask a video what happened before and what happened after. >> reporter: jurors are said to be questioned on monday with opening arguments possible by late next week. the judge in this case still must take on a motion for

change of venue that was filed by ross mirakrimi's defense team. david stevenson, ktvu channel 2 news. a 23-year-old convicted killer was sentenced today to 50 years to life in prison for a shooting that took the life of an oakland student. michael heartsman was convicted of charges including first degree murder for killing 17- year-old franklin jr. today heartsman told the court that he was innocent but he also said his heart goes out to the family of the victim. the district attorney's office today announced two care givers have been sentenced to jail for stealing more than $170,000 from an elderly woman. patale and umpulate wrote amounts on blank checks given to them by the victims. california's jobless rate

has dropped below 11% for the first time in nearly three years. and our consumer editor tom vacar is live in the city tonight with the one industry that's really helping to fuel the economy. >> reporter: it's a fascinating situation because though the over all unemployment news is very positive we still have a long way to go. in california's recovering economy, entrepreneuring are the big winners. >> we're getting pattens are being awarded to california fourth times the rate of the next state, which is new york. >> reporter: job wise there are two californians. >> there's a tech company that's going gang busters, both these large firms and the smaller firms. then there's the rest of the

economy that's basically hanging on. >> we're going abroad looking to bring people in. >> reporter: even the construction development gained a few thousand jobs in the last month. >> the private-sector is growing. people have to realize that because it means schools and it means public safety and it means taking care of the most vulnerable. >> reporter: a lot of people remain on their own when it comes to buying basic services. >> i'm seeing out of pocket as opposed to insurance. >> reporter: in all of last year california gained more than 130,000 jobs leaving 2 million still unemployed. >> we're coming back steadily, the trend is coming back. but it's going to take us a while to get back to where we need to be. >> reporter: reporting live consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. now here's a break down of

the unemployment figures in the bay area. marin county's jobless rate is actually the lowest in california at 6.6% among the bay area's county solano's unemployment rate is the highest. closely mirroring the state's rate. there's some good news now about b.a.r.t.'s financial health at least for the immediate future. the agency has more than enough money to cover operating costs without making cuts next year. that's due in part to larger than expected ridership. but the board is recommending b.a.r.t. set aside 40 to $50 million a year for several years to pay for new railcars. phase three of the project will center on the area from contra loma boulevard in antioch to the g street off ramp which is set to permanently close beginning monday. a ground breaking ceremony was held this morning. highway4 through antioch is being widened to include a

medium for diesel trains and two additional trains in each direction with one dedicated to car poolers. this is breaking news. our chopper is over the avenue exit. if you're experiencing or hearing about pretty big back ups on 880 it is now clear but it's going to take some time for traffic to smooth out again. i would guess if you look to the right top left hand of your screen that's where the back up is coming from. the vehicles that are responding and overturned are on the left hand side of your screen. 880 and east bay at oakland there was a major jam but it is not starting to flow free once again. a new statewide poll indicates strong support for two initiatives on the june ballot. the public policy institute of

california reports 68% of likely voters backed proposition 28. the poll also shows 67% support for proposition 29 which would increase the tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack. that extra revenue would then go to research for cancer and other tobacco related industries. california's crush dropped 3% from last year and that sent prices to a record high of nearly $600 a ton. napa county grapes were priced the highest at nearly $3,400 a pound. a masked man caused a major operation today in oakland. police gave us this surveillance photo late this afternoon. it shows the man entering the cvs far pharmacy on broadway around 6:30 this morning. that man then approached two

employees asking for a manager. those employees quickly called a manager. a s.w.a.t. team surrounded and searched the store but found no one inside. we just received photos of three suspects wanted in connection with a double homicide in fairfield earlier this week. police have issued arrest warrants for 21-year-old blake johnson, 21-year-old darren treyhan and weatherford ii. officers describe as a threat to public safety. they are wanted in connection with the killing of 24-year-old vadel chu and 18-year-old bernard knight on wednesday night. police say a shooting just last night may also be connected to wednesday's double homicide. no one was injured in this most recent injury but bollis did break some car windows. officers say joseph mchenry was last seen at his home last friday. they say that he told people he was going rock climbing and

camping at a beach in pacifica and never returned home. his car was found wednesday near the sharp parkway. if you have any information, please contact san bruno police. the san francisco zoo is mourning this bear tonight. take a look at what news chopper 2 found just in the half hour. and i'm back here in 10 minutes, we're going to take a look at your bay area weekend. we'll go right to the forecast and find some rain as well. the clouds thickening up. ♪

♪ hit the road, jack ♪ and don't you come back no more ♪ ♪ no more, no more, no more ♪ hit the road, jack ♪ and don't you come back no more ♪ [ male announcer ] want your weeds to hit the road? hit 'em with roundup extended control.

one application kills weeds and puts down a barrier to stop new ones for up to four months. roundup extended control spray once. stop weeds for months. plea deals have been reached for two former richmond police officers facing federal

conspiracy charges. prosecutors say danny harris and raymond thomas bought guns for under aged security guards. they also are accused of putting together sting operations to arrest the guys after they turned them in. a push is under way in sacramento to remove a word many consider offensive to the development disable. >> the word retardation is outdated and calling someone retarded you know is just not appropriate. it's better to use a more respectful term. >> alan mansuer is behind the bill to change the word to intellectual disabled. president obama signed rosas law which removed that law from

all federal laws. news chopper 2 spotted a gray whale just minutes away swimming away from the golden gate bridge. n.o.a. officials say they spotted a mother and its calf this morning. those two were first seen in the area on wednesday and are said to be migrates to alaska. the coast guard is warning boaters to steer clear from any whales because they are protected by federal law. the andian bear is just the latest loss at the san francisco zoo. >> reporter: the san francisco zoo is mourning a beloved bear tonight. and we asked the question, is it aging population something that a local zoo like this one has to deal with? wish bone claimed this grotto for more than two decade. last month he became too sick to meet with visitors then this week at the age of 25, he was

gone. the curator worked with the ambian bear. >> he was entertaining to zoo staff as well as visitors. he loved food. >> look at that. >> you think we're going to get a new baby bear? maybe. >> no. >> no. how old was the bear. was he like an old grand dad bear? >> reporter: the san francisco zoo has a varied age range despite the recent losses of a 42-year-old gray seal and 41- year-old black rhino. >> we have cats that are aging. although we're bringing new animals and we're having hopefully breeding recommendations for some. over all it's pretty average and pretty fair. >> and in 2007, the grizzly exhibit opened.

these grizzly bears although under 2 years old are active. >> there's a lot of animals that are extinct. and yeah for them to actually say they've seen a bear is real nice. >> the alternative of park and statutes just wouldn't be the same for families like the mendozas. there are no plans to bring any new wildlife additions just yet. reporting live from san francisco, jade hernandez ktvu channel 2 news. excited shoppers celebrated the much anticipated grand opening today of walnut creek's newest high end retailer. cheering crowds poured into the new neiman marcus department store which opened its doors at 10:00 sharp this morning. it's been years in the making. the mayor says tax revenue from the store will bring 300 to

400,000 tax dollars a year. a national transportation safety board spoke in san jose today to discuss the dangerous of pilot fatigue. this week the federal aviation administration fined colgin air for violating crew rest regulation. national transportation safety board blamed the crash on pilot error from fatigue. when it comes to sleep loss and fatigue we know that those kill, injure and cause billions of the dollars. a pilots association study revealed the hours of 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. pose the biggest risk for take off. you will be getten getten -- getting an extra hour of sleep. it's also a good opportunity to change the batteries in your sleep arm. bill martin joins u from the weather center. you are tracking some changes.

great today but some changes on the way. >> the weekend is going to be okay but the big changes are next week. we're not thinking next week, we're thinking the weekend. tomorrow temperatures drop off a little bit. we head outside, we head to the santa clara valley which today was beautiful. 61degrees just up by the dunbarton bridge. in redwood city, i have a 56 degrees, at degrees -- that's water temperature. a beautiful day on the peninsula. a beautiful day throughout the bay area. forecast highs tomorrow will be down from these. these were the observed highs highs today. they were really very spectacular. highs tomorrow are going to be 65 in the warm spots. low 60s. sunday will be a little bit cooler back into the very low 60s. the forecast tonight is a cool one. you will need a jacket because once the sunsets you're going to get into the 60s.

maybe a sprinkle as you go into sunday, the north bay in the evening. not a light sprinkle. not enough to shut down your plans. it is winter, i know i have to remind you but it is winter. here we are saturday a few clouds move in. that's why the temperatures come down because you have filtered sunshine. the core of this system gets closer to us. mainly in the north bay, again does not appear to want to shut down your plans. rosemary orozco will be here sunday on the morning news. mark tamayo will be here on the morning news. right now suffice to say saturday looks like the nicest day. temperatures in the mid-60s from livermore. the computer model, saturday at lunchtime here comes the clouds saturday afternoon. still no big deal. sunday morning, right now it's mostly to partly cloudy. now there's some sprinkles

hanging around 3:00 on sunday. but you can see, you know this right. you can see there's no organized system going through here that's going to bring you the big winds and rain. very unorganized the system. so it'll be light rain at best. your five day forecasts for tomorrow. with your bay area weekend in view. this week flew by. we're going to lose an hour of sleep. maybe get a little extra rest. if you need to find something what do you do? you google it. now a new survey shows just how popular google is. 80% of people in the united states rate google as their preferred site compare that to yahoo which ranked a distant second at only 6%. >> coming up on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36. more than just words of caution from pope benedict who today

spoke with area bishops. chocolate lovers call it the chocolate grail. you may call it a taste of a galaxy thousands of miles away. the effort to make this mini land in san francisco. j

lego land california sent san francisco to a galaxy far far away. some lego models were put on displace. >> this is han solo he's about 10,000 bricks. this is a good example of what you can see. there's going to be 20 figures added. things like darth and other really cool models. star wars mini land opens up at lego land california in carlsbad. fans holding their breath because this was his first game back even if it's an exhibition game since that terrible ankle injury. and he did all right in spring

debut. taking a couple of innings. he admitted he was a little anxious and he went 0-1 at the plate. three scoreless innings, he's having a great spring. cabrera what a spring this guy is having. not a moment doubt on that one. his third home run of the spring. it was 2-3 and the giants wind up victorious. we are about to hit march madness in a big way for the men. but first some women's activity. the pack 12 women's tournament under way and stanford the favorite looking for their ninth over all pac12 title. not a good shooting day. agumecke taking care of the work under there and they shot 29% from the floor. again 24 points, 12 rebounds,

27 straight wins. cal also victorious. they beat wfu is out of it but it'll be cal versus stan -- stanford's play off tomorrow. >> that stanford team like a steam roller. >> we'll see how they do in the big tournament. everybody is talking about those whales in the bay. news chopper 2 spotted them about an hour ago. >> eric rasmussen is also tracking them down. you'll see what he find on the 10:00 news. thank you for trusting ktvu.

(car horn) paying with your smartphone instead of cash... (phone rings) that's a step forward. with chase quickpay, you can send money directly to anyone's checking account. i guess he's a kicker... again, again! oh, no you don't! take a step forward and chase what matters.

chances are your soil is like this: compacted, drained of nutrients. it'll hold your plants... but it'll also hold 'em back. the solution: miracle-gro garden soil. the perfect mix of rich, organic ingredients, and miracle-gro plant food.