ktvu has just learned critical information on the scandal involving san francisco's sheriff. good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. several sources have told ktvu that sheriff ross mirkarimi has been told to resign or else. lorraine blanco is live where the sheriff's wife is about to

speak to. >> reporter: yeah, and what you said is true. the mayor has been given 24 hours to resign or they will start the process of removing him. after that discussion, the sheriff refused to comment and deferred to the mayor's office. domestic violence is never a private matter. by tomorrow morning you will see this message in spanish, at this intersection. >> we've been hearing from all around the community encouraging us to continue with the message which is really about victims' safety. the same billboard in english, just blocks from a judge snegessed mirkarimi for false

imprisonment -- sentenced mirror cau rim i had for false impolicement to -- mirror p cau rimmy for false imprisonment against his wife. >> it seems difficult or -- to see this. >> reporter: we're told by the mayor's office he's expected to make an announcement sometime this afternoon. but again, ktvu has learned from credible sources that the mayor has given the sheriff 24 hours to re-sign or they will start the -- to resign or they will start the process of removing him. >> thank you, lorraine. happening right now, the lawyer for the wife of sheriff ross mirkarimi is speaking.

let's listen in. >> in addition, miss madison have retained an attorney and that attorney has sent a sees cease and desist letter to me, asking me -- or saying that -- i'm not exactly sure what. my the statements were -- the statements were private. but ms. lopez is now being threatened with a lawsuit, as i understand it. our attorneys -- now i have an attorney and she has another attorney, our tearns have advised us that before further statements can be made, our -- our attorneys have advised us that before further statements can be made -- as for the criminal case, it's over. as tot discussions about ms.--

as to the discussions about ms. lopez testifying, she always said she would testify if granted immunity and the district attorney's office declined to grant her immuneny. as for ms. low -- immunity. as for ms. lopez, she feels attacked and used. all she did with respect to the conversations she had with ms. madison and mr. mirtin is to show they were protected under the california evidence code. ms. lopez advises that she only asked and only asserted her rights by telling madison and mirtin that they did not have her permission to talk about what she discussed with them. they -- that they did not have her permission to give away the

video. the holder of a privilege of a client has an absolute right to control what an attorney says. the holder of the privilege has an absolute right to tell their attorney, don't talk or in this instance, i assure you i have ms. lopez's permission to give this statement. to say again that ms. lopez loves her husband and loves her child should go without saying. she's not afraid of ross. she supports ross. she supported the modification of the order that ross could have visitation with theo, that ross is a good father, that voss a good man, that ross is a good person. >> you've been listening live to paula canny there, the lawyer for the wife of the san francisco sheriff saying that she felt threatened and attacked and -- threatened with

another lawsuit. meanwhile, a neighbor of sheriff mirkarimi and his wife is giving his side of the case. he's the husband of madison who took video. in a letter to "the chronicle" he wrote that the sheriff called his wife repeatedly demanding that she destroy the e-mail, text about the incident. >> if the mayor decides to remove the sheriff, formal charges must be filed followed by mirkarimi's immediate suspension. an independent ethics commission would hold a hearing, recommendations would be sent to the supervisors, the supervisors would vote on those recommendations for the removal

to take effect at least nine out of the 11 supervisors must approve. we've just confirmed that ed lee has asked the sheriff to resign within 24 hours or face formal charges. when news breaks on this case and we have any more information, you can find it immediately on ktvu.com. we've also posted more background information and video from the sheriff's full statements from the minutes he was sentenced. family and friends of a missing morgan hill teenager will gather for a candlelight vigil tonight. they've been posting fliers in an area where sierra lamar would have caught the bus on friday before she disappeared. sheriff deputies located her cell phone in the field near that area and are examining that and her laptop. they are also checking on sexual offenders in the area and discovered her father is on that list but they say she's not a suspect. friends say it's not relevant

to the search. >> i think that has nothing to do with the investigation. i don't want to focus on that. i want to focus ton finding sierra and finding her quick -- focus on finding sierra and finding her quickly. >> tonight's vigil will be held at the morgan hill presbyterian church at 8:00 p.m. we do have breaking news to report now out of mexico, which was rocked by a strong earthquake in just the past hour. the usgs says the earthquake registered 7.6. it was centered 150 miles east of acapulco. it was described as being strong and long. but the u.s. tsunami center for the wrest coast says no tsunami is expected as a result of this earthquake. mexico city's mayor tweeted the quake was felt in his city. he toured the city in a helicopter but saw no damage. there are no reports of injuries or damage yet from the quake. three people who took part

in an occupy protest at cal faced a judge less than two hours ago. they are facing several charges and may be banned from campus accept to attend classes. allie rasmus joins us live from outside the courthouse. what happened court? >> reporter: well, there is an arraignment here in the courthouse in downdown oakland. at that hear, three uc berkeley students and an alumna pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. they all stem from this incident. this is from november 9th. that's when protesters with occupy cal tried to set up tents in sprawl plaza. police tried to stop them and that's what led to this scene. in all, 13 people were charged. one of the protesters arraigned this morning says she thinks these charges are politically motivated. >> it's nothing but an attempt to try to sensor or right to criticize policies by the administration and the

governor. >> reporter: now, because of those charges an alameda county judge issued stay-away orders for at least eight of the 13 protesters. that order means the students are barred from being within 100 yards from the campus, except from going to and from class. we spoke to an attorney for one of the full-time students who was issued the stay-away issue last night. >> i asked her how it would affect her. the problems are it's very vague. uc property. does that include uc hospital? us housing? we have some defendants that that -- that do live in uc housing. >> reporter: and there are others who attend the library

or the eating hall. live in downtown oakland, allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news to. investigators are looking into a fire that broke out this morning in san jose. the two-alarm fire at an apartment complex on curley drive started just after 6:00 p.m. there are no reports of injuries. but there are reports that one person had to be rescued. it took about 20 minutes to contain the fire. the cause is still under investigation. if it helps the roads, it will be great. i was just debating whether it would be worth it. south bay drivers have something new to consider. you will hear more reaction to a major change that started this morning. and rosemary's information on you about when we'll see more rain. she will have a lot to say about the weekend. and the first of its kind approach to controlling toxic trash.

public outrage is mounting over the unarmed teenager in florida gunned down last month. today, the attorney for the teen's family said martin was talking on a cell phone with

his girlfriend. the neighborhood watchman said he was acting in self-defense. he's not been arrested or charged in the killing. today, illinois is the battleground in the race for the gop presidential nomination. front-runner, mitt romney, may be poised to widen his lead to a vict any illinois -- victory in illinois. he hopes this will hand number a fresh burst of momentum and end the increasingly-bitter battle. 54 delegates are at stake there today. santorum found himself on the defensive after making comments yesterday that his campaign does not hinge on unemployment rates. he later conceded that the economy is important but his candidacy is about something that transends that, saying it's about freedom. new toll lanes made their

debut today. tara moriarty joins us with the traffic sent -- from the traffic center. tara? >> some say there are still some kinks that have to be worked out, the way it affects people's a driving. the lanes are on highway's 237 and run through 880 in milpitas. we hit the new toll lane eastbound on 237 this morning near zanker road. the more congested the roadway is, the higher toll you pay. the cost today was nearly $2. one chp officer told us he responded to three accidents along the four-mile stretch along the toll lanes just this morning. >> we noticed a lot of high- speed lane changes. people are trying to get back over that don't belong out there. so more accidents this morning than unusual. >> reporter: despite the danger of using the lane, one driver said it was worth it. >> it seems like when you are

stuck in the junction, this will probably save you ten, 15 minutes. >> you must have a fastrack pass. the toll will range -- from 30 cents to $66. vehicles with -- cents to $6. these toll lanes will operate the sale as the toll lanes with an extended hour in the morning only from westbound 237 from 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, tara. city leaders in walnut creek will take a closer look today at a proposal to block traffic from a downtown street. most of broadway plaza would be shut down -- in an effort to make the shopping september -- simtder -- center more friendly. san rafael is one of the first cities in the tworltd to try something new to clean up

cigarette butts. the clean campaign says it costs the city $300,000 a year to pick up litter and trash in san rafael. the number one type of litter is cigarette butts. it's also one of the most toxic types of litter. >> you throw one of these in a jar of water with a fish and the fish will die. it's really important to get these off the street. >> the san rafael business owner has stepped in to help. she's paying clients at st. vincent's dining hall a dollar an ounce for these. it helps to clean up the streets and helps the people in need earn some money. >> they were very thrilled that they could make the contribution. >> members hope others will make donations to keep the program going. grocery stores, mini part marts and shopping centers are

not allowed to put customers' purchases in plastic bags starting today. stores must charge a dime for each paper bag given away. the law does not apply to any businesses in santa cruz county only in incorporated areas. these are live pictures right now up around mt. hamilton. they received a dusting of powder brought by the precipitation and cold temperatures but the snow is starting to melt away with today's sunshine and warmer conditions. good afternoon. partly sunny skies outside our door. san rafael, where we do have a possibility of maybe a few showers especially for the north bay. so far we haven't seen a whole lot. maybe a little bit of drizzle. stormtracker2 showing you we are mainly dry. we have bits of moisture embedded within the clouds. so we may get a little bit of a

light precip for today. northeasterly breeze at sfo. and it will continue to be light for today. if i get in really close, you can see that moisture i'm talking about, maybe on the west edge of san francisco here approaching the bay bridge, the golden gate dry at the moment, sliding south we may have a little bit of light rain bouncing around redwood city, some of this not hitting the ground. 61 degrees in san jose. our temperatures 6 to 8 degrees warmer than a few ears ago -- hours ago. our snow levels are rising as well. the satellite radar showing you the bit of moisture that we continue to watch over northern california. it's attempting to sink south but it's having a hard time. it fizzles out when it does. a ridge of high pressure will rebound on wednesday pushing the storms back up north just a little bit and wednesday looks to be a good day. that slight chance will of

sprinkles will be with us today. more sunshine means low 60s for today. 58 expected in santa rosa. 58 for san rafael. 60 degrees in oakland. 61 in hayward. with light winds. 62 san jose. 62 mountain view. 62 in los gatos. warmer than what we saw yesterday. a mix of sunshine and clouds. tomorrow will be warmer. tomorrow is gonna be pretty pleasant before our system rolls in wednesday night into thursday morning. it looks like it could clip us in time for the thursday- morning drive. friday is dry but cooler. the models are shaping up for a very wet saturday and showers remain in the forecast for sunday. >> thank you. >> you are welcome. heavy winds damaged part, of the marina. the harbor master said winds whether blowing between 20 and 33 miles an hour.

no other docked or vessels were damaged. more news about the 49ers and whether tim tebow may be headed this way.

stock indexes are still down on wall street after two reports suggested an economic slowdown? china. caterpillar is leading the dow lower sliding 2.9%. the to global slows are glowing

more slowly. apple's stock is now up to $606, up almost 1%. the dow currently down 50. nasdaq is flat. s&p down 2. members of a wildlife group are posting fliers and offering a $5,000 reward for the person who shot and killed a hawk last week near foothill road in san martin. an x-ray vee vealed it was shot in the test -- revealed it was shot in the chest. veterinarians are still deciding whether to remove the pellet or just let the bird heal. it's a done deal -- peyton manning is a bronco. the mvp agreed to a five-year $96 million contract with the broncos. the star quarterback arrived in denver. this is video of him shaking hands with some officials.

the team has a major news conference planned to announced the deal. the hope is they will get closer to a super bowl tighting. the broncos -- title. the broncos are looking to trade tim tebow and the 49ers are a possible -- are a possibility. jed york said the team has a standing order with ail licks smith who has played -- alex smith who has played with the team the last seven seasons. "john carter" cost $250 billion to make. now disney expects to lose $200 million on the film. that would put it in the same movie all of shame as other big money losers like "heaven's gates." new information is coming in every minute on the earthquake in mexico. this map shows the epicenter in

giraro state, about 150 miles east of acapulco. the quake was a 7.6. it was described as long and strong. there's already been a 4.8 aftershock about 40 minutes ago. we will be monitoring all of the reports coming out of mexico and updates coming up at 5:00. thank you for trusting the news. we'll see you the next time news breaks. we're always here for you on ktvu.com and mobile ktvu.com.