good afternoon. i'm tori campbell. finally a positive development for oakland's embattled police department and its much-used helicopter.

we're learning how the o.p.d. will hearn how to -- will learn how to cut the cost for keeping their eye in the sky. here's more. >> reporter: at one time, the department allocated $350,000 a year to keep this helicopter in the air. that budget is now down to about $60,000. but today, the nonprofit donated $10,000 to try to keep this in the air and we got an -- in the air and we got an exclusive look. oakland police will tell you there's nothing like having eyes in the skies. >> it's a force multiplier, in that it kos the -- in that it does the works for o.p.d. >> reporter: argus, the name of the helper, comessed to fly 24

-- comes to fly 24 hours a day. >> we have a low-jack system to track stolen vehicles. >> reporter: in its heyday, argus was flying 1200 hours a year, five to six days a week, eight to nine hours a day. but oakland police say that air time paid off. in its last full year of operation, argus is credited with assisting in 470 felony arrests, 72-foot pursuits -- 72 foot pursuits and when the budget got cut, argus did, too. in 2009, it was grounded. in 2011, anthony batts ordered it back up but it's flying a

lot less. >> in the last couple of years we've flown it for about 200 a year. it has flown over the occupy protest and may day strike. >> the helicopter is relied upon by the operations chief to provide tactics on what we're gonna do. >> so today's donation was for $10,000 and that equates to 80 hours of fuel. it doesn't account for all of the maintenance and other costs that go with it. the folks say this is their way to step up. would they are asking -- they are asking others to step up to try to keep this helicopter in the air for o.p.d. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. meanwhile, sacramento police just received a new helicopter. it came from yamhill county in oregon. it could not afford the maintenance.

sacramento was next on the legs of law enforcement agencies waiting for donated -- on the list of law enforcement agencies waiting for donated -- donations. a new volunteer search effort is underway for sierra lamar. organizers say the team also recanvass areas that were searched in the past. the teen disappeared back in march while walking from her home to the bus stop. 21-year-old antolin garcia- torres was arrested on charges that he kidnap and murdered the girl. he's due to be arraigned tomorrow. an apparent suicide in an underground grudge at an aunt complex in fremont trigger a hazardous material call this morning. a handwritten note on the

window said "poisonous gas." firefighters determined they were dealing with hydrogen sulfide which can be very sox toxic -- can be very toxic. >> apparently it dissipates very quickly. it's not a hazard to anybody outside. >> reporter: as a precaution, police issued a shelter in place but later lived -- lifted that order. oakland firefighters were busy this morning with a raging house fire. we were there as the fire burned out of control at the house on martin luther king, junior way, near 28th street. the flames were shooting through the roof when firefighters arrived. after several minutes of putting -- of putting the fire out, they took a defensive position. neighbors say the home was abandoned and quarters -- squatters may have been living there. >> smoke. i smelled smoke.

i saw flames shooting through the roof, even before the firefighters got here. >> reporter: did you call the fire department? >> no. i heard the sirens off in the distance. i thought i hope there's nobody in there. oakland firefighters were also busy with another incident early this morning. coming up in ten minutes, how this arson investigation may be related to a feud between some neighbors. after years of having to deal with budget deficits by cutting staff and services, the city of san francisco's actually doing more hiring for their police and fire department. new at noon, noelle walker joins us what this will mean for the city. good afternoon. >> reporter: good afternoon, tori. here is the place where new officers get new training. ed lee made what he called a significant announcement will the budget he will put forward tomorrow. an announcement the mayor says he's been waiting on for some time against the backdrop of police cadets and the fire personnel, the mayor said san

francisco is embarking on a public safety hiring spree with 263 police officers expected to retire in the next two years, san francisco is poised not only to replace them but to put additional officers on the street. here's the plan -- over the next six years, the city will fund six police academies. it's committed to hire 50 officers a year for a total of 300 additional police officers offer that six-year period. >> with this plan, we anticipate to reach the city charter mandate of 1,971 officers by june 2018. how about that, chief, commission? >> all right! >> reporter: now, the fire department is included in the budget. the city is going to hold sticks of these specialized classes and emt technicians.

to recap, ed lee announced today, just about an hour ago that he's gog put more police officers and firefighters on the streets here in san francisco. part of his new two-year budget that he will formally present tomorrow. reporting live in san francisco, noelle walker, ktvu channel 2 news. in our election coverage, mitt romney will be headed here to the bay area tonight, just a day after getting enough delegates from the texas primary to clinch the republican nomination. >> these last three offtheres have not been good -- threes last three and a half years have not been good for the american people. >> romney has been campaigning in las vegas and colorado. next, he will be heading to the peninsula for a fund-raiser. it's being held at the 65,000- square foot mansion in

hillsborough, which is considered an historic landmark in the state. tickets are as much as $50,000. >> that have been events before but nothing this big since i've lived here. >> how do you feel about it? >> it's kind of exciting. >> the fund-raiser is hosted by meg whitman. former secretary of state george schultz is also expected to attend the event. today the president obama called mitt romney to congratulate him. >> i'm glad that congress got this done. i'm great follow members of most parties who put the interest of the american people hurt. this is the vehicle's vehicle

-- this is the vehicle needed. it would hurt them to know there are vandals out here hurting the place where their loved uns with -- loved ones are laid to rest. ahead, we'll show you more of the damage that has people very disturbed. mark toe mark tamayo -- mark tamayo's 90-degree temperatures are up next. be a better citizen. >> protesters converge on the chevron shareholders' meeting.

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right now, the "uss iowa is on its way from los angeles. on july 9th it will be permanently anchored and become a floating museum. it was used during world war ii, the korean war and again in the 1980s. turning to the crisis in syria, the u.s. is expressing

doubt about efforts about kofi annan to convince a cease-fire. the meeting between annan and bashar assad comes on the heels of a massacre of kills on friday. annann called that an acalling crime. today, susan rice, the ambassador for the u.n., called for more sanctions against the syrian government since it appears unlikely the peace plan will proceed. during the last hour, protesters left after gathering outside of the annual shareholders meeting in san ramon. >> people from around the world, communities from nigeria, and other countries are calling for them to stop.

>> we continue to invest and support communities wherever we do business. >> the protesters say they represent 40 organizations in 20 countries. vandals have apparently struck at an -- at an east bay cemetery. they say it's happening at the 150-year-old cemetery on the scenic drive in martinez. police say several crypts have been des sa crated. two coffins were taken out of mausoleums and opened -- desecrated. two coffins were taken of mausoleums and opened up. >> you know, it would definitely hurt to know that that was my family. la fayette police are searching for a man they say robbed a bank of america branch yesterday afternoon. police say this man entered the

bank on mt. diablo boulevard and demanded money. they say he handed a float to the teller and left the bank after deeing -- being a -- after being given an undisclosed amount of money. anyone with information is asked to call la fayette police. an arson attack may be behind two neighbors. firefighters raced to the scene to find two cars badly damaged. someone threw molotov cocktails inside the vehicle. a witness is convinced it's another neighbor driving a white van. >> and he threw something in the cars. >> the man says he's given oakland police information about the neighbor he believes

is responsible but so far there's no word off -- of any arrest in in case -- of any arrest in this case. >> several parents called to say their kids are being bullied and we're now hearing from a victim. >> this video was posted recently online by the lawyer of the 11-year-old -- by the mother of the 11-year-old victim. but a few months before that, jaylene said she was in the same situation at hogan middle school. >> everybody started jumping in. everybody started to jump in at one time. i'm not mad about it. it just irritates me. >> the mother of the latest young victim said she plans to meet with the district attorney and discuss pressing charges against her daughter's

attacker. southern california had an earthquake last night, it was a magnitude 4.0 quake in the channel islands around 10:14 p.m. that's 27 miles southwest of malibu. there are no reports of injuries or damage but many people did say they felt a sharp jolt. new earthquake faults have been discovered near lake tahoe. they were found using high resolution technology. there's the threat of landslides stretching from west of truckee and through the squaw valley ski resort. about two hours ago, golden gate transit unveiled their transit center in san rafael. the center serves about 6,000 customers a day. it provides one-stop shopping

for% to get transit information, do trip planning, buy a clipper card and make reservations for the ferry to the giants' game. the district will pay $4.1 million for 449 acres for what used to be the brick company. the purchase will offer the possibility for a new entry point for hikers and others to reach the shoreline. the district plans to do an environmental study and hold meetings to decide how to best use the land. we want to show you the uss nimitz. it's out in the bay right now. the carrier came down washington state to take part of the 75th anniversary of the golden gate bridge. the ship is scheduled to sale under the bridge during the

next hour. it's nice to have clearing skies over the bay right now. a bit of haze looking out toward the golden gate. because of the -- for the rest of the bay area temperatures are trending parmer. right now, the -- warmer at this time. right now, you can pick out the coverage of the fog. you can see the clouds hugging parts of the shoreline right around san francisco. you can pick it -- can't pick it out. but this will gradually be on the decrease in the next two to three hours. forecast headlines for today. we have this wednesday clearing skies. tomorrow, more sunshine, the warming trend continues. just in time for the weekend. fog really makes the comeback. current numbers just updated. you can see the 60s for san francisco and redwood city, santa rosa, 74 cession. fairfield one of the warmer

spots and san jose mostly sunny skies and 71. the satellite here in the pacific, the storm track heading way up to our north. the plan for today, clearing skies. there will be an increase in the northerly breeze that will eppush some of the fog down the coast. inland temperatures back up into the 80s this afternoon by 3:00, 4:00. here is a change for tomorrow. high pressure strengthens. so patchy morning fog with plenty of sunshine and temperatures tomorrow inland. the warmest locations will be right around the 90-degree mark around 89 to 92 degrees. here is our forecast model showing you decrease. first thing tomorrow morning, we could have patchy fog especially around coast side. the forecast model not too a -- not too aggressive. things will be warming up especially for thursday afternoon, the warmest day of the week. forecast highs this afternoon, temperatures maxing out in the mid- to upper 80s. san francisco right around 64.

san jose in the upper 70s and half moon bay, 61. here is a look ahead. with your weekend always in view, temperatures there, you can pick out the warmup for thursday. we'll cool things off especially coast side on -- coastside. everythingve cools off for the weekend and temperature -- everyone cools off for the weekend and temperatures will drop. another cooldown. we're talking a loot about cooldowns this time of year and that will be happening this week. >> thank you, mark. still ahead -- details about a police standoff right now in a bay area neighborhood. also two lucky winners of a megamillions jackpot have still not come forward. ñsxóxgñ

the -- the dow suffering one of its worst tray -- one of its worse days of the year. take aclive look at the big board, the dow down 154. the nasdaq is down 31. s&p is down 17. developing news out of oakland where -- where a police standoff is taking place in a residential neighborhood. it started around 10:30 on richie street near macarthur boulevard. police surrounded a home there where a man may be armed and holed up. the man is wanted for allegedly beating his girlfriend and committing robbery. police say he ran into the home and forced the occupants to

leave. we'll update this story online and at 5:00 -- and at 5:00. check your lottery tickets. someone in the bay area has won a lot of money. the $227,000 ticket was purchased at fox liquor's in san francisco. someone bought it two months ago when the megajackpot was worth a record breaking $600 million. the other ticket was purchased in hollywood. those were the only sotickets -- those were the only two tickets. today on the news at 5:00, the high point of a monumental construction project that's part of the conviction skyline. see how the building could yield the information that we need to better protect

ourselves from major earthquakes in the future. thank you for trusting -- thank you for trusts the news. be sure to -- thank you for trussing the news -- trusting the news. weary always here for you -- we're always here for you. see you at 5:00. we are always on ktvu.com and mobile ktvu.