mirkarimi. >> now, all of that, she will somehow have to minimize and explain away if she wants the ethic's commission to say, well, this was an isolated act but isn't misconduct. >> reporter: ross mirkarimi pleaded guilty to false imprisonment on his wife. mayor ed lee moved to have him removed from office. ellana lopez supports her husband. she blamed the woman who shot this video for misrepresenting why the video was made. . >> i think it would be a mistake if ellana lopez attacks her neighbor. she is coming across as someone who is a concerned neighbor. >> reporter: again look at ellana lopez arriving 15 minutes ago. when she testifies this will be the first time she and her husband ross mirkarimi have

been in a room together since the order went into effect. she is expected to testify at 6:30 p.m. this evening. reporting live in san francisco, david stevenson, ktvu channel 2 news. a five-year-old boy died after being hit by a car last night. the accident happened around 16:15 p.m. last night. the driver was backing out of a driveway and hit the boy. emergency crews rushed the child to the hospital where he later died. the driver is commenting with the investigation. -- cooperating with the investigation. man shot by san francisco police the financial district has died. ktvu's paul chambers explains more. >> reporter: the chocolate factory is open but no one inside will talk to us. the officer involved shooting

started here inside tcho new american chocolate. >> reporter: you can see the police activity outside peer 17. officers say this morning a man who was a temporary worker for the tcho new american chocolate slashed a fellow employee. >> one employee stabbed another in the arm. >> he was upset. acting strangely. [no audio] >> reporter: the suspect has died. the victim was taken to the hospital where he was treated to cuts to the arm. the officer was put on made administrative leave when is sust marry. -- customary. at 6:00 what police have to

say. live in san francisco, paul chambers, ktvu channel 2 news. a man accused of killing his neighborhood's dog with a brick was in court today. he attended a review conference. he is charged with animal cruelty with killing his neighbor's dog. the dog's family rushed the dog to a vet. he claims the dog tried to bite him on several occasions. >> the dog tried to bite me. i am scared because i have my kids. >> that is what he is saying right now but he never told us. >> reporter: prosecute -- >> prosecutors say he never reported any problems to police. they say records show he hit the dog several times in the head and jaw. his hearing is next month.

>> students dressed up like zomies tried to take over the u.c. regents meeting. ktvu's rob roth tells us they ended up voting to freeze tuition but there is an if involved. >> reporter: governor jerry brown shown up at the u.c. regents meeting. he came to thank them for the support of his tax proposal. the visit was unplanned. during the day long meeting it was disrupted by students protesting their tuition might go up if voters rejected the tax hike proposal. >> reporter: as u.c. regents starting discussing the proposal, dozen of students interrupted. many called themselves zombies saying the tuition hikes are

killing them. >> more debt. >> reporter: for several minutes they shouted down the president saying tuition freeze shouldn't be contingent on the vote. they ordered the students to disperse. later the students said the cost is getting too expensive. >> we want to make a strong commitment not to do an increase. >> at this rate it will be $11,000 in debt by the time i graduate. >> reporter: after the meeting u.c. regents voted to freeze tuition increases but there is a catch. if voters don't vote for the proposition the freeze could go away. >> if it doesn't pass we face a cliff. we have to do things over night to bring the budget into balance.

>> what i wanted to say to the students who were there is i share your frustration, i share your concerns so mobilize and get out the vote. >> reporter: u.c. regents voted to increase fees for many graduate programs. as high as 30%. rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. authorities say the week long robbers fire was started by a person. containment is 70% and many evacuees were allowed back home today. they are still investigating whether it was accidental or intentional. people are outraged. >> morons and they deserve to be in jail. ridiculous. they could have destroyed hundreds of lives, thousands. >> many coming home today

showed their gratitude to firefighters the fire destroyed one home. containment is expected by saturday. they agreed to settle a lawsuit over a 2007 wildfire. they denied liability despite agreeing to the settlement. the blaze was sparked by employees. it destroyed 65,000 acres. the settlement is the largest federal recovery ever for damages caused by a forest fire. bombing in syria killed two top government officials and one of the president's relatives. >> there were scenes of chaos after a bomb exploded at a government meeting. the blast killed the interior

and defense ministers and a deputy minister. the defense secretary said the united states and the allies must step up their efforts. >> the international communities working with other countries that have concerns in that area have to bring pressure on him to do what is right to step down. >> the army vowed it will continue to fight and cleanse the nation from the armed gangs. a new government investigation finds potential terrorists are still able to get flying lessens in the united states. after the 9/11 attacks congress required more scrutiny but government accountability office reports four nationals are often not checked before they are trained and they are not always screened for immigrant status. >> 10 years after 9/11 there

are foreign nationals training to fly. >> investigators say they visited several schools in california but are not revealing expects. the head of lockheed martin said he may have to lay off thousands if budget cuts do not kick in. congress must find cuts otherwise the impact on the defense canthers will be dev -- contractors will be devastating. 10,000 people could lose their jobs. mitt romney held a town hall meeting in ohio. he once again took aim at what he called the failed policies of president obama. mitt romney accused the president of attacking success

after he criticized his record with bain capital. mitt romney said if he is elected american will be a more successful nation with more jobs and rising income. first lady michelle obama hit the road today. she took her campaign to philadelphia and attended the conference of mayors. she later traveled to alabama to meet with victims of last year's devastating tornadoes. she visited a summer camp as well and talked with children who survived the storms. we might need a fanfare, why? because there is life in the housing market. start story still ahead. >> right now we have mostly clear skies, moisture from a old hurricane, where thunderstorms could pop up outside the bay area and the one direction temperatures will

be heading for your thursday.

former basketball star jeremy lin is headed to the rockets. the knicks announced they will not much their contract offer. he spent two weeks with the rockets last year before they waved him. in new york he sparked the term linsanity. today new encouraging numbers on home building. ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar live now near livermore. >> reporter: this is really significant. look over here. the land here is being prepared for construction, something happening more and more in the new housing market. >> reporter: they are putting a lot of new homes here in its development in the livermore

hills. one man says construction picked up substantially. >> i can't attest to the fact the economy is coming back. it is coming back right here because they are selling and building. >> reporter: nationwide new home construction hasn't seen this much activity in four years. >> we are seeing an uptick in 70. >> reporter: fueling it, job growth and increased consumer confidence and low home prices and record low interest rates, more people can qualify for a loan. >> housing is more affordable. if they get into a house, over long term it is a positive investment. >> a lumber company had to chop it down. a miller had to mill it. a construction company bought it with other things to make it into a home and all of this means jobs, jobs, jobs.

>> starting to see job creation. more job growth within the industry. >> reporter: that is good since some 300,000 californians who were in the construction trades at the peak before the crash are still looking for work. reporting live, consumer editor tom vacar ktvu channel 2 news. at 6:00 a boom of a different sort, how what is going on in the housing market is effecting renters and the squeeze they are feeling. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke said the economy is on the mend but in his words head winds slowed the recover. >> they should fade over time allowing the economy to grow more rapidly and the unemployment rate to decline. >> ben bernanke blamed the housing market and tight borrowing conditions but he says there has been progress.

the bond purchases are driving inrist rates down -- inrist rates down -- interest rates down. on wall street, the dow is up 103 to 12,908. the nasdaq is up 32 at 2,942. the s&p is up 9 at 1,372. a move aimed at stopping tobacco sellers failed tonight. they want to limit tobacco shops. the emergency measure failed to get enough votes. education officials found standardize tests were not compromised last spring by photos showing test questions. students posted the pictures on websites like facebook. officials say out of 442 images

most were illegible. results at schools where students took the photos are being adjusted. in gilroy police completed their investigation into the shooting death of the three- year-old son of a police officer. investigators turned over their finding to the district attorney for review. it contains a recommendation on whether criminal charges would be filed. the child was shot by a hand gun in a bedroom of the family's home in what police said was a accident. you can watch ktvu channel 2 news wherever you are by using our mobile app, download it and click on the live stream button and you could watch any ktvu channel 2 news news last live. . back inside san francisco city hall where the hearing for suspended san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi is getting

underway. david stevenson showed us how ellana lopez arrived at city hall and greeted by supporters in the past 20 minutes. at this point the hearing is getting underway and we haven't heard from ellana lopez yet. that is expected to happen at 6:30 p.m. there is a lot to get to before that happens. david stevenson is in the courtroom and we will keep our camera here as well and we will update you coming up at 5:30 p.m. let's talk about the weather. beautiful day in the bay area. but interesting changes? >> yeah. outside the bay area. we have been watching this forecast. you wouldn't know with sunshine right now but moisture from what was once a category 2 hurricane is approaching central california. we have mostly clear skies but to the south, showers

developing, approaching bakersfield and santa barbara and it will be clipping areas to the south of monterey bay over the next 12 hours. right now most areas warm out there. cooling trend has come to an end. 80-degree temperature in fairfield right now. oakland 67. and san francisco, that should say 60s. on the satellite and radar, we are between two weather systems. this area of low pressure to the north and west and the moisture streaming in to southern california. the model we have been looking at, here is a look at what is happening. we will pick up a few high clouds tonight and there is a slight chance of a thunderstorm to the areas to the south and east of monterey bay. forecast model, rain showers to the north, clouds to the south. you will notice the bulk of the showers activity not much,

outside the bay area too, the south and east -- bay area, to the south and east. first thing tomorrow morning, for your thursday, partly cloudy skies, areas of fog out there, coast side and bay side locations. oakland 55. here is the forecast, temperature thermometer heading upward. temperatures tomorrow warming up 2-5 degrees. inland back up into the lower 80s. the warming trend continuings. coming up when -- continues. coming up when 90 degrees temperatures return. a communication break down. oakland police change their radios but a year later are there improvements? the concern being raised by the police chief. >> would you be willing to

ditch your car if it meant not paying your tax?

. a broken water main shut down highway 99 and caused a mess. the main broke and sent 250,000 gallons of water into the roadway. the roads were closed for four

hours. water officials weren't sure why it broke. this is a plan that is sure to anger computers. -- commuters. how would you feel if you were charged for every mile you drove? ktvu's allie rasmus has more. >> reporter: would you be willing to ditch your car if you could avoid paying a tax? leaders are considering a vehicle miles traveled tax. the idea, charge drivers 10 cents a mile and they will drive less. >> it will make me drive less. maybe i want to do everything at one time. >> reporter: fast track devices could keep track of the miles you traveled. >> common people are being charged. the spokesman says it is a question of money. right now most of the funds for road repairs comes from the gas

tax. >> gas tax hasn't been raised in a couple decades. the federal level hasn't been raised since bill clinton was present. >> if we are going to maintain the system we have to find a way to pay for it. >> reporter: it is years, maybe even decades away from becoming a reality. still most drivers didn't like it. >> i drive 45 miles a day. >> reporter: they will vote on whether to study this issue further at their meeting tomorrow. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. a new report says oakland police radios may be putting officers at risk. they installed a new system last year after years of complaints. a report found the new system hasn't been much better than the old one. we caught up with the police chief today to get his

reaction. >> we expect that when our officers are out in the field we want to give them the best piece of equipment so they could be safe and respond. i am concerned about the results that came out. >> improvements have been made but the system is still unreliable when officers are inside buildings. they are working on cost estimates on fixing the problem. the money has left the station. whatwhat happened today to put california's high-speed rail on track and california first in the nation. >> and east bay residents concerned tonight over new reports of west nile virus. and hot, hearty sub. like the toasty big hot pastrami melt. get to your local subway for some dinnertime deliciousness tonight.

subway. eat fresh.

complete bay area news coverage continues right now, this is ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. >> twin ceremonies, california's high-speed rail, the funding promised so nice the governor signed it twice. is today's action slowing critics? but first happening now, back inside san francisco city hall where the ethic's commission hearing for suspended san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi is now underway. we are hearing now from our sources that it is ross mirkarimi's campaign manager talking right now. the person we are waiting to hear from is his wife ellana lopez. as david stevenson reported, she just arrived around 5:00 today. ellana lopez flew in to san francisco from wednesday wednesday specifically to testify that hearing. she has been in venezuela for some time now. mayor ed lee is attempting to

remove ross mirkarimi from the sheriff's office. at this point we understand ellana lopez is expected to take the stand at 6:30 p.m. david stevenson is inside the room and we will be monitoring the hearing from inside the news room. we will let you know what happens in 15 minutes. back to the california's high-speed rail project. $8billion for that project signed into law today. ktvu's debora villalon shows us the location that will be the end of the line there. >> reporter: it is a huge hole in the ground right now here on howard street but what is envisioned here, the grand central station of the west. >> reporter: governor jerry brown signed in seconds what took decades to accomplish. everyone involved with california's high-speed rail

took a victory lap. >> the world is full of fearful men but the world is also full of doers and leaders. >> reporter: the funding includes 3 billion in rail bonds voters okayed four years ago and 3 billion in federal funds and 2 billion to modernize transportation in the bay area and in los angeles where the governor held another signing this morning. governor jerry brown inherited the train and became its biggest champion. >> with everybody telling him this is your opportunity, don't do california's high-speed rail, it wasn't on your watch, you can walk away. >> it has been so many years, this is the right conclusion. >> reporter: lawsuits over land use and environmental issues and doubt about the cost in a cash strapped economy.

standing in this spot, an underground transit center, this is about investment in the future. >> me, now, easy. this is about us, long and difficult. >> reporter: this 35-foot crater is braced by support beams and will be twice as deep. it will hold a four story transit center with a park, housing and shops. california's high-speed rail is a $69 billion undertaking. live in san francisco, dev ruv, ktvu channel 2 news -- debora villalon, ktvu channel 2 news. san jose international airport has $7 million in new funding for improvements. the money is by way of a grand from the federal aviation administration for runway upgrades. they expect better airport service will attract more travelers and boost the local

economy. a lot of people are pleased with the progress so far. >> improving it will help business too. >> oakland has a lot of great airlines and i would like to see some here. >> this is part of the fifth phase of a $55 million improvement project. the police department is offering people a chance to chat with a police officer online. the chief introduced the service last month in this video. it is called live guide. so far officers used it for conversations about everything from street lights to neighbor disputes. two birds tested positive for west nile virus. one in pleasant hill and that is where ktvu's cara liu is live with resident concerns. >> reporter: vector control

says the best thing people can do is make sure there is no standing water for a breeding ground for mosquito. they have seen mosquito breeding in soda cans and a bottle cap. >> reporter: they were out in contra costa county streeting catch basins. -- treating catch basins. >> kills the mosquito. so it doesn't allow them to grow up. >> reporter: a new report shows more mosquito testing positive for west nile virus in brentwood. resident are concerned. >> i don't like mosquito bites. >> reporter: workers fogged the area last week and will be out again tomorrow night. >> brentwood is the area we are concerned with. >> reporter: this weekending an infected bird was found. parts of the bay area that are

warmer may be at higher risk. >> weather play as role in the risk of west nile virus. it allows more mosquito to produce quickly, from egg to adult in five days and the mosquito is able to replicate the virus. >> reporter: west nile can be transmitted to humans from infected mosquito. less than 1% of people can have serious systems. >> reporter: workers are asking resident to notify vector control if there is a neglected pool. one green pool can produce a million mosquito andenth people up to five -- and infect people up to five miles away. cara liu, ktvu channel 2 news. contra costa county says the high number of mosquito and

west nile virus led to a plan to spray in the brentwood area tomorrow. it will take place from 8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. we highlighted the spraying areas here in the pink. coming up, their shoes are nails above the bar, why one man told us about two horses getting that tribute. a software company is quietly preparing for an ipo. several sources say work day filed last week for a initial public offering in october. they were founded by ex-people executives. they offer employee and financial management solutions long with software. she was kicked out of the

boy scouts because she is a lesbian. what she took to the headquarters today. >> a ktvu investigation goes to las vegas, inside the effort to stop the leader of weapon smuggling ring. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

san francisco police held a

ceremony today to bid farewell to two members of the patrol. riddler is a 19-year-old horse and today at a ceremony he was officially retired after 12 years of service. officials also honored charlie, he died this month after a ill? ness and the officer -- illness and the officer that paroled with him spoke today. >> like a family horse. everybody loved him. >> the owr of lefty o'doul's gave the horses the ultimate honor, nailing their shoes above the bar's entrance. a lesbian woman forced out of the boy scouts took her fight to headquarters. she asked the scouts to reverse their policy.

officials denied her request. the boy scouts reaffirmed its band on gays. the company that invented the dimmer lighting switches installed a new lighting switch in the empire state building. it will cut energy use by 40%. there is word that members of the military involved in a secret service prostitution scandal will not face charges. you will recall they spent time with prostitutes in a hotel ahead of a visit by president obama in april. one member has been reprimanded and 7 will receive administrative punishments. final decisions are still pending for two but they will not face criminal charges. they didn't break any laws but they could have compromised their work. they ordered capital one

began to repay refunds and fines. most of that money will go to credit card customers tricked into buying costly add on services. the order against capital one is the first enforcement action by the protection bureau set up a year ago to protect consumers from excessive or hidden fees. weapons from iraq that could have hended up here on the -- ended up here on the streets. >> major cooling trend came to an end. when 90s return to the forecast and the hottest day of the upcoming weekend.

happening now, live once again inside the ethic's commission hearing that is going on right now in san francisco. once again here, what you are looking at is ross mirkarimi's campaign manager. what everyone is waiting for is ross mirkarimi's wife, ellana lopez to take the stand. she just flew in from venezuela. she is expected to take the stand at 6:30 p.m. tonight. what she says could be crucial when it comes to the future of her husband as san francisco sheriff. we have a reporter in, watching the developments right now. at 6:00, that will be our lead story, looking at what ellana lopez should say and also what she should not do when she

takes the stand, coming up on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. the first day of a 17 year prison sentence for a former navy seal. ktvu's eric rasmussen travels to las vegas to see the evidence. he is here now with a look inside the investigation that brought down a most unlikely ring leader. >> reporter: this afternoon the friend of that former navy seal was sentenced to probation in exchange for helping the government. and for the first time we got a look at the evidence, including dezens of -- dozens of gun and video recorded by undercover agents. >> reporter: agencies say the suspect celling ak-47 selling

-- selling ak-47s. >> wouldn't happy about knowing that we would have to arrest somebody that could be considered a national hero. >> reporter: investigators linked these weapons to the navy seal who served two tours in iraq where he had access to machine guns. >> they look like guns you would see in a war zone. >> absolutely. they were. they came from iraq. >> this was his friend who helped authorities seal their case getting him to talk about the gun deals on the phone. >> he has been bugging me for more ak. >> how many more? >> as many as five. >> i don't have any. >> reporter: last year a jury in las vegas found him guilty

on 13 federal counts, including conspiracy and transfer of machine guns. the atf seized 70 weapons in all. even a dust cover found in his apartment in san diego. >> he was able tomatch this -- to match this ak-47. >> reporter: turned out to be be a key piece of evidence. >> locks right in. >> reporter: do you have a sense of how many weapons you didn't get? >> our concern is always we have miss fire arms. >> reporter: his lawyer says he was suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder and couldn't find right from wrong. at 10:00 we follow the money

trail and other key evidence. eric rasmussen, ktvu channel 2 news. youtube is unveiling a new teacher for protesters -- feature for protesters. it allows you taupload video and bore -- to upload video and bore the face of protesters. that is the original video. the blurred images are on the right side. the feature allows people to share footage more widely and speak out when they otherwise cannot. yesterday our chief meteorologist bill martin talked about a warming trend. bill is off today but mark is here. >> the forecast so far, nicely out there. the warming trend starts a little bit today. you will notice the change friday and the weekend. develops to the south. a big batch of high clouds moving closer to monterey bay

and around santa barbara, rain showers, bakersfield and los angeles. we will be watching this. it is supposed to say out of the bay area to the south, but still will be watching that, the showers activity moves in from the south. at the golden gate bridge winds gusting to 21 miles per hour i. forecast headlines tonight, mostly clears skies. a bit of a breeze out there. tomorrow, thursday, morning fog and the weekend, we are going in one direction, the warming one, 90s return to the forecast. some of the clouds and the rain showers. activity to the north. this is what i have been watching, moisture from what was once a hurricane a few days back. this is moving into central california. rain showers remains to the south of the bay area. there is a slight chance of a

thunderstorm. today, the cool air which we have been talking about will scoot out has it low pressure scoots out. thunderstorm chances to the east and west of the bay area. high pressure returns and with that the 90s making a come back. that will be by saturday. forecast model showing you the fog tomorrow morning. gray out there. clearing back to near the shoreline. this orange, 80s. most areas coming up from today's highs. no major changes here. 80s towards antioch. oakland 71. san jose 78 degrees. and san francisco skies partly cloudy skies, high of 67. here is a look ahead, five-day forecast with your bay area weekend in view. there is evidence of the warming trend, sunday will be the hottest day of the weekend. 90s inland. we will keep an eye on the radar, we will have an update coming up later at 6:00.

>> thank you. the new addition to google maps, and it comes from one of the most remote locations in the world. plus a wounded veteran's life was changed this morning. the phone call that led to him getting this home for free. ;

an injured iraq war veteran

is finally moving home into a new home. ktvu's tara moriarty reports why he is getting the home for free. >> dream come true for him and his family. >> this is so big. >> reporter: this morning he received the keys to this house mortgage free. >> when i got the call that it is happening, i just -- i just started breaking down. crying on the phone. i couldn't believe it. we were in a hard situation, you know, being all the deployments. >> reporter: it is called homes for wounded heroes. it provides mortgage free houses to soldiers injured in combat. >> in shock right now to think i am going to be able to raise my family here. >> reporter: he received the purple heart for head injuries

sustained when an ied deadinate -- detonated. >> we are so happy. >> reporter: bank of america donated the foreclosed home worth $400,000. >> they come back into the inventory and they are vacant so this is a way to revitalize the community. >> reporter: workers spent hours prepping the house and making sure the home was move in ready. he hopes to get a job soon. he is excited to create new memories here. >> amazing. >> thank you so much. >> no, thank you. >> reporter: tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. google added a new feature to maps. additional panoramic images of the antarctic. it added these new wonders to the service. on the site users can see views

of important locations like the south pole sell scope and the -- telescope. medcon fed rallies hitting the streets of oakland. >> and live inside san francisco city hall where ellana lopez is expected to testify in the next half hour in a hearing about her husband's future as san francisco's sheriff.

complete bay area news coverage starts right now, this is ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. >> all eyes on ellana lopez tonight. the wife of suspended san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi. she is the star witness in a hearing happening right now that could cost him his job. i am. i am julie haener. >> and i am frank somerville. >> she flew from venezuela to testify tonight and defend her husband against domesting abuse allegations. ktvu's david stevenson is monitoring the hearing. david? >> reporter: that's right. suspended san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi's ethic's commission hearing go