emeryville and oakland. you're waking up to partly to mostly cloudy skies. in fact lots of mostly cloudy skies right now. temperatures are in the upper 50s to low 60s. it is mild once again. so not off to a cold start. fairfield 62 degrees. san francisco 60. san jose right now checking in 64. for the coastal areas this morning, areas of fog and drizzle. temperatures in the 50s. patchy fog this afternoon. 63 to 68 degrees. right around the rim of the bay, basically the same forecast at 8:00 this morning. then we'll strip away the clouds this afternoon. wind speeds do pick up around 125 to 25 miles an hour -- 15 to 25 miles an hour. for the inland neighborhoods some patchy fog this morning. then more sunshine. by 3:00, 4:00 temperatures back up to the upper 80s to right around 90 degrees. livermore 88. san francisco 69. san jose a forecast high of 81. we'll take a look at your five- day forecast in a few minutes. right now back to the desk. we begin with a long awaited transition to the new bay bridge. the old span is now shut down

in both directions for the long holiday weekend. the goal is to have the new eastern span ready to open no later than early tuesday morning. we have team coverage for you this morning. tara moriarty is watching the first phase of this huge project. christian captain is keeping an eye on bart and how bart is helping commuters get across the bay but we begin with sal castaneda with a look at the commute. i already noticed more cars on the road. going around you're going to notice more cars on the road. overnight it was quieter but now people are on the road. we're looking at of course at what is the toll plaza. it is closed. you can see the work just to remind people that the toll plaza is not an option. the bay bridge is not an option until tuesday. it could be open on monday. we've heard perhaps some reports that that could happen but plan for tuesday at 5:00 a.m. that's the official opening time for the bay bridge. in the meantime, we've been looking at some of the

alternate routes. the san mateo bridge. we have a live look here. take looks nice getting out to the high-rise but you will see more people and you might even see more people who are unfamiliar with the ali were ta how if you take the golden gate bridge and haven't for a while, you'll notice all the toll takers are gone. you probably didn't think about that if you don't drive that every day. just keep going. they will find a way to bill you, trust me. if you are driving in the livermore valley, the traffic here on 580, that looks pretty good out toward the livermore valley area. at 4:32, let's go to tara moriarty who is also covering this story. tara, what is it like where you are right now? >> we're at construction headquarters for the bay bridge. it's pretty bustling. we have seen dozens of trucks hauling materials ever since we first entered the gate. there's definitely a buzz or sense of excitement in the air. at peak times there will be as many as 400 workers on site. they're in the process of grinding 1.2 million feet of

roadway to give you an idea of the enormity of the job. crews are putting the finishing touches on the new $6.4 billion replacement. over the next five days, they will be working around the clock. last night phase one began. >> at the toll plaza and to connect the bridge at the eastern end of the toll plaza. we need to grind up all the pavement from pretty much from mcarthur maze on to the new bridge. >> reporter: the new span should be open by 5:00 tuesday morning. it is possible that it could open late monday but there are no guarantees. in about an hour and a half, crews are going to be taking us out near the toll plaza to get a firsthand look at construction so we'll be sure to share that with you a little later this morning. right now we'll check in with christian captain who is at a bart station to let us know how the commute is going to be shaping up for riders this morning. >> reporter: good morning. as you might imagine, a lot of activity where you are. a lot more commuters are

expected to rely on bart to get in and out of san francisco. tbhear walnut creek, one of the -- we're in walnut creek, one of the stations that will be operating around the clock. all 14 bart stations will be open 24 hours a day till monday. there will be no bart service between 1:00 and 4:00 a.m. on tuesday, the day the bridge is scheduled to reopen. bart is also running longer trains in anticipation of extra passengers. the transit agency will likely be carrying in and out of san francisco. all of this means that bart parking lots will likely be filling up earlier than usual so it pays to get to your station early. we will be taking bart into san francisco and tracking hong the trip takes us this morning -- how long the trip takes us this morning and talk to passengers. you can see bart riders already showing up here in walnut creek. you can expect a heavy amount of passengers on bart this morning and again the watch word be sure you show up at your bart station early to get those parking spaces. they're going to be at a premium for the duration of the

construction work on the bay bridge. we're live in walnut streak, k -- walnut creek, ktvu channel 2 news. you may also take the ferry. san francisco bay ferries are expecting a 15% increase in ridership during the next five- day closure. additional runs are being offered out of oakland, alameda and san francisco but regular riders are worried about getting a seat and finding a place to park. >> the worst thing is showing up to the ferry at the usual time and not being able to get to work on time having to wait for the next one. >> the larkspur ferry is adding a late night trip on friday with added trips over the weekend. the salsilito ferry will have added service on saturday, sunday and monday. here's a rundown of your public transit options. bart is offering 24-hour service and longer trains. ac transit will not be able to provide service this weekend. its buss will stop at four bart stations instead to drop off passengers heading to san francisco and to pick up

passengers coming from the city. and the san francisco bay ferry will launch its boats early and increase its numbers. the oakland-san francisco line will have 20 departures as opposed to 13 normally. it is the an era. a vintage automobile was the last vehicle to cross the toll plaza at 8:00 last night. some drivers told us they felt a bit nostalgic about their last trip. with the bridge closed this weekend, some are wondering about the toll takers. coming up in eight minutes, the future of toll collectors on the new span. plus, why some will get paid this weekend while others will not. >> the upper and lower decks of the old bridge are shut down through labor day weekend. the new span will open no later than tuesday, 5:00 a.m., september 3. the bridge could  open as soon as monday night.

while the bridge is closed this weekend, some people living on treasure island with special passes will be allowed on the span. there is a chain-cutting ceremony at 3:00 p.m. on monday to celebrate the new bridge. just go to ktvu.com for everything you need to know about the the bay bridge closure. we do have a special section dedicated to the project. just look under hot topics. today as u.c. berkley students start the first day of the new exphesser, they're -- semester, they're being warned about a robbery on campus. a 20-year-old student was robbed monday night about 10:00 near the unit 2 housing complex on hey street. someone grabbed her from behind and snatched her phone as she was walking. the suspect is described as an african-american or latino teenager about 5'7", thin build and short mustache. happening today, some bay area fast food workers are planning to walk off the job. at least three protests are planned in oakland this morning, part of a nationwide strike to form a union for fast food workers and to raise the

minimum wage to $15 an hour. according to the bureau of labor and statistics, the average fast food worker makes about $8.68 an hour. many of them are working part- time. >> i love my job. i love working here. i love the customers. i love the people i work with, but it doesn't justify what these corporations are doing to us. >> the fast food industry says raising the minimum wage would force them to raise prices which would drive away customers and then result in layoffs. restaurants with striking employees are still expected to be open today. a proposal to ban the sale of soda at city-run venues in san jose has fizzled out. the idea was not warmly received during a public hearing yesterday. a city committee decided san jose had too many other priorities. time 4:38. we have continuing coverage now of the rim fire. it has now burned more than 192,000 acres in and around yosemite national park. the fire is 30% contained but

full containment not expected for another three weeks. parks officials say yosemite is still open for labor day and just 5% of the park's 761,000 acres have burned. the entrance is closed off highway 120. other entrances highway 40 and highway 41 are open. right now it is 4:38. five homes destroyed, ten others damaged. the concerns people have about the fire response that will be addressed this morning. a hit and run left him paralyzed. the long and difficult recovery for a motorcycle enthroughist who may have become a victim of road rage. good morning. right now we have the bridge closure obviously. how are people getting around? we'll check alternates and all the east bay major freeways. in weather we are tracking more low clouds this morning. part of your forecast for today, especially for the commute, we have the possibility of drizzle out there. we'll highlight the warmest day of the week and changes you can

expect for the weekend coming up after the break.

welcome back to the ktvu channel 2 morning news. 4:42. we're looks live at the bay bridge toll plaza. completely closed and the work is going on as it is shut down for the long holiday weekend. the crews will put the finishing touches on the new $4.6 billion replacement. the goal is to have the new eastern span ready to open no later than tuesday morning. crews this morning are involved in phase one of this massive project so we want to dip in there live throughout the morning. many bay bridge commuters are using the golden gate bridge this morning. it's pretty foggy out there as mark mentioned. a lot of fog. stay with us. channel 2 morning news has complete coverage of the bay bridge closure. we want to show what you it looks like to drive across the

new eastern span. take a look. caltrans came up with animation of the new bay bridge. looks very pretty. shows the viewpoint going east toward oakland. drivers and passengers will have a panoramic vista from the open deck as they drive past the signature tower into oakland. this is the old video of the bay bridge as it was being built. more than 75 years ago. the california department of public works broke ground on july 9, 1933. the bridge was completed in about three years and opened in november 1936. >> that's fantastic. time 4:44. for some toll takers, the bridge closure brings an unpaid break from work. ktvu was there as several toll takers clocked in for evening shifts. the toll authority says the new span will come with upgrades to the toll taking system. however, they say there are no current plans to create an all

electronic toll system similar to the one used on the golden gate bridge. for the first time a motorcycle rider who says he is a road rage victim is speaking out. richard fletcher says he was riding home from work on highway 24 earlier this month when he was intentionally run down by an angry driver. the crash broke his back leaving him paralyzed. in a youtube video, fletcher says he's grateful for all the support he received from family, friends and people he doesn't even know. >> everybody out there, i just want to say thank you for all your support. >> nicher's family said he's -- fletch's family said he's started physical therapy and is already sitting up on his own. the driver accused of returning into fletcher faces attempted murder charges. time 4:45. there are new details about a surf school instructor from santa cruz charged with possession of child pornography. people are accused -- accusing dylan grinder of taking

unappropriate pictures of girls at the swim school. he was a volunteer. so far investigators have identified more than a dozen alleged victims in this case. convicted serial killer joseph naso could face more charges. the 79-year-old was found guilty last week of murdering four women in the 1970's and '90s. now marin county prosecutors want to tie him to the murder of 56-year-old cheryl patton. federal budget cuts are taking a toll on head start programs in the bay area and across the country. the obama administration says more than 57,000 children will be cut from head start this fall due to the sequester. the program for preschoolchildren from low- income families saw its budget cut more than 5% after congress failed to reach a budget agreement with the white house. in contra costa county, that means layoffs and shortening

the program by nine weeks. >> these are the needsiest families here in the community. many of our families are homeless. many of the children we serve are foster children. >> advocates for children say head start helps to prepare close to a million children for kindergarten along with offering a range of services, including day care, access to social workers and help for children with disabilities. on ktvu.com we have a special back-to-school section set up. that's where you can look up school start dates, school photos of some of our staff members and tips on school savings and some of the back-to- school stories. president obama paid tribute to the thousands of people who marched on washington 50 years ago demanding racial and economic equality. >> state legislatures changed. the white house changed. >> the. spoke from the steps. the lincoln memorial where martin luther king, jr. made

his famous i have a dream speech in 1963. we're learning that several members of the king family were involved in a minor bus accident following yesterday's ceremony but no one was seriously injured. on the 50th anniversary of the march on washington, the aclu release add report that police in oakland and oakland school police are arresting african- american teenagers at a higher rate than other ethnicities. the aclu says it amounts to racial profiling. >> now we can sit in class with other kids that's not the same race. that's the only thing that's changed. >> a disproportionate number of black students are arrested. we automatically assume that the difference in the arrest rate is attributable to targeting or racist practices. >> the aclu report claims black youth made up 73% of juvenile arrests in oakland from 2006 to 2012. nearly 80% of those arrests according to the report were

never prosecuted. white house aides are scheduled to brief top congressional leaders today on plans for possible military strikes against syria. president obama told pbs news hour he has not made a decision on how to respond to the chemical weapons attack he says he's convinced the syrian government carried out last week. this morning united nations secretary-general ban ki-moon says u.n. chemical weapons investigators currently in syria will leave the country on saturday. he has called for restraint until the u.n. team reports its findings. the tension over syria could soon be felt in the wallets of american drivers. most analysts expect the average price of gas to drop about 15 cents by late next month but that was before crude oil prices started to surge. now the analysts predict gas prices will be up as much as a dime in the coming weeks with increases starting as early as tomorrow just in time for the long labor day weekend. time now is 4:49. it's going to be a pretty busy day we're expecting with the bay bridge closures.

sal is going to be very busy as well. any major problems right now? nothing major. we're looking at the closure and a lot of people will be using the san mateo bridge. i think people will opt for the san mateo bridge as long as you're going the long way around. right now we haven't seen a lot but this is the way to go. if you haven't used the golden gate bridge in a while, be ware there are no longer toll takers on the span so don't be freaked out as you drive down and say hey, where is everybody. now they collect the money electronically. if you're not a regular commuter, you might not even know n. let's take a look at the commute with live pictures. san mateo bridge looks pretty good heading to the high-rise. but obviously there are a lot more people on that bridge for this time of the morning. here it is 10 to 5:00 and it looks like it's 8:30. even though there's not a big slowdown. moving along on interstate 880 north southbound, the traffic here looks good.

it's 4:50, let's go to mark. good morning you to. you'll notice more low clouds and fog. we have lots of mostly cloudy observations across the bay area. right now on storm tracker 2, some rain showers up to our north along the north coast closer to eureka. as far as the smoke being generated by the rim fire, they have a dense smoke advisory till 5:00 this afternoon but that will likely be extended because of course that fire is still a major one and still burning. so they'll probably have some more smoke in their forecast and even into the weekend. our forecast, we have this. the fog still blanketing the coast, right around the bay and even cloud cover toward conquer and livermore and crossing the bay itself right now. he can't do this right now across the bay bridge but lots of overcast. a big blanket of clouds over a good portion of the region. temperatures actually off to a mild start out there. upper 50s to lower 60s. san francisco right now checking in 61. fairfield, it is windy there. winds topping 45 miles an hour, 62.

san jose 64 degrees. here is the forecast for today. we'll break it down for you. at 7:00 this morning areas of fog and drizzle. by lunch time partly sunny, patchy fog and then we'll warm back up inland. a big temperature range once again. 36 to 90 degrees -- 63 to 90 degrees. we had this school system to the north. we showed you a few showers closer to our rear came -- to eureka. 60s, 70s and 80s for today. this high builds in a little bit more for your friday. as a result friday will be the warmest day of the week. that could translate to some lower 90s well inland. here's our forecast model this morning showing you the overcast out there. we'll put it into motion. the clock moves at 9:00. clouds still basically hugging the coast and over the bay itself. then gradually clearing back to near the coastline much like yesterday by this afternoon at 4:00. temperatures later on today right about 4:00. you can see still lots of 70s and 80s. san to rosa 84 degrees. fairfield upper 80s. these numbers really now a big change from yesterday's highs.

right around the rim of the bay we're showing you some 70s and head over to the hills, upper 80s to right around 90 degrees by about 3:00, 4:00 this afternoon. san jose lower 80s and freemont in the upper 70s. san francisco some clouds in the morning. remember the fog can be locally dense. for your commute this morning, you'll have a drop off visibilities near the bay and immediate shoreline. your five-day forecast with your weekend always in view, there's the temperature spying for your friday and into the holiday weekend. temperatures trending down, especially by sunday and monday on labor day. >> thank you. we're learning this morning that the former girlfriend of north korea's leader was executed by a firing squad earlier this month. a south korean newspaper reports the singer was arrested for violating north korean

pornography laws. the singer met kim jung un before he was married. she married a soldier. there had been rumors the two were having an affair. san diego voters will head to the polls in november for a special election to replace former mayor bob filner. the special election is expected to cost taxpayers $6 million. tomorrow is filner's last day in office. he resigned last week after 17 women accused him of sexual harassment. coming up, it's a scam involving killer snakes. the crime homeowners need to watch out for in the east bay. >> a new bike sharing program will be unveiled across the bay area today. the cost for riders in and thety is taking part.

welcome back. time 4:556789 you're looking at live pictures of the bay bridge toll plaza. a surreal picture there with all the crews. normally there would be cars going through the toll plaza. the bridge shut down in both directions for the long holiday weekend. it clears the way for crews to put finishing touches on its new $6.4 billion replacement. the goal is to have the new span open no later than early tuesday morning. crews are now involved in phase one of the massive project. the bay area bike sharing program officially launches. 700 bikes will be available. bike racks have been set up in san francisco, redwood city, palo aloe, mountain view and san jose. most racks are near public  transittizations along -- transit stations along the

caltrans route. grz union city police are asking for your help to identify a woman behind a snake scam. they're looking for a woman reassembling the person on this -- resembling the person on this sketch. she's latino, 30 take 45 years old, has a nose ring, lip ring and a tongue piercing. police believe that woman is responsible for two recent scams, one in union city, the other in freemont. in both cases police say the woman came to the victim's home with a phony story about dangerous snakes. she then robbed and ransacked their homes while the homeowners were distracted. no question it's going to be a long ride for many people going to work for the morning commute. we'll have team coverage of the longest bay bridge shutdown since the 1989 loma earthquake. we'll also tell you how bart is going the extra mile to help commuters get across the bay during the bridge closure. the san mateo bridge is the

workhorse of the bay area. we have a lot of reasons for it but if you take that bridge, you're going to have a lot of company this morning. for your morning commute, you will notice more low clouds and drizzle out there. the possibility of some dense fog. coming up, we'll show you where the dense fog is and highlight the temperatures you can expect for the afternoon hours.

we need to grind the pavement from mcarthur maze on to the new bridge. >> the old bay bridge is shut down for good and the transition to the new eastern span is under way. we're going to have live team coverage. >> we're keeping union on that bridge construction affecting the morning commute. the best way to get around the closure. bart is one of the options that commuters will have to get in and out of san francisco. we'll be riding the rails this morning and tell you how that ride is. good morning. we want to take you out to the the bay bridge this morning. the toll plays today. normally we'd see traffic moving along but instead a lot of construction going o. the bay bridge now closed. the old