now at noon, the first full day of the bay bridge closure. the progress crews are making and how commuters are getting around. hundreds of people preparing for something they hope never happens. the big training underway in the south bay. and thousands of people here in the bay area and across the country taking part in a one-day strike. what fast-food workers say needs to change. good afternoon. i'm claudine wong in for tori campbell. we are now into the first full day of the five-day bay

bridge closure. want to give you a look at the crews are hard at work making the transition to the new span. we're also keeping an eye on traffic across the bay area watching the san mateo bridge and the golden gate bridge and there on the bottom of your screen, there's a b.a.r.t. train. we've seen increased traffic on the roads. the bridge has been shut down for several hours now and it will remain that way until tuesday morning. we have live team coverage starting with ktvu's sal castanedo on the oakland side of the bridge where crews are working around the clock. sal? >> reporter: that's right, claudine. we are just getting ready, one of our views is to go out. as you can see, all of the people getting ready to go out and survey the damage. tom vacar will do that and have it for you tonight. right now the work that's being done, crews are tearing down a section of the old bridge to make room for the approach to

the new span. heavy machinery continues to pound away. all of this work started almost immediately after the closure and has not stopped since. crews are working around the clock to get this done. at the toll plaza, crews are grinding off old pavement between the tollbooths and the metering lights. >> once you get past the toeb and the metering lights, they will go down as deep as 6 inches to install a new drainage system and they will pave over that with new asphalt. drivers won't ono tis a drinks -- won't notice a difference. it will feel the same. >> reporter: yerba buena island, rerouting of the lanes is taking place bringing the rains from the tunnel to the -- lanes from the tunnel to the new span. this was the reason for building the s-kur s-curve. a lot of people didn't like that. caltrans says all of the planning is paying off now at

this mage major -- paying off now that this major transytion is put in -- transition is put in. we've been monitoring the traffic. the san mateo traffic bridge took a while. right now would be a good time to go. if you have to go around the san mateo bridge or the richmond time, it would be a good time now. it wasn't so pretty. we'll keep that posted. we'll have traffic reports tonight. we also have crews going onto the bridge now and we'll have video from them later on. live in oakland, sal castanedo, ktvu channel 2 news. thanks, sal. well, right now, bridge officials are briefing the media that will begin on the eastern span. crews can't tuesday dynamite to

bring them down. it will be torn down piece by piece to avoid a collapse. the s-curve will be the first to go. we have a crew inside the meeting and we will have more on ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. well, with the bay bridge out of commission, many commuters are turning to b.a.r.t. to get them in and out of san francisco. christien kafton continues our team coverage. he rode b.a.r.t. and joins us with how things are looking. >> reporter: we're here at the west oakland b.a.r.t. station. this is. pittsburg/baypoint train pulling out. on the other side of the tracks there is an sfo-bound train. commuters are already looking forward to this evening's commute. regular b.a.r.t. passengers and riders mingled on board trains headed to san francisco this morning. >> i work for otis in san francisco. i have to be in the city for my job. i knew i couldn't drive in the

city because of the bridge. so i took b.a.r.t. >> reporter: regular passengers said today's ride was standing- room only. >> not as crowded as usual. better chance of getting a seat but it is standing room only. >> reporter: the transit agency estimates they carried 161,000 passengers through 10:00 this morning. 30,000 more passengers compared to the same time period last year. >> we're seeing a lot of people at b.a.r.t. this morning and seeing lines back up at the ticket lines. >> reporter: and riders are already thinking the commute home could be a rough one. >> i'm gonna be standing. it will be squeezed in here. it's packed at 3:00 when i go

in. >> oh, my gosh. it will be more packed. >> yes. >> reporter: tuesday b.a.r.t. will close between 1:00 and 4:00 a.m. today, the day the bridge is scheduled to be opened. we'll have continuing coverage of how b.a.r.t. will affect your commute. we'll continue to update you about the bay bridge situation. for now we're live in west oakland, christien kafton, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. well, many commuters decided to make their way across the bay. ferries were packed this morning leaving oakland, alameda and vallejo. the san francisco bay ferry is expected ing a 15-minute -- is expecting a 15-minute wait. >> it's very efficient. it's a good ride.

it's efficient. it's quick. it beats all of the commute. it beats sitting in traffic. >> the larkspur and sausalito ferries are adding extra service this weekend during the bridge closure. we do have a very special section on our website dedicated to this closure project. you can find out how to get around the closure and get a preview of what you -- of what your drive will look like when the new span opens. our special section is at the very top of ktvu.com. new at noon -- san jose is laying out plans to try to hire more police officers after years of staffing cuts. ktvu has obtained a memo from the mayor outlining a new plan designed to stop the flow of departing cops. it includes hiring 141 new officers and restoring staffing to about 1,250 officers within four years. chuck reed says the city will begin to set the proposal and look for funding sources next tuesday. >> part of the plan is recruiting and hiring. part of it is slowing down the

losses through retirements and resignations. >> but some are calling the plan a conview lited rhetoric -- convoluted rhetoric. robert handa will have all of the late details on the plan today on the news at 6:00 p.m. today. students settled into their classes today and the people who work to keep them safe are brushing up on their skills training how to handle an active shooting situation. janine de la vega is live with more on what they are learning. >> reporter: inside thissing about, there are police officers and security experts training people on what to do in this volatile situation. while santa clara county has never had any sort of school mass shooting like what happened at sandy hook elementary, law enforcement wants people to be prepared.

now, around 500 people, many of whom work with children are expected to go through this training today put on by the san jose police department. it's called run, hide defend. and it is aimed at training people on what to do if an active shooter comes onto their school campus or place of business. they were shown a video that simulated a shooting which showed people how to react. some tips given were installing security upgrades and looking at drawings made by students that showed aggressive behavior. those who attended are grateful for the training. >> if somebody came into the building, do we look ourselves in the classroom? do we try to find a closet to go into? do we go out of the building? we really don't know. >> we want to have a plan prepared, not -- not be unprepared to practice and drill, have us work with you to help you prepare for something like this. that way you are just not

caught yauf guard. >> in the south bay there's been numerous reports of a gunman or intruder on a campus and law enforcement has had to spring into action like this incident that took place at san jose city college while each school district or community center may have their own emergency flan place. today's training offers a unified response that everyone in the community can apply. this morning's training session is just about to end. but there's gonna be a second session held this afternoon. reporting live from san jose, janine de la vega, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, janine. time now is 12:10. cal tran service is moving on the peninsula after being halted for hours after a pedestrian was hit by a commuter train. an elderly woman was struck and killed around 7:30 on the train tracks at east charleston road in palo alto. no one on board the train was injured. an investigation is underway to determine why the woman was on the tracks. happening now -- if you are planning on getting a burger

for lunch today from a fast- food restaurant, you might find a crowd outside. [chanting] >> not too much to ask! [ cheers ] >> rallies are being held at bay area fast-food restaurants including this kfc in oakland. the workers there and at fast- food restaurants across the country walked off the job. what they want, a pay raise to $15 an hour. right now, the average fast- food worker makes under $8.70 an hour. >> what do we want! >> and these protests are happening across the country. you are looking at video of a protest in new york city. hundreds marched and flooded a mcdonald's near the empire state building. they left after a short demonstration. some san francisco giants' employees are going to get paid thousands of dollars in back wages. the u.s. labor department says

the giants must pay some workers a total of $574,000 in back wages and damages. a labor department investigation determined the workers were not paid properly over a three-year period. the employees worked more hours and were recorded and were not paid overtime. a deal has been struck in the battle over nfl-related concussions. the hundreds of millions of dollars that will be paid out and what the money will be used for. >> let's take you outside. it's warming you. but guess what. it's about to get hotter. mark tamayo will be here to tell you where the temperatures will be the warmest and when. and an east bay congressman in afghanistan. what he said today about the situation in the middle east.

. new at noon -- game wardens from the department of fish and game raided a home in east oakland looking for a suspected abalone poacher. authorities say the suspected poacher has been seen with double the number of abalone allotment allowed during one season. game wardens say they believe the suspected poacher was selling the abalone commercially. fire crews are going to use a predator drone to give them better views of the rim fire. the california national guard drone deployed yesterday and can stay in the air for 22 hours at a time.

the fire has already burned more than 192,000 acres and is 30% contained. full containment isn't expected for another three weeks. officials say yosemite is opened this labor day even though some of the park's 761,000 acres have burned in the fire. there's a tentative settle meant between the nfl and retired players over concussion- related brain injuries. the $765 million proposed settlement would compensate athletes and fund medical related exams sands research. more than 4500 former employers had sued the league accusing it of rushing injured players back on the field. the nfl insists that safety has always been a top priority. a judge still has to approve the settlement. vice president biden announced a presidential order that would prohibit other nations from sending military style weapons. >> the new policy is gonna help

military firearms off our street, the it's a simple, common sense way to try to reduce gun violence in america. >> that announcement came during the swearing-in temperature for the new director of the atf. todd jones has been acting director since 2011. a second executive order announced this today. a senior member of the obama administration headed to capitol hill to brief officials on the situation in syria. that came as united nations inspectors left their hotel in damascus to go to an area where the syrian gofd is believed -- government is believed to have used chemical weapons on their people. an east bay congressman says he was briefed on the

situation in syria during a recent fact-finding trip to afghanistan and the united arab emirates. he met with troops in afghanistan and military leaders including the top commander of the military force there. he talked with them yesterday and he said the united states must proceed with caution in syria. >> this is a delicate, complicated situation with many actors and we have to make sure that we know what is behind that first dominance because once you tip it, you better know what's behind it and you better be prepared for what's next and right now, i'm not in any way supportive of putting boots on the ground in syria. >> well, among the troops he met with was army first lieutenant, chris mitchell. he was expected to return from his trip today. >> this week, ktvu and our parent company, cox media group are bringing you stories of our heroes, they are people in the bay area working to make a difference in their

communities. bill martin tells us how a pacifica woman has helped clean up local beaches. >> gonna try to look for anything that was made by man. >> reporter: lin adams says she always noticed the litter on pacifica mar beach. litter she learned was being blown by a picnic area. with friends, she said monthly cleanups here became a labor of love. that led her to be an early member of the pacific beach coalition. >> i became obsessed to give other people an opportunity to try to learn from the cleanup. >> reporter: before you knew it, groups of people joined in her passion. they have 8500 volunteers. berkeley's st. john's presbyterian church led a hand. >> they are cleaning up something, that's benefiting everyone. >> it's better than it was.

we've been here for six years and the beach is sure. first time we did it, we came in with big, giant plastic -- plastic bags filled with trash. >> reporter: as the movement continues to glow, the message trickles down through generations. >> my hope is that these kids find a voice that they learn something today that they can talk to others and teach others. they can teach their families. and that when they grow up and they will raise their kids not to litter. >> it feels good to help people clean the world one step at a time. >> reporter: for cox conserves heroes, i'm bill martin, ktvu channel 2 news. >> and tomorrow we're going to be airing another cox conserves heroes stories right here at noon. and you can vote for your favorite online. the winner will get $10,000 to donate to their nonprofit. just go to ktvu.com, click on the ktvu tv36 tab and then on

cox conserves. well, after years of planning, several bay area cities launched a regional bike sharing program today. bikes are available to be rented in various cities and you can find the bikes at stations such as this one in front of san jose city hall. you have to pay a membership feel annuallily of $88. or you can rent a bike by the day for $9. well, after a cloudy start, the clouds beginning to lift revealing more sunshine this early thursday afternoon. taking a look outside. our live camera, clear skies up above. there's the fog bank out in the distance, still hugging parts of the shore line. i noticed some clearing. still some patchy coastal fog in place and some leftover patches along the bay itself. we're warming up. we started out on the mild

side. today, right now, it's -- it's still pretty warm. fairfield, right now, 80 degrees. san jose, 73. san francisco upper 60s and santa rosa reporting mostly sunny skies and 76. forecast for today, partly to mostly cloudy skies. tomorrow clearing skies. tomorrow will be the warmest day of the entire period. that implies the cooling trend in time for your labor day weekend with a sun/cloud mix. temperatures trending down saturday, sunday and into labor day. this weather system to the north is generating showers up near hum boerlt county and del norte. high pressure -- bum holt county and del norte. high pressure rebuilding. we're thinking 80s around the bay and 70s. as the high builds in for tomorrow, that will translate into 90s. lake tahoe, a very popular destination this weekend. we'll be tracking some smoke being generated by the firm

fire. you can see forecast highs. santa rosa, 85 degrees. san francisco we bumped you up to 70 and pacifica, 66. a look ahead to your five-day forecast, with your weekend always in view and the holiday rapidly approaching. there's that warmup tomorrow and then into the holiday weekend, we bring in a few extra clouds and we change the forecast a little bit on monday for labor day. we've added some drizzle first thing monday morning. a lot of low clouds. temperatures will begin to cool off if you want the warm temperatures make the most for tomorrow. >> thank you, mark. 12:23. marking a milestone by taking a look back. what's happening in new orleans today. on the 8th anniversary of hurricane katrina. give him the. let me show you! quartz coup, soft-close drawers, farm sink, under cabinet lighting, look at this spice rack. um... where's my room?

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it's been eight years since hurricane account account hit new orleans and the gulf coast. 1800 people were killed and more than $100 billion in damage was caused. a wreath laying srl was held this morning at the katrina memorial site in new orleans. the 9th ward was one of the hardest hit areas. today a document men trip about hurricane katrina will be screened there. well, some people are wondering what's going to happen to the bay bridge troll when the eastern span comes down. we're talking about a small iron sculpture. there it is. it's hidden beneath the upper deck. it was welded during the

earthquake retrofit as a good luck charm for workers. some want to put it on the new bridge and some want it in a new museum. here's another live look at the toll plaza right now. tonight on the news at 5:00 -- we'll get a late update from bridge officials on what's being completed today and you will get the latest traffic information that will help get you home tonight. thanks for making ktvu your choice for news. we'll see you the next time news breaks. be sure to join us again at 5:00. a7

up next on "eco company" -- fighting climate change one student at a time. how high schoolers on this campus are getting it done. plus, building it green. tiles and building blocks made of straw are just the beginning. and ecofriendly fashion. meet who designing teams ready for the runway. we're catching up with the duo behind leftover green beat. then, solar power in the classroom. how these students are learning about a cleaner