we're live on the peninsula where it is raining. we'll tell you where you can pick up sandbags and tell you why one city in particular is concerned and already has crews on standby for the storm. rain is moving into the area. nothing too heavy but there are

pockets offshore where we'll see some moderate to heavy rain. maybe even some thunderstorms. >> reporter: and a scary wakeup call for a family here in san bruno as a huge tree branch crashes into their home early this morning while they are inside sleeping. we'll show you the damage coming up ♪ i will remember you ♪ >> a somber anniversary in santa cruz. what the city is doing today to remember two officers killed in the line of duty one year ago. "mornings on 2" starts now. good morning. this is palo alto where dozens of sandbags are waiting to be picked up. there are some flooding concerns as another storm moves into the bay area right now. welcome to "mornings on 2." i'm tori campbell. >> i'm dave clark. we have stormwatch team coverage. janine de la vega is live with the preparations for potential

flooding in the south bay. >> let's start with steve paulson. when will it start to rain? >> pretty good development taking place in montyry. not bad. things are beginning to pick up. all sorts of reports coming in. thanks to the viewers if it's raining where you are. we're starting to see the system swing onshore. that's good. pockets of that -- look at that. south of monterey things are lit up. there's pockets where we'll get moderate to heavy rain. general area of rain is filling in. things will start to pick up. nothing too heavy yet. i know we had a couple of reports in san francisco. that system moving over the bay bridge. you might pick up moderate to brief, heavy rain. overall, it's a light pattern up to the north. nothing heavy yet. we expect that to come up to mendocino county and lake county. 50s on the temperatures.

it's really, really mild. some. rainfall projections will be impressive the next couple of days. here's sal. good morning. right now we have do traffic that's being affected by the wet roads. i do want to mention the traffic is going to be busy as you come on the eastshore freeway. it's not completely wet but certainly wet enough to slow your -- to affect your stopping distances. at the toll plaza, it's about a 25 to 30-minute delay getting into san francisco. we are taking into account that it will be slightly slower driving as some people slow down in the rain. again, 580 is going to be slow. one of the things i want to mention, this morning is not the worst of it, according to steve. it will be slower later. now, we do have a little bit of improving conditions on 580 from grant rhine to 68 -- grantline to 680. 46 minutes. 580 is good down the road. 7:03. back to the desk. >> tu -- thank you, sal.

on stormwatch, there are scattered showers. that will soon become heavier. while we certainly need the rain, it does bring some problems with it. ktvu's janine de la vega is live in palo alto just one city in santa clara county bracing for potential flooding. good morning, janine. >> reporter: good morning. there is light rain falling right now here in palo alto. there is concern about flooding in various parts of the peninsula. you can see here, i'm surrounded by sandbags. i'm here at a pickup location on embarcadero. this is a great way to protect your property by lining it with these bags. somebody just came by a little while ago and loaded bag in their car. it was sprinkling in east palo alto where the city has designated sandbag pickup locations, including this one on university avenue. now, city officials are concerned because of the major flooding that took place when a storm hit in december of 2012. the creek crested.

the surrounding neighborhoods flooded causing damage to streets. with rain hitting over the next few weeks, they are preparing. crews are on standby around the clock for the next few days to handle any situations that might arrive. there are 23 locations in the south bay where you can pick it up sandbags for free, prefilled ones can be found at this pickup station on embarcadero near the palo alto air terminal. they are available in al visa. and at the following locations -- >> reporter: these sites are open 24 hours, seven days week. you are asked to take 20 per vehicle. we've not had too many people coming here. if you do come here, it's a

good idea since the bags are quite heavy to make sure that you bring somebody to help you in case you think you need that. steady rain falling. i wasn't wearing a hat earlier. but ladies, if you are watching, this definitely won't be a good hair day with the rain coming down like this. reporting live from palo alto, janine de la vega, ktvu channel 2 news. >> geed heads up for all. us -- good heads up for all of us. thank you. stay with us for continuing stormwatch coverage and more hair care tips. [laughter] >> just go to ktvu.com and mobile ktvu to get the latest stormwatch information and check out the live radar. new this morning, there were some frightening moments for a family in san bruno. a huge tree branch crashed down onto their house right in the middle of the night. ktvu's alex savidge is live at the house to tell us about it and also show us the damage. good morning, alex. >> reporter: good morning, dave. it's incredible to see this up

close. now that the sun is coming up, you can get a better view. this family is lucky they were not hurt. let me show you where the large branch fell off the tree. it fell this direction and fell on the family's house, thankfully, it fell on the carport, not near where everyone was sleeping. that branch damaged part of the home. it also damaged two cars parked in the driveway. this all happened before 3:00 at this house that's right at the intersection of 7th avenue and san bruno avenue. three people were inside at the time. a young man, his mother, and his stepfather. all of them were sleeping when they were suddenly woken up by a loud crashing sound, and at first they all thought it was an earthquake. >> we heard a big shake. we thought that a car crashed into the house. no, when we came out here, we saw that the tree had come down. we saw that not only just hit the garage. but we saw that it hit the car

as well. we were really freaked out. really scared. >> reporter: and the family says this large tree behind their home has caused them problems in the past. they say it was just two months ago when a smaller branch broke away from the tree. it didn't do any damage at that time and then this morning, a much larger branch, as you just saw, came crashing down on top of their home and those two cars. as we bring you back out here live, there's still a lot of cleanup work to do. san bruno firefighters moved in this morning and they chopped up most of this giant branch that fell on top of the home. obviously, everything still needs to be cleaned up for this family. we're live in san bruno, alex savidge, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. 7:08. the chp is searching for the driver who hit and killed a person on a daly city freeway. it happened around 6:30 last night on interstate 280 near john daly boulevard. investigators don't known why the person was on the road.

the victim's identity has not been released. part of the road was closed for 90 minutes. today marks one year since two santa cruz police officers were killed in the line of duty. this morning, the police department will hold a private dedication ceremony for a new memorial garden. that ceremony follows last night's public candlelight vigil at city hall to remember sergeant butch baker and elizabeth baker. dozens of santa cruz first responders were at last night's memorial. >> it's difficult especially when you embark on the one-year anniversary. it starts to bring all of the emotions back. >> seeing the community support always is helpful in reminding us what we're there for. >> now, a sexual assault suspect shot and killed those two officers when they went to the door of his santa cruz home to question him. that suspect was killed in a -- a short time later in a shootout with santa cruz police. police in san jose say they have arrested two people in connection with a deliberate hit and run.

24-year-old andrew renoza is under arrest under suspicion of murder. 21-year-old davina is facing an accessory charge after the fact. investigators say this all started with a gang-related confrontation at the capital flea market on february 16th. the fight later resumed at snell and the capitol expressway where one person was stabbed and two others were hit by a car. one of the hit-and-run victims, eric vallejo, died at the scene. police are still searching for the charcoal colored 2008 mercedes-benz. it has rear-end damage. it also has 7 dmz 599 for the license plate. the san mateo county health department is reporting a rare case of measles. it is strongly urge everyone, especially churn, to get a shot

to protect themselves from this highly infection viral disease. this care race involves a patient who had recently been on an international trip. the health d is trying to track down -- the death department is trying to track down -- health department is trying to track down anyone near him. earlier this month, a uc berkeley tested positive and that student rode b.a.r.t. from the el cerrito station to the campus. that prompted a health warning for both riders and uc berkeley students. but so far there are no reports of anyone else getting sick. san jose is a step closer to having an official 4th of july fireworks show again. santa clara county supervisors are considering putting up half of the money for the show with the city paying the rest. the county would pay for an ad campaign about the dangers of the fireworks. they've asked the local government to help solve the problem. last year, firefighters

responded to eight incidents of people using illegal fireworks that cautioned injuries or fires. 7:11. a high-end chocolate business is pulling out of san francisco and heading east. cho chocolate is moving their entire operation to the marchant boulevard on san pablo avenue in southwest berkeley. the company signed a 12-year lease. they will move in -- they will be moving in april. tcho said it needed more space as it continues to grow quickly. >> a lot of chocolate for everybody. the bay bridge going hollywood. a local palm tree may join those planted. plus -- oefning day of baseball, you know it's an exciting time for a lot of fans but find out who wants to turn that in a national holiday and the very serious efforts taking place to make it happen. good morning. right now, we are looking at a commute that is a little bit

wet and a little bit slower than normal. we'll let you know what the drive times are looking like across the bay. rain is moving in. nothing too heavy yet but it's been picking up in intensity. it will get stronger later today and maybe some thunderstorms. we'll talk about that and a windy pattern for the next couple of days. [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits.

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welcome back. 7:15. new this morning, ukraine is disbanding a notorious police unit accused of instigating protesters. the acting interior signed a decree disbanding that unit. meantime, president obama threatens to pull all american troops out of afghanistan by the end of the year if the afghan government refuses to

agree on terms to keep them there. it's coming down to a battle of wills between president obama and a mid karzai. the two spoke yesterday on the phone for the -- a mid karzai. hamid karzai. the two spoke yesterday on the phone. >> i think at the end of the day we've made it very clear that we're willing to keep a presence in afghanistan and that we want to continue to help the afghan forces and work in counterterrorism but we can't do that without a bilateral security agreement. >> more than 33,000 american troops are right now in afghanistan. there had been plans to leave about 10,000 troops there for counter terrorism operations and also to help train afghan forces. this morning, the senate arms services committee is holding a hearing on sexual assault in the military. specifically senators of this

morning's hearing want to investigate the relationship between military sexual assaults, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide. i want to show you a live picture of the hearing. it's part of an ongoing effort by congress to deal with the issue of sexual assaults in the military. the department of defense estimates the 26,000 servicemen and women were sexually assaulted in 2012. in previous hearings, witnesses described a culture in the military that discourages victims of sexual assault from reporting it. a new army study is giving women a taste of combat. the chief of staff says this will put to rest any doubts about women serving in combat. the study is being down at fort stewart in south georgia. it replaces pushups with physical tasks performed on the job. that includes carrying a wounded solar to safety or lifting a 65-pound missile.

scientists will measure heart rates and oxygen to determine who is fit enough for the front lines. while it's a rainy day for us here in the bay area, it's expected to be 78 degrees in scottsdale, arizona today. that's where the giants and the as will open spring training exhibition games against each other. yesterday, bruce bochy named madison bum gardner the starter. bob melvin still has not named

his starter. but the pitching schedule would put jarrett parker in line to pitch opening day march 31st at the coliseum in oakland against the indians. baseball fans are urging president obama to declare opening day a national holiday. now, we did check online. we just checked the online petition. more than 77,000 people have signed it. the recent survey shows more than 22 million adults in the u.s. will skip work or other functions just to be at an opening day game. that petition need 100,000 signatures in the next month to automatically get a response from the white house. sal castanedo has gone to a few games. you get to go work for sometimes. >> i have. but there's nothing like not covering it. >> sitting in the stands. >> with perhaps a man soda. they were thinking they might make the day after opening day a holiday. i degrees. let's take a look at the commute on highway 4. as you can see, as we pan to the right, the traffic is moderately heavy. it's not superwet. but as steve and i have been telling you, and i heard bill martin say it last night, this afternoon, wednesday's commute, won't be a good one for

driving. you may want to think about using public transportation. it will be slow. bay bridge, 25-minute drive time from the time you start counting at the toll plaza until you get into san francisco. in the south bay, the busiest freeway is 85 followed by 101, 280 at 17. there's a minor crash but the santa clara valley traffic is busy 101 is the busiest getting into sunnyvale. 280 is not bad getting into cupertino. here's steve. rain is beginning to move through. nothing too outrageous. michelle in richmond said could you mention it's raining here? yes, be happy to. angela in pinole valley. john in so cal, i need to hear from more of you folks in mill valley. rain is beginning to pick up on the coast. there will be good activity later today because the development is really back here. but it's enhancing and embedded

with that could be thunderstorm activity. it's taking aim more toward the santa cruz kest line, also down to monterey, the peninsula as well. beginning to pick up near menlo park, as you can see. that's very light. back towards richmond, you see the darker green, that's rain. la fayette, san ramon, alamo, back to hayward, things are picking up. looks like a break out towards antioch and highway 4. there have been reports of light rain but nothing too crazy up towards napa county and sonoma county and marin. but north in the mendocino county/lake county, it's been quiet so far. 50s on the temperatures. 55 half moon bay. 56 sfo, 56 mountain view. rainfall will be pretty good here. it will favor areas to the south as we head towards friday and saturday. friday's system looks like a very strong wind producer. we'll get rain out of it, too. generally around 1 to 3, 4 inches. possibility of isolated areas

of 5, towards monterey. what i like is back here. there's strong development here. i think that could lead to severe weather later today. this is a wind forecast. i know it's very pretty. very colorful. carrie will like this. she's into colors. what you need to know, once you see the orange osh red -- or red, that will be strong gusts. watch what happens on friday. that's pretty strong. there will be a surface low coming in. that's really going to ramp up the breeze. friday's system looks good but the core, the low will dive towards southern california. by friday night/saturday things will calm down here. rain and wind. light to moderate. picking up in intensity. mild temperatures, that's later on. ran that altogether. 50s and 60s. 59 santa rosa. 64 morgan hill. willie said no rain yet but it looks like it's about to. rain and wind will take us into tonight, maybe early thursday and then a break friday

afternoon. it will clear out on saturday and and then sunday looks good. >> a lot of good information. stay with steve and our meteorologists for the latest on the wet weather. follow them all week on witter and facebooks for updates around the clock. >> a lot of good information. san francisco pet owners, pretty nervous about potentially poisonous meatballs. what's causing these meatballs to blend in with their surroundings making them even harder to spot. i'm grateful he's resilient and bounces like a ball. >> a placer county mother relieved after her son had a very close call. what he was doing when he fell more than 200 feet off a cliff.

anncr: at jennie-o we heard of a place in iowa where every thursday people ride 10 miles for tacos. we thought we'd show up and surprise them with a better kind of taco made with jennie-o ground turkey cooked thoroughly to 165. i feed my kids turkey tacos over regular tacos any day. i think they are light and they are just fresh tasting. yeah. when i eat well, i feel well. anncr: it's time for a better taco. the tacos tonight were pretty much perfect. make the switch. look for jennie-o ground turkey in a store near you.

classes at skyline high school in oakland will resume at the top of this hour. this follows a gas leak yesterday that forced the

school to evacuate. that incident was the third gas leak at skyline in a week. in this case we're told a crew working on the heating system opened the wrong valve allowing gas to flow into an unused science lab. san francisco's school district is just the second in the state to change its policy on suspending students who are considered willfully defiant. school leaders say those kinds of suspensions typically affect students of color disproportionately. the new policy will come up with different ways to deal with students with behavioral problems. los angeles is the only other district in the state with a similar policy. 7:26. with the rain coming today, caltrans will closely watch the new eastern span of the bay bridge. they will be looking for signs of serious leaks. those leaks are one of the flaws associated with that multibillion dollar span.

a new problem is a miss alignment of wells on the road deck. they are off by about 8 mill miters -- millimeters. caltrans says the bay bridge would probably be damaged in a big earthquake. however, he says it can be repaired and reopened quickly. >> can you get a fire truck? a water truck? can you get a flow of people going back and forth to work so the bay area can rebuild itself? i'm confident. >> there is another issue raised. the broken rods discovered last month and threatened the opening of the eastern span, later on this afternoon, caltrans will talk about ongoing testing of the rods and a permanent fix put in place in december. a placer county teenager is recovering after a 200-foot fall. the sheriff's department says 17-year-old tyler and a friend were moving a picnic table when grande slipped. he and the picnic table

stumbled down an embankment. the chp used a helicopter and rescue harness to reach him. he was taken to the hospital where his mother met him. >> how am i feeling? i'm grateful that he's resell silliant -- resilient and bounces like a ball. >> the only injuries, a gash to the head and some cuts and bruises on his legs. a half-dozen police officers on the wrong side of the law in monterey county. how investigators say high- ranking king city police officers targeted their city's most vulnerable residents. >> reporter: we're live in petaluma, where the rain has been on and off all morning long. we'll tell you when it's expected to be the heaviest and how people are preparing for it. good morning. right now, we're looking at a commute that is getting a little bit slower because of the wet weather but it's not all that bad. some of the drive times are up. we'll tell you where. rain is moving onshore. not too bad to the north. kind of quiet but picking up,

especially towards santa cruz down to monterey. we'll take a closer look at it -- coming up.

good morning. a welcomed site. we're on stormwatch as rain moves into the bay area. this is the north bay. rain is coming down in some parts but we'll get much

heavier rain this afternoon. tara moriarty will have more on how people are preparing in a couple of minutes. welcome back. i'm tori campbell. >> i'm dave clark. let's check weather and traffic. take an umbrella. be careful in the commute. steve, i looked outside, our parking lot is all wet. >> it's about time. we certainly need it. thanks to everyone who has been sending me information, via twitter, facebook, e-mail. i try to answer everybody as fast as i can. a little busy this morning. that's a good thing because we have this rain moving through. the heaviest seems on south down towards carmel, monterey and zruz -- santa cruz. that looks to be the heaviest and may be a sign of things to come in the next 24, 48 hours. i think the next system will take aim santa cruz south compared to three weeks ago. santa cruz mountains picking up a little bit. boulder creek, scotts valley. then around fremont, union city, newark, looks like pockets of light to moderate.

nothing too heavy. when you see the yellow, that's picking up. after that, things are hit and miss. nothing too heavy. it's light rain. we've had rain in concord. to the north, not bad. to the north, clearlake, mendocino county, lake county, probably have to wait a little bit. 50s on the temperatures here. very mild system. some of the rainfall projections look good between now and saturday. i think friday's system really batten down the hatches. that looks like a better system. possibility of showers this afternoon, swinging in more instability. that will be later this afternoon. 50s to low to mid-60s. here's sal. right now we've been checking the roads. a little bit of wet weather means a little bit of slower traffic. about a half-hour drive time from oakland to san francisco right now at the bay bridge. nothing unusual. it certainly isn't raining hard but it's wet out there. on interstate 880 northbound and southbound, also wet. you remember what your driver's ed person told you, teacher

told you, stopping distances affected by wet weather. traffic is slow from about the coliseum up to downtown. looking at marin county, it's slow from about 37 as you head on down to central san rafael and in san jose, the slowest traffic is on 85. 101 and 280 are slow. 280 it looks like it's slow out to downtown san jose. 7:34. let's go back to the desk. as sal and steve have been telling you, a powerful storm is slowly but surely moving towards the bay area. ktvu's tara moriarty continuing our stormwatch coverage. tara, you are in petaluma. they've been getting light rain there for the past couple of hours. >> reporter: oh, yes. definitely. it has been drizzling on and off since about 5:00 this morning. it's obviously not a downpour. but it is enough to get people scrambling in and out of their cars. we want to mention at 8:35 this morning, if you live in marin county, be aware that the high tide is coming in. if you live in an area near a

creek that's prone to flooding, you could be in for it. make sure you stock up on the sandbags. we want to mention the driving. it's definitely slick out there. take it easy on the roadway, chp wants you to slow it down. expect some gusty winds. we did see some warning signs on bay area bridges yesterday. the chp also wanting you to check your tire treads, tire pressure and windshield wipers. the wet weather brought out a steady stream of customers at the ace hardware store. folks are snatching up sandbags, tarps, rain gear and drainage pipes. one man said his neighborhood near pen grove flooded the last time we got rain. >> we're right next to the creek. it floods. sirens go off. it's very exciting. we need a few inches of rain to get that kind of flooding. >> we're all worried about the cost of the water. they are gonna charge us. hopefully we get more rain. >> reporter: moderate to heavy showers are not expected to kick in until noon.

we could see the thunderstorms that steve has been talking about, up to 3 inches in the valley. 7 in the mountains. the commute could get messy and the rain could come back for friday. want to mention in you live in marin county and you are looking into stand bags numbers 2, and 5 in san rafael. number 7 in mill valley as well as woodacre and tomales. back to you. >> thank you. 7:36. happening now -- want to take you to live pictures from sfo, it's live. the stormy weather causing three-hour delays. rain and wind could also affect flights at the airports in oakland and san jose. the number of delays could go up when the storm picks up steam later today. if you have to go to the airport, check with your airline ahead of time. some people are hoping this storm will add to their own personal supply of water. denise robertson of benicia here showed us her rain barrels

helping to keep her plants alive. she said even a light rain can fill up two barrels in less than an hour. water officials in contra costa county say they will send someone to your house on tips to save water and which plants are drought resistant. and you can download our new ktvu weather app to help you through the series of storms. it has real-time radar and the weather alerts to keep you up to date right on your iphone, ipad or android device. despite today's rain storm, the call to of concern is growing much louder. the water district voted to ask customers to cut use by 20%. that's up from 10% last month. the district is also digging deeper into ground water supplies. veteran administrators say the situation statewide is the worse they've ever seen. >> it gets harder. every drought because we have

the low-flush toilet. we have the low-flow showerhead or whatever. >> here are some local conservation numbers. the san francisco public utilities commission asked for a 10% reduction while customers are using less water. official numbers km out. marin's municipal water district asked for a 25% reduction. usage is down 17% compared to a similar week last february. east bay m.u.d. urged a 10% cut. usage has dropped nearly 4.5%. meanwhile, east bay m.u.d. plans to spend millions of dollars to make sure the district doesn't run out of water. the board voted to buy water from placer county. it could cost the district as much as $8 million, though. just a fraction of the money would be for the water itself while most of the cost would come from pumping the water from the sacramento area. mudd supplies water to 1.3

million customers. police in fairfield are searching for witnesses to a deadly car crash last night. it happened at 7:00 near air base parkway and walters road. investigators say a cadillac collided with a nissan sedan. the driver of the cadillac, a 38-year-old man from pittsburg was killed. the driver of the nissan, a 19- year-old man, from fairfield is listed in critical condition. a napa mother and her boyfriend, they've entered not guilty pleas to charges of murdering the woman's 3-year- old daughter. sara krueger and ryan warner, they appeared in court yesterday. they are accused of killing kayleigh slusher, putting her body in a suitcase and hiding it in a freezer last month. prosecutors have subpoenaed the girl's medical records from two hospitals. the police say they are looking for evidence of prior abuse. and the woman who is accused of a deadly shooting rampage at a tribal meeting in a remote part of northeastern california was in court

yesterday. 44-year-old sherry rhodes is a formal tribbal chairwoman being reported for misusing $50,000 of the tribe's money. police say she opened fire killing four people at a tribal meeting last thursday and they were discussing evicting her from her tribal home. she did not enter a plea yesterday. 7:40. happening now, crews are getting ready to remove a large palm tree from a walnut creek creek front yard. it may be replanted in a very high-profile location. the bay bridge. brian flores is live in walnut creek to explain why, though, the tree first tested be taken away hundreds of miles away. >> reporter: it's not simple to remove a tree from a home and put it on the bay bridge. but take a look at this. crews preparing for a 60-tun crane that will arrive here at 8:00 this morning to remove a

canary palm. the owner was set to shell out his own cash to get rid of it before the landscaper came to home and they paid the homeowner for it. now, the walnut creek homeowner who did not want to be on camera, told ktvu off camera before his landscaper came to the home, he was willing to spend $,000 of his own money to get rid of it. but then the landscape center tree company came to the homeowner saw the tree and said this is the type of tree we're working for for the bridge. they offered $1,000. they agreed and here we are. the spokesperson says caltrans plans to add 22 trees in the spring. we spoke with him earlier about the process and how much it costs. >> they can withstand the harsh weather and conditions. they can stand up to the salt air and the wind and the fog. >> now, according to caltrans,

they have a budget of about $900,000 for landscaping along the eastern span. they say each tree roughly costs about $10,000 apiece. as we take it back out here live, you see the workers prepping. here's the most interesting part of the story -- speaking to the landscaper yesterday, they say, you know what? they are looking for more of these similar trees to adorn the new eastern span of the bay bridge. if you think you have one and you are in the possibility of getting rid of it, they say e- mail them a picture and they will come by your house and check it out. you may get paid for it. we provided the link to the e- mail address to the landscaper at ktvu.com so you can e-mail the landscaper for yourself. we're live in walnut creek, brian flores, ktvu channel 2 news. 7:42. some monterey county police officers were arrested yesterday accused of dishonoring their badge. now, these six officers in the king city police department, they were arrested including the current and former police

chiefs. they are accused of impounding the cars of mostly unlicensed drivers, then selling the cars when the owners couldn't pay the towing fees. the brother of the acting police chief who owned a tow truck company, he was also arrested. san diego's police chief is planning to resign effective monday. 69-year-old william landsdown has been the chief for 10 and a half years. he's from oakland, graduated from san jose university and served as police chief in richmond and san jose before heading south. this announcement comes after several women accused san diego police officers of sexual misconduct. two officers have been placed on administrative leave. gay right supporters are turning up the political heat on the governor of arizona. what bay area companies are joining the fight just days before a crucial deadline. and the weather is making for traffic to be a little pit

slower than usual -- bit slower than usual. the drive times have increased. we'll tell you what highway 24 and other freeways are looking like. rain moving in. there are a few pockets where it's moderate. there's heavier rain on the way. we'll take a look at it on the radar -- coming up.

you look like me.o that's it? no little debbie? that's because i am you. or who you used to be.

back when you ate little debbie. i've got some tasty things. not like these. remember? donuts... aisle four. your love for little debbie is something you never outgrow. you're gonna pay for that, right? markets are higher. u.s. sales of new homes jumped 9.6% in january. and consumer focus stocks are especially strong after home retailer lowes and barnes & noble reported higher earnings. the dow is up 51. the nasdaq is up 23. s&p up 5. and that news about

consumer focus stocks doing well, could be helping to offset disappointing news for target. its stock is up nearly 5%. this morning, the retailer reported profits dropped 46% during its most recent quarter. target says the data breach that occurred during the crucial holiday shopping season scared off many customers and it says costs related to the problem could affect earnings in the current quarter. arizona is in the national spotlight this morning over a bill that's surprising and angering people all over the -- angering people all over the country. pam cook is in the newsroom with the pressure the governor is getting from people and businesses. >> yeah, pressure to veto a bill that san francisco supervisors are calling a license to discriminate. >> veto! veto! >> governor jan brewer faces increasing pressure to veto. what's seen as anti-gay

legislation passed by the state legislature. she has until midnight saturday to veto the bill, sign it or do nothing and it will become law. the bill allows business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers on the basis of the business owner's  religious beliefs. big named businesses are taking a stance. many are lobbying state legislators across the country saying any laws perceived at anti-gay are bad for business. they include, a apple, yelp, american airlines, delta, american airlines, at&t and marriott. all coming out against this measure. but feelings are strong on both side of the issue. >> i would hope the rather would step up to the plate and do the right thing. let's veto this now. not wait. you are just causing more damage to arizona. >> this isn't an issue of discrimination. it's an issue of having

people's values respected. >> the bill was prompted by legal cases against business owners who cited their religious beliefs and denied services to couples planning same-sex marriage ceremonies. we'll hear from john mccain and the senator who authored this bill. he says this is not about discrimination. it's about freedom. reporting live in the newsroom, pam cook, ktvu channel 2 news. look forward to that. right now, though, we want to look forward to a traffic report from sal castanedo, taking a look at 280. >> that's right. we're starting there. 280 in san jose, tori and dave, is slow. 85 and 101 are also slow. i just want to show you what it is like getting out of downtown san jose as you drive through. there goes the train. the train might be a good way to get to work today. public transportation because the roads are just going to get worse as the heavier rain moves through. you can see the drive time here into cupertino has doubled from what it normally is. let's move along.

want to show you the map here. we saw the slow traffic on 280 but 85 and 101 are very slow. not a lot of crashes, just a lot of slow traffic. nimitz freeway. you can see it's very slow from 238 all the way down to fremont, especially in this corridor between leleing. bay bridge toll plaza, 35 minutes before you get into san francisco that is your drive time. let's go to steve. thank you, sal. a very good morning. a lot of cloud cover, some light rain. pockets where it's moderate. i know oakland has had moderate rain also down towards santa cruz and monterey and carmel. generally, it's light rain extending up into lake county. not too much in mendocino county. just saw a few reports of light rain. the system is swinging in. cloudy this morning. rain. rain will pick up i think after the noon hour into this afternoon and evening. that's when we could get activity. down towards monterey, salinas. that's where some of the

heaviest rain is. we've been talking about how this next system might favor issues in central and southern california and so far this first system is showing signs as well. in the santa cruz mountains, coming out of the mountains, heading towards saratoga, towards san jose, might get some pockets of moderate rain especially moving over san jose. the wind has picked up. the rain around fremont, newark, union city, seeing activity there. starting to get moderate rain. there are a few areas where it's beginning to pick up. after that, it's kind of light rain extending out to rio vista and discovery bay. fairfield, had good rain in concord. it's light. in the north bay, not too bad here. just been light as well. all the way up to mendocino county and lake county is what we talked about. 50s have not moved all morning long. they are stuck. southeast wind will be picking up. rainfall totals through saturday. the friday system will be a big producer. but the totals i would favor areas south of the santa cruz mountains, maybe the russian river but overall about an inch to 2 should cover most

locations. it's a good system coming in. what i really like is that development down there. that's a low developing. it will move onshore. this will be a projectioned on wind speeds. their gusts at 30. any time you get in the red, that's good on the coast. there are no wind advisories but i bet there will be one for friday. things will start to calm down rapidly, especially on saturday as the next low goes down to southern california. the sierra is tough here because the snow level will go up and come down. there's only a winter weather advisory. it starts at 4:00 today. this may be more wind and rain for most than snow. but keel's keep an eye on things for you. light rain, turning more moderate. 60s on the temperatures or upper 50s. today's system will linger into

thursday. friday looks wet. we'll clear it out on saturday and sunday looks okay. if you are taking b.a.r.t., don't forget your umbrella. mara lee just tent us this -- sent us this photo showing the rain at the oakland b.a.r.t. station. you can e-mail the pictures to us @newstips or post them on our facebook page. a ceremony in santa cruz. this will mark a tragic anniversary. how the city is honoring two fallen police officers one year after they died in the line of duty. buried treasure in the gold country. what a couple found while out walking their dog.

welcome back. happening today -- bay area protesters will join others around the nation marking the anniversary of a deadly shooting in florida. the shooting death of trayvon

martin that ignited an emotional national debate. two years ago today, neighborhood watch captain george zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed african- american teenager nailed trayvon martin. a jury later acquitted george zimmerman of all charges. protesters outraged will gather today in oakland and several other u.s. cities later today. pet owners in san francisco say they are increasingly nervous with the discovery of more poisonous meatballs around the city. since friday, san francisco's animal control and welfare department says 45 to 50 meatballs have been found primarily in the twin peaks area. we talked with one pet owner who spotted his dog timber eating a poisoned meatball on monday on a trail in twin peaks. he rushed her to the vet where she coughed up the vet. >> they said it was stricnine

which is a poison. >> animal control officers say it's becoming harder to spot the meatballs because they are blending in with the leaves and grass. the rate of obesity in children is going down. according to a study in the journal of the american medical association the rate dropped from 13.9% to 8.4% over the past decade. that's for children between the ages of 2 and 5. this was announced the same day that first lady michelle obama doing her jumping jacks proposed new rules to limit the types of food and beverages that can be advertised in schools. a man and woman walking their dog in the gold country came across some buried treasure. the pair spotted some rusted canisters mostly covered by dirt and inside, hundreds of gold coins from the 19th century valued at $10 million. they will go up for auction in

may. a loud wakeup call here in the bay area. a huge true, a branch, crashing down into a family's house in san bruno early this morning. you will see the damage left behind. we're live on the peninsula where it's raining. we'll tell you where you can pick up free sandbags and i will tell you about the storm preparations that are already underway. traffic is going to be okay in some areas despite the weather moving through. but some of those drive times might get your attention. we'll tell you where. well, all show and no go for some. some areas getting decent rain. it will pick up later. we do have rain finally in the forecast.

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this happened in the middle of the night, a tree came down. alex savidge has been at the scene all morning. he will show you more of the damage and show you what happened in a live report coming up. it was loud, too, that tree. wednesday morning, february

26th. i'm dave clark. >> i'm tori campbell. our other bigg story, wet weather. we have team coverage. janine de la vega is in palo alto with how residents are bracing for the pain. sal castanedo is helping commuters navigate the slick roads. we begin with steve paulson. >> we will see some of these pick up. it's raining. most people's respos, it's poss -- response, it's positive. we have two systems here. one coming in on wednesday. one on friday. here's the system. this begins to swing in. some of the rain has been okay. nothing too great. it's been moderate to heavy, especially down towards monterey. that might be a sign of things to come here for santa cruz county. a line forming. here's the santa clara valley,

san jose back up towards union city, fremont, newark and hayward. some of this is picking up. that's not bad when you start to see that. that's bursts of moderate. el granada, half moon bay, i have reports in sunnyvale, also san mateo as well. north bay things are light but tarker green moving into -- darker green moving into southern marin county. out to the east, not a lot. 50s on the temperatures. a very mild system. this is not a cold system yet. there's plenty back here that could lead to moderate to heavy rain. maybe thunderstorms later this afternoon. rain and wind not too bad. some of the higher elevations. it will get stronger later on. temperatures today 50s and 60s. here's sal. >> good morning. we are still looking at a commute that's okay. we don't want to scare anybody. it will be a little bit slower than usual because of the rain. on any given day. we have slow traffic right through the south bay. i do tell you that traffic is a little bit slower because of the wet weather on 280, 85 and

101. but again, only by about 10% or so. later, that might be a different story. look at 880. very slow heading south from leweling boulevard out to the fremont area. northbound is slow from 84 to the way up. and the san mateo bridge is also pretty slow. these things are definitely related to the weather. i want to show you the bay bridge toll plaza. 35 to 40-minute delay. drive time into the city. let's go back to the desk. >> thank you. a family in san bruno had a scary wakeup call this morning. a huge tree branch came crashing down onto their house. alex savidge is live at the house now and alex, you are talking to the family and they are thankful to be arrive. >> reporter: they are very grateful, dave. good morning to you. i have to say this family thought at first this was an earthquake and you can see why. this is the huge branch. it broke away from this

eucalyptus tree behind the family's home. and that branch fell in this direction. thankfully, it fell on sop of the family's carport and not on the home itself where everybody was sleeping inside. here's some of the damage from this morning. two cars in the front driveway, also were damaged. this happened before 3:00 this morning. this house is at 7th avenue and san bruno avenue right at the corner here just off 101. three people were inside at the time. a young man who i spoke with this morning. his mother and his stepfather. all of them were sleeping when suddenly, they were woken up by a loud crashing sound. it was an extremely close call for them and they feel lucky, they weren't hurt. >> i'm so thankful. the thing is, my parents' room is in the back. the tree branch was heading towards there. for some reason -- i think the city moved it over this way a

little bit and luckily, they did. and it's good they did that otherwise it would have fell on their room. >> reporter: because this home backs up to 101, there's some question about who is responsible for this tree. we did see a caltrans worker who was out here this morning taking pictures and he says he's trying to figure out if this tree is on caltrans property because it's so close to the freeway. we'll bring you back out here to a picture. this tree has been a problem in the past. the young man i spoke with this morning says a tree branch, smaller branch fell down about two months ago and then this morning, this much larger tree branch came crashing down leaving this family with quite a mess to clean up. we're live in san bruno, alex savidge, ktvu channel 2 news.

heavy rainfall is projected for later today and on friday. janine de la vega is live in palo alto at one of the sandbag centers in santa clara county. good morning, janine. >> reporter: good morning, tori. well, it's been raining steady for at least an hour and a half, enough so that i can give up on my hair and put on a hat. you can see -- look at how much rain is collected here in the parking lot. you can see a puddle and then you can also see that it's still windy out here by those flags out here blowing. i do want to show you all of the sandbags on embarcadero road. they have many, many pallets of it. hundreds of sandbags here to pick up. the bags are getting wet but they are going to be very helpful if you want to protect your -- protect your property from potential flooding. over in east palo alto, the city has designated sandbag pickup locations including this one on university avenue. city officials are concerned because of the major flooding that took place when a storm hit in december of 2012. the creek crested and waters

overran the lev levee and and neighborhoods flooded. with rain hitting over the next few days, the city is the preparing storm drain streets. crews are on stand by fo the next few days to handing any situation that may aids rise. there -- that may arise. there are sandbags. prefilled ones can be found here on the embarcadero near the air terminal they are available on ail visa on gold and katherine street. in san jose, there are three locations, the corp rigs yard on mayberry, the central service yard at felon andant the santa clara water district on windfield and blossom hill. in morgan hill, the el toro fire station on old monterey road. to get a complete list of all of the locations, go to our website at ktvu.com and click on web links. again, back out here live, you are being asked by the water

district to only take 20 of these sandbags per vehicle and, you know, all morning, i've been trying to see how many i can pick up. i've been told some weigh as heavy as 70 pounds. if you think you might need help, it would be helpful to bring sub somebody along -- to bring somebody along to help you. >> you are big and strong. you can pick those up. don't forget. you can continue to track the rain even after "mornings on 2" end. go to ktvu.com and mobile ktvu get the latest stormwatch information and also check out the live radar. 8:08. meantime, an investigation goes on in daly city. that's where someone was hit and killed by a car last night on interstate 280. it happened about 6:30 near john daly boulevard. investigators don't know yet know the person's name or why that person was out on the road. the car that hit the person

left the scene. the chp investigation continues. they are also can asking for any eyewitnesses to contact them. 8:08. san jose police say they have arrested two people in connection to a deliberate hit and run. 24-year-old andrew reynosa is under arrest on suspicion of murder. 21-year-old davinna faces an accessory charge. it began with a gang-relaid confrontation at the -- gang- related confronttation at the flee. one person was stabbed. two others were hurt by a car. one of the hit-and-run victims, 23-year-old eric vallejo died at the scene. police are still looking for a charcoal colored 2008 mercedes- benz with rear end damage. it has a license plate, 7 bmz 599. 8:09. this morning, the santa cruz

police department will hold a private dedication ceremony for a new memorial garden. the garden is outside of police headquarters. it's a lasting tribute to the two police officers killed in the line of duty exactly one year ago. now, this morning's ceremony follows a public candlelight vigil last night. it was at city hall in honor of detective elizabeth butler and sergeant butch baker. sergeant baker's son was among those at last night's vigil. >> i miss my best friend. he's my hero. me and my mom and him called ourselves the three amigos. i miss having that. >> a sexual assault suspect shot and killed those two police officers when they went to the door of his santa cruz home to question him. that suspect was killed a short time later in a shootout with santa cruz police. the san mateo county health department is reporting a rare case of measles and the health

department is strongly urging everyone, especially children, to get a vaccination to protect themselves from a highly infectious disease. the health department is trying to track down anyone who had close contact with the man in san mateo county. the bay area's latest measles scare began earlier this month when a uc berkeley student tested positive for it. that student rode bart from the el cerrito station to the cal campus. that prompted a hearth warning for b.a.r.t. riders and uc berkeley students. no reports of anyone else getting sick. a mysterious illness that's caused polio-like paralysis in at least 20 california children, including several right here in the bay area. today's chronicle reports medical experts say this illness does not appear to be widespread or pose a significant threat to others.

however, public health agencies are very eager to find out where it's coming from. the first signs of the illness showed up in late 2012 in patients who were treated at stanford and ucsf. today is a special day for an historic san francisco business. this is the 185th anniversary of the birth of levi strauss. the man who found fame as the maker of blue jeans. every year to celebrate his birth, the company opens up its arkyes -- archives so they can see how far it's come for making clothes for miners. a bay bridge mini makeover. the surprising twist of how one tree about to be cut down that's raking in a lot of cash. a major airlines has plans to award its customers in a brand-new way. the change coming to delta

airlines. it is going to be a little slower out there. we haven't had a lot of crashes. but we've had a lot he of slow traffic. this is a look at the richmond/san rafael approach. pretty good line forming from union city, hayward, fremont south towards the san jose/santa clara valley. also offshore there's good development. might lead to thunderstorms later.

8:15.

new this morning, the u.s. recovered $4 billion last year through healthcare fraud prevention. that's according to a new report released this morning. the report says the department of justice together with the health and human services department has cracked down on tens of thousands of healthcare providers suspected of medicare fraud. the affordable care act has hit the 4 million mark. the pace is still short of the administration's goal of 6 million by the end of next month. that's the deadline to sign up for coverage this year. numbers show a low number of younger people also signing up. only about 27% of enrollees. officials hope more would take part to help offset the expense of healthcare for older participants. president obama threatening to pull all american troops out of afghanistan by the end of the year if the afghan government refuses to agree on terms to keep them there. it's a battle of wills between

president obama and afghan president, hamid karzai. the two leaders spoke by phone yesterday for the first time in months. president kay die is refusing to sign -- kay karzai is refusing to offer an agreement to offer protection to u.s. troops if they say. >> i think we've made it clear that we are willing to keep a presence in afghanistan and that we want to continue to help the afghan forces and work in counterterrorism but we can't do that without a bilateral security agreement. >> more than 33,000,000 troops are in afghanistan now. there were plans for 10,000 troops to stay in afghanistan for counterterrorism operations and also to train afghan forces. 8:17. delta is making a big change to its frequent flier plan. starting next year, it will reward passengers based on how much they pay for their tickets instead of how far they fly.

they will get more miles depending upon their status in the rewards plan. virgin america came up with the idea when it launched in 2007. this same idea is being used by jetblue and -- and southwest. the department of homeland security is putting fewer air mal has on flights. an e-mail obtained by cnn says there are not as many air marshals as there were three years ago. the agency is not saying how many jobs have been cut. it's 8:18. we know we have rain. we know the roads are wet. highway 24, the overall drive is slow. >> it is slow. we'll had fewer collisions. people are going slower, though, as you can see. this is highway 24. normally, i would be telling you this drive time is about ten minutes. this morning it's more like 20, 25 minutes between walnut creek and oakland. this is some of the slowest

traffic we've had. but again, the good news, we haven't had a lot of wrecks and the people are going too slow to get into serious crashes out there. let's take a look at the commute at the bay bridge toll plaza. the traffic here is about 35 minutes steady getting into san francisco. the drive time. i want to show you something. this is the -- look at 880. when the road sensors turn red, it's less than 25 miles an hour. we usual i don't see it this bad. northbound is slow as well. that's what you are dealing with. 8:19. let's go to steve. pretty good rain there, too, sal. >> yes. >> thank you. we have cloudy skies. i know it's raining. we've had .01 to .04. hardly anything. hopefully his a sign of things to come -- it's a sign of things to come. the atmosphere is getting juiced u it's raining, thank

goodness. not a lot but it is raining. we're running out of time. although there is another system friday, next wednesday and maybe again on the 13th. remarkable that our forecast models, remember about seven, ten days ago we were talking about it, it's arrived. spot on. i have to give them credit. nobody writes when you are right. [laughter] >> you do. you know what i mean, though. the forecast models were spectacular on this proo diblthing this out -- preditting -- predicting this seven, ten days out. fremont, san jose, down to the santa clara valley all the way town to soledad. 101 corridor, 680. around fremont, hayward, union city, newark. we'll slide it toward san jose. coming out of the santa cruz mountains maybe towards santa cruz, los gatos. we've had reports there. the santa clara valley not yet coming out of watsonville. that's not bad.

that's a possibility of things maybe developing later. we might see lines like this forming. the rest of the bay area, it's kind of cloudy, light rain, pockets of maybe moderate but generally it's light. you can see the light rain. north bay, east bay there is not a lot. some areas have light rain. novato, somebody dipped in under 50. most locations around 52, 55. what i like is -- that's developing and has pockets of heavy rain and some thunderstorm activity. rainfall will be really good central and southern california, it will be okay here. this is through saturday morning. napa over 2 25. livermore, only 81/100ths. not bad. but we'll take the rain totals and hopefully can stack them up by friday. the sierra, a winter weather advisory starts at 4:00. it's a weather advisory. i think this is a bigger wind

event, especially on friday as they head into friday and friday night. looks very windy for us. today, rain. wind picking up. rainfall light, moderate to heavier later this afternoon. thundershowers are definitely possible. there's definitely some signatures showing up right now. we'll take this into early thursday morning and then a break. saturday things calm down and move into southern california big time. sunday looks pretty good. >> thank you, steve. 8:22. san francisco is getting involved in the national debate over arizona's proposed anti- gay law. the resolution by san francisco supervisors denouncing the legislation. also, that gm recall, it just got worse. the problem the car company says could cause engines in some cars to just shut off. ♪

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welcome back. 8:25. in oakland, classes at skyline high school were scheduled to start about 25 minutes ago after yesterday's gas leak that forced an evacuation. that was the third gas leak at skyline high school in a week. in this latest case, we're told a crew working on the heating system opened up the wrong valve. that allowed gas to flow into an unused science lab. 8:25. with the rain today, caltrans will likely monitor the eastern span to make sure there are no serious leaks on the new bay bridge. the leaks are just one of the problems associated with a

multibillion-dollar span. another issue caltrans must deal with is the misalignment of welt connections -- well connections on the deck. they are off by become .3 of an inch of. the bay bridge would likely sustain damage in a big earthquake, but he insists it could withstand it and the bridge could reopen. >> can you get a fire truck, a water truck, a flow of people going back and forth to work so the bay area can rebuild itself? i'm confident. >> another issue that's been raised deals with the broken rods that were discovered last march that had originally threatened to delay the opening of the new eastern span. later this afternoon, caltrans will talk about ongoing testing of the rods and a permanent fix that was put in place in december. 8:26. general motors recalling another 842,000 cars all because of an ignition switch

problem. now, chevy hhr suvs, the pontiac solstice, saturn skies and the ions are all being recalled. that brings the total gm recall is 1.6 million cars and suvs. the gm says driving on rough roads or on -- or heavy key chains actually can cause the switch to move out of the run position and shut off the engine. 13 people have died because of that problem. 8:27 now. police officers on the wrong side of the law in monterey county. the illegal way they allegedly targeted their city's most vulnerable residents. >> reporter: we're live in petaluma, where the rain just started to pick up over the past couple of minutes. we'll tell you what people throughout the bay area are doing in order to prepare for the storm. and all of a sudden, we have a spike in the number of crashes that have popped up because the rain is moving through and now we have more to talk about in the traffic.

definitely. especially out towards danville, 13/100ths. there's pockets of moderate rain. we'll take a look at it on radar coming up. attention monster taco fans!

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well, good morning. it's 8:30. welcome back to "mornings on 2." yes, it's raining. and we're on stormwatch this morning. the first of two storms moves into the north bay area. now, these are live pictures from petaluma. they are get it pretty good, too. tara moriarty is out there. she'll tell you more about how the people out there are preparing for it. steve will have everything to tell you about coming up.

wednesday morning, february 26th. i'm dave clark. let's talk about the weather and traffic. here's steve over here. >> all right. thank you. things are picking up. pretty good line forming from about parts of contra costa county all the way down to the santa clara valley. there's going to be some bursts of moderate rain. maybe heavy. around san ramon, danville towards pleasanton, the 680/580 split. had an e-mail on that pretty good rain. fremont, looks like the sunol grade, union city to sunol. fremont, watch this line that forms from san jose to gilroy in the santa clara valley. those lines are potential of producing heavy rain. it's been raining heavily towards monterey and carmel. i think they are the leader of the pack. for us, things are beginning to pick up. there have good returns on radar. 40s, 50s. a lot more 50s. this bears watching for later this afternoon. i think for severe weather,

thunderstorms or hail. rain and wind for us. light to moderate. maybe heavy a little later. temperatures in the 50s and also 60s. here's sal. right now we do have a lot of crashes that have popped up and too many to mention. a lot of them are noninjury crashes. as you can see, traffic is going to be busy. i just put up the general bay area map. you can see the red on almost every freeway, especially original the east bay commutes. just where steve mentioned the wet weather coming through is correlated with all of the slow traffic coming in. in san jose, we have slow traffic on every single freeway. it's been the slowest day i can remember for a while. this isn't even the bad rain. let's talk about the bay bridge toll plaza. that's still about a 25, 30- minute delay coming into san francisco. i want to go back to the south bay and look at 280 now. you can see for yourself what you are dealing with. again, this is not even the bad part. if you don't want to drive in this kind of weather at night

and perhaps would worse weather, i would use public transportation instead. 8:32. let's go back to the desk. thank you. the bay area is bracing for a really strong, powerful storm. tara moriarty continues our stormwatch coverage. tara, you are in petaluma. it looks like the rain is at least get -- at least picking up some. >> reporter: it was kind of light showers on and off for a little over three hours, i would say and then literally in the past five minutes, it started to come down. a lot of people have been running into their cars because we've noticed a lot of them didn't carry umbrellas today. a lot of them don't have any rain gear either. we do want to mention that right now, the high tide is coming in. if you live in marin county and if you live near a creek, be aware of potential flooding. all right. we want to mention that yesterday in berkeley, there were a lot of folks lining up at the ace hardware store on university avenue in berkeley. they were snatching up sandbags, tarps, and drivers

should expect gusty wind. we saw some warning signs on bay area bridges yesterday. the chp is reminding people to check your tire treads, tire pressure and windshield wipers. >> it's kind of starting. don't really know what it will end up being. >> reporter: it will be heavier later today. >> it should be coming in stronger. we'll see. >> reporter: have to be careful on the roadway. >> for sure. >> reporter: moderate to heavy showers are not expected to kick in until about noon. we could see thunderstorms and up to 3 inches in the valley. the commute could get messy and sal has been talking about that. it's supposed to dry up tomorrow and then friday the rain is back. if you live in marin county, sandbags are available at several firehouses. number two and five in san rafael. number 7 in mill valley whitaker as well as tomales. those places have sandbags. so if you need to pick them up, now would be the time to do it. tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2

news. >> thank you, tara. some people in the bay area are hoping this storm will enter their own personal supply of water. denise robertson showed us rain barrels in benicia that are helping to keep her plants alive. water officials in contra costa county say they will send someone to your home to offer tips and let you know what plants are drought resincance. you can down-- resistance. you can download our app. it has real-time radar and weather alerts to keep you up to date on our iphone, ipad or android device. six monterey county police officers are accused of dishonger their -- dishonoring their badge arrested on embezzlement to bribery charges. one officer is suspected of taking one vehicle for every ten to fifteen that he

impounded. the brother of the acting chief who owns a tow truck company was also arrested. 8:35. the cite of the new transbay terminal in downtown san francisco, it will be examined by archaeologists after the remains of a native-american were found. they were found yesterday morning about 60 feet underground at the fremont street construction site. the coroner confirmed the remains are native-american. now, the native-american heritage commission is helping to determine if the remains will be removed. 8:36. crews are starting to remove a large palm tree from a walnut creek front yard. it's part of a project to add some life to the bay bridge. brian flores is live in walnut creek where the removal is getting underway. i can see activity behind you, brian. >> reporter: there is a lot of activity going on here. good morning. it's also raining a lot as well. crews have a very task to remove this palm tree. as you can see, here is the 20

ton crane that's here to remove the palm tree which is closest to this home here in walnut creek. it is a 20-year-old canary island palm. what's interest, the homeowners were set to shell out their own cash to get rid of it until a land scraper subcontracted by caltrans came out to look at it to see if they could use it on the bridge. the homeowner was prepared to pay $3,000. but then the contractor saw the tree, contacted the homeowner. they said how about $1,000? they agreed. here we are. you won't be seeing this tree in the immediate future. the tree has to make a seven- hour trip to riverside to a holding yard where it will be inspected for disease. if it's given the okay, it will be placed on the bay bridge.

caltrans plans to add 22 additional trees in the spring. >> they can withstand the harsh weather and conditions out here. they can stand up to the salt, air and the wind and the fog. >> reporter: now, according to caltrans, they have a budget of about $900,000 for landscaping along the eastern span and each tree roughly costs around 10 grand apiece. here's the cough caveat. 's parentally the land scapers are -- apparently the landscapers are looking for more of these trees. if you think you have one, e- mail them. we proprovided their link on -- provided their wink -- we provided their website on 0 our website. we're live here in walnut creek, brian flores, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. 8:38. a deadly shooting two years ago

today in florida. it caused an angry national debate. how bay area protesters are remembering the death of trayvon martin. they thought it was an earthquake. the close call for a san bruno family early this morning. and as one of the tweeters -- one of the twitter people said it's brutal traffic but it's worth it for the wet weather. but yeah, it's very slow out there. drive times are up. we'll tell you where the worse traffic is coming up. my guess it's probably free montsouth -- fremont south. we'll take a look and see what's in store for later this afternoon. [ male announcer ] pillsbury grands biscuits.

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continuing our stormwatch coverage. we want to show you some live pictures from sfo where the rain and wind are already causing three-hour flight delays on average. today's stormy weather could affect flights at the airports in oakland and san jose and those delays could get even longer as the storm picks up steam later today. anyone heading to the airport should check with their airline ahead of time. let's take a look at the radar. it's stormtracker2. as you can see, the storm coming in, the yellow is where the heavier rain is moving right over the bay area. steve and sal will have much

more on today's storm coming up in a few minutes. 8:42. let's bring you up to date on some of the other top stories we're following for. under storm ready status. there's sandbags at six different locationses, including palo alto and san jose. officials are worried about flooded roads and homes. the santa cruz police department will hold a private dedication ceremony for a new memorial garden, a lasting tribute to detective elizabeth butler and sergeant butch baker. they died in the line of duty one year ago today. a huge bran from a -- huge branch from a tree crashed down on a home. the family inside thought it was an earthquake. alex savidge has been out there since 4:30 this morning. you are back now to show us more about the damage. alex. >> reporter: well, good morning to you. the family who lives in this home behind me feels extremely

lucky that none of them were hurt. a very close call. this is the huge branch that broke away from this eucalyptus tree that sits behind the family's home and the giant branch toppled over early this morning and it fell in this direction. but the only good news is that it essentially fell right on top of the family's carport and it didn't fall directly on the home itself. this falling tree also damaged two cars parked in the front driveway. this all happened just before 3:00 this morning. three people were inside this house at 7th avenue near san bruno avenue. a young man was inside sleeping along with his mother and stepfather. they were all there inside obviously sleeping at the time. and they were woken up by a loud crashing sound. what the family at first thought was an earthquake. >> we heard a big shake. we thought it was a car crashing into the house.

we saw that the tree hit the garage and the car as well. we were really freaked out and scared. >> reporter: and the family says this large tree behind their home has been a problem in the past. two months ago, a smaller branch broke off. it didn't cause any damage at that time. and then this morning, this much larger branch came crashing down leaving a giant mess for this family. now, let me give you an idea of where this all happened here because this home backs right up to 101 just across the freeway from the airport and i was told by a representative from sfo who is out here a short time ago, this it property that the tree is sitting on actually is maintained by both the city of san francisco and caltrans. but he tells me caltrans will take responsibility for this tree branch that broke off. a caltrans crew will be out here today later to clean up this mess. alex savidge, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. 8:45. protests are growing louder

over a controversial bill that could be signed by this weekend in arizona. ktvu's pam cook joins us in the studio with reaction from some well-known names in politics and business. good morning, pam. >> good morning. the bill passed the arizona legislature. it's now on the desk of the governor, jan brewer, who can probably hear protests from her office. >> veto! veto! veto! >> there is increasing pressure this morning for governor brewer to veto what is seen as an high-guy -- anti-gay. many politicians and business owners are taking a stand against the bill calling it discim that tori. the -- discim thatter toly. tis cim that tori -- discriminatory. >> people need to be able to exercise their rights without

concerns. >> this is not the message we want to send. i hope we can -- i hope the governor will veto it and we'll move on and advertise the great beauty of our state. >> many businesses agree this will hurt the economy and say any law perceived as anti-gay is bad for business. apple, american and delta airlines, yelp, intel and marriott are all among those taking a public stance against the arizona measure. there's also talk that the super bowl may be moved out of arizona if this bill passes. the super bowl is scheduled to be in phoenix next year. the governor has until midnight to veto the bill, sign it or do nothing it. and it would become law. dave and tori? >> all right, pam. let's check in with sal. you were telling us a lot of crashes, the roads -- this is not sounding good. >> no, it's not. one of the things we want to mention, it will take you -- even if there are no crashes on your way, if the lanes are all

open, it will take you longer anyway. this is a look at highway 4 which usually at this time has already become light but this morning that's not the case. a lot of slow traffic coming out of antioch to bay pointe. the bay bridge toll plaza has been steady and slow, about 30 minutes. >> i want to mention just as steve has been talking about, it's been raining in a -- and a lot of the rain has moved through this area here. that's correlated with all of the slow traffic. so give yourself plenty of extra time. the south bay is a mess. let's go to steve. all right, sal. that's correct. santa clara, .15 and danville, western danville, .13. that's right about where the line is. we'll get a closer look at it coming up. this looks really good for later this afternoon. you might want to get out of

dodger -- dodge early. go home. i think it will be a lot worse than what we're seeing. the possibility of severe weather this afternoon. you will get good lift, good cold air support. better. last week we were talking about two systems one coming in on wednesday. one coming in on friday. how about that right on the money. right on. things might be calming down a little bit for some. it's still raining, just not as lit up as it was a little bit ago. around hayward, milpitas, union city, morgan hill, gilroy, maybe a little bit there. that line was more impressive not too long ago. you can see it right there. it looks like it's collapsing. there's more approaching the monterey area, santa cruz, also san mateo coast and i think this is only going to intensify later this afternoon as that low kind of swings in. kind of in a ho-hum morning all the way up to mendocino county,

lake county. things will pick up. concord has had some rain early this morning, continued up towards mendocino county, lake county, not much. i expect the intensity to pick up. 50s on the temperatures. they haven't moved all morning long. you expect this area right there. that looks pretty good. that swings in, i think that will increase the breeze but not only the rainfall rates. rain and wind are back. we haven't said that very much. light for a while. maybe bursts to moderate. heavier this afternoon and maybe thunderstorms. possibility of hail keeping an eye on the line, but for us, 50s and 60s on the temperatures. we do get rain here. it will be quieter. there is there is a winter weather advisory for the sierra that starts at 4:00 today. possibility of showers thursday and then a break thursday afternoon. friday's system looks very windy. i think there will be wind advisories issued by the good

folks for friday's system. rain but then the low goes south. i think saturday things calm down and sunday looks all right. >> my fence leaning over might get blown over. okay. thank you. ten minutes before 9:00. a cue moment for the crowd -- cute moment for the crowd in st. peter's square. a memorable one for two parents. kind of a scary one for a baby.

u.s. stocks are higher. sales of new homes rebounded in january to the fattest pace in more than five years. up 9.6%. taking a live look at the big board, the dow is up 35. the nasdaq up 22. and s&p up 3. now, i'm just checking right now, target's stock is up over 7% after what most investors might think is a bad earnings report. target profits fell 46% during its fourth quarter. the retailer says customers stayed away because of concerns about the massive security breach during the holiday shopping season. and it also warns costs related to the breach could affect the next earnings report. protesters in the bay area will join others across the nation to mark the anniversary of a deadly shooting in florida that ignited an emotional

national debate. two years ago today, neighborhood watch captain george zimmerman shot and killed an unarmed african- american teenager. a jury later acquitted zimmerman of all charges in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. protesters outraged about the shooting will gather in several u.s. cities, including oakland later today. 8:55. aaron hernandez, the former new england patriots' tight end facing murder charge,s, he may face more charges after a jailhouse fight. hernandez is in massachusetts awaiting trial for murder. reportedly, another inmate had been verbally harassing hernandez all day yesterday. then they got into a hallway fight. both men are now facing assault charges. jason collins, the former stanford player made nba history sunday as the first active openly gay player in the nba. well, his jersey is already the top-selling jersey on nba.com. it's not the number 46 he wore

in the season debut with the nets. that was the only spare jersey the team had. for the rest of the season, he will wear number 98. that's in honor of mathew shepherd, the college student tortured, beat p and murdered in an anti-gay hate crime back in 1998. mathew shepherd's father father plans to be at that time tomorrow night against denver. the number of obese children, there's a report that's decreasing. american 2 to 5-year-olds are obese. that's down from 14% ten years ago. researchers credit parents learning more about healthy  eating habits. the decline was only seen in preschoolers, not older children. young children who are overweight and obese are more likely to be heavy as adults. a funny moment today at the vatican this morning as pope francis meets his mini me, a

baby dressed exactly like the pope is passed through the crowd to crowd -- to be kissed by the pope. the baby not exactly thrilled. >> classy, classy. >> we have a lot going on in our wet commute. a lot of crashes sal. >> bum you are not crying like a baby out there. >> no. >> tried to make the segway. i will tell you that driver later will be worse than it is now. whenever it rains, slow traffic is out there. we've had a lot of noninjury collisions, too many to list. it's going to be slow. i want to show you 880 northbound is slow from san leandro all the way to downtown oakland. >> the bay bridge has been a steady and slow delay of 30 minutes or more. it will stay that way as long as the weather is -- traffic is very on the bridge as well. let's go to steve. all right, sal. rain, moderate to heavy, especially later this

afternoon, it looks like another system friday. that one will have a lot more wind with it. looking good. >> okay. you called it. >> all right. thank you. that's our report for this morning. we thank you for making ktvu your choice for news. >> be sure to watch the news at noon for the big storm moving in. we'll have team coverage. we're always here for you at ktvu.com as well as twitter and facebook. stay dry. thank you for joining us.

hello, everybody, i'm beth troutman, we've been searching the web for the best videos of the kay. we've got them for you "right this minute." a 911 dispatcher gets busted when an officer suddenly realizes -- >> something smells off. >> what cops say you can't take that kind of smoke break at work. a family is out for a fun day. >> watch what they see off in the distance. the giant flames that really put a damper on their plans. a group relocating elephants find out -- >>