tom vacar live at the devastated neighborhood there in san bruno, thank you tom. >>> and now back tothe state budget. it is long overdue and lawmakers are about to set a dubious distinction. on this date two years ago, lawmakers passed what was then the longest overdue budget in california history. as ktvu's ken pritchett reports, california is about to set another record, one that no one will be proud of. >> reporter: it is day 78 without a budget. the record will be set, the empty floors of the legislature says it all. this will be a historic budget year, the record will fall. >> it's frustrating, maddening and embarrassing. >> reporter: democrats have agreed to as many cuts as possible. republicans say the budget must be balanced without new taxes. >> it could have been done in july if the democrats could have spent their demand for too much spending. >> reporter: legislative leaders met with the governor after a six day trade mission to asian to negotiate closing a $6 million budget gap. >> i think we've lost a little momentum, we'll see if we can pick it up. >> reporter: califor

i am consumer editor tom vacar. are the answers inside the pipe? >> and where u.s. military bases visited by aliens? claims made by former service record to. >> coming up, i will show you what cities will be hot this tomorrow. >> no doubt muni riders are hoping tomorrow morning's commute will be smoother than today. passengers had delays because of mechanical problems. they say signal cable killed a -- failed forcing the vehicles to be in manual mode. >>> a bay area lawmaker proposed direct action to prevent a repeat of the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion and fire. they appeared at the blast site and propose new rules to protect residents. consumer editor tom vacar has details. >> since late last week pg&e has been excavating a tip to get to the section of the failed pipeline so that it can find clues. >> our goals to get inside the pipe, ss was going on and go from there. >> reporter: they can test reports that they had six times the number of weeks than other major pipeline operators of. >> we report everything from a pinhole leak to a third-party taken. we ar

tom vacar is live tonight with more on that part of the story, tom. >> reporter: that part of the storyboils down to one question, did a pg & e power outage cause this gas explosion? a few hours before the san bruno gas line explosion there appears to be a power failure at this milpedas connector. >> the pressure rose right before the explosion. >> reporter: spears says that the pipeline that usually runs at about 375 pounds per square inch was just above that pressure when it exploded. >> the federal limit was 400psig pg & e lowered that further and is at 375. >>> the livermore based kobiashi failure analysis firm says that such pipelines usually have a safety factor three times the federal limit. in other words if the federal government limits. more interesting a couple of years ago a sore line passing underneath the pipeline was enlarged. >> it's right at the location of the explosion that the sanitary line is underneath the gas main. and that rings a real strong bell for me. >> reporter: to avoid digging up the shoreline, there are reports that the contractor ran a widening ramp thr

tom vacar is live on treasure island to explain. tom-- >> reporter: five years ago, the legislature concerned about constant cost overruns put away some money for a rainy day. in three years and three months, the long awaited span of the bay bridge is awaited to open. the cost, $6.3 billion. >> a strong bridge that is seismic retrofitted, is going to pay itself over and over and over. >> reporter: this is the most custom job. the sections that will join the signature tower and its suspended road bridge are so complicated and will bear so much stress, changes are being made even as their chinese producer puts them together. >> these are going to be heavier than we expected. the detail behind that has cost us additional money. >> reporter: caltrans thinks it has now accounted for all that extra money. >> we still have a bit of that extra money left. >> reporter: on a cost pefoot basis, the relatively short suspension tower section now under construction will now fully consume 1/3 of the projects full cost. again, it's still three years

today, they showed ktvu's consumer editor, tom vacar, how. tom is live in oakland. he's on one top of one gas main similar to the one that blew up. tom? >> reporter: indeed there is, there's one around here. average citizens are prevented from knowing those precise locations but for how long? given that pg&e has 6,000 miles of high pressure gas pressure lines buried under gas did help inspections such as the one in san bruno. the first one is gas. >> all gas odor smells are the high priority ones. we respond to those within an hour. >> reporter: often pg&e dispatches a sensor truck that can detect tiny amounts of natural gas coming up from the road near or under which maintenance pipelines are buried. to pinpoint the precise location, inspectors literally walked these handheld sniffers throughout the area. where there's no road, a laser gun does the looking. when not -- pg&e goes over each line. >> we have records and protocol for rapidly dealing with these types of calls. >> reporter: the problem with many of these high pressure pipelines, is they were installed in

consumer editor tom vacar joins us now. he's in san bruno with the details, tom. >> reporter: we see the latest right here right now. the 30-inch pipeline wrecked havoc here. but in fact, this same pipeline runs for many many miles and under many many other unsuspecting people including some in a very high risk area near by. just north of where the pipeline exploded, another section of the very same pipeline has been identified by pg & e's own documents as having a risk of failure that is unacceptably high. it runs right through heavily populated south san francisco. negal, city manager says pg & e has provided him with next to no information. >> they do not want to disclose where these pipes are, what the condition they are necessarily. so it's been very limiting to say the least. >> reporter: what if there's a leak or explosion along this unacceptably risky south san francisco pipeline. >> the decision makers within the city and emergency services folks should certainly know where these pipes are and what their condition i

to get a better idea about repair crews have to do resent consumer editor tom vacar out into the field for a firsthand look. >> reporter: this high- pressure natural gas transmission line runs under this neighborhood near the east bridge shopping mall and many others for miles and miles. when it was built 60 years ago this was far in an orchard land not a densely populated urban area. pg&e says what it's looking for is not on its top 100 list could in fact, it's much more important. >> whenever we find something that needs to be addressed we are not going to wait. we are going to take immediate action and take care of it right away. >> reporter: the problem here was bound by a pipeline inspection gauge that inspects pipes from the inside is. >> it's reading every wild and looking for signs of imperfection like corrosion or event. it picked up what appears to be at the end. >> reporter: the 10th was found during routine maintenance. >> we got the results back last wednesday and making in the repairs of necessary. >> reporter: soils will be analyzed to project the useful life of the over

tom vacar joins us now live from san francisco's embarcadero. >> reporter: if done right this new pier in as little as two years could bolster san francisco's tourism business and bring many many jobs. the cruise ships that flooded the area with tourists for most of the week have moved on. >> i love them. i look forward to seeing them come into town when they do come. >> reporter: the number of cruise ships arriving have been on a five year slide. from 84 at an all time high to 41 this year. >> the ship business gets us through the slow time and in the summertime when it first starts out, it really jump starts the business down here. >> reporter: the problem with san francisco's cruise business is that it's usually forday trippers. people who stop for just a few hours. to really make money in the cruise business for the city and the bay area, you have to have ships starting or ending their cruises right here. >> you generally going to get one, two, or three nights tacked on in your own city when you have those cruises that originate around or on your location. >> reporter: the city hop

as consumer editor tom vacar reports they call a chevron's latest move in and of rally. >> reporter: it did go to the legislature word is given millions of campaign dollars. >> they are seeking an exemption from the state legislator to be exempted from the california laws that were created to protect both community health and the workers. >> it brings filthy, dirty, greasy, greedy politicians. >> chevron is participating in mediated discussions in sacramento at the request of california legislative leadership. >> reporter: chevron says all parties will benefit. >> we're working in mediation discussions to try to resolve issues regarding the energy renewal projects at our refinery. >> reporter: they want to make more money by buying and refining cheaper oil. >> it is more so what comes out and that is heavily regulated by many government agencies. >> what they are looking to expand and refine now is what we call bottom of the barrel crude which is the thicker, dirty or higher pollution content stuff is. >> now they can go above the court's head and ask for an exemption to bring this n

i'm tom vacar. what's going on here? still ahead. the black widow spider's severe bite can cause coma and even death. the african black mamba can kill a man with one bite. but there's an even deadlier predator cigarettes, produced by big tobacco, which take a life every six point five seconds. don't be big tobacco's next victim. >>> i'm worried about my future. am i gonna lose my home? can i provide for my family? it's a very stressful situation. >> firefighters and some marin county residents are on edge tonight. >>> we'll get to that story in a moment. first, more information on the breaking news story out of the santa cruz area, specifically at a beach in davenport. here is a map showing you where this is going on. it's a cliff rescue happening at panther beach in davenport right there on highway 1, north of santa cruz. want to bring in live pictures now from newschopper2 to show you the rescue that's going on. from what we understand, two people fell off a cliff there, possibly about 25 feet. we do know that at least one of them

but almost all those pipes are underground and as ktvu consumer editor tom vacar explains that does make inspections easier said than done. >> reporter: three years ago pg&e buried a 10,000 foot, 30- inch wide pipeline from its main natural gas storage area in the delta leaving to west contra costa county. the reason the old was in damage from an earthquake. the new pipe 100 feet underground will be there for decades. but as it and all of the others age they must be evaluated for corrosion, brittleness and stress failure from within and without. the consequences of the failure, as we've seen, are devastating, but the fact we've had so many few pipeline failures suggests for the most part they keep it in control. >> as this county by county website shows many other pipes have been doing their jobs underground throughout the bay area. on it, you can punch in your address and see just how close or far you are from a major line. pg&e's forward-looking reports say that it's highest priority major pipelines needing replacement in the future included eight mile stretch that runs from livermore

ktvu consumer editor tom vacar begins tonight's coverage. >> reporter: back in 2007 pg&e asked for about $5 million to replace a section of the pipeline that blew up in san brew oh. pg&e's own document says the replacement of 1 1/2 miles of pipeline was privatized by the risk management program. >> they said they would replace that section in 2009 and the commission gave them that money. >> reporter: but then, in september of 2009 -- >> pg&e came back and said "we need about $5 million to replace this very same section of line 132 and we plan to do it in 2013." >> this time pg&e's document says the pipe section was one of its top 100 risks making the risk of fail your high. >> we're wondering i didn't pg&e replace the section in 2009 when they got the money to do this? >> reporter: i asked pg&e's president what happened? >> some things happen, maybe some other item becomes more emerge earnhardt that we need to fix, and so that's why we will redirect funds to take care of the things that are urgent today and then go back and look and say "what are the things that are urgent tomorrow." >>>

reporting live consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> coming up next at 6:00, we'rediggingr answers about that sewage spill that was much bigger than first thought. what we're learning and when the water there might be safe again. julie haener has the news we're working on. >> reporter: to say people were stunned might be an understatement. what was shot and killed in the middle of berkeley and blocks from a world famous restaurant. >>> also ahead tonight, imagine looking out the window of your flight and seeing an engine explode. that's what happened on a plane forced to make an emergency landing at sfo. today we hear from some passengers on boards. >>> plus nearly 125 park workers in one bay area city could lose their jobs unless one thing happens, we'll see you at 6:00. >>> all right, julie we'll see you then. >>> in saratoga officials are warning homeowners at an increase in coyote attacks. residents are being told not to allow their pets to roam freely at night and not to leave cat food or dog food outside. >> up next, bill called it. boy was he right. things are reall

tom vacar joins us now from an oakland power foundation. >> it's a test of randomly chosen smart meters complaints rose when consumers didn't like it. by the end of next year, p g & e would have installed thousands of meters. >> i wouldn't want to use one. i would want it proven of course, but i wouldn't want to use one. >> reporter: san diegan mike kessler says it's not a problem there. >> i haven't heard of any problems because of the change to automated. >> reporter: is this technology better, meaning more accurate and safer than this old technology. second question, did pg & e do a good job in introducing it to the public. but as pg & e is dealing with customers concerned about high bills and possible health effects from the broadcast signal. >> we've heard loud and clear that what was found lacking was customer communication and customer service. >> reporter: pg & e says it's created a task force. hired additional customer service personnel and opened additional call centers. as to health issues -- >> i think about the radiation and the fact that we're being forced to have these in

reporting live consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> it's barreling into the east coast we'll show you which cities are bracing for hurricane earl. >> oh my gosh. lasted probably over a minute. >> on an island, people are looking to pick up the pieces after the an earthquake. >>> and i'm looking at how weather will impact your holiday weekend. >>> it was a 7.8 quake and it struck at 8:00 in the morning new zealand time. the earthquake woke people and threw things to the ground. >> that shake lasted probably over a minute. we've got no water. >> we were so scared, it was terrible. the whole like, paintings fell, the lights were just going nuts. >> with a population of 400,000, christ church is the largest city in new zealand's south side. >>> hurricane earl is gaining speed as it races up the east coast. randy inocencio has the latest. >> reporter: hello gasia and hello frank. over here it's friday evening and a lot of people think that on this friday in particular, it's the start to a great labor day weekend, but a lot of people here are thinking, instead of heading to s

tom vacar shows us where it would be and what it would look like. >> reporter: it was busy here on the embarcadero here but not park, the reason, the cruise ships that flooded the area in the week, had gone. >> i love them. i look forward to them come. >> reporter: unfortunately, rising has been -- cruising has been on a downward slide to 41 from 59. next year, 59 ships are already booked. >> the cruise ships get us through the slow times and in the summer, it really jump starts the businesses down here. >> reporter: the problem is san francisco's cruise business is it is usually for day-trippers, those who saw for just a few hours. to really make money in the city and bay area, you have to have cruises starting and ending right here. >> you can't get -- you really need to get three or four nights spent here. >> reporter: to that have happen, the city wants to build a terminal. >> that's pretty unique among cruise terminals in the country. >> reporter: if san francisco gets the world cup, the completion date for this could be moved up because that would provide viewing space for those

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, tom. >>> 8:47.ank meltdown is the subject after too-big-to fail hearing in washington, d.c. you are looking at live pictures of that hearing in d.c. the former ceos of lehman brothers and wa cove yaw are defending the actions before the failure of their companies. they say the government's decision not to rescue them made sense under the circumstances. >>> jen the motors is the first automaker to release their august sales numbers and they are not good. gm's august sales dipped 7% compared with july. gm sales are down 25% compared to august of last year. that was when the cash for clunkers -- cash for clunkers program. industry analysts say the number could fall below 1 million vehicles, making it the worst august in 27 years. >>> time now, 8:48. in -- in alaska, a little-known conservative attorney just won the republican nomination for the u.s. senate. his name is joe miller. he was backed by the tea party and by sarah palin. it was a tough race for several days but the incumbent senator has conce

tom vacar shows us where it would be and what it would look like. >> reporter: it was busy here on the embarcadero here but not park, the reason, the cruise ships that flooded the area in the week, had gone. >> i love them. i look forward to them come. >> reporter: unfortunately, rising has been -- cruising has been on a downward slide to 41 from 59. next year, 59 ships are already booked. >> the cruise ships get us through the slow times and in the summer, it really jump starts the businesses down here. >> reporter: the problem is san francisco's cruise business is it is usually for day-trippers, those who saw for just a few hours. to really make money in the city and bay area, you have to have cruises starting and ending right here. >> you can't get -- you really need to get three or four nights spent here. >> reporter: to that have happen, the city wants to build a terminal. >> that's pretty unique among cruise terminals in the country. >> reporter: if san francisco gets the world cup, the completion date for this could be moved up because that would provide viewing space for those

tom vacar joins us now from south san francisco. >> reporter: south san francisco governor is amazed on what he saw on pg & e's riskiest 100 pipelines risk. >> it surprised me we weren't on thereafter we heard reports that we're at one of the riskiest pipelines. >> reporter: this more than a mile long pipe section about two miles away from where it exploded was a high risk and in need of replacement. replacement that was scheduled for last year has been pushed to 2013. >> to try to get the trust back, i'm not sure it's there. i'm sure the residents don't have the trust. >> i think they need to do something soon because people are tired of getting the wool pulled over their eyes. >> they need to do something because i don't want to see this happen again. >> reporter: pg & e says it's off the list for good reason. >> we did further evaluation of that line. including excavating the line to look at it and ensure that the line was in good condition. >> reporter: that and lots more is news to south san francisco. >> unfortunately all that we've heard is through the media reports. >> report

tom vacar is live for us in san bruno with more on what crews are doing as they inspect some of those lines. some? >> reporter: actually, we're in oakland because we want to show you what the problem is. these cars are rolling right over it. more than 99% of the entire gas system is buried, making eyeballing every foot impossible. this morning, pg&e crews dug and inspected key elements of one of the several main gaslines here in san brune known. the problem with many of these high pressure pipelines is they were installed in neighborhoods that were barely populated, if they were populated at all. now they sit atop and in volume. oakport in oakland, pg&e told us how the personnel conducts informations of the 6,000 miles of main lines. the slow-moving detector truck sniffs for gas leaks and other signs. to pinpoint the problem, these detectors are literally walked along the area where there's no road, a special laser gun does the looking. the utility can find leaks and corrosions in some pipes. >> we can and we do. we actually do have equipment that goes inside the pipe to actually take

let's go to tom vacar with more on that part of our coverage. >> reporter: hi. opening story, the consumer advocacy group the utility reform network says they may have sown the seeds for this disaster three years ago. >> there are consequences when this necessary work does not get done. >> reporter: back in 2007 pg&e asked for about $5 million to replace a section of the pipeline that blew up in san brown oh. pg&e's own document says the replacement of 1 1/2 miles of pipe was prior advertised by pg&e's risk management program. >> they said they would replace that section in 2009 and the commission gave them that money. >> reporter: but then, in september of 2009 -- >> pg&e came back and said we need about $5 million to replace this very same section of line 132 and we plan to do it in 2013. >> reporter: and, this time, pg&e's document says the pipe section was one of its top 100 risks making the risk of failure unaccept blow high. >> we're wondering i didn't pg&e replace the section in 2009 when they got the money to do this. >> reporter: so i put that question

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> north san jose near the milpitas border has two pipelines running underneath. city officials are learning about the potential hazards just like the public and will be more involved to repair and maintain those natural gas lines. they say word is pretty scary. it's kind of scary, of course. you want to make sure that they are taking care of it. we don't want to see any more accidents. that's for sure. >> pg&e says there is a timetable for repairs. for example, work on the pipeline at north 1st and tazman avenue is scheduled for 2012. now, to see pg&e's complete list of the 100 high-risk natural gaslines, you can go to our website, ktvu.com. we've posted the list under ktvu.com "right now." >>> emotions ran high on a high school campus in the wake of a deadly car crash that left one student dead and three others injured. as studen try to cope with what happened the investigation into how it happened is widening. school officials are considering changing school policies. allie rasmus has more. >> reporter: there are 1400 students at novato high school.

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> a major marijuana bust in the east bay today. how law enforcement officers found it and why they waited a week to make their love -- to make their move. >>> water worries? why build more reservoirs whether this may do the truck? i will explain -- still ahead. >>> and more on the multi-car pileup in oakland. live pictures here. what we're learning about when that onramp will reopen. >>> for the first time in a lock time, live stormtracker2 is showing some rain in parts of california. i will show you where you could expect -- where you could expect it. when it comes to veterans, no one fights harder than jerry mcnerney. when some vets were forced to travel hours for care, mcnerney fought for a new v.a. medical facility, and won. mcnerney took on washington gridlock, to improve care for vets with traumatic brain injuries. his plan became law. that's why vfw state commander dave norris endorsed mcnerney. i'm jerry mcnerney, and i'm honored to approve this message. thanks, dad. >>> this is the grand avenue exit and 58 a heading eastbo

i'm consumer editor, tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the department of fish and game says so far no wildlife has been affected by an oil spill in the petaluma river. crews worked overnight to remove the remaining oil from anology tug boat that leaked over 600 gallons yesterday. officials say the sheen which stretched for about 2 miles mostly evaporated. the crews will remain on the scene until the area is restored. >>> word is starting to surface tonight about possible negligence, we'll have more on that tonight on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36. >>> police have released a sketch of a man they believe is a firebug. he's described as a slender latino male, 19 or 20 years old. the fire's first started in may, they involved outside debris, dumpsters and vehicles. in one case, a man sleeping in a car had to be rescued by fire crews. >>> at this hour, firefighters are working to contain a 700- acre wildfire burning in humble county. it has already consumed one home. the fire which started yesterday is burning on buckeye mountain just east of petrolia. right now officials say it's only

. >>> let's go to tom vacar, he just spoke to the president of pg & e. what do they have to say tonight? >> reporter: i spoke to the vice president of pg & e who has been a friend of mine for about 20 years. chris johns is going to the scene in san bruno right now. greg putt told me that pg & e is still not sure that it is its facility that caused this problem. but if it is, they will take full responsibility for it and they are in the process of investigating that. but the president of the company is on his way to san bruno within a half hour to an hour we should be hearing from him at the scene talking about the things that need to be talked about and that's plenty of stuff. >> tom, i'm curious, if it wasn't pg & e who might it have been? >> i mean, it is conceivable that somebody else may actually be responsible for some facility that failed and we think this is probably a large high pressure gas main that distributes gas throughout the entire area. so, i suspect that nobody is going to accept full responsibility to know exactly who is responsible wit

. >>> let's go to tom vacar, he just spoke to the president of pg & e. what do they have to say tonight? >> reporter: i spoke to the vice president of pg & e who has been a friend of mine for about 20 years. chris johns is going to the scene in san bruno right now. greg putt told me that pg & e is still not sure that it is its facility that caused this problem. but if it is, they will take full responsibility for it and they are in the process of investigating that. but the president of the company is on his way to san bruno within a half hour to an hour we should be hearing from him at the scene talking about the things that need to be talked about and that's plenty of stuff. >> tom, i'm curious, if it wasn't pg & e who might it have been? >> i mean, it is conceivable that somebody else may actually be responsible for some facility that failed and we think this is probably a large high pressure gas main that distributes gas throughout the entire area. so, i suspect that nobody is going to accept full responsibility to know exactly who is responsible wit

consumer editor tom vacar, back to you. >> utility crews repaired a gas leak that triggered evacuations at an elementary school. there was no danger to the students there you about the principal evacuated students at the back of the school as a precaution. no one was injured. no word on what caused that gas main to rupture. >>> middle east peace talks began in washington, d.c. with hillary clinton expressing hope the conflict could be resolved with a year. >> by being here today you each have taken an important step towards freeing your peoples from the shackles of a history we can not change. >> israeli prime minister and pal tinnian he'der agreed to continue talks when they return to the middle east and to meet every two weeks. the two leaders remain far apart on several corp issues. it could only be achieved with painful concessions of both sides. >>> hewlett-packard won a bidding war with dell computer for the free month company frepar. they will not match hp's offer. dell had offered $32 a share. cloud kopl putting involving a storage of data and software on the internet. >>> now t

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. tori? >>> george clooney is number one at the box office again. he stars in the assassination drama "the american" which sold almost $1 million worth -- $13 mountain worth of tickets -- million worth of tickets. these numbers are through last night's showing and the numbers could change depending upon what moviegoers see today. >>> eating contest champ joey chest nat of san jose was defeated over the weekend in a chicken wing eating contest. he was beaten by a 105-pound woman. chestnut came in 2nd place. he was beat by sonya thomas who calls herself the black widow because she frequently beats competitors in these competition competitions. >> that's good. i think i can beat them both. >> yeah. probably have to have a lot of indigestion probably after that. >>> 8:51. we're gonna she you the big mistake in that recent makeover of the oval office. >>> also, a missing bell is back six years after it disappeared from a bay area theater group but this mystery is far from over. >>> a error-breakin

ktvu consumer editor tom vacar live now from san bruno with more, tom. >> reporter: gas pipelines and internal liquids that might be in them don't get along very well. question is, did that cause the fire ball here in san bruno. >> reporter: san bruno is not the first deadly massive pipe explosion. ten years ago, another 20-inch pipeline blew up in carlsbad, new mexico. the cause internal gas corrosion and failure. >> liquid inside the pipes can cause corrosion, one of the reasons we're monitoring for that. >> reporter: last year pg & e found liquids in some major pipelines. >> the four different transmission lines that run through the area. and immediately when we identified that, we went to the cpuc and requested an opportunity to fix that and correct that which we were able to do. >> reporter: the cpu granted the money needed. >> the problem was fixed in november of 2009 and we have tested it several times and there's no indication of any more liquid on the line. >> reporter: but earlier this week, pg & e said because of the design of the san bruno pipe it could not use robots that

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live tonight in our newsroom with the story. >> reporter: consider it successful, the chevy bolt could be the next bridge technology to the day of true low cost electrics. chevy bolt charges it's own battery and uses a gasoline engine to keep things flowing. the chevy volt will hit the floor in november. >> it was developed after the stimulus. >> reporter: gm got over $65 million of bail out money from congress and the energy department to save itself, retool its plant and develop a breakthrough battery from korea. all which will be integrated into a new generation of cars. >> it's a reproduction of the space shuttle. everything from materials, research and fostering and engineering. >> reporter: how does it work? you plug it into a simple outlet. once charged the volt will go 40 miles on the battery. only then does the gasoline engine kick in and only to create electricity. that buys you another 300 miles. now you can drive long range but the volt costs 45,000 miles. nissan's leaf costs less, but doesn't go so far on the charge. the chevy cruise cos

consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> just a couple of days ago jerry brown joked about how bill clinton had lied. tonight, what some might consider a surprising reaction from the former president. >>> whitman's nose keeps growing. >> reporter: jerry brown's campaign going on the defensive. what whitman's camp has to say about these ads. >>> new at 6:00, what was once a pond, is now a fish cemetery. hundreds of fish turned up dead. the one thing investigators say is to blame. >>> a night out on the town can already break the bank. now a new tax on alcohol can make it worse. we're monitoring a tax that may have you paying more. >>> what some might consider a surprising endorsement today for gubernatorial candidate jerry brown. former president bill clinton is backing jerry brown just two days after a video clip showed brown questioning clinton's honesty. brown apologized. brown was responding to an ad by republican rival meg whitman which used footage from a presidential debate in which clinton questioned brown's ethics. >>> brown's camp also released two new ad's today.

i'm tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> u.s. senator barbara boxer was in south san francisco today to show her support for renewable energy company. senator boxer got a tour of solzan ink which is working on converting fuel from algae. senator boxer says she supporting small business such as solosan because they help break the country's dependency on oil and creates jobs. >> during that period 125,000 new jobs created. >> the company also discovered that the algae strain used to make fuel can be used just as olive oil. in fact, senator boxer got a sample of milk and cookies made from that same algae. >>> boxer's drawing support from 47% of likely voters. her republican challenger fiarina picked up 48% of the vote. these numbers show a slight shift from results found two weeks ago, that's when boxer led fiarina49% to 44%. >>> governor arnold schwarzenegger and business leaders will travel on a six day trip to china, japan and south korea. it's the governor's trip in six years. the governor is set to leave on thursday. >>> market

i'm tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news dave, tori, back to you? >> 8:52. shows sol of the top salaries for city admistrators in california. we'll tell you where. >>> and road closed. the major event detouring drivers in san francisco right now. >>> welcome back. 8:55. we have new information about one of the victims of that novato car accident. we've just found out one of the injured students who was on life support has been taken off and is expected to survive. grief counselors are at novato school. the chp says the bmw driven by a 16-year-old went out of control on novato boulevard friday and spun into oncoming traffic. >>> 8:55. former secretary of state colin powell is making a bold admission about illegal immigrants. he said illegal immigrants are "doing things we need done in it country and that illegal immigrants have performed maintenance work on his home set times." he says lawmakers need to provide them with a way to become league a -- legal along with their children. >>> well, in the wake of the recent scandal in the city of bell, jerry brown is