christin ayers live at the bay bridge this morning. thank you. >>> and some major changes are coming to the way pg&e deals with gas pipeline safety. company officials say they will be sending safety information by mail to anyone living within 2,000 feet of a pipeline. they will also begin installing loom shutoff valves -- automatic shutoff valves on their systems. this comes of course after three days of ntsb hearings in washington on the san bruno blast. the ntsb expects to release its final report in a few months. >>> 6:03. the san jose firefighters union has agreed to major concessions, the city reduced the budget deficit and anne makovec tells us this tentative deal would slash pay and benefits, but it is a start for things. anne, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. unfortunately, a sign of the times, now this deal does still have to be ratified by the city of san jose's 647 firefighters. as well as the city council. that is expected to happen by next tuesday. and both parties do seem quite pleased with the deal. the mayor and

>> okay, christin ayers live in the newsroom, of course, we'll have more in our 7:25 update and laterday at 5:00. thank you, christin. >>> 6:57. let's check one last look at weather and traffic. we'll start with julie watts in the weather center to find out what's ahead for us weather- wise. >> well, a little bit of everything on the weather front this morning. we are starting off with mainly clear skies. in fact, here's a beautiful look from mount vaca, again just some high clouds, plenty of blue sky out there mild temperatures a couple degrees warmer than yesterday. but all of that is quickly ending as we head overnight. we see heavy rainfall, high wind -- in fact, wind advisory in effect, wouldn't be surprised to see a little bit of localized flooding in the higher elevations where we could see rainfall up to two inches tonight over a very short period of time. now, the showers die down wednesday morning, scattered showers through thursday, dry friday and another round of rain this weekend. for your last look at traffic, here's elizabeth wenger. >> all right. thank you, julie. let'

christin ayers reports in danville.ood morning. >> reporter: this is the third arrest of a current or former cop said to be involved in an elaborate drug case. stephen tanabe is a danville police officer. he was arrested in uniform on the job on friday on weapons and drug charges. he is accused of selling steroids. tanabe has been linked to normal we'llish the -- norman wielsch the former head of of the contra costa county drug task force and chris butler a private investigator. butler allegedly sold stolen drugs. there was a ruse setting up drunk drivers, as well. an attorney told us some of the arrests happened outside a danville bar that butler the private eye would hire decoys to get men going through messy divorces drunk then send tanabe out to arrest them. these three men apparently all knew each other as former antioch police officers. today a case is going to court involving the three officers. the public defender is expected to ask that the case be dismissed. >> thank you, christin ayers in danville. >>> we are

christin ayers is in san jose with what they are demanding lawmakers to do up there. good morning, christin. >> reporter: good morning, frank. the buses have just fired up and we have many students out here getting ready to board the buses for a march on sacramento. part of the day of action for thousands of students headed to the capital today. right now i'm joined by faculty president david yancy. >> we are hoping over 10,000 students will show up to make their voices heard in sacramento so the folks inside will know that it's time to step up and do the right thing and give them the funding they need to continue their education. >> reporter: we have seen many budget cuts over the last couple of years. why is this rally different from other years? >> the cuts have been so devastating for so long. if we don't have the revenue to do the right thing this year, community colleges will cease to exist the way we have all known them. they will close because we won't have the resources to offer the classes the students need. csu and uc classes are, you know, more and more exp

governor brown has asked democratic leadership to delay today's vote and christin ayers tells us bay ea schools are preparing for the worst as they wait for the legislature to make up their minds. she joins us now live. good morning, christin. >> reporter: good morning, frank. the vote as you said, was supposed to happen today. but governor brown asking for that delay to give him time to try and garner some more republican support, who are currently opposing his plan. meanwhile oakland schools bracing for a possible worst- case scenario. let's look at what brown's plan would do. he is trying to close a $25 billion deficit and attempting to do that by making 12.5 billion dollars in cuts and generating $12 billion in revenue through a series of tax stock exchanges that voters would have to -- tax extensions that voters would have to approve in a special election in june. without that education could face $5 billion in budget cuts. at the wednesday board meeting oakland unified school district finalized hundreds of pink slips sent out to oakland teachers and administrators. if brown's bu

christin ayers lovers. christin ayers reports. >> reporter: the dog park would be right here at the north end of lake merritt. it would be smack between a freeway, boulevard and playgrounds. opponents say that's a problem. it's been a dogfight. >> it's been getting very ugly on that. people have been on both sides have been -- have been just way over the top. >> reporter: neighbor against neighbor, dog owners -- >> i'm all for it. >> reporter: -- pitted against parents. >> i'm worried that all these little kids are going to be in danger. >> reporter: over a slice of space sandwiched between 580, lakeshore and busy mcarthur boulevard that could soon double as lake merritt's only off leash dog park. >> i think it's needed but i also think that that exact location is a little exposed. and it's surrounded by busy streets on all sides. >> reporter: even some dog own, like joanna worried this simply isn't the place for a pup not the least because of the nearby tot lot where children roam. >> we have two other par

frank. >> okay, christin ayers is live in oakland. thank you. >>> dozens of bay area college students being forced to return home from japan. 12 students from san francisco university and 35 from stanford have been studying in japan as part of a program but that program is suspended for the first time in its 45-year history. it's unclear when the students will get back home. the airports are packed with passengers trying to leave japan. >>> and if you want to help japanese victims, you can log on to our website, cbssf.com. click on "links and numbers" for a list of agencies that are coordinating relief. >>> the time now is 5: 35. we are going to use a little reverse psychology here saying i love the rain. i am so looking forward to the rain you. >> better love it because it's going to be around for quite some time, right? >> frank, you're going to love the next seven days. >> you bet! we love ya! >> i don't think too many folks feel that way. they are looking forward to spring. even i'm looking forward to a heat wave around the bay ar

now they are about to head to sacramento and christin ayers is in san jose and they have a message forawmakers. good morning, christin. you have a big crowd behind you. >> reporter: the crowd is definitely building. the energy is building. in half hour these college students will be boarding buses on the way to sacramento. you can see the crowd here, dozens of students with signs and banner. they are getting on the buses to go to sacramento where they will be making their voices heard about state budget cuts, education cuts and way it's affected them over the years and how governor brown's budget could have the same effect. they will urging legislators to vote yes on the tax extension building and to get online with the california dream act. a number of issueses they will be preparing today. they are trying to get some signs together and to get students corralled and ready to g thousands of students will be gathering at the capital today. and they told me this is really an opportunity to have their voices heard about the issues that are affecting them directly. >> i think the best thin

christin ayers is in hayward this morning where people now have a chance to experience a magnitude 8 quake. christin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning frank. we're inside an earthquake simulator now and i'm joined by a man from an earthquake preparedness company. you take this simulate your around to show people what it would be like to be in a big earthquake. >> we are trying to show people how to earthquake-proof their homes, all their breakables that could fall on a child or somebody in the event of an earthquake. >> those truly are the biggest dangers that an earthquake can pose inside a home? >> down in the chilean earthquake, 70% of the injuries are caused by the contents, like office contents, things in the home. top heavy furniture, heavy enough to hurt you in an earthquake is going to topple over. >> reporter: very soon here we'll see the effect of having certain appliances and that sort of thing like this we have a tv here, we have bottles and glasses and this sort of thing. >> we are using buckles and strap. i'm using my quake hold gel to secure the items on the shel

christin ayers is in danville, where a police officer was pulled off the street and taken to jail. christin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this is the third arrest in an elaborate drug bust involving a high ranking narcotics officer and a private investigator both of whom are already in jail. this most recent arrest friday outside of the danville police department. steven tenabi a danville police officer was arrested in uniform in the parking lot. he is facing assault rifle charges and selling steroids. he has been linked to norman wielsch and chris butler. both men are accused of stealing drugs that were rounded up in stings with butler allegedly selling the drugs. wielsch's attorney tells cbs 5tenabi never sold drugs for his client but instead was involved in a ruse that involved setting up drunk drivers. >> we have the investigation agency setting up males in dui situations. >> reporter: now, that attorney told us some of the arrests happened outside this danville bar that butler the private eye would use decoys to get men going through messy divorces drunk, then send

let's go to christin ayers in hayward where people can find out what a major quake feels like. ristin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sydnie. this is an earthquake simulator set up to look like an apartment. they call this the big shaker. and you can see why. this is what it's like to be in an 8.0 magnitude earthquake. as you can see, things falling off shelves, glasses, we have some of the larger appliances actually put down with putty and so stuck down and we also have them belted and strapped in there so they are not moving. but you can see just how strong this is and the people who are running this quake hold and emergency earthquake emergency preparedness center say that it's really important and in fact a wake-up call for bay area residents to realize just how powerful these quakes are, how quickly these can happen and how important it is to be prepared. so the message here, it could happen here, you need to not only be prepared with some of that putty, the belts to try and keep some of the heavy -- top-heavy appliances down but also disaster kits. we talked to y

let's go to christin ayers. she is in oakland, where a big wave could mean some big problems for residents there. christin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sydnie. scientists are telling the "contra costa times" that the biggest threat from a tsunami would come after an earthquake in the southwest corner of alaska. they say it would send a massive tsunami that would hit right here at the port of oakland. it wetback four or five hours for that tsunami to get here and if we take a look at the maps from that study, you can see why oakland and alameda would be right smack in the middle of the most massive flooding. he they are in a perfect position to get the brunt of a tsunami up to 165 structures in this area would be threatened if that were to happen and we of course saw some of the devastating effects that a relatively minor tsunami had on santa cruz harbor on friday. he experts say that area and any area of santa clara county would be spared. one of the factors is the port itself, large ships and shippi

christin ayers is in the cbs 5 newsroom with a look at who is testifying today and some disturbing new details. >> reporter: good morning. day 2 brought some shocking new information about just how little the city of san bruno firefighters knew about the pipeline that exploded on september 9 killing 8 people. fire chief dennis haag admitted yesterday under sworn testimony that he and his firefighters had no idea there was a large gas transmission pipeline running under the city until after the explosion. haag said pg&e never educated firefighters about the line or showed them where it was. in fact, when firefighters originally responded to the san bruno blast, they believed a plane had crashed. haag insisted that what they didn't know did not hamper their response. >> the fire department was only aware -- we thought the gas distribution system was what serviced the city of san bruno. we did not know that there was a transmission line through the city until after the incident. >> reporter: san bruno residents have been closely following the hearings. some were stunned to hear a pg&e tes

and as christin ayers tells us, pg&e is still working to prove the safety of its gas lines and a lot residents in the neighborhood still have a lot of questions. christin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, sydnie. residents will be gathering here later this evening to honor the people who died in that explosion. up until now, residents have honored them by leaving flowers and notes along the scene of the blast. but now they will get a chance to remember that six-month anniversary and also gather together for a vigil tonight. as that is going on, new details are emerging about a botched pg&e repair job in milpitas just 50 minutes before the explosion happened according to national transportation safety board documents. when power was cut in milpitas, pressure to three pins gas lines spiked above their usual level. city officials say that is an alarming revelation. >> certainly it raises questions about what was going on and how it might possibly have affected what happened in san bruno. >> i think it's scary. pg&e knows a lot more than what they're leading on. i seriously belie

christin ayers with what that means for bay area schools, she joins us now live with more. reporter: good morning. governor brown asking to delay the budget vote. he is doing it so he can try and garner some more support from republicans before that actually goes to a vote. still schools are bracing for the worst. at wednesday night's board meeting, the district approved hundreds of pink slips sent to teachers and administrators. they could mean massive job cuts districtwide if brown's budget isn't approved. now, some parents who showed up last night were fed up with cuts and fed up with the possibility that they could see $5 billion in cuts statewide. >> you're talking about cutting 550 positions. i can just imagine what that is going to look like for a student who goes to school. >> reporter: the governor asked for the delay yesterday. he went before the democrats and the legislature to give him time to garner republican support for the plan. the sticking point is a set of tax extensions expected to generate $12 billion in revenue if approved by voters in a special electi

thank you very much, christin ayers in the newsroom. we'll be checking back in with you throughout the morning on this. >>> barry bonds will have his day in court today. the former giants slugger expected to plead not guilty in his perjury trial. bonds will share the spotlight with his former trainer, greg anderson. bonds is accused of lying to a grand jury about his steroid use. his trial starts march 21. >>> san mateo police shot and killed a man they say fired on them. the first call in this case came from the cbs pharmacy -- cvs pharmacy yesterday morning. police say an armed man trying to get medication was threatening employees there then police were called about a man creating a disturbance at a nearby home. that's where they found the man, who had been at that drugstore, as well. >> he is schizophrenic, okay? everybody knows. the police know. he is on medication. to pay what? i never pay. okay? and he got very upset, came home and they send the police here. >> the suspect pointed a handgun directly at the officers and fired upon

let's go to christin ayers in san bruno this morning. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you have to think as that vigil happens at 6:11 p.m. tonight the exact minute to the day that all of this happened, six months ago, that residents will be thinking about pg&e and some of the new information that's coming out around critical mistakes that they may have made on that day. some of those mistakes include a botched repair project in milpitas 50 minutes before the blast happened according to newly released documents of the national transportation safety board. the documents question why the utility failed to preplace the pipe under the san bruno neighborhood when it did a big seismic upgrade in the '90s. >>> obviously disappointing to know that there might have been an opportunity to reviewed pipes in the location where the rupture occurred. >> i'm really terrified if i have to go -- i could be out visiting family and have, you know, the house blow up. >> reporter: according to the california public utilities commission, pg&e still hasn't proven that nearly a third of its ga

christin ayers is live over at uc-berkeley where protestors are rallying against those budget cuts. she joins us now live. christin. >> reporter: that's right, frank. they are rallying against what they call university greed. the uc regents are meeting today to discuss how to deal with $500 million in state funding cuts. these workers are here to tell university, don't balance the budget on our backs. these protests are happening at 10uc campuses today. custodians, service workers and even students say they have already seen massive layoffs, temporary positions have been slashed, and now their retirement age may be raised and pensions cut. one custodian told me it's too much to bear for the university's lowest paid workers. >> we already are living on the edge of our poverty. we already are in poverty. we are living like what we call it hanging by a thread because we are already struggling to make ends meet. and with this new cuts that they are presenting to make on us, like making us retire at age 65 with a physical work as a custodian, i don't know if i'm going to be able to do it.

christin ayers, just in time. thank you very much. live at the bay bridge. >>> a promise of dialogue ended a sit-in high above the uc berkeley campus. eight protesters all chained themselves together on the fourth floor. you can see them here. the ledge of cal's wheeler hall. they stayed there about seven hours. then about 9:00 last night they finally came down, ending the day's protest against cuts in education funding. tampa's police say the standoff ended after communications involving the police, administrators and the demonstrators. the protesters were cited. they were released. but they say school officials met their demands, too. >> basically, they agreed to, the administration, to have a town hall meeting with us. talk to the students, and faculty and workers, and have an open dialogue about issues of operational excellence and the budget cuts. >> no word on when the town hall meeting will happen. >>> 5:04. >>> the san jose firefighters union has agreed now to major concessions to help the city reduce its budget deficit. anne

christin ayers shows us recovering them will not be easy. >> reporter: after a deserve stating tsunami that drowned boats and destroyed docks on santa cruz harbor, a daunting task. >> this is a big job for us. >> reporter: a big job that has only just begun. divers called out four vessels over the weekend, 18 are still submerged in the harbor, and getting them out is tedious. >> the divers have to go down and they will have to attach float bags and equipment to the stern of the vessel and drag it into the boat ramp here. >> this is one of the boats that will be pulled out of the water today. authorities tell us they are facing two major challenges. one is murky water and very low visibility. the other continuous swells left over from the tsunami. the surges have no rhyme or reason and they jostled the boat we took out in the north harbor where most of the damage happened and hampering efforts to pull out a couple of boats at a time. >> the efforts are slow. two or three a day being hauled out. >> reporter: the good news even at the bottom of the harbor, the vessels have done little dam

christin ayers is in our newsroom keeping track of the proceedings.oins us now with a little update. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we do have a couple of pipeline experts and engineers on the stand right now in washington, d.c. where that hearing is happening. let's go ahead and take a look at what they are looking at right now. some of them have been giving presentations earlier today and talking about how they assessing pipeline integrity and the tools they use to try and assess the safety of those lines. so important information and very technical information for the board to hear today. day 2 brought some shocking new information about just how little the city of san bruno firefighters knew about the pipeline that exploded on september 9 killing 8 people. fire chief dennis haag admitted yesterday under sworn testimony that he and his firefight hers no idea there was a large -- fighters had no idea there was a large gas transmission line running under the city until after the explosion. haag said pg&e never educated firefighters about th

christin ayers is at the coast where we are telling people to get up away from the beach there if you can because in the next couple of hours, we are expecting the waters to rise. christin. >> reporter: that's right, lawrence. we have seen law enforcement officials combing the beaches out here just trying to make sure that no one is out here in some of these low-lying areas and as that's going on we have seen a little change in the waves out here. there's definitely watered churning and the waves are sort of picking up just as we are standing out here. authorities are saying to get away from all of these coastal areas to try to avoid them and there are evacuations in effect in this area in parts of the linda mar area and east of highway 1 have all been evacuated. residents received automated phone calls earlier this morning to let them know to evacuate and head to shelters or to higher ground if they can. we have a list of the shelters that have been put in place right now. they are set up in a number of schools in the area, one is at terra nova high school, another at oceana high sch

let's go to christin ayers where we understand she has gotten to higher ground now but i guess peoplee's a lot of looky-loos where you are watching the waves, huh, christin? >> reporter: absolutely. a lot of rubberneckers out here this morning just kind of taking in the view. if you take a look you can see that people have gathered out here and people with cameras, binoculars, people waving at the camera even. just out here to kind of take in the sights and see what's going on. >> it's low tide and you can see how empty the beach is. it's completely clear at this point. we can't see one person out here. people certainly heeding the warnings and staying away from those lower coastal areas which could be -- see the water sort of sweeping in as if it was high tide if those two to three- foot waves really materialize out here. >> this area was evacuated earlier parts of linda mar here in pacifica evacuated. people receiving automated phone calls to notify them. you can see which areas have been designated as evacuation shelters. four schools total have been designated evacuation shelters.

christin ayers with the details of this sticky scam. christin. >> reporter: sydnie the only weapon used in this crime is a glue gun or bottle. the thieves are using the glue to disable some of the keys on the atms. and once that customer leaves the card behind, to seek help inside the bank, the suspect strikes. it's an atm scam so brazen... >> oh, my god! >> reporter: ... so bold... >> that's frightening. >> reporter: ... and so new... >> thank you for telling me, i didn't even know this. >> reporter: ... that even san francisco police were surprised when it started happening around town. >> you know, it's just an innovation. we're a culture of innovators. >> reporter: the innovative crime has happened at least 22 times at atms all over the city these past few months, a thief dumps glue on the enter, clear and cancel keys and waits for a bank customer to but in a card and punch the p.i.n. >> they presentser and it sticks. nothing happens. they press enter and it sticks, nothing happens. they press clear and nothing happens, they press ca

christin ayers is in oakland where it appears $4 a gallon would be the correct answer. good afternoon. >> reporter: good afternoon. >> reporter: we are talking about double-digit jumps in ridership on amtrak trains. so many new riders, in fact, that amtrak has run out of train cars. >> i can't wait to get on the train today. >> reporter: not because he bypasses traffic on the way to los angeles. >> i get to meditate and i don't have to pay for gas. >> reporter: jones is part of a sudden trend in train ridership. commuters trading wheels for rails at a record-breaking rate. >> the spike of gas prices has taken our ridership to the next level. >> reporter: the managing director of the capitol corridor says the numbers are skyrocketing as quickly as gas prices are. ridership was up 11% in january. 13% in february. that's more than 13,000 more riders over last year. but high gas prices have not fueled a big bump in bart ridership. just a small one. >> it's one of the pieces of the formula and it certainly can be sometimes a driving piece of the formula. gas prices are way u

but now christin ayers reports this is a familiar sight for this neighborhood. christin. >> reporter: elizabeth, the good news near this home is that the rain has stopped. the soil has started to dry. however, there is bad news. geologists say the soil is still shifting while the residents of this home wait for someone, the city, their insurance company, anyone to take responsibility. four days after the hillside beneath leon walker's house collapsed swallowing his backyard, the future is just as unstable as the ground under him. >> devastated by it. >> reporter: the porch juts out over empty space. he believes at any moment the home will tumble downhill. >> this is just the flashpoint of what's wrong with this hill. the entire hillside is compromised. >> reporter: walkers' wife says these before and after pictures prove it that there were two other mud slides below their home in 1975 and again in '83. and that the city of san pablo did a poor patchup job to try to fix it. >> it's the same condition now. all they did just put a band- aid on it pretty much. they d

christin ayers is in san francisco, where we are starting to see a run on a certain kind of pill. christin. >> reporter: that's right, the fear is that our ocean air could soon be filled with radiation particles. so to protect themselves, some consumers are rushing stores looking for potassium iodide and finding the stores are fresh out. 6,000 miles from the nuclear reactor rocked in japan's deadly earthquake, a radiation fear frenzy. this man came to a san francisco pharmacy early looking for an antidote. >> it's important to me because of the risk of radiation from the pacific. >> reporter: he was out of luck. >> they don't have it and they say wholesalers don't have it. >> reporter: rainbow grocers didn't have it although customers have been asking for potassium iodide pills all week. air quality expert eric stevenson says the truth, these instruments are show there is no radiation danger on the west coast. >> the radiation levels are low. there's no need for concern. >> reporter: even though doctors acknowledge potassium iodide pills can protect the thyroid from certain types o

christin ayers is in pacifica where people are packed up nice and early and getting out but they are starting to come home now and she joins us live. >> reporter: that's right, frank. that tsunami -- the tsunami hazard astill in effect. the sign says it all. tsunami hazard zone. you wouldn't know it necessarily though by what we are seeing out here on the beach. if you take a look over here, check it out. people just kind of hanging out near the water with their dogs taking walks near the beach. this is an area that was under evacuation orders earlier today. many people evacuated here. they grab what they could, packed up and took off. and fortunately, the flooding and damage that hit other areas never materialized here. here's what residents saw. we time lapsed video. there was a wave pattern on linda mar beach and all over the bay area, causing the waves to recede and fill back in over and over. it was such a spectacle that dozens of people, many evacuees, came out armed with cameras, binoculars and cell phones just to watch it happening from a safe overlook setback from the coast.

christin ayers is in san jose where the students are getting ready to board buses. she joins us now live. good morning, christin. >> reporter: good morning. we are here at san jose city college. you can see the buses behind me all set up ready to go. students will be leaving at 6 a.m. to meet with legislators in sacramento to talk about higher education. a couple of issues at play. students are looking to get legislators to agree to support the california dream act. they are also looking to get support for tax extensions in the june elections to make sure that funding for higher education remains and funding for community college. there are about 250 to 300 students inside getting ready. they have their signs and they are getting ready to rally here, 250 at evergreen valley community college as well, all of them hoping to bring forward some of these issues involving community colleges. but higher education as a whole. meeting with those legislators later this afternoon but certainly wanting to make a statement before heading out to sacramento. we'll be talking to the

federal, state and local law enforcement agents raided several card clubs early this morning and christin ayers is in emeryville at one of the clubs targeted with more on what authorities were looking for. christin. >> reporter: frank, we have just learned from a source close to the investigation that authorities believe this casino was at the center of an active organized crime ring. we're talking about bookmaking, loansharking, and extortion, all allegedly happening at this casino which has become an institution in emeryville. >> i was shocked and scared. >> reporter: gamblers startled out of their early-morning card games as federal agents stormed an emeryville landmark one of the oldest card clubs in northern california. >> we were playing cards around 6:00. 50 agents walked in, got two per table, asked us to put our hands on the table. they had the search warrant for the place. >> we have the fbi, the irs and the dea. >> reporter: dozens of state and federal agents armed with weapons and warrants and customers say they didn't just search the building. [ indiscernible ] >> reporter: custome

christin ayers is in san bruno with the latest. christin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. tonight at 6:11, the time to the minute that the explosion happened here in san bruno, residents will gather to remember the 8 who died. the vigil will go on tonight as new details emerge about a botched pg&e repair job in milpitas just 50 minutes before the explosion happened according to national transportation safety board documents. when power was out in milpitas, pressure to three peninsula gas lines spiked above their usual level. city officials say it's an alarming revelation. >> certainly it raises questions about what was going on and how it might possibly have affected what happened in san bruno. >> i think it's scary. pg&e knows a lot more than what they are leading on. i seriously believe they are covering it up. >> reporter: the california public utilities commission is still waiting on documents from pg&e that prove that nearly a third its gas transmission lines are safe according to the "san francisco chronicle," the puc is threatening sanctions if pg&e doesn't have tho

christin ayers is in the newsroom with why the insurance company really didn't have a choice. >> reporter: anthem is blaming these changes on the rising healthcare costs that are out there. they say that this is really about the economy and that consumer advocates are saying there is little to nothing they doon about these rising costs. customers started getting notices in the mail about the changes. they are going to mean hire co- payments and hire deductibles for individual policyholders who have anthem coverage. anthem would not give me exact numbers on how high the hikes will be but we see reports of averages up to 40% or more. policyholders who celebrated when the company withheld rate increases last year say customers are now being punished. >> it's definitely unfair for consumers especially when there really isn't another option for people who need individual health insurance. >> they reduce benefits, raise deductibles or drop coverage altogether so the impact is severe. the companies are doing well. so why is the hardship on the consumers? >> reporter: now, anthem did send us a st

. >> christin ayers is in oakland to show us what comes next. >> reporter: hi there. caltrans officials are calling this an historic day. as you said, it is a full day ahead of schedule. if you take a look over my shoulder here, you can see that main tower of the new bay bridge. it is almost done. right now, surrounded by scaffolding, just 45 feet shy of its height when finished. caltrans officials knew this was going to be a gigantic job. 12 men and women charged with hoisting four 500-ton steel legs over the bay to form a tower. it was supposed to take 120 hours. instead, crews finished in 92 hours flat. >> early this morning, about 1:25, we officially completed the fourth leg of the south anchored suspension bridge main tower. >> reporter: that was despite wind, rain and rough waters on tuesday, which temporarily halted the work. this time lapse video shows just how susceptible the steel legs were to blustery winds, as this leg is lifted over several hours, the steel sways precariously. >> we had to do this four times. >> reporter: the crews are resting now. but ca

christin ayers is in oakland with how the standoff could have a great impact on bay area schools. she joins us now live. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. governor brown is asking for the delay to try to build more support from republicans for his budget plan which he says would spare schools and deep budget cuts. still, districts like oakland unified are bracing for the worst. at its board meeting wednesday night, the district approved hundreds of pink slips sent out to teachers and administrators. those pink slips could mean massive job cuts if district -- districtwide if brown's budget is not approved. some parents who showed up last night said they were fed up. >> you talk about cutting 550 positions, i can just imagine what that's going to look like for a student to go to school. >> i believe in our society and in california at this point in history, that the people should weigh in on whether they would like to extend taxes that they are already paying or do they want to have an all-cuts budget wherein we double the cuts. >> reporter: lawmakers were supposed to vote on

fix it up, buddy. >> reporter: in belt, christin ayers, cbs 5. >>> the sticker shock is stunning. gas prices are skyrocketing. at a record pace. and drivers are seeing the second biggest price jump ever. 34 cents a gallon in just two weeks. according to the lundberg survey, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $3.51. well, that looks like a bargain to us here in the bay area. in emeryville, a 76 station is selling regular gas for $3.93. >> yeah, but the gas is just out of control. no matter what. no matter how much money you have, or you don't, the price is out of control. >> the obama administration is concerned about the economic effects so it is moving toward tapping the strategic reserve to ease fuel prices. when the reserve was tapped in '05, after hurricane katrina, oil prices dropped 9%. so why is crude now nearly $107 a barrel? blame it on the crisis in libya. world oil traders worry that the unrest will escalate into a civil war. and keep libyan oil off the world market. investors though are calling it the fear factor. libya produces just 2% of the

christin ayers, thank you, in almeda. >>> an exchange student from california was found dead in spain, 10 days after he went missing. 22-year-old austin bice, of carlsbad was studying international business. his body turned up in a shallow waterway in western madrid. very close to the nightclub where he was last seen. police say there is no evidence of foul play. >>> and in libya, the government is hammering rebels with rocks, and tanks and warplanes. as more conflicting reports emerge about who is in control of that country at this hour. rebels are fighting forces that are loyal to moammar gadhafi, as they battle toward tripoli, to try to pur the leader out of -- push the leader out of power. and rebels had taken over a city but the people there say that's a lie and that city is now sealed off and phone lines have been cut. and meanwhile, the government says earlier reports that gadhafi offered to step down if he could avoid prosecution are nonsense. >>> she left for just five minutes. when she came back, her car window was shattered, her little dog was gone. why thieves may have tar

christin ayers is in our newsroom now with yesterday's testimony and reaction from residents in san bruno. christin, good morning. >>> reporter: good morning. pg&e officials wrapped up their testimony about the blast yesterday with some disturbing details about the response to the explosion and why it took them an hour and a half to shut off the gas. pg&e engineers admitted in sworn testimony before the national transportation safety board that they originally sent the wrong man to the explosion to turn off the gas. and to make matters worse, the company had rejected installing automatic or shutoff valves that engineers admitted could have stopped the flow of gas after the explosion in 15 minutes flat. instead, workers had to shut the gas off by hand, which took close to 90 minutes. >> let me put it this way: would it take 60 minutes to 90 minutes for a remote valve to close? >> no. >> would it take 30 minutes for a remote valve to close? >> no. >> would it take 15 minutes for a remote valve to close? >> uhm....... >> once the decision had been made to activate that valve works it take 15

christin ayers on the questions raised by the justices today, christin. >> reporter: elizabeth, as you said that sex discrimination suit is massive. it's so big that wal-mart lawyers told the supreme court today that it's too big and too fractured and should be thrown out. what started with this woman's claim of sexism at the nation's largest retailer -- >> i believe that there was a pattern of discrimination at wal-mart, not just in my store but i believe it is across the country. >> reporter: -- has ballooned a decade later into a class actio suit. up to a million female plaintiffs claiming discrimination. now the supreme court has to decide whether their lawsuit has become too big and too broad. at least one justice seemed to think so. justice antonin scalia pressed the plaintiffs' lawyers asking, doesn't your class include women who were underpaid and women who weren't? is that commonality? >> i think there was good questions asked on both sides. it was a good argument and i think it covered a lot of ground. >> reporter: wal-mart lawyers pushed even harder urging the court to halt

christin ayers is along the coast in pacifica.people to get out, i guess. >> reporter: people are combing the area to make sure no one in the pacifica area is on the beach. we are the only one out here at the beach. authorities say they are expecting at some point if truly we start to see these two to three-foot swells that the water will sweep onshore here and we are getting a route to get out in case that does happen. as you said, there are some evacuation orders going on right now. authorities are saying, if you live east of highway 1, you're going to want to evacuate west of highway 1. anyone in the linda mar area also needs to evacuate east of adobe drive and if you are in gra nada, evacuate to the east of coronado street. fairlawn view elementary school and pescadero high school and other areas are now shelters. if you have nowhere to go, get away from the coastal areas and to one of the evacuation shelters. we are going to keep an eye on this. people are certainly evacuated at this time and receive 911 calls and -- or autom

christin ayers is live along the coast at pacifica. i'm just told christin is not available right now but we'll get to her in just a moment. >>> all right. well, with the tsunami warning looming overhead, san francisco officials are taking early precautions. as gianna told us earlier, the great highway has now been shut down. let's go to anne makovec with some advice for people who are living along the coast. anne, what are you seeing? i guess we are not going to anne? [ pause ] this is a breaking situation so we have reporters all over the bay area but -- >> it's tough to get them up and live but we will in short order. but here's what we are talking about right here. japan just keeps getting rocked by aftershocks after the largest earthquake in the country's history. the number of reported deaths keeps rising from the quake and a series of

christin ayers will have a live report on what's coming up in today's hearing at 5:00. >>> it is 4:34. a leader of a white supremacist movement in california is dead. 40-year-old david lynch was shot to death in his home near sacramento early yesterday. a fellow skinhead is under arrest for that killing. antidefamation league had been watching lynch for more than 20 years and connected him with a number of hate crimes involving various minority victims. >> just because he is gone doesn't mean someone else will take up where he left off. >> lynch led a group called the american front which formed in san francisco when he was a teenager. he was once involved in a brawl on the geraldo show. you may remember the episode when geraldo broke his nose. >>> u.s. supreme court says you may not like the church group that goes around and demonstrates at military funerals, but they do have the right to do it. justices ruled 8-1 yesterday in favor of that westboro baptist church kansas-based group which makes headlines for demonstrating outside of fun raffles fallen u.s. servicemembers claiming god

>> thank you, christin ayers. i imagine a lot of people of in san bruno are glued to the tube right now. >> reporter: absolutely. >> good stuff. thank you. >>> and a reminder, we'll be following the second day of the federal hearings all morning long. you can always find updates on our website, cbssf.com. >>> it is 6:37. and thank goodness there were witnesses or no one would have believed this story. a wild ride for a manteca woman. she held on for dear life to the outside of her husband's speeding minivan on a 42-mile trip from their home from manteca to pleasanton. it was saturday morning just after midnight when christopher and rebecca carroll had an argument. when he got in the minivan to leave she jumped on the hood. he didn't stop racing down the freeway at 100 miles an hour at times while she held onto the windshield wipers. she told a sacramento television station he was on drugs. >> could you see your husband as he was driving? >> yes. >> could he see you? >> yes. >> what was the look in his eye, what wa