ktvu's claudine wong is there. claudine, what's it doing to traffic? >> reporter: well, sal, it is backed up traffic quite a bit on the highway 4 connector. if you take a look you can see a long line of cars. highway patrol and firefighters basically took a chain saw and they cut off all the huge pieces so they could get traffic moving again. they're waiting for cal trans to come out and clean it up and get this to really back up and moving. it's really done its damage. i want to take you here where the tree basically toppled over. we assume it's the heavy rains. when it came down the highway patrol says a couple cars ran into it but no one was injured. they cut off the heavy branches and tossed everything to the side. if you take a look you can see what they tossed over to the side to get it out of the way of the roadway. at this time we're just waiting for cal trans to come out and clean it up. highway patrol watching the situation. again, state road 4 at the 80 interchange. this is 80 traffic moving okay here. if you're coming from state road 4, it

ktvu's claudine wong and another crew are there on the scene. just to remind you market is shut down between 15th and castro. the f line is effected. some other muni lines will be effected here in san francisco. you can see that things are shut down here and it's very busy district. we'll let you know more coming up. >>> all right. thank you, sal. later today accused child kidnapper phillip garrido scheduled to return to a courtroom. the judge will consider several legal issues tied to this very complex case. now they include his mental competency to stand trial and whether or not he can resume making jailhouse phone calls to his wife. phillip garrido and his wife, nancy, are accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard and holding her captive for 18 years. they are likely to be tried separately. >>> some people living in oakland easement claire neighborhood said they do not feel safe. that is because two pit bull that is killed a small dog outside their homes last week will soon be returned to their owners. neighbors are going door to door passing out f

claudine. >> reporter: yes, pam. this is right about the time we start doing this trying to figure out if anyone's coming our way that we recognize. the sun is actually coming up so we can show you this beautiful course out here at the monterey peninsula country club. just one of three courses being played today. this course was actually added last year. but very popular among the golfers. you can see this whole line of shuttle vans set up here. really no one else is allowed to park up here but the golfers and the folks running the event. it's just too many people. 10,000 to 12,000 people expected to come here today. that's because this is what they call a list day here at the mpcc. the day the best golfers and most well-known celebrities tee off. first tee times are at 8:00. we expect golfers to start arriving really just in the next few minutes and going to that driving range to practice. it's just past the barricades is the driving range. there are millions at stake today. purse at $6 million and $1 million for ch

claudine, what does that video show? >> reporter: it shows the rest of one suspect they had to chase a few blocks from here. we've been in and around this area of international following the police activity. in the last half hour since we last talked to you we have more police officers arriving here where we are now at 84th and international. this is where they believe it all started. i want to show you the scene now.

good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning. we have been told cal train may come as early this morning get them out. it will take you right over there where we are standing. this fence leads you on to cal trans property. if you take a look around here you can see there is a trail and there is some brush. apparently they cut down this brush just recently and when they did that you can see clearly from the freeway what they found was a homeless encampment through here. it's a tent city where people have been living here. we talked up here earlier we are not going to get too close we believe everyone is still sleeping but it is still here and if we pan over you can see some of the trash and some of the things that have been built up. i can tell you when we walk through here it's very easy scene from the freeway. again this is cal trans property. let's give you a look at what it looked like in the daylight. you can see it is taking up a large area on this land that is right next to the freeway. john talked to a woman who lives in t

an amazing story this morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, pam. yes, the two teenagers live inside this home behind me. you can see some of the fire damage outside the home. they weren't in the bedroom where the fire began. but they woke up to smoke detectors. once they heard the smoke detectors they immediately ran out looking for help and they did not get it when they asked. we'll tell you why in just a minute we're going to introduce bill 280 at the vallejo fire department. i've talked to the teenagers. bill, you've talked to the teenagers. tell me about what they did in the initial moments. we think smoke detectors saved their lives but the fire had a lot of time to burn correct? >> they said they were asleep at the time of the fire around 2:30 in the morning. they heard the smoke detector go off. they got up. one of the boys went over and saw at the bedroom door was closed there was soot and smoke. so he didn't open it. he knew that that was the thing to do. and got his stepbrother or brother out of the house and they both got outside. they c

claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, claudine. >>> now, earlier claudine warned us of another area along park presidio boulevard as it connects to doyle drive north of the bridge. caltrans came by to clear a drain on one side of the street but the other side doesn't have a drain right now so there's still standing water. crews plan to put up a sign warning drivers about the flooded area. >>> 7:1 of the big storm caused big -- 7:31. the big storm -- the big storm caused all kinds of problems on the highways. look at the right of your screen -- look at the right on your screen. kraig debro has more. >> reporter: good morning. we're at bayshore and silver. take a look at the 280 northbound ramp here. it's-- you can't even see any cars right now. but just a few minutes ago, this ramp was opened. this is after where you split off from 101 where you have a chance to go 280 southbound or northbound. northbound has within closed for quite some time. so caltrans crews had to fix this just before the bulk of the morning commute. that's good news. this is what the belly of the 101 southb

claudine wong there. she will give us an update. let's go out to westbound 24 we still have an accident clearing there at st. stephens. and san francisco northbound highway 101 the connector ramp is closed until 8:00 a.m.. at 5:40 this is a look at northbound 280 that traffic is moving along okay. let's go to steve. >>> sal, thank you sir. the front has moved through. things are calming down. we will get the off and on showers. so colder today. breezy to blustery. not as windy as yesterday. thank goodness. showers and possible thunderstorms. more the same tomorrow. it looks like thursday night into friday. we have a front coming through expect for rain. it will billion cold and -- it will be cold and breezy. front there. that is what we have to deal with later on today. that is really going to give us a round of possible thunderstorms and just a wide variety of weather. you can see now it's splattered about. some breaks. some breaks in the cloud. some of this will pick up later on today. incredible totals. about one to two for many

claudine. >> reporter: pam, certainly a very tragic story out here. firefighters still on scene here f. you look behind me you can see the headlights on. that's actually the red cross vehicle. the victims of this fire inside that vehicle right now trying to figure out where to go from here. the house is right here. you can see the damage to this front bedroom area. now this fire actually started a couple of hours ago. and inside the home at the time of the fire two teenagers, two 14-year-old -- a 14-year-old boy and 15-year-old boy. they woke up to the sound of the smoke detector and got out. what they first did is went to every neighbor on the block banging on doors asking for help. and they say no one would answer their door. no one would call 911. so what they did is they ran four blocks to the nearest fire station and started banging on the door there. they got no response there as well. firefighters tell me the bedrooms in the fire house are actually in the far back so it's impossible to hear someone banging on that front door. their mother who w

good morning, claudine. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, pam. the decision to close glen brook and high school brook schools happened last night. we have come to west brook school. parents and teachers and kids here are just finding out they too could be on the chopping block. that is what the school board president proposed last night and he knows it caught a lot of people off guard. the question in all of this is how do you save $1.5 million? last night we told you on the 10:00 news that a four to one vote officially shut down glen brook and hull brook elementary schools. but our crew there also found out that that vote wasn't the end of the story. all of a sudden when the board started talking about what's next, discussions began about westwood elementary school. >> they didn't know they were on the radar screen necessarily. we didn't know they were on the radar screen. this is an evolving process. >> reporter: now a lot of this process is actually pretty confusing. but it all has to do with how to move these kids around now that these other

good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, dave.ust within the last minute i talked to a teacher as she walked in to westwood elementary school. she said, look, i know why you're here. this has caught us all by surprise. the idea that this school could possibly close makes sense but really no one even knew this was coming. in fact monitoring what happened in the school board meetings last night they were only focused on two schools, glen brook and hol brook. the vote on those schools came just after 10:00. and they voted to close them in a four to one vote in an attempt to closing $1.5 million budget gap. but it was after that vote that the board started talking about what's next they started talking about westwood elementary. >> all of the hol brook kids go to two schools. glen brook go to one. new twist is that valley view -- not valley view, westwood would go to one school, mountain view. >> reporter: it is all a little bit confusing. nothing has been decided. all we know though is that this is now on the table. there are doing t

live in mayor island claudine wong. >>> earlier this morning the world's most famous ground hog made winter weather prediction. >> so an early spring it will be. >> that is the word from punxsutawney phil. he did not see his shadow. according to legend that means an early spring. >> if he would have seen his shadow it would have meant six more weeks of winter. >>> 6:08 this wednesday morning. sal castaneda so far so good out there this morning? >> i think it is. i will show you traffic pictures that show you traffic is routine. it is getting slower. and you know, quite frankly one of the things i have had to get used to we are on the air at 4:30. as the commute goes on i am used to the number of people that get on the road early. people get out there early. we are trying to help you get to work. one thing i have noticed the commute has been spread out more. so that kind of helps us all out as the traffic is evened out. westbound 237 still looking good. this will not stay there for too long. if you want to get into the valley right now 237, 101, and 280 still looking okay. let's go to

good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, tori. yes. we're just about two blocks from the live picture you are just looking at. we're at 17th and harvard. you can see firefighters still on the scene here. this is the third location. all fires started within a two- hour period, just a couple of blocks from each other. we still don't know the cause of the fires but we have new video to show you. i want you to take a look at the fire in the video. he appeared toluids his or her footing and fall -- he appeared to lose his or her footing and fell to the ground. no injuries from that accident. but a different firefighter turned their ankle out on the scene. i want to show you another piece of video we just got. the big question is how did these fires start and did all three start the same way. this is video we got from the -- from behind the fire building. under that plastic tarp, there was a mile -- there was a pile of construction materials. it's damage. that has firefighters wondering if that's where the fire started. but investigators nee

claudine wong has more. >> reporter: it's miserable. we're on westbound 92 connector to the southbound 880. you can see there is flooding. the vehicles are moving around. the semis go right through and cause quite a mess. see the folks in the jackets and hard hats. they just brought another pump. they've got one in place. they're trying to get that cleared up. they said this is a temporary ramp. there's no place for the water to go. it made a mess. traffic can get through here but they have had to slope down. every time you have a big vehicle, there's a lot of water pushing around. they're hoping to get it cleared up. a couple of problems. in the meantime, if you're coming through here, especially these trucks, you're going to want to take your time and know it will be an issue for at left the next little bit. as far as the conditions, cold, wet miserable. live in hayward, claudine wong. >> thank you. >>> now in oakland a huge puddle is trading big problems. cars are having to swing to avoid the standing water. it's at least ankle deep.

reporting live in san francisco claudine wong. >> thanks for the heads up. >>> time now 6:06. the big storm is dumping lots of snow in the sierra. it's making hard for drivers to get around. our reporter is joining us live from palat pines. i see the snow. how are you holding up? >> reporter: pretty good. we are getting dumped on here within the last hour when we first got here there were barely any snow flurries. take a look around you can see white out conditions here. cal tran has been by trying to plow the roads. we have seen a number of cars slipping and sliding. the snow is really sticking now. the temperatures are starting to stick. it quickly turned from rain to snow flurries to what we are seeing now. we are told near kiber and highway 50 there is near whitous conditions. if you don't have to be on the road, it may not be the best day to travel. back to you. >> before you go i know they are advising people to stay off the road. this weekend is president's holiday. a lot of people out of school on monday. have we heard what it will be like? >> we are told another dumpi

claudine wong has learned the cause behind the delay. >> reporter: good afternoon.e've been watching this dry dock all morning long t was supposed to get in at about 11:00. a half hour ago we were told it wouldn't be coming. that's about the time that newschopper2 took these pictures. it started around:00 but the coast guard stopped it because they said they needed to do a safety check of the ship. so they did the safety check and the company says by the time that was taken care of, the captain decided the winds and tied had changed too much and he didn't want to go so the -- the scheduled arrival is know at 11:00 tomorrow morning. >>> the jobs will be starting after that. the union will apply the -- supply the initial labor. >> reporter: people came out hoping to get one of the pro -- one of the jobs. >> i already have like three in. cover letter. i grabbed -- grab bed an application for a cousin of mine. >> reporter: the ship will be brought into this dock to be cleaned up and recycled as part of the aging mothball fleet. until now there has been no site to get th

claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you for the update, claudine wong. >>> it's 7:15.ight now, officials in the sierra are preparing for the next round of snow to hit. if you are planning to head up to any of the lake tahoe resorts. caltrans is requiring chains on all vehicles except four-wheel drives with snow tires. these are live pictures from kolfax where you can see the snow is really coming down and that chain requirements are both for 80 and highway 50. forecasters are predicting another 18 inches of snow by tomorrow night, just in time for the president's day weekend. skiers and borders who are already there say conditions should be perfect for the long holiday. we'll be updating the roads all morning long. our coverage continues online where you can check stormtracker2 any time and get the latest conditions. click on the storm track tab at ktvu.com. >>> it's been stormy in the bay area. but what we're getting is minor compared to the other parts of the nation. scientists have found a direct connection between global warminged a the recent flooding -- warming a

but we begin with -- we begin with claudine wong. >> reporter: this is a cold, wet rain. i want you to take a look at all of the standing water as the people are coming through. this is kind of what it looks like on bay area area. it's back up here at the toll plaza. it will take you a while to get through -- it will take you a while to get here. we just talked to the chp about how busy they've been. they have gotten 937 service calls in the bay area since 9:00 this morning. that is two, three times the normal amount. if you think it's cold where you are, check out the scene off st. helena. highway 175 at highway 29 is closed between neap and lake counties -- between napa and lake counties. people we talked to say it's hart not to foe kniss --is hard not to notice how cold it is. >> i can feel in -- feel it in my bones. >> reporter: just after 5:00 a.m., just after the highway highway ramp. it took drivers longer to get through. this driver told me he got cut off and swerved. before he knew it, he hit the sign and ended up with a damaged truck and a flat tire. he didn't w

good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, dave. want to show you the scene here on 84th and international because it does remain shut off from traffic while this investigation gets underway. we do know at this point a few things. we know the person who called police told them at least three men were beating the victim. we know this was violent. we know the victim whose truck you're looking at right now was punched and had footprints on his back. police tell us his wallet was stolen. police believe that this man, i'm going to show you video of a man taken into custody this morning, they hope he can tell them why. he said he didn't want to be on tv. he was taken into custody after police saw him near the scene and the search which ended up in a neighborhood about three blocks away from where we are right now woke up residents there. >> just the police. i opened my back door and he told me to go back in the house. i've been peeking out my window. i don't know. i have no idea what it was. >> reporter: the perimeter that was set up duri

ktvu channel 2 reporter claudine wong just arrived on the scene. claudine, what can you tell us?> reporter: we're at 15th and market. i want to show you the scene. the ladder truck going up. i just talked to firefighters they said a second alarm was called. no reports of injuries. you can see firefighters still going through. there's still smoke coming out of the building and they're just making sure that the fire is not in the walls. they think they've pretty much have this fire out. the damage from what we can see is fairly extensive. kind of making its way through the entire building onto that second or third floor of the building. at this point it's still very early. i know they were all just trying to make sure that one the fire was out and two they are going through their searches. i can see in the building right now breaking down the walls. they want to make sure the fire is not in the walls so it doesn't restart. you mentioned this is the second fire we have heard of within the last couple of minutes. we also saw fire trucks going around the corner down market street for

live in oakland, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the mt. diablo school board has voted unanimously not to close any additional schools. at a packed meeting last night, parents, students and teachers learned that silverwood and westwood elementary schools will be spared. the board made its decision after hearing recommendations from the superintendent. but the school board president warns this may only be a temporary fix. >> now, if the tax measures don't pass at the state level, we may be right back where we're at right now. and maybe even worse. >> the superintendent's money saving suggestions include moving special education students to one of the recently closed campuses. and redrawing boundaries to reduce transportation costs. the board already voted to close hol brook elementary and glen brook middle school to save $1.5 million a year. >>> in san jose, a child playing with matches is being blamed for a fire that displaced more than two dozen people overnight. that fire was reported at 8:00 last night. there was also a gas leak in the b

claudine wong is the only reporter on the scene. she will be back in a couple minutes to tell us why the first calls about that fire were never answered. >>> also, this morning we're getting information -- in fact, it's still coming in another recall from toyota. it's all because of gas pedals that get stuck. >>> they made the announcement an hour ago. they are expanding that 2009 recall to three more models of toyota vebltion-- vehicles. they include the 4 runner suv, raff and the lex sus. the vehicles have been recalled due to safety issues. >>> an update just now on new home sales. the commerce department will be releasing this information shortly. we'll have more on that coming up in jugs a -- just a moment. >>> state regulators will report on new rules on pipeline pressure. it could lead to companies like p.d ge being fined for pressure spikes. critics say it would not require operators to report. it critics say planned or not, pressure surges weaken pipelines and operators should be required to report all of them. >> let's bac

claudine wong joins us live with exclusive video and new information. good morning, claudine good morning, tori -- >> reporter: good morning, tori. we've moved to the oakland police department where investigators are trying to piece together what happened. we've been at multiple scenes as police try to track down people responsible for this. the victim is in critical condition. one suspect is in custody and the search is on for the others. police believe the pickup being towed belongs to the victim in this violent assault. one witness told police that at -- that at 2:0 this morning, the -- 2:30 this morning, the victim was attacked and severely beaten. this is exclusive video we got on 81st and holly of one suspect being taken into custody. we saw almost a dozen officers and canine units over there. the search got underway. >> the police told me to go back in my house. >> reporter: the big question is, what prompted this attack? the victim's injuries are severe, external and internal injuries. the victim had shoe prints on his back, leading police to be

claudine wong is live in oakland with some examples. good afternoon, claudine. >> reporter: good afternoon! it's been a wild morning of weather, we got the sun out this morning but all it takes is one clogged drain and look at the mess it's created. there was cars here this morning, you can see some are still stuck in what is a pretty big puddle. these are problems we've seen across the bay area this morning, problems like this one including a very crazy wake-up capitol for one oakland resident. this is what he saw when the sun came up this morning. the aftermath of a falling tree that came crashing down. >> i woke up at 3:00 in the morning to a very loud crash, and i saw some light out of my window. >> the tree hit his car, fortunately it did not hit his house. but it did make quite a mess. >> it took down multiple wires, the one that was the highest tower on top. the road in the middle of the street. >> while crews were trying to deal with intense heat in oakland, it was water that was plaguing drivers in san francisco. this is the ro

. >> claudine wong was there. we were all there in august when the first round of auditions took place there at at&t park. look at how many people showed up. very exciting. and last night she took us behind the scenes as three idol hopefuls finally faced the judges. >> i'm really anxious. i wouldn't say nervous. i'm really excited. i'm really anxious is the word. >> 16-year-old gabb ended up earning her golden ticket to hollywood. another local favorite includes 21-year-old from santa cruz, an amazing voice. he lost his rock star father to a drug overdose when he was just 9 years old. now a young father himself the judges are calling him already a top contender. >>> pretty exciting night last night. now you can get the latest idol news at ktvu.com. you'll also find more pictures from idol's san francisco auditions. >>> well, a solar company from back east could offer a bright future to hundreds of bay area workers. >>> also, the bay area gets a left out of california's biggest bike race. >>> welcome back to the mo

ktvu claudine wong is out there now with the latest with what is happening. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, dave. we have talked about illegal dumping. what happens once they celebrate, this is the mess that can be left behind. this is from the fire crackers that have been set off. this is set off in a lot of businesses and homes to scare off the evil spirits. it's a good thing but it leaves a mess behind. we have been following the department of public works crews all morning to see what the cleanup effort is like. we have seen a lot of different things all morning. >> can you have jerry come up? we have an illegal put out. >> reporter: in that alley within the last hour or so we saw a lot of trash pile, old tv, things that have been dumped there. we are not talking about a small quantity all the time. this morning is a pretty good morning. really they say the problems with dumping can leave behind quite a bit of trash. >> on a daily basis we pick up a quite amount of tonnage. it can go anywhere from 3.5- tons to 10 tons. >> reporter: any given day?

ktvu claudine wong is out there this morning to tell us why some of these people say they can't go to a shelter. good morning, claudine. >> reporter: there are a few reasons whether they are pets or health reasons. let me show you where we are. that is highway 4. it's just off the 680. this is a fence that blocks off cal tran property. it's not hard to get to. i will take you up the hill to this field. i want to show you a couple things. first all this brush and overgrowth here. this is what was through this whole area and over the past week or so cal tran came in here and cut it down. you can see the traffic moving upright next to where we are. we talked to the founder of the outreach team an hour ago. he told us this new push to get a dozen people off this land this spot in terms of the homeless community is nothing new. >> this is not a new discovery. cal tran has known these people have been out here far long time. >> why the push now? because you can see it? >> i think now because you can see it. when cal tran cut these bushes down it opened up a can of worms for them. >> reporte

in san francisco, claudine wong, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> boon, we're knocking on weekend's -- good afternoon, we're knocking on weekend's door. spring fever for the weekend. giving you a look at the golden gate there and just a gorgeous view. see a little haze and that's about it. partly cloudy skies. chilly start but we're already rebounding. giving you a look at what's going on. clouds pulling through. we have high pressure in place but a weak wave moving overit bringing those clouds our way. that will be about it. we're not going to see any rain in the coming days. with surface high in place watching northeasterly wind continue. a little gusty over the foothills. that will last through the afternoon and evening hours. the warming trend in time for the weekend, could actually bring us a few new records. so for today, 60 to 70 degrees expected, mid 70s in time for the weekend. right now, upper 50s low 60s across the board. 61 san francisco. 60 redwood city. chillier in santa rosa and napa. with mostly sunny conditions. are you out to dinner this evening? it will be a nice day. we

claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you, claudine. >>> 7:36.isions have been reached in though parking-related issues in -- in three parking-related irons. there's a two-however maximum time limit for parking at broken meters. next they approved a $55 penalty for muni workers who park at transit lots without paying the monthly fee. those penalties are expected to generate $1 million a year. and research for a pilot program to give nanny permits. shsh-- to give nanny permits. >>> sometimes our highways can turn into parking lots. sal, how are things going? >> we don't have too many serious accidents but we have a few accidents to look at. 280 getting into the valley, you can see how slow it's become in the last few minutes. as i check with chp, is still looks okay that we don't have in -- that we don't have any -- a we don't have too many crashes. moving along to the bay bridge toll plaza, it's backed up up to a 15-minute delay before you make it on the bridge. this is new, southbound 680 from concord to walnut creek. it was okay about 15, 20 mi

. >>> ktvu's claudine wong spoke to a bay area congresswoman about a deal that could buy more time. >> reporter: it was business as usual in oakland this morning but the business of the federal government remains in question. >> i think that neither side wants to have a shut down. >> i really hope they are trying to work together for everybody's best interest. >> reporter: congress goes back to work tomorrow and a short term deal could keep the government running while both sides work out a solution. >> you can't allow even a two week extension to create the same effect only in a much smaller way. >> reporter: but time is an issue. four days and the current budget expires, four days and we face a government shut down. >> in general i'm frustrated with this congress, yes. but you know, it's government so it's frustrating. >> reporter: so what would a government shut down mean? well most federal workers will likely be told not to come to work. the postal service will still deliver your mail and social security should still issue checks. but the longer the shut down is in place -- >> we

claudine wong has been talk with parents from westwood elementary. i understand they are pretty upset. they are very upset. we just had a parent walk by and say with -- and say they are upset. everyone we talked to this morning thought they were safe. they thought westwood elementary school was safe. in fact, they thought they would be receiving kids from closed schools. the news came out late last night at a school board meeting when the school board voted 4-1 in favor of closing glenbrook and holbrook. it was after that vote that the president proposed closing westwood elementary school as well to try to keep the kids together while saving the district money. he admits that westwood was not on -- was not on the radar until now and people are shocked. >> we just heard about it on channel 2. we do that every morning. no cartoons allowed. the news. >> they've been here since kindergarten and i've had children here since -- let's see. 2002. >> that's really sad. we have a he really -- i'm the pta president at restwood. it's her last -- west road. it's

[applause] >> thank you, claudine. good evening, everybody. happy new year. i am very honored to join supervisor chu, a supervisor carmen chu, eric mar, and jane kim, and supervisor campos, supervisor mirkarimi, malia cohen is here as well. it is a wonderful occasion to celebrate our chinese new year at city hall. i want to welcome all of you here. i have been thinking about my first month on this job. as you know, i try not to follow the speech sometimes that i scripted for. i tried to speak what is on my mind. the thought here is that it is no longer a lunar new year celebration just for our chinese community. what our community now has to offer is really expanding the family to all of these other diverse groups in san francisco. that is what makes this so wonderful. we can share what this joyous occasion means and connect with all the other families of the city, whether african american, latino families, russian families, or all of the some groups of our asian families, it is what makes the city very special. if i have seen anything the first 30 days of th

good morning, claudine. >> reporter: good morning, dave. we are at the monterey peninsula country club. that's the clubhouse behind me. you can see some activity. still pretty dark out here. over here is actually the driving range. pan off into the darkness there is actually some ground crews working out there. we've seen some golf carts moving their way around. in a couple hours this whole scene is going to change and get busy with some pretty famous faces out here for the pebble beach proam. this is one of those events that everyone seems to like whether or not you know much about golf. the pebble beach proam does offer you the best golfers in the world but also gives you a lot of celebrities. many of the celebrities are repeat attendees just as happy to see each other as we are to see them. our own joe out here yesterday asking kenny g about his favorite celebs. >> andy garcia is really fun and he's funny. and chris is the nicest guy in the world. so those two are fun to hang with. george lopez, it depends if he's happy he's awesome. if

claudine. >> reporter: well, good morning, pam. the two teenage boys who were home -- at home in this home the time this fire actually stayed in the back of this home. we want to take you around the front because this is where the fire started in the bedroom. this is their mother's bedroom. she wasn't home at the time the fire inside of her room pretty much gone. we can actually show you what it looks like inside because we were able to go in around 4:00 this morning while firefighters were still working on getting this fire knocked down. you can see the damage pretty significant to that room. now the two teenage boys sleeping in another part of the house are ages 14 and 15. they told me a smoke detector woke them up. something firefighters say likely saved their lives. but it's what happened after they got out of the house that is causing so much concern. they told me that calls for help to neighbors went unanswered. and their mother says by the time she found them when she was walking home they were three blocks away at the fire

claudine wong was there when thousands lined up for auditions.o caught up with host and former ktvu entertainment host ryan sea crest who talked about the change. >> the ego and the entower jag alone make -- entourage. >> "american idol" begins. 40 contestants will try to avoid elimination. you can watch the action on ktvu beginning at 8 p.m. you can also get the latest idol news as always, on our website. >> who knows. we may have seen the next "american idol." breaking news coming out of egypt. we are really watching egypt and looking at pictures like threels. those thousands of protesters may be getting what they wanted. >>> more why police action on the bay bridge has one freeway in terrible shape. >>> we continue to follow breaking news out of egypt. those thousands of protesters may finally may be bet -- getting what they want. we are hearing that hosni mubarak may resign. he will address the nation tonight. it's almost 7 p.m. there. you're looking at live pictures of tahrir square. earlier we were reporting the government was reporting a c

ktvu's claudine wong is near interstate 680 right now with this live report. claudine. >> reporter: hi, sal. another wet morning out here. show you 680 right now. you can see traffic moving smoothly but it is wet. the roads are wet out there. we actually just had a tow truck parked on the side of the road next to us and it zoomed off conceivably going to someone who is in need of help. i want to show you video within the last hour in fremont because it is -- well, we apparently don't have that video for you yet. but we were just in fremont where there was a solo spin out. a guy had spun out on the side of the roadway. chp told us there that he did that because the roads were wet. he just basically lost control and slid out. so, again, take a live look at the conditions right now. there are problems throughout the bay area because of these wet roads. certainly something we're not getting used to but something to keep in mind if you're heading out this morning. sal just told you about the accident on highway 4. we're headed there now. we hope to bring you pictur

claudine wong joins us live from the area. the question is where will they all go. >> reporter: they've been waking up over the last half hour or so we haven't seen any sign of caltrans. folks are packing up and moving out. here's what happened. if you pan up the hill, you can seat traffic. that is highway 4. caltrans came in here and cut down brush. that brush was hiding pretty well, apparently, all of the trash. once they started seeing what was left and all the tents and people living out here, people started picking up their phones and complaining about it. yesterday they came out here and started telling the folks they're going to have to leave. we did talk to a man who lives here and knows all the folks here, a man in a blue jacket. that's joe. he said, you know what, they knew this was going to happen. >> it was a cool place. caltrans came in and made this look like a hurricane let the place. they came in and they came in and cut all the weeds first and left it like this. >> it looks like a mess. >> it looks bad. got pe

at sfo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> you can learn more about sfo's cameras at ktvu.com. just look for the special reports tab where you can get a behind the scenes picture tour. >>> the air force today awarded a $35 billion contract. one of the biggest defense contracts ever to boeing. the contract can board 200 refueling planes. >>> general motors is backen back on the road to profitability. it announced that it earned $4.7 billion over the entire year. it is the company's first profitable year since 2004. >>> general motors revival is being seen and heard in san jose tonight. capital chevrolet celebrated it's change of ownership with a little party. the del grand dealer group has bought out the dealership. a band played and a spotlight shined in the drizzle. >>>-- it took fire crews more than four hours to contain the fire, at piedmont lumber and mill company. the fire cost $6 million in damage. >>>pg & e could face penalties over it's san bruno pipeline explosion. a federal investigation found pg & e incorrectly identified the pipe adds seemless when actual little it

at sfo, claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> you can learn more about sfo's cameras at ktvu.com. just look for the special reports tab where you can get a behind the scenes picture tour. >>> the air force today awarded a $35 billion contract. one of the biggest defense contracts ever to boeing. the contract can board 200 refueling planes. >>> general motors is backen back on the road to profitability. it announced that it earned $4.7 billion over the entire year. it is the company's first profitable year since 2004. >>> general motors revival is being seen and heard in san jose tonight. capital chevrolet celebrated it's change of ownership with a little party. the del grand dealer group has bought out the dealership. a band played and a spotlight shined in the drizzle. >>>-- it took fire crews more than four hours to contain the fire, at piedmont lumber and mill company. the fire cost $6 million in damage. >>>pg & e could face penalties over it's san bruno pipeline explosion. a federal investigation found pg & e incorrectly identified the pipe adds seemless when actual little it

claudine wong, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> get the latest idol news at ktvu.com.d more pictures from san francisco's idol auditions. >>> well, he is back simon cowel is returning to american television this fall with the x factor. >> i guess it feels a great time to be launching a new talent search because it seems to be a great time again for music. >> the singing competition is a smash hit in the u.k. judges are looking for raw talent 12 years and older here in the u.s. he left "american idol" last year to spearhead the x factor. auditions begin march 27th in la. >> a bay area tech giant unveiled its version of a computer tablet today. >> since we know that people keep information locked in different -- >> hewlet packard introduced their new touchpad. the unveiling at herb pavilion in san francisco. the new tablet has a 9.7-inch screen and weighs a little more than a pound and a half. >> the touchpad is all about you. how you want to work. how you want to play. and how you want to connect to the things you value the most. >> the company also unveiled two new sma

>> reporter: good morning, claudine! right now the roads are not too bad. caltrans is doing a great job keeping them clear you can sri the town of colfax is covered in snow. this is about 2400 feet elevation. we started seeing snow as low as 1300 feet in the town of auburn, but definitely hundreds and hundreds of people making their way on 80 now to the sierra. but it's pretty smooth traveling and only took us about an hour from sacramento to get to colfax. there are patches of ice on the roads so you definitely want to watch tout for that. the highway patrol says people are driving way too fast for these conditions and chains are being required, so once you have those chains on, you really can't go any faster than about 30 miles an hour. but i can't say that enough about caltrans, they're doing such a great job. we've seen a number of snowplows just passing on by and keeping these roads clear. everyone is here because of all of this fresh powder. tack a look at this powder here. just fluffy and a great day to have a snowball fight. back to you guys. >> oh,

claudine wong, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> get the latest idol news at ktvu.com.re pictures from san francisco's idol auditions. >>> well, he is back simon cowel is returning to american television this fall with the x factor. >> i guess it feels a great time to be launching a new talent search because it seems to be a great time again for music. >> the singing competition is a smash hit in the u.k. judges are looking for raw talent 12 years and older here in the u.s. he left "american idol" last year to spearhead the x factor. auditions begin march 27th in la. >> a bay area tech giant unveiled its version of a computer tablet today. >> since we know that people keep information locked in different -- >> hewlet packard introduced their new touchpad. the unveiling at herb pavilion in san francisco. the new tablet has a 9.7-inch screen and weighs a little more than a pound and a half. >> the touchpad is all about you. how you want to work. how you want to play. and how you want to connect to the things you value the most. >> the company also unveiled two new smart p

i'm claudine wong. >> and i'm mike mibach. san francisco police plan to search once again today for an elderly man who went missing three days ago. 73-year-old kenneth chin was last seen on thursday. ktvu's allie rasmus live this morning in san francisco where today's search will be scaled down a bit. allie. >> reporter: we are in golden golden gate bridge park. this park is where search crews have focused their efforts. it's another morning of gold weather, you can see there is frost on the ground here at golden gate park, right now it's about 38 degrees. and when 73-year-old kenneth chin left, when his caregivers last saw him, they say he wasn't dressed for this kind of weather. about a block 1/2 away from this park entrance is the assisted living facility chin has lived in for the past five years. we went by there early this morning to see if they had any updates on the search today. no one there was available to talk to us. but chin's caregivers say they last saw him on thursday when they walked him to a bus stop that was

good evening claudine. >> reporter: we are at 16th and market. behind me is one of the damaged buildings. you can see the damage along the front of the structure. this is a fire that likely did the most damage. it really affected the most people. it is only one of three fires this morning. firefighters in the last hour told us they believe all three were intentionally set. they just still can't say if they were all set by the same person. as firefighters fought this fire on 1th and market, residents stood on the sidewalks. this man captured the flames on his cell phone. he got out after neighbors started yelling. >> i heard someone stomping and yelling fire! >> the cause is under investigation. the majority of the fire is on the outside up here. >> reporter: 16 people in those two buildings now have to find a place to live. as an estimated 50 firefighters battled this fire, another call came in calling for 50 more. this time to fight a fire just two blocks away at the historic building under renovation. this is video of the fire fight. watch as t