have a good ni good evening, i'm elizabeth cook.tin. >>> now at 6:00, drought fears confirmed by the first snowpack survey of the year. good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'll allen martin. the it's the lowest snowpack reading on record and unless winter returns to northern california it could be trouble for our water supply. rob mcallister with a look at how bad it is. >> reporter: don't be fooled by me standing in ankle deep snow. the latest snowpack survey does not show great results for california. it's applying reading a bleak reading. snowpack is 20% of normal for the start of the year. >> no water right here. >> reporter: a drastic difference from a year ago at this time when the snow was six times higher than now but even with that, the rest of the winter did not keep pace. >> we had a great december last year. and then things shut off. >> reporter: a lack of storms early this season have hit ski resorts hard who count on the powder to turn a profit. >> it's pretty icy out there right now. i was hoping it would be a better

i'm juliette goodrich in for elizabeth cook. score wildfires.erous it can be. >> and and elizabeth cook. let's go to a live look now to chopper 5 of this massive brush fire burning out of control. it is on kimble island. smoke can be seen in parts of the east bay near antioch. it's a sparsely populated island in the delta. in fact, you can only access the area by boat. the fire breaking out around 2:30 this afternoon. at this point, there are 20 structures on kimble island. you can see some of them are fully engulfed -- engulfed in flames. the coast guard is currently assisting people off of the island. some of them may have left on their own boats. several structures are fully engulfed. this fire happening just around 2:30 this the afternoon. we want to go to other pictures taken a short time ago. check this out. a fire boat tried dousing the flames in the water. and a calfire helicopter was able to make use of delta waters to conduct air drops on some of the most intense flames. now, there's no fire resources on the island itself. the island a

i'm juliette goodrich in for elizabeth cook. >> a teacher took the term, pot luck a little too literally. she is now in serious trouble with the law. andrea with the dish that got a woman arrested. >> detectives say the trouble began on november 21 at a party involving several teachers from matthew turner elementary. it was a pot luck. after the party, several of the 20 people there began feeling ill, seriously ill. >> one of the party goers was rushed to the hospital with severe reaction. she was hospitalized. the very next morning, another party goer was taken to the hospital because she continued to feel like she was under the influence of something she wasn't sure exactly what it was. >> hospital blood tests confirmed the presence of thc, the active ingredient in marijuana and it went just the holiday goers who ate the food. >> one of the attendeis took the food home and their 15-year- old juvenile ingested this food and became ill. >> that is when a police investigation began and the person who brought the allegedly laced dish was identified as 47-year-old, teresa badger, an element

good evening i'm ken bastid and i'm juliette goodrich, for elizabeth cook. the family of the bart offir killed in the line of duty. opening up tonight. they spoke to me.. at their homen san ramon.... his family called him tommy. family members say they wand to express their love for >> a lot of support, help. police community is incredible. >> tell me it wasn't just a brother-in-law to me. he was my brother. >> a family of law enforcement with one rule, never say good- bye. just say stay safe. >> i guess you are trying to make sense of it? and then it doesn't make sense. and then your heart goes out to that officer. we're going to mourn the loss of our brother, but we'll never forget him. but there's someone else and another family affected by this, too. and i feel sorry for them. you know, we have all been through it. we have been through losses and we have been through that and we have been going through doors not knowing what's on the other side. i know that. but sometimes i don't understand what happened. .net i don't know what happened. >> i lo will lov

good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> for fourth time in three days, a pedestrian has been hit in san francisco. this evening, it was at bush and levenworth. joe, what happened? >> reporter: allen, let me show you what happened. this is bush street headed toward the financial district. this is the crosswalk, but according to witnesses, the man trying to cross bush crossed right over there by the bus stop. that's when he was hit by a car. he's now in critical condition. paramedics rushed the man to the hospital with a severe head injury. as for the driver, police say he was not hurt. he pulled over right away and it does not appear he was under the influence. >> nothing indicating any level of impairment at this time, but we're still very, very initial stages of this investigation. >> it happened only about six blocks from a new year's eve wreck that killed sophia. that one was at polk and ellis. today as 57-year-old of union city. he is charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. the ride share company put out a statement saying that yes, he is the driver with uber, but

. >> and i'm elizabeth cook. joe vasquez is in the newsroom with that report. >> 18 pages filed by the city attorney and this will add to the ntsb's nile. the city insists they have evidence the firefighters did not kill that teenage did girl, she was already dead from the crash. following the plane crash, san francisco now admits the city's firefighters ran over 16-year- old twice. but in the new report filed with the ntsb released today, the city attorney addmently denies she was still alive at the time of those rollovers. despite what the coroner said. >> multiple injuries that are consistent with being run over by a motor vehicle. those injuries she received, she was alive at the time. >> in this new report, the city says wait a minute. if she were alive, then how come the coroner found no foam in the trachea or lung tissues of the deceased? if she were alive, the city argues, she would have breathed in one or more of those items. the city knows she was ejected from the plane just like two other passengers wh

. >> i'm elizabeth cook. new tonight on the simple way that the thieves found their opening. >> reporter: it started as one crime in the pittsburg parking lot. they are taking a more direct route. right into the store. for this woman who didn't want to be identified, the trouble began in christmas eve where the car was broken into while shopping. >> i noticed that they had a compartment, which was a concern to me because my dress was in the compartment. >> reporter: when she finally got home, she put the pieces together. >> as i approach the driveway, i went to reach for the garage door opener and it was missing. >> reporter: with someone in the shower, the thieves struck. >> i had a tv sitting over here right here. and another tv. >> reporter: along with the jewelry including the mother's wedding ring. she filed a report moving on until this past friday afternoon when her daughter was home and the crooks used the magic button again. >> the same individuals, they came back to my home, opened up the garage. th

i am juliette good rich in for elizabeth cook. >> i am ken bastida.atier is at the state capital with more on the political forces that have defeated any notion of a transit strike. phil. >> reporter: that's right. bay area b.a.r.t riders were up in arms at the last two strikes. today, we have to say, if that was a b.a.r.t train, they would be calling it the dead in express. here is the story. >> vultures. >> it took less than an hour and virtually no debate for a state senate committee to hear and kill a proposal to ban future b.a.r.t strikes. >> the senator has the next bill. >> city councilman collected more than 20,000 signatures for b.a.r.t riders in support of the ban said he wasn't surprised. >> there is strong support from the people, but the politicians are hiding under the bed. >> the strike ban was vigorously opposed by organized labor which is also one of the biggest donors to state democratic party and to state representatives. and they turned out in force to make their voices heard. >> we firmly believe that if this right is going to be

. >> i'm elizabeth cook. the president wrapped up his speech moments ago. he pledged to use the powers of his office to help grow the economy while circumventing partisan gridlock on capitol hill. he declared he would raise the minimum wage to $10.10 under a new executive also and also vowed to help the long-term unemployed find work and called on congress to restore expired unemployment benefits. another focus improving education while expanding job training programs. >> we are stronger when america fields a full team. [ applause ] >> of course, it's not enough to train today's workforce. we also have to prepare tomorrow's workforce by guaranteeing every child access to a world class education. >> the president also called on businesses to do away with workplace policies that, quote, belong in a mad man episode. he said women deserve equal pay for equal work. >> hourly workers here in the bay area know what it's like to struggle just to break even. kpix 5's len ramirez on those who are spinning their wheels in one of the most affluent regions of the countr

good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken bastida.ge opened a few months ago but already needs a costly overall. phil ma tier on the project that's going to cost millions. phil? >> reporter: that's right. , you know, it's interesting. it was brought to our attention by the mayor in the news last week. it's shocking. here's the story. it's been open for only four months but already are concerns taxpayers may be in for a bigger sticker shock when it comes to the price for the bay bridge. >> our expert said you'll have to be spending money on retro fitting within five years. >> reporter: that was state senator mark desonier saying they may spend more money on the $6.000000000 span. >> we're told we will get a world class product. >> could be right or wrong, only time will tell but the state has already spent 25 million fixing one problem with faulty bolts on the stand. cost more than twice as much as initially expected. now cal tons spends $10 million and counting to test the rest of the bay bridge's bolts. >> got sandbag, sheets of stee

i am elizabeth cook. >> i am ken bastida.alled google buses and the mysterious google barge. get ready to meet the google ferry. allen martin has more. >> reporter: the boat unloaded about half an hour ago. it is certainly no google barge, that controversial marketplace being built off treasure island, nor is it a fog l bus, but it is in its second day of shuttling google employees to and from work. >> it's called the triumphant. according to this video on youtube, it is 83 feet long, cruises at 27 knots scene built to impression. but in google's case it is more like a shuttle bus on the water. >> carrying passengers for a tech company to see if it makes sense if their employees would like to use the bay as a highway. >> peter daily, director with the port of san francisco tells kpix 5 google's trial began monday. according to the port of san francisco, google hired a triuhant, a multiwhole ferry boat based in long beach. triumphant is making two morning runs from san francisco to redwood city. then two return trips from redw

. >> i'm elizabeth cook. oakland with the new fight for 13-year-old jahi mcmath. >> reporter: there is another setback for the family. late this afternoon, their attorney filed with the state appellate court asking the hospital be forced to put in a tracheal and feeding tube in jahi so they can get her out but this afternoon the court denied that request. the family however says it is not gig up their battle. they believe they can still save jahi. >> every day i just feel like a little piece of me is being taken away. [ crying ] >> reporter: the girl's mother grieves as she continues her fight with the hospital to release her child or let another doctor come in to perform a tracheotomy and insert a feeding tube in her so they can move jahi out. >> it's like she's locked up there in that tower. they won't help her but they won't give us what we need to get her out. >> reporter: the hospital insists the girl is brain-dead and in a letter to the family's attorney today stressed its policy. children's hospital is

good evening, i'm juliette goodrich in for elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken bastida.ed the crash but was run over by two fire trucks rushing to rescue other passengers. our linda yee with the image that shows how close help was and the explanation for why help never came. linda. >> reporter: well, ken, the new video does show those chaotic moments soon after that asiana plane crash and how those first fire crews on the scene from this fire station here at the airport accidentally killed the girl within 20 minutes of arriving at that crash site. a little warning now. the pictures you are about to see are disturbing. a still frame from a fire truck dashboard camera shows firefighter roger phillips waving his arms pointing down at the body of the girl. he was directing the firefighter driving the rig to go around. 16-year-old ye meng yaun lay crumpled on the ground still alive according to coroner reports but no one tested her vitals. rescue crews admitted they determined she was dead just by looking at her and moved on. the deputy chief told ntsb insts last month rescue

good evening, i'm ann notarangelo in for elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken bastida. tech kpix 5 reporter ryan takeo is in napa tonight where the fallout from this dry winter has never tasted so good. >> reporter: it's very busy here, ken. we're at mark harold wines. they are not used to turning people away during the wintertime. that's what they had to do. if you are a glass half full kind of person you'll love how this story goes down. >> like 75? something like that? and it's very strange. >> reporter: they are in napa celebrating their anniversary. normally they choose tahoe. not this year. >> we love to go up this time of year but there's not enough snow. >> reporter: here's some snapshots from the sierra today. if you like open slopes, it was a good day. but the only snow was manmade. that's not good enough for this couple from sacramento. >> since it's nice we decided to go to napa. >> people are more likely to come here than otherwise. >> reporter: overall, napa is seeing nearly 25% more visitors than last winter. january is usually slow. >> normally the staff

good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm allen martin.er is triggering an unexpected boom for the construction industry. the lack of rain means many bay area projects are running ahead of schedule. but as kpix 5's don knapp shows us it's not good news for all contractors. >> reporter: too bad we couldn't have sunshiny days and rainy nights. it would please one kind of contractor who needs the rain. the big apartment complex in larkspur is going up fast thanks to clear skies, mild temperatures and no rain. while most folks worry about drought and water concentration, the driest year in memory is helping contractors get ahead of schedule. >> absolutely ahead of schedule. all jobs are running good now, pretty much everything is going slept. >> reporter: they can look down the road to other projects. >> we have been just flying on this because of the weather. it's cold in the morning but that's about it. as far as wetness goes, it's great. >> reporter: while couction workers cheer the good weather, darren little spends days at his desk waitin

. >> i'm elizabeth cook. trouble this evening at reid- hillview airport in san jose.plane touches down but then something went wrong. let's show you the scene from chopper 5 just a short time ago. these pictures show where the plane came to a screeching halt. it was a normal landing but then the plane skidded off the runway. it came to a rest on a perimeter fence that separates reid-hillview airport from owe sala road. and two people on board walked away from that landing. there was some concern about fuel leaking from the plane. now, about 30 minutes ago, airport crews attached a line to the plane and then pulled it off the fence. a few minutes after that the plane was being towed back to the hangar area. no real visible damage to the plane that we could tell. joining us now for more on what happened, eric peterson is on the line the assistant director of the reid-hillview airport. sir, thank you for joining us this evening. did the plane overshoot the runway or somehow skid off the runway? >> the plane lost its brakes on the landing roll on the runway. without any b

good evening, i'm elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken bastida.ng here in the bay area sickening and killing people along the way. 11 deaths have now been blamed on the flu, and that number is expected to rise. just today, sonoma, alameda, san mateo and santa cruz counties all reporting their first flu-related deaths this season. linda yee has more on a deadly case in canada that is also getting a lot of attention. linda? >> reporter: well, ken, that is the avian flu case in canada and it is the first time that deadly virus has hit north america. that should give health officers here in the bay area pause. but right now, they are more concerned with the deadly h1n1 swine flu virus we have seen in 2009 and it never went away. now it is hitting hard, especially at those people at the age between young adults through middle-aged. this year' vaccine did not include the new avian strain that killed a canadian. health officials there say the alberta resident started feeling symptoms on his plane ride back from beijing and stress it was an isolated case.

. >> i'm elizabeth cook. it's another black eye for foster farms.da yee on the troubling discovery that shut them down. >> reporter: there is a cockroach infestation at the plant in livingston, california, and that's why the usda shut them down. they are currently under investigation after being implicated in a nationwide salmonella outbreak last year that sickened 400 people. today the agency suspended all poultry processing at the plants, one of the biggest foster farm plants? the state citing egregious conditions, saw cockroaches in the processing line and chicken products on the slaughterhouse floor. the cockroaches were also on a plastic tub that came into contact with chicken. foster farms says it has temporarily stopped operations at its living storm plant to allow for enhanced sanitizing to take place. the plant treatment took place this afternoon and the company expects to fully resume operations once approved for inspections. they will stay closed until foster farms identifies the sources of the infestation and comes up with a plan to elim

. >> i'm elizabeth cook.hil matier has more. >> reporter: in 2012, there were 69 murders in san francisco. last year that number dropped to 38. >> we were down 40%. >> at the same time, arrest are way up with over 506% 506 -- 50% of the arrest rate being up. some say there are more witnesses coming forward summer job programs for youth, heightened police presence, and a new twist, video and social media. for the sergeant of the homicide unit, the new technology means hitting the internet much the way cops of old used to hit the streets. >> it is like a gang-related homicide or shooting, we find out if they are on instagram or facebook. sometimes gang members threaten each other back and forth. >> another big contributing factor is video. video has been huge. >> it may be a bar camera used to identify suspects. or in one case a string of security cameras in the western edition that allowed cops to track and identify two suspects in a drive-by shooting without a single witness being present. >> the trail where

ken bastida and elizabeth cook is off tonight.r breaks down the numbers. >> reporter: that's right. from sandwiches to charter buses during the strike, it turned out to be quite a costly enterprise. let's take a look at the numbers. >> in all, b.a.r.t spent threes $2.2 million in negotiations -- spent at least $2.2 million in negotiations alone. >> why have you been such a lightning rod in these negotiations. >> you have to pick on somebody when you can't talk about the issues, right. >> another $165,000 to rick rice to try to sway public opinion. >> still talking. p we're up there. ready to be there as long as we have to be. >> the district also wound up paying the salaries of 53 union negotiations who were taken off the regular jobs. >> we hope to continue progress today. >> add in the 1.2 million that b.a.r.t paid for charter buses during the strike and the million dollars of income b.a.r.t lost during the strikes and you have a total cost of 8.4 million. in a written statement, b.a.r.t management said the money for negotiation

good evening, i'm julie watts in for elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken bastida. family is sharing stories about the veteran bart police officer killed in the line of duty. they are hurting for their loss and the officer who mistakenly opened fire. they are a strong law enforcement family. four members serving in different east bay agencies. they invited juliette goodrich into their home this afternoon. >> reporter: ken, detective sergeant smith is known to his family as tommy. he has two older brothers in law enforcement, his wife and brother-in-law in law enforcement. they know it's a dangerous job. they know that they are serving the public. they also know they never want to get a phone call like they did yesterday. >> if you are lucky to find the love of your life, hold on to it. i did. i cherished every moment we had. >> reporter: tommy's wife chemly is a k-9 officer with bart pd. she was working when she heard the call come in yesterday. >> not only my family here grieving. his family. there's another officer's family out there grieving. i hope the community

good evening, i'm juliette goodrich in for elizabeth cook. >> i'm ken bastida.entially dangerous shipments of crude oil coming to the east bay. now, the concerns are so serious, the feds are now sounding the alarm. new at 6:00 christin ayers on how to could affect at least two bay area cities. >> reporter: there have already been four major crashes of some of these trains carrying crude in north america and now in an unprecedented move federal investigators in both the united states and canada are saying these trains need tighter regulations before disaster strikes again. a runaway train derailed along the u.s.-canada border in july and explodes. 47 people died in an inferno fueled by what's called [ indiscernible ] shale a highly flammable fracked oil the train was carrying. today the national transportation safety board investigating the accident released a report saying the amount of crude shipped by rail across the united states has spiked 443% since 2005. and to keep accidents like this one from happening again something has to change. or else major loss of

elizabeth warren is turning up the heat on government agencies that cut settlement deals with corporate wrongdoers. she is cosponsoring legislation that would require more details on the settlements. peter cookaught up with the senator earlier today on capitol hill and has more. the issue here is transparency, right? >> that is the goal of this legislation put forward by senator elizabeth warner -- warren. her cosponsor is republican tom coburn. this legislation is going to put pressure on -- legislators to think twice before they enter into settlements with corporate wrongdoers. i spoke with senator warren about this legislation a short time ago. >> i asked the question last year from some of these banking regulators, when was the last time you took one of the big financial institutions to trial, and they hemmed and hot and had trouble coming up with an answer . but they said, hey, the settlements are great. they are a great deal for the american public. my view, along with senator coburn, is if they are a great deal, hang them out there for everyone to see. make them public, so we can see them and evaluate them. in other words, a little transparency in these settlements, and a little accou

cook county jail in chicago. not hospitals but prisons. my last assignment working at st. elizabeth was to set up the diversion program in dc, where we train police officers not to make the first move to arrest a mentally ill person, who is creating some kind of trouble, but to get them back in treatment. those are the kinds of programs that are proven over and over again to be the most effective. one of the programs came out of the memphis model in tennessee. and they have proven to be very very effective. unless funds are given to mental health systems, police are going to have to do these jobs. >> thank you very much for helping us understand this difficult situation. >> thank you. >> after the break, there's more to t an america tonight look at a well oiled machine. how gm is powering up for the long haul with a new honor. >> on america tonight, we're dedicated to following up on the highs and lows of the stories, even after they're headlines. and tonight, there's more to t when it comes to the chevy silverado, which on monday was named the truck of the year in detroit. involved

cook. to tell thes american people about the controversial nsa surveillance program. >> thank you so much. give our best to elizabeth. you can watch the stories and more tonight on world news. a check of the traffic situation. we are looking at the situation at the bw parkway. continuerthbound lanes to be closed and southbound traffic is being diverted as well. a very serious crash happened about 2:00 this morning. anywhere between bwi marshall airport. it is just jammed. southbound traffic being sent out at 197. the investigation continues. now it is in the cleanup stage. 95 is a better bet. on the beltway at river road, we did have a crash earlier. this is the beltway at river road. volume delays now around the beltway, 66, and 95. >> have a good weekend. stamp prices are about to go up again. know this fairfax county teacher is up for a grammy award? water mainround of breaks, including this one. >> three florida police offers have been suspended for giving justin bieber and unauthorized escort. to follow procedure. investigators are trying to get more information about where police escorted justin bieber. >> one

elizabeth. thank you. >>> happening right now, west virginia is under a state of emergency. people are told not to drink, bathe, cooksh clothes using tap water. that comes after a chemical spilled into the elk river running through charleston, yesterday. the chemical is a foaming agent used in the coal preparation process. >>> the national weather service is trying to determine if a tornado swept through an area of florida near west palm beach. people living there are reporting damage. roofs of about 30 homes were ripped off in a mobile home park. there are no reports of any injuries. >>> hundreds of additional documents are scheduled to be released today in the ongoing investigation into new jersey's governor chris christie's involvement in an orchestrated traffic jam last fall. a jam allegedly motivated by political revenge. kpix 5 reporter anne makovec is in the newsroom with the controversy for the republican party's rising star. anne, this is going to be around a while, isn't it? >> reporter: the george washington bridge in that region is really like the bay bridge is to us. a main traffic artery. so you can im

cook with it even, don't even bath in it. people are being told they can flush their toilets but that is about it. senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen joins me from charleston, west virginia with the latest. this is unbelievable. how dangerous is this chemical if people are exposed to it? >> reporter: so anderson, we know if you're exposed to this chemical undiluted, it's harmful if swallowed. it's an irritant to your eyes and skin. what we don't know is how dangerous it is when it's diluted. there's no question it's very diluteded in this situation. it's gone through the river, the water system. there have been a case of a couple of hospitalizations, around five people nauseous and vomiting. we're told by health officials the illnesses were only minor. >> so-hundreds of thousands of people potentially could be affected by this. what are the public health officials doing to clean the water for these people? >> reporter: well, what they're doing they're actually measuring how much of this chemical is in the water. and they say the amount is decreasing and that's a good thing. so they say that once it gets below a certain level

department to director john ram and especially elizabeth and john for their help on the master plan and we're also indebted to health director barbara garcia and lori cook for embracing this legislation and without any extra funding implementing the legislation this implementation entailed running a robust process and developing a plan that's truly grounded on what's happening in the community. i also want to thank the 41 members of the task force that met 10 times throughout the city to develop this plan to advise the department of public health and planning department on how to draft the plan and a special thank you for cochairing the task force it took a lot of work and meetings and a lot of conversations so with that i also want to thank in my office hillary ronan who has been working on this for many years and i think that in years to come this is one of those things that we'll look back and be very proud of the fact that we started this comprehensive planning that outlines the healthcare needs not only of the city but of individual neighborhoods and groups and i think that this is something that will serve the citizens of san francisco for many ye