garvin thomas, "today in the east bay." >>> 4:48 right now. good news about the cost of health care. a study by fidelity investments says health care costs have actually gone down for retirees for now. but they predict the trend will change and the prices will eventually start to rise again. >>> for more on news before the bell, we'll go to sharita brantley at cnbc world headquarters. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, scott. futures are mixed as wall street ends the first quarter today. stocks ended up yesterday just shy of the highs for the year, but still light in trading volume. the markets are posed to close out the lowest tech quarter since the late 1890s. we get data today on new filings for unemployment, manufacturing and factory orders. the dow rising 71 points on wednesday to 12,350. the nasdaq was adding 19 to 2776. >>> the annual plantings report will be leased this morning. this shows how many u.s. farmers will devote to corn, wheat, soybeans and cotton this year. those are all commodities that have big effects on clo

garvin thomas has a story of the family caught in the middle in more ways than one. >> reporter: the debris has been carted away, the lots have been leveled. there's even a little life to be seen up here. still, there is no better way to describe what you see along claremont drive as a scar. >> how can you not cringe when you look at this? >> reporter: no one with a better or perhaps worst view of it it all that bill. >> you really see more than just a vacant lot. you see the lives that have been affected by this. you look at it and see that, and it hurts. it hurts to be here standing here. >> reporter: the house is depending on your point of view either the last one standing or the first survivor. neighbors on within side fared worse, on the other side better. putting the family in between, which is actually a fitting way to describe live for them these days. >> this was a wonderful home. we had lots of parties here, lots of happy times here. my kids were born, and we brought them home from the hospital here. now look at it. it's gone. it's devastated. it's just empty. >> reporter:

garvin thomas, "nbc bay area news." >> the snickers has less sugar. >> yesterday i was walking aroundtaring at the sun. >> we deserve this, don't we? >> it's mesmerizing, just like some video, jim foster shot this down in santa cruz tonight. take a look at this. these surfers are hanging ten or five or whatnot. while the surfers handle it well, there's a small craft advisory for boaters out there if you plan to go and take a dip in the baurt tomorrow. it's going to warm up along the coastline, too. it was a great day out there. still holding onto the some of the warmth. temperatures in the low to mid-50s from san francisco right down to san mateo. a little bit of wind in the atmosphere, and you could kind of almost feel that warm day we're going to get for tomorrow with this wind kicking up throughout the atmosphere. we have 70s inland and possibly a few isolated records with dry northerly records black. for the weekend we see more changes coming our way. high pressure sitting justoff shore. that will keep it warm for us with low 70s and a few 80s coming our way into thursday's foreca

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> good advice.story was picked up on dozens of blogs drawing thousands of comments. for the record running 50/50 between those who think the gps got them out of the ticket and those who don't think so. >>> one of the world's most active volcanos is shooting laufr have a up to 65 feet high. scientists on the big island of hawaii say a new vent has opened up on mt. kilauea, more than five times the length of a football field. kilauea has been erupting since 1983. no homes are under threat but the eruption watch has been updated to a warning, meaning a hazardous eruption is imminent, under way or expected. clearly it's under way. i was in hawaii a couple of years ago and had the opportunity to see the lava flowing into the ocean. makes an incredible light showness loom look like fireworks. have you ever seen that? it's incredible. >> it is amazing. you don't get a sense of the scale from those pictures how tremendously large that area is. >> absolutely. >> it is incredible. we had our own taste of hawa

here's nbc bay area's garvin thomas. >> reporter: the bay area is connected by an intricate network ofs, bridges, ferries and trains. all running smoothly to get you where you need to go. but what happens if in an insta instant, it all shut down. >> we won't have a whole lot of road capacity after an earthquake. >> reporter: from the association of bay area governments says the bay area can expect to have a transportation meltdown when a major earthquake hits. >> unfortunately, i don't think we are very well prepared. >> reporter: while we spent a lot of money to retrofit our bridges -- >> all the roads that lead to those bridges are in liquefaction joans. >> reporter:le 880 and 280 run on top of major fault lines. this map from the association of bay area governments shows which roads could fail if a 6.8 earthquake hits on each of our major faults. san andreas, potentially 1,332 road closures. hayward, 1,138. and calaveras, 573. report says you should be prepared to be stuck where you are for at least three days. >> it would be very wise to have disaster kits in multiple places. >> re

garvin thomas is in the satellite center with more on this growing offensive. >> reporter: the president may be getting grief at home, but he is actually getting some help from abroad. two arab nation, qatar and the united arab emirates say they are sending jets to help the u.s.-led force. meanwhile, though, moammar gadhafi's ground troops are advancing on some major rebel strongholds. commanders in the field confirm that a u.s. f-15e was lost in the fight, but does not shot down over libya. they say it suffered mechanical failure and crashed. the airmen on board ejected and was rescued. while all this was happening, though, the president is not at the white house. he is continuing his tour of latin america. it's a move that is drawing some criticism from the right. >> he is in brazil in south america, kicking soccer balls with little boys instead of being back here in washington, d.c. as our commander in chief. >> look, the blood of americans is on gadhafi's hands because we know that he was responsible for pan am 103. we should be removed from power. >> reporter: president obama says h

garvin thomas has the story. >> reporter: scientists tell us the earthquake last week was so strong it shifted the earth axis six inches. we can tell you it also turned this san jose home upside down. >> oh, yeah, absolutely. yeah. >> reporter: for three days after the earthquake and tsunami, these two women worried about what happened to their daughter and sister, cannon purdy. >> i didn't know where she was. i didn't know where she was supposed to be. >> reporter: what little they did know didn't help. they knew purdy on her way to india stopped over in japan to visit a school where she used to teach english to japanese children. that school was here, that's this place. >> the footage then was pinpointed down to this is exactly where she is. and the place was completely devastated. >> everything. everything in the entire town was gone. >> reporter: her family didn't know it at the time, of course, but cannon purdy was alive and well and watching the very same things her sister was, just not on tv. >> it was hard to really think of anything. it was just kind of overwhelming. i mean, b

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >>> 4:46 now. despite the earthquake and tsunami damage in japan, the uprisings and conflicts in the middle east and financial problems in por which you gal and raising oil prices, world markets have a positive outlook this morning. always optimistic, nicole lapin is here from cnbc headquarters. >> reporter: scott, you have a great job. you should stay right where you are, but you should come and work with us because you just laid out exactly what the markets are doing. this is so stunning to me. exactly why futures are higher this morning after everything you just listed. wall street also ended higher yesterday thanks to a nice late-day rally. that's optimism there, so it is not just me, i won't take all the credit. this is also despite all the unrest in the middle east. the continued crisis out of japan. we are getting more headlines by the minute this morning. oil prices are still up to $106 a barrel. japanese markets ended flat today. europe is mixed right now but they are also not reacting ver

nbc bay area's garvin thomas shows us oakland police are now closer than ever to solving a 30-year-old mystery. they just need your help to finish this job. >> reporter: for 30 years he has renamed nameless. at least now, though, he is no longer faceless. >> about july of last year. >> reporter: donald williams is a retired oakland cop who now investigates cold cases for the department. none colder than the one he's looking at now. none more disturbing either. >> gruesome? >> this is about one of the most gruesome ones i've seen. >> reporter: our case begins to july 28th, 1980. a torso is found near the corner of helen and peralta streets. there is no head, no arms, no legs. just disembowelled and burned remains. the original police bulletin on the crime contains this chilling assessment. the dismemberment is so cleanly performed it indicates the suspect may have had some type of anatomical background. >> for someone to do something to a human being this way is just incredible. >> reporter: but police have no idea, no clues as to who their victim is. so the investigation stalls almost

in san jose, garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> what a remarkable young woman and from desperationelation for her family. >> changed their lives forever. they want to help change other people's lives now. purpdy and her family have also set a foundation to raise money for the relief effort. if you would like to help you can by doing so online, savemiyagi.org. >> we'll be right back. [ jerry ] look at this! you got a state-of-the-art man-cave, but the savings account of a cave-man! hey sports fans check this out. [ beep ] oops, my bad. earn more with interestplus savings at capitalone.com. that's new school banking, baby! ooh, 3-d! instead of earning bupkus, your savings could be earning three times the national average! three times more. go online to capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? what's this do? [ beeping ] >>> we talked about it earlier it's like seattleard here but no it's our local weather. jeff ranieri is here now. >> are we starting to see it move out a little bit definitely. heavy rainfall has pushed well to the south, into the central and southern california. if you

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >> some sage advice. cata's story was picked up on dozens of other blogs, not just his, drawing thousands of comments from readers. >> and where it stands, running about 5 czar/50 done with those who think that gps got him out of the ticket and those who don't think that it happened. tomorrow night at 11:00, a mysterious unsombed order in a bay area community. a mother and daughter killed in the middle of the night. tomorrow, how police in that city are now using technology to keep it from happening to another family. >>> all right, turn our attention over to our chief meteorologist, jeff ranieri is here. and as we head toward our weekend, we have questions and do you have answers? >> i do have answers. what's your question, raj, just one, do you have one. >> what kind of weekend will it be. >> the weekend will be great. i only heard part of it but yes, a gray weekend. once we get over a little bit of rain that'll be coming on in. take a look at today's high. turned it up just a little bit, and dare i say

garvin thomas, nbc bay area news. >>> so new news to pass along now. there's a change of plans for britney spears. the pop star will no longer perform in san francisco's castro district this weekend. that's because the forecast is forcing her to run for cover. instead, she'll tape her performance at the bill graham civic center. on sunday at noon, the free concert coincides with the release of her new album. right now on nbcbayarea.com, get details on this free concert. just click on the britney story on our home page. inch it is the question that all royal watchers are asking. who will kate middleton be wearing when she says "i do"? turns out a northern california designer put her name on the list. and as nbc bay area's elise kearschner found out, she got a response straight from the royal palace. here's a story you'll see only on bay area news. >> i said what have i got to lose? they said how did you know where to send it? buckingham palace, london. where else? >> reporter: silvia may be a long way from buckingham palace, but she knows it well. >> as

garvin thomas has more. >> reporter: at the supreme court today, a small group of women with hopes they'll soon speak for more than a million women. >> i brought this case -- >> reporter: betty dukes first sued walmart in 2001 after working at a store in pittsburgh. her sex discrimination case is now a class action for female employees past and perez ept. >> if you do wrong, you should be held accountable. >> reporter: but the retail giant says the lawsuit is too big and shouldn't be a class action because it is too big. >> what's wrong with this case is that three plaintiffs are trying to represent more than 1.5 million associates. i've had a very positive experience at walmart like thousands of other women. >> reporter: that's what they argued before the nine justices who seemed sympathetic to the position. the justices also appeared confused by the plaintiff's contention, walmart had a strong -- stereo typing. while the high court including three female justices heard arguments, outside, women's rights advocates trying to have their voices heard as the high court now decides if this is

garvin thomas, "today in the bay." >>> as garvin mentioned, kata's story was picked up on dozen of blogss. they are running about 50/50 between those who think gps got him out of the ticket and those who don't think so the. >>> caltrain is in a state of fiscal emergency and. to cost riders. board is dealing with a $30 million budget deficit and declared a fiscal emergency this week. cuts could include fewer weekday trains and suspension of all weekend service. there could be a 25 cent fare hike. the board is also talking about closing the south san francisco belmont is, santa clara and san bruno stations. >>> we have much more ahead for you coming up. still ahead, our pet of the week. we're going to show you this little pet who is ready for a forever home. we'll be right back. [ wheezing breaths ] [ woman ] the first time i smoked, i was 13. i was in a hurry to grow up and wanted to look cool. big tobacco knew it, and they preyed on me. i'm here to tell you that big tobacco hasn't changed. they continue to profit... by selling kids the same lies... to get them to use... the same deadly p

. >> i'm garvin thomas. storm damage is in the millions. and there's one big question, who's going to pay for it all? tonight we know the answer and it's not something many homeowners wanted to hear. cheryl hurd has the latest from san pablo where the earth is still sliding. cheryl? >> reporter: it is indeed, garvin. the damage you see here is going to cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to repair. who's going to pay for it is thth ththe million-dollar question. leon walker is watching his backyard go from this to this. it's slowly slipping away after last week's san pablo hills landslide. >> i can't get any equipment out here to shore this up. but if i do, that's still there. so it would be moot for me to do anything to this. if they don't address that. or the problem that they didn't address in '75. >> reporter: walker showed us these photos from 1975. you see the debris left behind from a home that slid down the hill during a landslide them. walker says he didn't know about the landslide threat before moving in. san pablo city official

as garvin thomas reports, a recent investigation says not all are prepared to do that. >> reporter: anozens of hospital buildings in the state with serious structural weaknesses. including ones at four bay area hospitals. based on a formula that comes up with something called a collapse risk, buildings at kindred hospital in san leandro, st. mary's medical center in san francisco, sf general, and john muehr medical center in concord all had collapse risk scores between 9% and 23%. >> the way you get a very high score like that is if you have one of these deadly sins. these are structural flaws. >> reporter: christina led california watch's investigation. >> when i talked to the people who work at these hospitals, i talked to patients who have been at these hospitals. they were shocked. >> i think we have a huge problem. >> reporter: state senator elaine alquist has been in the forefront pushing hospitals to speed up compliance. she said in addition to the buildings that had collapse risk assessments done, there are literally hundreds which have not and also been deemed to be at risk. >

. >> reporter: garvin thomas, "to the in the east bay." >> the team likes to think of the two mammoths as mother and baby but can't tell for sure. the farmer on the land the remains was given was the naming lights and he chose stella for the adult and addi for the infant. >>> imagine driving on the freeway honking your horn and having your car stall. that's aparentally happening on volkswagon jettas. the problem stems from wiring in the vehicle's alarm system and horn. no accidents have been reported because of the glitch but if you drive a new jetta you are asked to contact your dealer immediately. >>> nicole lapin is joining us from cnbc. that's the greatest thing because when a rude guy gets behind you to horn his car dies. >> reporter: now, now, be nice, scott. my first car was actually a jetta. and it was named bert. >> you named your car? of course you did. that's a girl thing. we'll pull out here, but that's a girl thing. bert, the car. go ahead, nicole lapin the cnbc anchor. >> reporter: let's recap the markets yesterday, shall we? we were in slow-mo. not really in overdrive ye

good evening, i'm garvin thomas. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. nuclear scientists in japan tonight admit they're fighting an invisible enemy, radiation. the levels again spiking at those damaged power plants. now, just hours ago japanese crews innohi cok choppers started dumping sea water on reactors. in washington, u.s. officials are now warning that one, if not two, of those plants may be on the verge of spewing more radioactive material. and those fears are prompting a mass exodus from tokyo tonight. with the obama administration authorizing the first evacuations of americans. among those, nbc's chris jansing who talked with us minutes ago from the airport in tokyo. >> reporter: it's going to be interesting to see what the reaction of the japanese people is when they hear this news because america is the strongest ally. and i think for them to say that their people need to leave the dependence of their embassy personnel said that there's a recognition that there is some danger here. >> nbc's lester holt now with the latest on the frantic effor

i'm garvin thomas in for raj mathai. >> and i'm jessica aguirre. last-ditch efforts still under way in japan where it morning now and smoke is still billowing from a damaged nuclear power plant. workers have been trying everything to cool reactors there. but at this point, they're not even sure if their methods are working. the plan now to use fire trucks to spray even more water on that plant. president obama is assuring americans, meanwhile, that harmful doses of radiation will not make it to the united states. here in the bay area, air quality leaders are monitoring radiation levels, and so far everything is normal. but some people aren't taking chances. many getting out. nbc bay area's george kiriyama who is first bay area reporter on the scene there in japan when the disaster unfolded, well, tonight he's back and he's sharing his experience with us coming up in just moments. >> now george left japan because of concerns over radiation but it seems those concerns have followed him stateside. many people in the bay area are wondering, just what r

garvin thomas, "today in the bay." >> we have much who ahead coming up on "today in the bay," still toe, lefty wants to be your right hand guy, we'll get to know our adoptable pet coming up. u u >> right now in america, one out of four children doesn't know where their next meal is coming from. >> food insecurity is a growing problem in the united states. >> tune in march 19th at 7:30 p.m. on nbc to see child hunger ends here: ll special report. spa >>> we are back this morning with some special guests from the humane society silicon valley. we have elizabeth and lefty who's -- i like lefty because he's a little gray at the temples like me, a little experience. >> he's about 10 years old, he's a dauchund. everything that makes comet a great search and rescue dog, he's the opposite. he's calm, he's house breoken. he loves to sit in your lap. >> you were saying that what you find interesting about meeting comet is that a lot of the animals that are successful at search and rescue are rescue animals themselves. >> about 90% of search and rescue dogs in america were rescued from an animal

garvin thomas, "today in the bay." >> in case you're wondering about the the roads in your neighborhood and along your commute, we did find an interactive map that you can check at the association of bay area government. you can find it on their website. >>> much more ahead coming up on "today in the bay." still ahead, who needs brawn when you have plenty of brains? the bay area city ranked number one in terms of falling in love. >>> and we'll take you outside to this view from oakland where the showers are beginning to let up just a bit. the wind will die down as well. >>> good sunday morning to you. live pictures from san francisco. that would be alcatraz out in the distance. what is that i see? is that a hint of the sunrise? be nice to see today, a little bit of sun. this was a pretty powerful storm. it is right now pushing off to the east. the center of it is. the heaviest rain continues to push down to the south. the wind also a big story with this one. the wind advisory has been discontinued. still a little breezy out there. oakland 14-mile-per-hour winds in san jose, 9-mile-per-h

garvin thomas has been following the developments. it's a different jerry brown. he sent a tweet out about this big news. >> it is pretty big news and big when you consider the deficit in sacramento is $26 billion. the governor's fix for the problem is a budget that includes cuts as well as the extension for up to five years of income sales and vehicle taxes that were supposed to be temporary. that idea doesn't normally sit well with business groups, such as the bay area council. this afternoon in san francisco, the governor met with the executive committee of the group to pitch his plan. and when all was said and done, they walked up to the mike and said they support his budget. of course, not everyone is on board. you remember just yesterday, uc berkeley students took to the roof to protest cuts to higher education. the governor says he has the same message for him as he delivered today to the council. >> these are painful cuts. i don't like to do it. i went to the university. i don't like tuition increases. but we can obama live with the money that we're given.

. >> i'm garvin thomas. luckier than smart. 17-year-old on a school field trip to san francisco this morning, jumped off the golden gate bridge and survived. stunning part of that, the same jump that kills dozens of people every year. nbc bay area's jeanne elle is live at the hospital where the teen was taken the we hear he doesn't have serious injuries at all? >> reporter: jessica, the hospital spokesperson says the family are and hiscc1: here requesting privacy. started at 11:15 this morning. a windsor high school group on a field trip on the golden gate bridge. a group of 45 kids and two teachers. walking on the bridge between south tower, thecc1: a 17-year-old male student jumped into the bay, off the bridge. the school principal says surfers, helped the teenager to shore where he walked out of the water himself. right now the superintendent says they don't know why the student jumped. >> at the present time, we are also conducting our own investigation here. and we have, we have not found any particular

garvin thomas now joining us from the newsroom. you took a look at these tapes. it is a quiet neighborhood with a serious crime. >> that's right. another reminder for our viewers, there is a graphic reminder. if there are little one in the room, maybe they want to be watching someone else and you might want to keep the bar invasion we're talking about, january 8th left three people dead and one hurdle. here's the bar security video we're talking about. it showed the interior of the mexicali nightclub on oakland road. three men burst in to snatch the owner. police are focusing on this man wearing a bullet-proof vest, trying to drag t own at gunpoint into an suv. the gun owner who was targeted over a drug debt is able to get free. but is gunned down by a mystery man in the parking lot. the owner survived, the suspect escaped and remains on the loose. as for the other two attackers not shown in that security video, a bar patron shot both men during the kidnapping attempt, killing one there before being shot and killed himself. the other talker was found dead in the

. >>> thank you for joining us i'm garvin thomas. >> i'm jessica aguirre. our top story tonight. capif capatola digging itself out of mud and shut down businesses and turned a mobile home park into no home, completely unlivable. chris sanchez has more on the clean-up efforts and now the big question, chris, who is going to foot the bill for the clean-up? >> reporter: a very good question, jessica. a question that goes unanswered today. we found suppliers, with charming little places. problem they don't look like this anymore. it all looks like that. so far nobody know whose is going to pay to get things back to normal. >> as heavy machinery works to get to the bottom of the pit, where the pipeline burst and sent water and mud through, the city is trying to get to the bottom of who owns the pipeline and who will pay. >> we haven't figured out the insurance piece. the city is covering out of the emergency fund. >> reporter: that $600,000 fund won't be nearly enough to get things back to normal. the damage expected to exceed $10 million, in a city with a $12 million annual budget. c