there was a matter that came up in haywood county, tennessee, in the fall of 1960. and i came into the department of justice one saturday, and two of the young lawyers were reviewing a lot of fbi reports about the efforts of a black local organization to get people in haywood county, tennessee, to register to vote. and that as a result of that, the whole white community, the power structure of that county, lawyers, bankers, merchants, farmers, had taken collective steps to evict black sharecroppers from their farms. and i decided that the thing to do was to go down there and see what was it about. so, i went with another lawyer down to haywood county, tennessee, and i talked to a young man there who was part of the civic league, black man, and i said, i believe i'd like to talk some of the black sharecroppers who had been evicted. and he said he could arrange that, so that night or the next night he took us out to a little black church on the gravel road. the church was on four corners on cement blocks. i went into that church and there were maybe 100 men and women,

the man was found dead last wednesday in haywood.hael wyatt shared the home with him and gave up to police yesterday. investigators say he was stabbed to death after an argument. >> an appeals court will recore the ban on affirmative action. >> reporter: if you look at the students during a change of classes on the berkeley campus today it's what you don't see that strikes you. very few african american and latino students. the current berkeley freshman class is 3% black, 11% lasano, 22% white and 42% asian. many say that proves affirmative action is necessary. >> we need more representation in schools to show we can succeed just as much as any other race. >> reporter: others aren't sure it's the answer. >> you are meant to be here you will be here. i think that's regardless of race and economic background. >> reporter: dozens rallied outside the appeals court in san francisco this morning, inside those in favor asked a panel to overturn a portion of the proposition. the portion that bans using race when granting admissions into publ

the man was found dead last wednesday in haywood. michael wyatt shared the home with him and gave up to police yesterday. investigators say he was stabbed to death after an argument. >> an appeals court will recore the ban on affirmative action. >> reporter: if you look at the students during a change of classes on the berkeley campus today it's what you don't see that strikes you. very few african american and latino students. the current berkeley freshman class is 3% black, 11% lasano, 22% white and 42% asian. many say that proves affirmative action is necessary. >> we need more representation in schools to show we can succeed just as much as any other race. >> reporter: others aren't sure it's the answer. >> you are meant to be here you will be here. i think that's regardless of race and economic background. >> reporter: dozens rallied outside the appeals court in san francisco this morning, inside those in favor asked a panel to overturn a portion of the proposition. the portion that bans using race when granting admissions into

. >> a haywood artist is almost finished his labor of love. andrew is painting three murals on the parking structure. this last one is avenue clark gable and vivian lee he wanted to show his love for old hollywood and haywood. this is my hometown and there is a chance for me to express my art and a chance to prove the city. i'm honored to do this project. >> reporter: he said the style is art deco to go with the style of the structure. >> and the wait system off shore right now will visit us as we head into tomorrow afternoon. lue notice the clouds increase. take a look. it's a nice look weather system. this one has cold air for shower. snow levels come way down tuesday night into wednesday morning, a winter storm warning for the lake tahoe area. they will have a nice run of snow. it'll keep snowing through thursday. they will continuely snow down about 2,000 feet. even lower through thursday. we will get a beak break by the time we quiet to thursday. morning drive looks wet. wednesday afternoon we start to get a break and by thursday we shoul

christie smith joins us live at haywood where michaela's mother met. >> it's a letter that may provide the clue into what really happened to michaela garecht. she disappeared from hayward back in 1988. that letter was written by a man named wesley shermantine, a serial killer on death row. he was convicted with a friend of his, loren herzog who recently committed suicide. the letter indicated he might know where the little girl was buried. he believed that a sketch of herzog and his age at the time fit the suspect description plus he lived in castro valley. gar recollect's mom spent years praying for her daughter's return. this isn't the first time someone claims to have the answer. >> right. this is not the first time that we had somebody in jail say they knew where she was buried for that matter. we had somebody else a few years ago in indiana who said he knew where she was buried, if the police could bring him out to help find her. they said if we take you out there and you're lying we're going to prosecute you and he said no, i'm telling the truth and he came out here and after a f

tonight at 11:00, does he hold the key to a decades' old cold case in the disappearance of a 9-year-old haywood girl. a letter he wrote is rekindling a mother's misery. cheryl hurd joins us live in hayward with more. cheryl? >> they have been working on this case for a very long time. now, they believe they have a credible break in this case. >> this is dated january 9th. >> reporter: stockton records reporter scott smith says this letter may hold the key of what happened to a young hayward girl who vanished over 20 years ago. >> look at this photograph who is wanted in michaela's disappearance. and look at this -- look at the sketch. and it's striking. it looks like the same person. >> reporter: the letter was written by leslie shermantine, who is on death row for murdering 20 people in the '80s and '90s. he was convicted with his childhood friend. the crime team was dubbed the speed freak killers. they have been exchanging letters for the past six years. >> he was convicted of four counts of murder and sent to death row. and herzog was committed of three counts. but the case was overturned on

just -- basic things but you get outside of napa you will get out of the mid-30s. 37 vallejo, 41 haywood. things will cool off. fog not an issue for anybody coastal orrin land valley locations. temperatures -- on the cool side. ly give you the numbers for tomorrow. the five day forecast, we will look at the long range forecast there. are a couple chances so i will get you filled in on that. >> thank you. bay area home for seniors closing. the reason they say it's not a fit place to live. >> and a golden hearse that took the body of whitney houston . >> and big changes involving the bart police department. what they are doing that they say will reduce crime on bart trains and at bart stations. . >>> a quiet welcome for whitney houston. funeral plans underway for the star who died suddenly over the weekend just hours before she was to sing at a grammy award party in beverly hills. she will be remembered in a private funeral set for this weekend. the message went out today to let the family mourn away from the spotlight. >> they have shared her for 30 some year was the city, the state, with

the vehicles heading westbound on highway 92 from haywood heading toward san mateo of traffic is light but a lot of people taking bridge as well. they can't use it until 8:00 tonight. >> the bay bridge closure is causing problems on san francisco, we want you to take a look. this is lumbar street this is about two as you can see here in the pictures, traffic was bumper to bumper as groups taking the bridge instead of the bay bridge spilled onto nearby city streets. stay with us for continuing coverage of the closure and now the reopening which is scheduled for 7:00 tonight. you can also find updates online at ktvu.com. >> occupy oakland is joining force was prison reform activists to picket outside of the prison tomorrow. its part of a nationwide protest seeking prison reform. ken pritchett is live where preparations already underway. >> reporter: these are some of the barricades that will be nut to place for that protest scheduled to start at noon tomorrow. i talked to a restive of the sheriff's who said the demonstration could be different than the protests we are used to seeing. the