janelle wang has her emotional journey back.was the video seen around the world, today show ann curry reuniting a san francisco woman caught in the middle of japan's devastating earthquake and tsunami with her family in the bay area. >> i found your sister. here she is. >> oh my god. she is on the phone. >> hi, sis. >> oh my god, cannon! >> reporter: cannon purdy ran for her life on march 11th, a former english teacher there, she was back to attend her students' junior high school graduation when the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck followed by that wall of water. the town she was in destroyed. a teacher and student both killed. >> i used to sit right in there. >> reporter: nearly six months later, she is back in japan in that same town to see that graduation now finally happening. ♪ those kids have already started high school. but returned to their now rebuilt junior high to officially graduate. we spoke to purdy via skype. >> also, it's been a real relief to see them moving on and picking up their lives and kind of their hope a

janell wang, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, janell. rob joins us now.ou see the devastation mother nature caused here and here we find ourselves with hick. you c -- with hurricane irene. >> a little bit of good news with hurricane irene. sustained winds not as strong as we were thinking 24 hours ago. our weather here, we've got a strong sea breeze blowing through right now. 57 degrees northwest wind at 10. across the golden gate bridge, you've got the low clouds and 56 degrees tomorrow morning. as we look at our headlines tomorrow, temperature wise a lot like today. 80s and 90s inland but still watching out for that chance of mountain thunder, especially aun around the sierra. look at the moisture racing out of southern california. most of it staying away from the bay area. areas south of monterey could see cloud buildups. the bay area will be fine. we do think those thunder showers will be on all throughout the weekend. temperatures as the high builds back to the bay area will climbing up by the time we get to sunday afternoon. tomorrow morning, expect

janell wang, nbc bay area news. >> how very nice.et's bring in rob mayeda with a look at the forecast through the week. it's kind of smooth sailing, rob? >> thing also start to warm up between today and tomorrow before the numbers make a run into the 90s. right now in san jose, some patches of low clouds but not too bad. currently sitting at 60 degrees. a southeast wind at 9 miles per hour. in oakland, 58 degrees. around san francisco, starting to see a few interesting changes. we had a lot of low clouds earlier in the evening. 56 degrees, and actually a little bit of clearing around the coastline, up in the north bay as north winds start to work their way down the coast. the first sign they're about to see a pattern change taking place, leading to temperatures coming up. 50s and 60s outside. by tomorrow morning as the skis clear, upper 40s around nevado and santa rosa for the morning. there you see the sea breeze reaching into fairfield. as that backs off, that's the reason why come thursday and friday, temperature also start to jum

i'm janelle wang in for jessica. >>> we're looking at shots, live pictures in san francisco. bart protest. you might have heard a lot about this in the last few days. it was an organized protest after yesterday's cyber attacks to the bart website. the group anonymous planned the protest at 5:00. at 5:10 it started in ernest.

i'm janelle wang. flush flush flush>> uc berkeley police say three men were arrested for separate attacks on women in a span of

i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> i'm raj mathai.n amber alert for a 2-year-old girl allegedly kidnapped by her father. they say the child's life could be in danger and the pair could be heading to the bay area. >> nbc bay area's reporter joins us now. kimberly, you spoke with

i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. we begin some some developing news on the paeeninsula. we're getting new information on a pregnant woman mauled to death by her own pit bulldog. we have a crew arriving at the scene. the attack happened at a home in the 500 block of

janelle wang has the very latest. >> reporter: just inside moammar gadhafi's compound in tripoli, the fighting continues. a gun battle between rebels and snipers loyal to the gadhafi regime. the rebels may be close to winning this civil war, but they are paying a terrible price. the fighting has cost hundreds of lives, hundreds more are injured. many of them are not fighters, just civilians caught in the crossfire of this crowded city, including this 5-year-old girl. she nearly lost three fingers from flying shrapnel. >> they were running away and they have been hit by a mortar. >> reporter: doctors are hopeful they saved her fingers, but with drugs in short supply and the medical staff stretched, their hope is dimming for others. >> the situation is crucial. we are suffering from lack of medical staff and the snipers are still everywhere. >> reporter: across the city, 35 foreigners who had been held captive by forces loyal to the gadhafi regime were freed. mostly journalists, but also a former u.s. congressman. >> we finally told them that gadhafi was no more, at least his apparatus

i'm janelle wang. thanks for joining us. now, before we get to the markets, we begin with some breaking news. b.a.r.t. service has just been restored system-wide. a computer glitch brought trains for a standstill for more than an hour tonight. the computers were able to operate trains. but managers were not able to see where trains were on the computer screens. the outage made it impossible to operate trains safely. he shutdown lasted until about: 8:40. some trains were moving slowly from station-to-station, offering very limited service and letting passengers get off. the overhead announcement was advising passengers to find another way home.cc1: others got tired of waiting or andcc1: called family for a ride. or dug deep in their pocketbooks for a cab. >> we came back here and the b.a.r.t. closed. >> i wouldn't find if b.a.r.t. cab1: fare to get back. will they help pay for our cab fare? these girls need to get home. >> those shoppers were headed to concord. train service was restored around 10:00, just in time for giants

. >> and i'm janell wang in for jessica aguirre. michael bloomberg's office said there's not enough room to seat two presidents and the victim's families. many from the bay area who answered the call for help says it's just not right. also tonight, we're getting our first look at new photos never before seen. elise, what are they saying? >> reporter: well, the fire chief is clearly disappointed. this would have been his first trip back to ground zero on 9/11 since the attacks nearly ten years ago. but this year first responders are being told to stay home. >> we're working in a graveyard. >> reporter: nearly ten years later, harrold chapel still can't shake the memories. >> it was a smell like no one ever wants to smell, because as a firefighter, i know what burning people smell like. >> reporter: in never before seen photos you can see him here looking exhausted at ground zero. he's one of 65 local first responders and one of thousands across the country who risked their lives and lungs on 9/11. >> 70% of us were sick when we came

i'm janell wang. >> and i'm raj mathai. happening now, in fact, it's been happening throughout the day. a police standoff is going into its 15th hour. it's created a dangerous scene. the standoff could linger into the morning commute. the freeway is a mess coming into san rafael. here's the map because of the closure of 580. all of this started at the extended stay hotel in san rafael when a wanted man barricaded himself inside of his room. he's believed to be heavily arm and at one point he fired at cars on 580 which led to the freeway closure. let's go live to cheryl hurd with the latest. cheryl? >> reporter: police are waiting out the situation. a few moments ago i saw s.w.a.t. team members circling the member. a suspect wanted in a stabbing and shooting remains holed up in a hotel, a section of the 580 is closed and could affect your morning commute. the bridge is open tonight after police closed it today when the suspect allegedly fired a shot across the bridge. s.w.a.t. officering continue to surround the hotel where

i'm janell wang in for jessica agear ree. >> and i'm rob mathai. steven carlson was 16-year-old when tin a was murdered. he appeared in a san leandro court today. damian trujillo is outside of the courthouse. how do they finally get their man? >> reporter: police say they have the evidence in place now, raj. steven carlson was shackled, wearing a red jump suit in juvenile court. police say they have the murderer but his father tells me that they have the wrong man. it was in this seemingly quiet pleasanton neighborhood that police say tina fales was brutally murdered. now 27 years later, police have arrested this man, steven carlson, tina's carlson at nearby foothill high. >> he was a nice kid. i hung out with him. i was his lab partner in chemistry. i never would have suspected him. he was a nice, clean-cut kids. >> this is the boy that she remembers. a much different portrait than the ones painted by other classmates. >> there was something about him from elementary to junior high to high school. he was mean. he was a bully. he had this odd way a

nbc bay area's janelle wang shows us the military report. >> the marine corps said it released findings to the family soon after the suicide this past april and expressed the deepest sympathies. he was just starting his second round of duty in afghanistan. on the first day with his new platoon in afghanistan, the report says that lance corporal harry lu fell asleep while on watch and was caught sleep on his post three times in an area known to come under enemy fire putting his squad at risk. following that the report revealed that two fellow soldiers cursed at lew and made him dig a deeper fox hole to prevent him from falling asleep again and forced him to carry a sandbag during training and on top of that kicked and punched him. it was soon after the report says lew shot himself with his own automatic weapon in the middle of the night. on his arm, may hate me now but in the long run this was the right choice. i'm sorry. my mom deserves the truth. >> i was shocked and saddened and it hit me hard. hard to believe he would take his own life and that things were so bad that he would do tha

i'm janelle wang. >> i'm raj mathai. we begin with the gold rush, the rush to steal the gold. the price for the precious metal hit another record high as wall street falters, gold is skyrocketing and it's turning into a dangerous trade. in some cases thieves are snatching gold right off the necks of victims. we bring in jodi hernandez who joins us now in oakland. where investigators are trying to stop the bay area black market. is that right? >> reporter: that's right, raj. oakland police say the thieves are snatching gold from victims just about every day now. they say thefts are happening just about this time of the evening, as people are walking home from work or out taking their evening stroll. well, tonight we are getting an exclusive look at where the bad guys may be taking their golden loot to turn it into dollars. >> it's beautiful. it beautifies anyone. i love gold. >> she feels like a million dollars in her gold jewelry, but criminals see dollar signs when they spot gold on anyone. oakland police say thieves are stealing gold jewelry at an alarming rate. ripping the

i'm janelle wang in for jessica aguirre. >> and i'm raj mathai. we begin at one of the most popular summer destinations in america, great america amusement park but a gay couple is not happy with the park. they have slapped them ovwith a lawsuit over a photo. the men say they were victimized by employees who altered the photo, added a gay slur and put it on public display. the story is new tonight at 6:00. we bring in kris sanchez who joins us from santa clara. kris, what exactly happened with this photo and why has it taken so long for this lawsuit? does it add up here? >> reporter: well, i think, you know, once you see the photo and you hear this man's story, you'll understand that this is a lawsuit. however, it really is about change. i talked with craig person and he said he doesn't want anyone else to be humiliated the way he and his then partner were here at great america especially because it's a place that should be safe for children and people of all ages, all colors and all orientations. >> it's summertime. amusement parks are americana.

i'm janelle wang. >> we begin with news in san francisco's castro district. police are at the scene of a deadly accident involving a muni bus and a pedestrian. it happened a few hours ago at 2:30 this afternoon at 18th and hartford. here's the map. it's a story still developing at this hour. the victim is a young woman