jean elle, nbc today in the bay. >> such a devastating day. today environmentalists will meet with caltrans officials over concerns on a road project. a meeting will take place to discuss the construction's impact on environment near niles canyon road. groups say it will destroy hundreds of native trees and threaten habitats. caltrans officials say the plan will improve highway safety. >> the coast zbard honoring a bay area man who risked his life nearly 70 years ago. the late tunnel will be awarded a special medal for saving the life of a fellow sailor from the icy waters of canada back in 1946. his enlistment end add few weeks after the incident and the process to honor him was actually never processed. a ceremony will take place at the coast guard island in alameda later this morning. tunnel would become the nfl's first african-american elected to its hall of fame. a nice honor finally. 4:38 now. i want to check the forecast with christina. >> good morning to you. we're looking a little on the cloudy side this morning with the clouds are ac

nbc bay area's jean elle is on this story. jean, it's hard to argue against police safety, but is that what's happening now? >> reporter: well, raj, criminals pass through every community in tiburon. cameras take pictures of every vehicle's license plate and it turns out those pictures can help lead police to criminal suspects, fast. the views from tiberon are spectacular. drive to this picture-perfect town and the police department will snap your picture. cameras record every license plate coming and going on tiberon's two access roads. >> we've, so far, been able to solve you know three crimes in a month, a month and a half. >> reporter: the police chief it is the controversial $150,000 system is paying off. pinpoint the time of recent burglary, they were able use it the database to identify possible suspect cars. >> we looked at a time immediately following the occurrence. we got some license plates. we checked register information. found somebody who sounded like -- matched the description. turned out, it was. >> just last

nbc bay area's jean elle is live with more on what happened. jean? >> reporter: garvin, surfers came out of the mavericks break tonight with tears in their eyes after a big wave surfer was found floating in the water. >> it's impossible to keep track of everybody. it's hard to explain it. but the turbulence. >> reporter: big wave surfer grant washburn is reliving a painful accident at mavericks. professional surfer from hawaii was in the lineup this afternoon when something went wrong. the 35-year-old was found face down in the surf. >> i'm pretty sure that he wiped out on a big wave and got held down for a very long time. his board came away from him. so he had no leash. >> reporter: cal fire says crews responded to a drowning report around 6:51. he was rushed to the hospital. washburn says the waves may have been 40 feet. he says it was a day of close calls. >> i broke a leash and got pushed in a bit. i was a little tired. and i knew that the waves were substantial. and i probably should take a rest, and i did. >> reporter: friends say he was in th

nbc bay area's jean elle is live in san mateo with more on this tough life lesson. jean? >> reporter: garvin, here in san mateo there is a big effort under way to help nimjapan and over at odyssey school planning donations and fund-raisers because they have a very special relationship with a high school in devastated sendai. >> yesterday, i got an e-mail from -- teacher said two students who came to odyssey last year, last october, they couldn't get ahold of them. >> reporter: hiroshi and his friends with meant students at the high school in sendai. pictures of the devastation in sendai had them fearing the worst. sabrina bendari studied with them and hosted students in her home. >> i kept sending e-mails to all of the people that we knew and i was like, i hope that you're okay. >> reporter: this morning they finally got the news they'd been hoping for. all these smiling students are alive. it's a relief, but he and his colleagues in sendai know it's the beginning of a long, painful road to recovery. >> the teacher said, it's a miracle. and he's glad. now he's standing on

new at 11:00, our jean elle joins us near the site of the explosion with the touching story of a woman who grew up in that neighborhood and is helping to heal it. good evening, jean. >> reporter: good evening. that pipeline exploded behind me. you can see six months later, the neighborhood has a long way to go before it looks like home. one woman who grew up here says piecing this tragic story together is helping her heal. >> making the quilt is how i started my own healing process. >> reporter: ann mcdonald presented city council with a special quilt tonight. it honors the hero who saved lives and property and remembers those who were killed in the explosion. six months later, it's still hard for mcdonald to visit her childhood home. >> it's very difficult to go see that. i usually walk down to the corner every time i go home just to look at it again. >> reporter: sewing the story together gave her a chance to reflect on a disaster that changed so many lives. macdonald won't ever forget the kindness. >> and going to the rec center and trying to find clothes for our parents and all the

nbc's jean elle has the story for us. >> reporter: i did ask police investigators where he got a gun and if it was registered, but tonight they say they are not releasing that information yet. this incident started around 10:30 this morning at a cvs pharmacy where employees called police saying the 35-year-old was aking out in the store, displaying a handgun and threatening an employee. he then headed to his parents' house on foot. minutes later, his neighbor called police, reporting a man on oak street with a gun on the porch acting out. police say when they got to the house, they intended to set up a perimeter. and officers immediately tries to talk to him. but police say he pointed a .38 smith & wesson at them and fired. police chased him into the backyard and returned fire, killing him. neighbors and karins' mother said he had a history of mental illne illness. >> he's schizophrenic. everyone knows, the police know. they say i have to pay. pay what? i never pay. he got upset, came home. >> reporter: police did recover the gun but won't say how many shots karin fired. police also

. >> nbc bay area's jean elle joining us from san francisco. what does this reveal to us and more importantly to police? >> reporter: well, the san francisco public defender's office says that video shows san francisco police officers carrying out searches with no warrants and no consent. and that is illegal. >> these officers are involved in hundreds of arrests. and people are incarcerated based on what they say in their police report and what they testify to in courtrooms. and if we can't trust them -- >> reporter: the san francisco public defender's office got this surveil wasn't video from the henry hotel. a man facing 16 years in prison on drug charges told his attorney the cops entered his hotel room illegally. so he had it checked out. >> opened the room and just barged right in. four officers this time barging into the room without a warrant or consent. >> reporter: they say these are four plainclothesed officers quickly pulling a man out in handcuffs and then a woman appears. the report written by officer razic tells a very different s

nbc bay area's jean elle tracking this story. it seems like the only people benefiting here are the ones getting the free pass out of jail. >> reporter: well, raj, the sheriff's department says it go: word around 2:00 this afternoon that as many as 36 inmates would be released due to this police scandal. and those inmates are starting to trickle out this door here at the jail. we just talked with an inmate named anthony marshall. he was just released. he says an undercover unit set him up on a bogus robbery charge. he says he's relieved to be out jail.1: but police commissioners are concerned. they are concerned that angerous criminals are beingcc: released.cc1: >> i work narcotics as a prosecutor. so you have a group of cops generating lots of cases because that's their job. and if the d.a. takes the position that any case they touch, you're talking hundreds of cases i think that are going to be dismissed. so there's a real public safety impact. >> reporter: police commissioner jim hammer is aconcerned about accused criminals hi

let's bring in our jean elle. >> reporter: as you know, charlie sheen has reached a new level.a lot of laughs tonight. but addiction experts say his story is no loving matter. ♪ i tried to go to rehab but it was not my scene ♪ ♪ of course i'm getting high ♪ i'm getting high on charlie sheen ♪ >> he's now a cashing in san francisco's classic stage show "beach blanket babylon." his audience just keeps growing in the internet. sheen's twitter page hit 1 million just in the first few hours. >> people feel better about their own lives. >> reporter: sheen's nosedive may be a comfortable to some. his very public crisis is also shining a light on a dark secret. this affects millions of families. so it's so it's got people talking. >> reporter: a recovering addict herself, she says on tooting in because they can relate. >> all i know is there's a family that's afraid, that feels hopeless and those in recovery who see themselves in half a night, then hats off to you. there's this side of people wanting him to get better, and change their lives. with >> my hope would be he would spind so

wee begin with our jean elle and spectacular video. something we don't see a lot in the city, jean. >> reporter: we've had it all, wind, rain, a lightning light show. the weather story tonight is all about seeing the unexpected. lightning strikes over the stormy pacific ocean giving weather watchers something more to talk about after a day of wild conditions. santiago corona drove to ocean beach in san francisco to salinas to see it up close. this storm is just the latest in a string of unusual weather to hit the bay area. a tornado whipped through santa rosa this morning, blowing a 100 foot by 50 foot landscaping storage shed apart. first the roof, then the walls caved in. workers were able to get out safely. firefighters say when they arrived debris was spread out. the high winds tossed chunks of debris high up into the trees and onto neighboring homes. another strange sight was captured on individual yes at ocean beach in san francisco. a waterspout spinning out over the pacific. just a few hours later the national weather service is

reporting live in san francisco, jean elle, "nbc bay area news." >>> we're go back to tokyo, and also the nuclear concerns in our own backyard. we take you where cameras don't normally go. a look at this along the california coast. >> they escaped unharmed and go back to see what's left behind. we go along with a japanese family who witnessed the destruction of the tsunami and lived to tell about it. >>> good evening. i'm chief meteorologist jeff friendary. we're tracking the weather across japan. back here at womeom wee tckra rainfall from the north bay to the east bay. details on who is getting it in the worst in minutes. >>> if you've ever experienced a disaster first hand, the tearer is soon replaced by the horror of loss. as it has been for so many in japan. >> so many have lost everything, their homes and possessions and sadly for some, their lives. one family that made it out alive wanted to return to see what was left. we were there when they did. here's angus walker. >> reporter: this family are returning to their house for the first time since the tsunami. but there's no hom

. >> that was jean elle reporting. the federal government helping to drive this search. it's boosting requirements for blended fuels every year. >> san pablo is take objection to keep millions in redevelopment money. the city transferred ownership of more than a dozen properties from the redevelopment agency to the city. it's a bookkeeping move. governor brown is looking to eliminate redevelopment agencies to save money. city leaders pledged about $26.5 million on new projects including moving utilities underground on el portal drive. >> part after reservoir will be off limits to the public more than a year. the north side of the reservoir will be shut down for construction beginning monday. the dam will be raised by 34 feet to accommodate growing water needs. recreational facilities on the south side will remain open during the expansion. construction is expected to last until august of next year. so christina, they are working on the dam problems. >> yes, they are. i sure hope they can figure those out. this morning we're seeing more rain, but the problem with flooding