jim vargas explains the pressure is now being placed on the pimps. >> reporter: groups rallied in east oakland today and they believe they are making progress. this woman heads the human explication and trafficking unit. >> car last three jury trials received life sentences. >> reporter: at least a couple dozen girls as young as 13 are on the street selling sex. 50 girls have gone into recovery programs but getting them there is a tough job. >> they need to do more than be rescued from the streets, they need long-term services so that they can have a sustainable life. >> reporter: it is so lucrative for the pimps who can make as much as $60,000 a year that drug dealers are now changing careers. the fight is now far from over. it will be heard in the state legislature next week. jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >> officers conducting a sting operation in oakland say they took one month old twins into custody. the two infants were in the car. the baby was unharmed. the woman says that she has three other children. she now faces child endangerment charges. >> nurses at children's hospital

jim vargas has more. >> reporter: a lot this is about money. foreign and out of state students just pay much higher tuition here. we're at uc berkeley and the campus newspaper explains it all. this university is all dipping into reserve. while systemwide about 6% of the students are not berkeley, the figure is closer to .3. in a teleconference today, the director of add misses -- admissions says they need the money. >> the reality is, u.s. does not have a capacity problem as much as it does a funding problem. >> reporter: at one point, california paid 60% of the bills at uc. now it's half than that. one reason for letting more outof staters in, their you tuition helps pay for 11,000 residents that the state does not pay for. >> that would have students remain so far below the demand. >> reporter: there have been layoffs at all levels. rich barrett says he spends a lot of his time applying for grants. >> when i came in in 1975, i had the typically -- i had support for typically three graduate students. >> reporter: today he spends two days a mon

our jim vargas looks at it closer. >> referree: the demand for gas has taken a fall. some people in the bay area are thinking of ways to save by not driving. >> trying to only drive during the week and use the bike on the weekend. >> referree: but most can't do much about their driving needs. >> my husband drives for work. >> referree: vehicle traffic has fallen by one-half percent on the bridges. a better job market may be contributing to public transit ridership. >> gas prices are a factor but the biggest thing is do you have a job to get to? >> referree: triple-a says many people have psychological tipping points. >> sometimes it is $3.50 and sometimes it is $4 a gallon. >> referree: increased employment has something to do with increases in ridership of the fors and buses which are about to say fare increases. but traffic on the golden gate bridge has been increasing of late too. triple-a says expect to see higher gas prices for the summer. but we may see more summer reach that tipping point. in berkeley, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> san francisco fire inv

jim vargas is on the scene. >> reporter: take a look, i'm standing on grizzly peak boulevard just where the car left the road. many of you may have seen this video on our noon news today. the 53-year-old man and his car were at least 150 feet down a steep cliff. possibly for three days. his good luck came when an east bay regional park ranger who was just driving by on grizzly peak boulevard caught something out of the corner of his eyes. he investigated and quite honestly saved the man's life even though the car could barely be seen by the road above. firefighters worked hard to get the victim to the road. >> there were a lot of brush down there. some of our fire fighters had to go down there and cut the brush. then we sent the lines down. >> reporter: we're told the victim was in and out of the consciousness but it looks like he will live to tell the story. >> i think you're unlick unlucky to drive your car off the roadway. but considering everything he's been through, he's pretty lucky. >> reporter: the 1999 honda civic suffered front end damage but there was obviously no roll over,

as jim vargas reports, the rules for using rat poison are about to change because rats aren't the only animals dying. >> reporter: the active ingredients in products like these cause internal bleeding when a mouse or rat eats them. but more and more the rat's prey is dying. birds such as owls and hawks are being affected as well as household animals like cats and dogs. uc berkeley wildlife management professor says victims are being found not just in urban areas but in places like yosemite too. >> this was just very surprising to me that here we are studying animals out in wilderness area and they are dying of rat poison. that's not good. >> reporter: jenny papka who is founder of dog connection says she protecting her animals in a very natural way. >> we invite people to let these animals into their backyard. >> reporter: the federal government is banning the most toxic poisons from hardware stores. although farmers will still have access to the stronger doses. in oakland, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> in news of the world tonight in the libyan city of mozorata, rebels are swar

ktvu's jim vargas reports there are thousands of vets urgently needing that help. >> as word spread tothe veteran's homeless programs. vets in san francisco's precidio were shocked. 20,000 people live in california, everyone we spoke with today says without a program like this they would be out on the streets or worse. >> without the benefits being here for me, you know i don't know where i would be. i would be in prison or dead. >> reporter: besides housing, they provide counseling, medical services and health services for vets many suffering from ptsb. >> it's a whole new thing now and they need to know how to handled that. >> we send their daughters and sons, when they come home they are forgotten. >> reporter: children from working families are in line to lose services too because of state budget cuts. at community action marin officials were rushing to finish a grant application. >> they're going to go back to having to be with a neighbor, being with a friend or sitting in the car while the parent is working. >> reporter: a shorts a plow share official says the obama administratio

jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the prison law office sued the correction's department. they claim they use race for the basis of locking inmates in their cells after fights. a correction's spokesperson say prissens don't base lock down cellula on race. >> theharder for consumers to dispute contracts. they want to sue at&t after being charged $30 in sales tax for a phone the company said was free. at&t said federal law permits only arbitration. today the court says national law trumps state law. >>> we are getting closer as space shuttle endeavor final mission approaches, who arrived in florida today? >>> another famous name to help the two uc berkeley grads held in iran. >>> two days before the space shuttle endeavor is set to lift off a wildfire is burning. it is burning in a nature preserve. fire crews are close to containing the flames. it should not delay space shuttle endeavor's launch. >>> congresswoman gabrielle giffords arrived in florida today to watch her husband lift off. she flew in from houston where she is recovering from the shooting. we believe that she

on treasure island, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> your weekend is starting.we go outside to live storm tracker 2. you see those clouds that linger to the north of us. they're going to be out there all weekend. and they're going to make their way south in the next 48 hour. sunday night i think we're going do see showers around here. cloudy day tomorrow, what you had today is what you're going to have tomorrow. sunday a little more sunshine. highs tomorrow a degree or two warmer in some places. we could see a 75 out there. santa rosa will come up a few degree but a really nice saturday and really nice sunday. the weekend looks good. this high pressure hasn't really firmly established itself yet. so the ridge of high pressure or the -- i'm sorry the jet stream is sinking a little further south than you might expect for late in april like this. as it breaks out. this high begins to go away and this moves in. not a big deal but it will bring clouds, more clouds sunday night afternoon in the north bay and scattered showers. i think a good bet that most of us will s

on treasure island, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> your weekend is starting.we go outside to live storm tracker 2. you see those clouds that linger to the north of us. they're going to be out there all weekend. and they're going to make their way south in the next 48 hour. sunday night i think we're going do see showers around here. cloudy day tomorrow, what you had today is what you're going to have tomorrow. sunday a little more sunshine. highs tomorrow a degree or two warmer in some places. we could see a 75 out there. santa rosa will come up a few degree but a really nice saturday and really nice sunday. the weekend looks good. this high pressure hasn't really firmly established itself yet. so the ridge of high pressure or the -- i'm sorry the jet stream is sinking a little further south than you might expect for late in april like this. as it breaks out. this high begins to go away and this moves in. not a big deal but it will bring clouds, more clouds sunday night afternoon in the north bay and scattered showers. i think a good bet that most of us will s

jim vargas is in the city where he talked to some vets about what they are going through. >> reporter: they say that roughly 20,000 or a quarter of the nation's homeless vets live here in california, many with ptsd. as word spread of the cuts to the homeless program vets at the swords to plow shares apartments were shocked. each say without a program like this they would be out on the streets or worse. >> without the benefits being here for me you know i don't know where i would be. i would be in prison or dead. >> they pick us up off the streets, ptsd and they give us a home,. >> reporter: besides housing they provide counseling, medical services and job training for vet, many trying to overcome ptsd. troops are adding to demand. >> ptsd but it's a whole new thing now. they need to know how to handle that. >> resend daughters and son over and tough and they come home and we forget about them. >> reporter: children from working families in line to loose services too. officials were rushing to finish a grant application for federal money. the application is due tomorrow. liz said 160 c

jim vargas is in oakland to tell us it's showing up in rather unexpected places. >> reporter: these rat poisons are pretty effective all right. the problem is that they are killing the animals, some animals which feed on the rodents. the active ingredients in products like this cause internal bleeding when a rat or mouse eat itself. more and more the predators getting sick and dies when they eat the prey. >> it's a great poison if you want to get rid of something. for wildlife we don't want it in there. >> reporter: birds are being affected as well as pets like dogs and cats and larger animals. a study shows that the poison takes days to kill the rodent but slow itself just enough to make it easy for predators. victims being found not just in urban areas but in national parks even. >> here we are studying animals in the wilderness and they are dying of rat poison. >> reporter: jennie founder of native bird connections protects her creatures. >> we urge people to invite these animals into their yards, barn owls for instance. >> reporter: beginning in june the government is banning the mo

jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> ray lahood called for congress -- called on congress to get tougher on pipeline companies. he wants to for penalties, more inspectors and safety loopholes closed. secretary lahood also wants pipeline owners to identify high-risk pipelines and speed up repairs or replacements. >>> san bruno residents will get a chance to voice their opinions on what needs to be done to improve safety tomorrow night. they have scheduled a public meeting at the senior center beginning at 5:00 p.m. they are already considering several safety measures including automatic shutoff valves, and improving record- keeping. >>> in san francisco police have arrested two men on charges they went on a $40,000 shopping spree with stolen credit cards. as for seeing on ktvu channel 2 news at noon, here are some items recovered. they made the arrest saturday after clerks became suspicious of the men and notified security. >>> workers at the fukushima plants began pumping radioactive water into the ocean. water with higher levels of radioactivity is building up. the japanese government s

in oakland, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> barry zito showed up for the team season opener wearing a neck brace following a car crash last night. he is experiencing soreness in his neck and upper body. his car was broadsided and he was not at fault. the crash is still investigated and it is not known if the other driver will be cited. he is set to pitch sunday against the dodgers. >>> new numbers out today show the mass layoffs of the recession may be behind us. the labor department says fewer people applied for unemployment benefits last week. the number of claims fell by 6,000 to 388,000. california had the second highest with the nation with a decrease of 2100. that news along with rising oil prices weighed on wall street. the markets finished mixed. the nasdaq gained 4. despite that the do you gains 6-44 since march. >>> the megamansion has been purchased by a russian billionaire. 18 acres, overlooking the bay. the buyer, a 49-year-old, has no plans to move into the house. he is the founder of an investment firm and put his money into facebook, groupon and zinga. >>> the pensio

ktvu's jim vargas is live with more. >> reporter: almost a sure thing in the next couple of hours here young girls will be selling sex. now there is better coordination between people who want to get rid of child prostitution, seems to be getting results. >> reporter: groups fighting rallied today. they believe they are making progress. the ds is getting convictions for kidnap and rape against pimps. >> our last three jury trials conducted by our heat unit received life sentences. >> reporter: an any night at least a couple dozen girls are on the streets selling sex. since the beginning of the year 15 girls went into recovery programs. getting them there is a tough job. >> they need to do more than be rescued. they need long-term services. >> reporter: it is so lucrative for the pimps who make $600,000 a year, that drug dealers are now changing careers. >> you can only sell dopes once but you can sell kids over and over again. >> a bill to make it easier to get heavier sentences will be heard next week. >>> the government filed suite against a labor contracting company charging it trap

jim vargas is live in berkeley to tell us that is another question entirely. jim? >> reporter: ken, if there are another faculty and classes here this fall for students being here at uc berke it will be because of this -- read the headline of the "daily californian." the university is dipping into reserves, big time. systemwide, the university of california is facing a $5 million shortfall with state money and it shows. students we spoke with today at uc berkeley say somemethe classes they want and need are not being offered. many times they find classes are at the overflow point. >> i needed a chemicals. i didn't get it at first -- i needed a chem class. i didn't get it at first. i was wait-listed. >> this is the time of year parents visit the campus. >> reporter: respectish students we spoke to are not -- respective students we spoke to are not worried. >> it's a great school with a great education. >> it's a great school and i feel like there is a lot of diversity and different classes and a lot of interesting people here. >> on the other hand, some parents have

jim vargas. ktvu news. >>> fish and game officials hope to give northern california fishing business an economic boost. salmon fishing season is opening on july 16th. that's a month earlier than expected on the sacramento valley. they have also lifted all restrictions on salmon fishing. >>> a second man has died while diving for abloney in the past 48 hours. the sheriff's department says jeffrey pasendini was found face down in the water by his diving partner this morning. on thursday morning, 42-year- old jason chung of south san francisco was found in the water 7 miles north of jenner. >>> cvs agreed to pay california this morning for over billing medi-cal. pharmacies are supposed to charge a patients private insurer first and only charge state payment programs for overages. >>> and the city council had a contentious debate one that lasted eight hours. opponents say target will hurt small businesses. >>> the supervisors could decide a fate of a redevelopment plan. the $1.5 million project was a

ktvu's jim vargas talked to the young woman behind the project. >> reporter: youth radio reporter tejada became familiar with young ladies in prostitution. >> some people are standing in the corner selling fruit. while others are standing in the corner selling a girl. the girls felt comfortable telling us our story and we felt there's something here, let's investigate. the ones that have things in common are that they were kidnapped. that they have a pimp and are constantly getting abused by them. >> reporter: youth radio introduces teens all over the country to journalism. president helen oleary says this one is more important. >> young ladies getting up and telling the story themselves is what was missing. >> reporter: it's hard to tell what the impact the radio investigation has had on teenage prostitution, now it's up to the local authorities and the people. >>> and welcome back, record warmth two days in a row but not a third dais. tomorrow is going to be slightly cooler. these temperatures impressive though. the high for today just truly five to 6 degrees off of today. those will b

ktvu's jim vargas talked to the young woman behind the project. >> reporter: youth radio reporter tejada became familiar with young ladies in prostitution. >> some people are standing in the corner selling fruit. while others are standing in the corner selling a girl. the girls felt comfortable telling us our story and we felt there's something here, let's investigate. the ones that have things in common are that they were kidnapped. that they have a pimp and are constantly getting abused by them. >> reporter: youth radio introduces teens all over the country to journalism. president helen oleary says this one is more important. >> young ladies getting up and telling the story themselves is what was missing. >> reporter: it's hard to tell what the impact the radio investigation has had on teenage prostitution, now it's up to the local authorities and the people. >>> and welcome back, record warmth two days in a row but not a third dais. tomorrow is going to be slightly cooler. these temperatures impressive though. the high for today just truly five to 6 degrees off of today. those will b

reporting live in oakland, jim vargas. >>> and the nixon library has undergone a lot of changes but its not structural. critics ridiculed the nixon library. now librarians say the new archive is factual. >>> just moments ago, we learned that all lanesover highway 101 have reopened after a phone line fell across the freeway forms a monster traffic jam. julie haener is in the newsroom with a look at other stories we're working on. >> the hip replacement surge ru was supposed to make this -- surgery was supposed to make this san pablo woman better. >>> and cora mongreen loses her battle with cancer. the first ever honor she is about to receive. >>> a line ruptured underbeneath pittsburg has now been fixed. no one in that area lost water service as part of that rupture. >>> it's been six weeks since that fish die off. and now we have more information on just how much fish died. at least 2.5 million sardines ended up dying. you can see there were so many fish there almost looks like a blanket on the water. while scientists know how many died they still don't know what drove 175-tons of sard

jim vargas, ktvu news. >>> bart directors have approved the third stage of this extension. the bay area transportation department is going to pay for the extension. it's set to go online in seven years. >>> california will share in a multi million dollars settlement for medicare over payments. the drug giant will pay $17.5 million to ten states for allegedly overcharging medicaid in cases where patients had other insurance. the justice department credits the cvs pharmacist for alerting authorities and blowing the whistle on the cvs. >>> coming up later, the target republicans have put on medicaid and other programs as the negligent budget battle begins. >>> a spokesperson for lance armstrong today confirmed the report that the tour de france champion met last year with the doctor banned in italy on doping charges. the spokesperson says the two are friends and that armstrong has had no professional relationship with dr. michelle ferrari since 2004. he accused the italian law enforcement source of the report of spreading false rumors to justify his investigation into ferrari.

in redwood city jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> another diver died today while hunting for be alone off the sonoma -- abalone off the sonoma county coast at fisk mill cove just north of ft. ross state park. his diving partner found him floating in the water. he was lifted by helicopter to the top of the cliff. medical crews tried cpr but were unable to revive him. >>> we took this video yesterday when a diver died after having a heart attack in the southern part of the park identified as 42-year-old jason chung of south san francisco. >>> fire crews in watsonville finally have that stubborn fire inside a huge wear house under control. two hours ago firefighters told ktvu channel 2 news that by alternating foam and water today they were able to get the fire pretty much out. we took these picks yesterday when crews were dousing the -- pictures yesterday when crews were dousing the warehouse with water. 15 firefighters remain at the warehouse tonight. there was no word on what caused the fire. the fire houses millions of dollars of apples, berries, juices and cider. the owner tells us

jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> quick thinking averted tragedy for five early this morning. about 2:00 a.m. a fire broke out at the harbor village mobile home park. the mother woke up and saw flames which blocked her from reaching the children. she screamed waking up her 17- year-old son who then helped the other children escape. a neighbor talked with us about the frantic escape. >> woke up a little after 2:00 this morning, looked out the window and flames were shooting out the side of the house over here. got the girlfriend and the baby up, ran outside and the whole family had come out the back windows. they were screaming call 911. >> tonight the mother and her four children are staying with relatives. the other child is a friend of the family. firefighters say that it appears the fire started behind a drier in the home and was accidental. >>> caltrans has reopened a stretch of highway 101 that had been closed since last wednesday because of a mudslide. crews have cleared tons of rock and mud that blocked the roadway about 5 miles north of gahr betterville. the road was o

in redwood city jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> another diver died today while hunting for be alone off the sonoma -- abalone off the sonoma county coast at fisk mill cove just north of ft. ross state park. his diving partner found him floating in the water. he was lifted by helicopter to the top of the cliff. medical crews tried cpr but were unable to revive him. >>> we took this video yesterday when a diver died after having a heart attack in the southern part of the park identified as 42-year-old jason chung of south san francisco. >>> fire crews in watsonville finally have that stubborn fire inside a huge wear house under control. two hours ago firefighters told ktvu channel 2 news that by alternating foam and water today they were able to get the fire pretty much out. we took these picks yesterday when crews were dousing the -- pictures yesterday when crews were dousing the warehouse with water. 15 firefighters remain at the warehouse tonight. there was no word on what caused the fire. the fire houses millions of dollars of apples, berries, juices and cider. the owner tells us

tim vargas talked today with hunters for bargains who have ditched their cars altogether. jim? >> reporter: the evening grind has started here on the east shore freeway. we have been talking to people in two counties. all are unhappy about the higher gas prices but few things they can do much in the area of saving money. nationally as the price of gasoline has risen demand has taken a fall by about 3% according to 1 survey. some people are thinking of ways to save money by not driving. >> trying to drive only during the week, not drive during the weekend or something like that. >> but most say they can't do much about driving for their needs. >> i have a husband who drives to work and it is making a huge impact. >> reporter: traffic has fallen by 1% on the bay bring but they don't know if gas prices are contributing. b.a.r.t. says ridership is creeping up. >> gas prices are a factor but the biggest thing is do you have a job to get to, do i need to take b.a.r.t. to get there. >> reporter: aaa has many people have psychological tipping points to get them out of their cars. >> so