here is joe rosato jr. >> reporter: some of the most misunderstood creatures on earth.ow the fight to save sharks from extinction has become a cultural battle in california. >> such a high demand for a piece of a shark, it's a devastating effect. it's a global problem. >> reporter: the piece in question is the fin. california's legislature passed a statewide band on the harvesting in california, the bill is now waiting the signature of governor jerry brown. >> at one time thought royal to be able to eat a fin of a shark. but i think the world has changed. >> reporter: activists are not waiting patiently for change to occur. >> the population is getting decimated. they are going to go extinct in our lifetime if we don't do something now. >> the proposed shark fin ban has touched off alarm in the chinese community. some restaurant owners say shark fin soup is an important cultural dish. >> they are saying that in california over 70% of chinese are in support of this bill, but they actually talking to maybe 1 or 200 people. >> carl says his opposition to the bill isn't to

nbc bay area's joe rosato jr. an area in the tenderloin that is seeing more need than ever. >> reporter: when illness brought an end to eddie coleman's hair dressing career, he ended up in san francisco's tenderloin. >> my money got very low. and so i moved across the street right behind you there. that ragly hotel over there. >> reporter: a senior citizen among the down and out. coleman then learned he had cancer in his left kidney. but coleman found a savior in the medical staff of the tenderloin's curry senior center. now coleman is cancer-free. >> they did some things for me that if i paid other doctors and stuff millions of dollars. >> how about 30 to 40. >> reporter: the curry senior center has become a refuge for seniors in the city's roughest neighborhood. it's a place where they can get medical treatment, play bingo and eat a hot meal. >> a lot of our clients live in sros, they have no family, and they're by themselves. some of them are on the streets. >> reporter: volunteers serve breakfast and lunch eve

joe rosato jr. reporting. >> you see the damage on the -- up here.he patching. >> reporter: there is very little chance anyone would ever accuse luther strayer of being obsessed with perfection. >> reporter: the cal state east bay geology professor has a passion for broken things. >> there are some facades up here that are flexed, which are kind of neat. >> reporter: he has plenty to get excited about in downtown hayward where the hayward fault cuts a very public path. >> you can see buildings that are being offset, curves that are being offset. his tour of fault line hotspots include the city hall. >> a two-inch wide gap that is clear that this building is slowly crumbling. unless it is shored up, it will fall down. i am guessing this wasn't always a dry waiveway. i think this was a building that came down. >> reporter: he shows where the fault has left buckled curves an roof tops with unintended ankles. >> it runs right through that garden over to the left through the empty lot. >> reporter: he is especially fond of a curb at the intersection of pr

joe rosato, jr., nbc. >>> a helicopter snapped photos of a white shark in santa cruz wednesday. shark was probably about 15 had feet long. the crew spotted it swimming just below the water's surface north of the cement ship in rio del mar. in case you're wondering whether this is the same white shark just released by the monterey bay aaquarium, we asked and it' probably not. that shark was released off the coast of santa barbara. >>> time now for the weekend forecast with rob, and i'm enjoying this weather. i like it. it's nice and dry, finally. >> it's nice. we have the low-humidity days and the dry sunshine for the afternoon. right now still chilly with an offshore breeze. 52 right now and san jose still in the 40s. pretty clear start to your morning. 54 degrees and wind out of the north and the winds will pick up later on as we get into the afternoon. still cold this morning and pretty tough to get out of bed around the north bay. napa, fairfield, sonoma county and the inland areas including gill roadway in the 30s right now and mostly 40s around the inner bay and 50s around

joe rosato, jr. shows us how it was all one big roll of the dice. >> reporter: as rain fell on a santa rosa vineyard, a group of grape pickers squared off against mother nature. the harder it rained, the faster they picked, a desperate battle to save this year's wine product. like everyone else in ts hine of work, this winemaker of deloach vineyards hasn't gotten much sleep in the last few days. grape growers across the bay area were in a tight race against time today. >> everyone kind of waited until the last minute. now it's a mad rush to get it all inside. >> reporter: a cool summer forced growers to leave grapes on the vine as long as possible to develop. but they also had to watch for rain which can wash out flavors and create mold. >> i was in vineyards in sonoma yesterday and people were picking as fast as they could trying to get the grapes off as quickly as possible. >> reporter: vineyard manager eric pooler says the late cool summer has already reduce this had year's harvest by a third. the

joe rosato jr. shows us why some worry the cost could hit the city hard. >> reporter: the scenes of last night's clashes between protesters and police took an emotional toll on oakland. for some, that pain was physical. others believe that once the city shakes off its occupy hangover, there will be a financial toll to reckon with. >> i was completely shocked and disgusted that we are wasting all of this money on this huge police force. >> reporter: she says she campaigned for mayor jean quan during the race for mayor but her support came crashing down after she witnessed this yesterday. >> we can't afford that. we have constant cults for basic infrastructure services. >> reporter: so far they haven't tallied up the cost of police action and cleanup. some believe it is certain to impact the cash-strapped city. >> they said it is more important to get rid of 300 people than take care of our social problems we have such as libraries, schools being closed. they are still adding up all the overtime costs

here is nbc bay area's joe rosato jr. reporting along the fault line which runs from san jose through berkeley. >> you see the damage up here? the patching. >> reporter: there is very little chance anyone would accuse luther strayer of being obsessed with perfection. >> this building is probably as good as it can be. >> reporter: the cal state east bay geology professor has a passion for broken things. >> this is the evidence of the fault there is some facades up here that are flexed which are kind of neat. >> reporter: he has plenty to get excited about in downtown hayward, where the hayward fault cuts a very public path. >> as you move through hayward, you can see buildings that are being offset, curbs that are being offset. >> reporter: his tour of fault line hot spots includes the former hayward city hall. a jewel from the outside. inside the condemned building shows signs of the shifting fault line. >> two-inch-wide gaps. it's very clear that this building is slowly crumbling. unless it's shored up some hour, it will

joe rosato jr., nbc bay area news. >> now you know. nerdles. >>> still ahead at 6:00, putting the final piece in place, a milestone for crews today working on the bay bridge. >>> it's the same cemetery where he was shot and killed. now a member of the hells angels will be laid to rest here. coming up, what authorities are doing to stop more violence. >>> also ahead, it's time to dust off those skis and snowboards. are you kidding me? jeff ranieri, is this correct? ski season officially kicking off today. we'll have a look at the conditions. >> a little bit of grass going on there. we'll tale teleyou about the seven-day forecast that could have rainfall across the bay area. right now clear and above average temperatures from the east bay looking towards san francisco as most regions were in the 70s today. we'll have more on some cold temperatures tonight and when that rain returns, and also where you may face airport delays this weekend in just minutes. >>> you ever tried to lift one thousand tons? they did it today. a major milestone f

. >> joe rosato jr.ot a rare chance to visit the island and gives awes glimpse at life on the island and the problem that biologists are trying to correct. >> reporter: it's been said it's not truly a clear day in the bay area unless you can see the farrellon islands. but even on the clearest of days, it's sometimes necessary to travel to see what appears to be right in front of you. and so the fish and wildlife service ferried a group of journalists to the farrellons, a place so treacherous it takes a crane to haul in visitors. >> 27 miles from san francisco. think of how many tens of thousands of people drive 27 miles into san francisco every day. but its remote location didn't deter visitors. during the gold rush, they harvested thousands of sea bird eggs and killed thousands of fur sealers. >> they were hunted by russian fur sealers. and in the early part of the 19th century, in the 1800s, and they took every last one. >> but the early settlers also left something behind. mouse holes across the islan

nbc bay area's joe rosato jr.hows us why the second attack of vandalism in less than a week has some people pointing the finger at animal rights group. >> reporter: the serene waterfront at the tiburon water preserve was just a bit too calm and quiet today. net pens where thousands of tiny salmon swam just a week ago sat empty and brooke halsey was perplexed. >> we never thought in a thousand years somebody would come back and do this. >> reporter: last week, someone snuck into the institute and cut the nets, releasing 70,000 juvenile salmon into the bay. the fish were raised by high school kids, but after a week of head scratching, the vandals struck again. >> when we arrived to repair damage and pull the nets on saturday morning, we found that somebody had cut the nets again. and released the remainder of the fish. >> reporter: the long-running program is intended to teach students about the environment and to help restore dwindling chinook salmon populations. the fish were to be released at the end of october i