john fowler with details on that program. he spoke to mental health experts about the controversial role of video games. >> reporter: new information tonight. acquaintances say the newtown killer was interested in and did play first person shooter video games. even before that came out marin county district attorney today joined the controversy. at the marin county civic center today, a national first. >> we don't need to have that type of carnage exposed to our young people. >> reporter: district attorney today set up a program, a twist on the county's first ever gun buy back next month. in addition to purchasing excess guns on the street last week. marin police agents say they'll buy back violent video games. >> they will be destroyed. they're not going to be recirculated by any means. >> reporter: one gamer group called for a national cease fire today on online shooter games. and after trying unsuccessfully to regulate violent games state senator sneered at the nra. quote, i find it mind boggling that the nra sundayly care

ktvu's health and science editor john fowler joins us to explain what is aspergers syndrome. john? >> reporter: in the last 24 hours, friends say the shooter was awkward, anxious, a loaner, systems of aspergers syndrome. >> reporter: adam lanza diagnosed with aspergers syndrome but aspergers syndrome does not explain the violence. two years ago i introduced you to a boy diagnosed with aspergers syndrome. he is bright but socially challenged. >> panicked a lot, cried a lot. and when he started trying to hurt himself i knew it was time to look for answers. >> reporter: aspergers syndrome children lack the ability to make friends. >> they may become targets of bullying. >> reporter: he says bullying and frustration may explain adam lanza's violent outburst. >> we treat people so badly they be little recourse but to be enraged. some people with aspergers syndrome committed violent acts. i don't think it is as common as it is in the general public. >> reporter: he treated dozens of autistic children, helping them integrate into schools. who could say what might have happened if adam lan

ktvu's health and science editor john fowler live now with the beginnings of a levy repair. john? >> reporter: state crews have moved us back from the levy here anticipating that trucks will arrive here momentarily to begin sand bagging. this video now. you can see the creek is much comer than last -- calmer than last might. they worked fast to get this temporary fix underway. >> reporter: not fast enough for residents who lived through repeated flooding here. >> i am worried because it is supposed to rain tomorrow. >> reporter: homeowners cleared mud and debris from the flood. >> like a big lake. lot of trees going down. garbage. >> reporter: the creek topped the levy. 7 homes damaged. several hundred people evacuated. >> having a levy failure here would be catastrophic. >> reporter: as you see that failure began last night. our cameras caught water bubbling through. today officials took an emergency survey. last night's creek flow was the third highest since the levy was built 82 years ago. >> not certified. not in good shape. they will start next year to rebuild the whole syste

john fowler is live where he talked to riders and had some surprises about the railway. >> reporter: we've been watching munni ridership and the cars are not very full. people didn't take too much advantage of the free rides although we did find so far gleeful tourists. >> i've just ridden it once today, it was free but it was great. we went the wrong direction but i guess that doesn't matter today. >> reporter: munni has the credit of reshaping san francisco. nothing more important than the twin peaks tunnel. from market street, to the left portal neighborhood. we dug into the archives a century ago, southwest san francisco was virtually sand dunes and development needed transportation. 3-1/4 miles, three years to build. opening in 1918 mayor sunny jim roth drove the first car. wealth also ended this oddity on one remote ocean beach a village called carville. with 35,000 people lived on discarded munni cars. >> people like jack london. >> we found one cable car house remaining today on 46th avenue. the interior munni car chic. he's to you. >> hello munni. munni will offer free rides

but we begin with john fowler he's like in palo alto and brings us why people are keeping an eye on a levee. >> reporter: because it's raining. you may see some spots on your lens. let me show you san franciscito bridge. it is much higher than when you last saw it. there's 3,700 sandbags here. state crews brought in 3,500 of these sandbag, built some so called chimneys to protect the levee from erosion from beneath. the idea here is that this is a temporary fix for a 82-year-old problem here. and just a little while ago the officials for the joint powers authority told me that the rain tonight should not be enough to push the creek to the near record flows of two nights and and across the bay we found people enjoying tonight's rain. >> it is, it is. it's going to hopefully bring a lot of freshness, right to the valley. clean out the dirty and bring the new for the new year, right? >> with holiday lights there was barely a problem on the roads today. marin county gets 3/4 of its drinking walter from rainfall so for many this is worth the bother. >> it's wonderful to have the rain. defi

as john fowler reports, residents say the repairs are long overdue. >> state sandbag crews arrived about 6:30 tonight in east palo alto. they planned to work on the san francisco creek levy during the night. the creek much calmer now than we show youd last night. engineers worked fast to get this fix going on christmas eve. not fast enough for residents who have lived through repeated flooding here. >> i'm a little worried because it's supposed to, i think, rain again tomorrow. >> homeowners spent today clearing sxhud debris from last night's if you had. >> it frees here to there, it was like a big lake, a lot of trees going down, a lot of garbage. >> along several blocks, the creek topped the levy. seven homes damaged, several hun people evacfwratd this low-lying neighborhood. >> the levy tops were equal about the gutter line or the rooftops from the homes so having a levy failure here would be catastrophic. >> as you see here that failure began late last night. our cameras caught water you believing through the earth. today local and state officials took an emergency survey. they said

ktvu's john fowler was there as the cathedral was filled for those coming to grips with the tragedy. [ singing ] >> reporter: oakland cathric cathedral, 200 attend -- catholic cathedral, 200 attended the sandy hook elementary school mass. >> took time out of my day oremember the fam -- to remember the families. >> reporter: we all bear a burden when children die in violence. >> pray for the victims and pray for ourselves that we may learn from these events. >> reporter: there was no reasoning why these children, why their teachers, after mass he sent a wreath. >> so hard to believe that these little angels are no longer on this earth. it is heart wrenching. >> reporter: names of the victims spoken towards heaven. >> katherine hubbard. >> a lot of people cared even though it didn't happen near here. it was touching to know that everyone cared. >> reporter: connected by grief, united to find some way to end the violence. john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. >> classes resume today at san jose city college after the campus was shut down because of an alert about a possible armed intruder.

johnhealth and science editor john fowler ktvu channel 2 news. >>> we know the name of a man who washit and killed while walking his dog yesterday. he is thomas willy. he was walking his dog yesterday morning when he was struck by a vehicle that kept going. he died later at the hospital, his dog was also killed. no arrests have been made. >>> we are on storm watch right now and through the weekend. right now you can see the coverage out there. rain heavy at times. that has been the case. rain showers, scattered in the east bay, parts of the north bay, especially with the darker shades of greens and the yellow. south of fairfield, a third of an inch an hour. we will show you this around daily city in san francisco, approaching ocean beach as well. you will notice light to moderate cells towards the sunset district, and north bay, mill valley, still scattered showers, down pours as well. into the weekend, this is just the beginning. two storms we are tracking. first one tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., strongest rain. sunday, this will pack a punch with rainfall and winds. tw

health and science editor john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> today the city of berkeley announced a reaward to help filed -- reward who help find a person who killed a woman. she was found shot to death. the city and crime stoppers are offering $17,000 for information leading to the rest and conviction of the killer. >>> the inheritance show down has ended with a deal. thomas kinkade's widow and girlfriend have been in a legal battle. at stake is his estate. the two women have reached a settlement. the terms were not made public. >>> the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week, reversing four weeks of declines. the numbers seeking aid rose by 17,000 but the average is down given the activity of the last four weeks. the job market continues to grow. applications surged after hurricane sandy but they have fallen again. >>> with the nation on the edge of the fiscal cliff, the u.s. house has put off a vote on plan b. speaker of the house john boehner's build would have extended tax cuts for everyone except those making more than a million dollars a year b

johnhealth and science editor john fowler ktvu channel 2 news. >>> we know the name of a man who wast and killed while walking his dog yesterday. he is thomas willy. he was walking his dog yesterday morning when he was struck by a vehicle that kept going. he died later at the hospital, his dog was also killed. no arrests have been made. >>> we are on storm watch right now and through the weekend. right now you can see the coverage out there. rain heavy at times. that has been the case. rain showers, scattered in the east bay, parts of the north bay, especially with the darker shades of greens and the yellow. south of fairfield, a third of an inch an hour. we will show you this around daily city in san francisco, approaching ocean beach as well. you will notice light to moderate cells towards the sunset district, and north bay, mill valley, still scattered showers, down pours as well. into the weekend, this is just the beginning. two storms we are tracking. first one tomorrow morning, 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., strongest rain. sunday, this will pack a punch with rainfall and winds. two

ktvuu's health and synced core john fowler here now. >> reporter: what difference with a book make? two bay area grade serials created this one. that may help hundreds cope with their loss. this afternoon 11-year-old tatiana oliver and her 9-year- old sister signed copies of their book, it's okay to cry. a remarkable child's take on grief. >> dealing with your feelings and how to deal with when someone you knew or loved has died and passed away. >> reporter: tatiana wrote it after her father died of a heart attack in front of her. she and her sister plan to send books to sandy hook school children. >> it would make them feel better. >> reporter: kyra rate created the art work. >> therapy is okay to go to. it's not like a bad thing. >> reporter: their mother says grief shared is grief eased for her children and those in connecticut. >> we have to make meaning out of our tragedies. it's not about asking why things happen but about what and what we can do about it. >> reporter: i asked tatiana to read from her book. >> even though we can't touch our special someone anymore, we can feel

reporting live in palo alto, john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> in the main system is going through right now we've had light steady rain all day. accumulations have been light until now. now we're starting to see the system moving in. you can see the yellows firing up. we have a couple live frames right there. yellows and reds. it's hitting pretty hard right now. this is the strongest dynamics in this storm. so out toward hayward, out toward san mateo you have significant rain. castro valley is raining hard, it's raining hard over by historia road. as we head south a little bit. out toward fremont and mission creek we're seeing heavy rain. it's going to be a brief bout of heavy rain but it's coming down hard in these areas, san jose downtown right here. if you're out and about or your going out to dinner you have heavy rain in evergreen, by ellen rock and willie glen. we'll switch out here to where fowler was in palo alto, mountain view and the drizzle is on. we've seen .1 to .3 of an inch to a half inch. but they could get some accumulation from an inch to 2- inches, it's really c

reporting live, health and science editor john fowler ktvu channel 2 news. >>> crews clearing mud and debris from a sliding hillside in oakland. the pile of mud started coming down this morning and left debris in the street. one lane was closed while crews worked in the area. >>> significant rain yesterday. you saw it coming down hard for a time. these are some of the totals sunday. the rain dumping. almost 3 inches of rain. bolder creek, half foot of rain, 5 inches of rain. redwood city. looks like we will see more showers tomorrow. what i am tracking is this next weather system. nice looking system but nothing like what we saw. it will get in here tomorrow and bring rain. when i get back, i will break down the timing and we will go through it hour by hour so you can plan out your day. but the showers will be there. see you back here in a bit. >>> and we want to report breaking news to you. these are live pictures from news chopper 2. a number of emergency vehicles on the road, this is highway 84. near 680. and we understand right now we are hearing there are possible injuries in an

health and science editor john fowler ktvu news. >>> rescue crews spent the evening rescuing a horse.cracky the horse climbed up to the loft looking for more hay. he was stuck up there for three days. the horse is in good shape. >> officials at u.s. airways are looking into what caused one of it aircrafts to catch fire. it happened during maintenance check. the fire started in a small motor under the plane's trail. no one was aboard at the time. the plane was scheduled to fly to vancouver. passengers were put on another airplane craft two hours later. >>> there's word that mcafee is spending christmas in england. the pioneer wrote that he's safe in the country where he grew up. mcafee was born in england. the sun reports mcafee is hoping for a fresh start. mcafee has been in hiding from authorities in belize where he had been living. he is wanted for questioning in the death -- for the suspicious death of a neighbor. >>> ktvu's robert handa followed the mail carriers on their rout today. >> reporter: it's not exactly santa's sleigh but some san jose postal carriers including nancy ray

john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the rain is still to the north but it's starting to break south little bit. take a look at live storm tracker 2. i've put the last two hours in motion. it's been up here most of the day. but see where it starts to bend right here. it's starting to shift south and that means we're going to see some showers move into the bay area proper in the next hour or so. next hour and a half this starts to move into the marine county. you can see the system moving into the south bay. this is the rain that's coming your way. it's a nice looking storm. it's not a giant storm but a nice looking storm. there's a winter storm warning that goes into effect. it stays in effect friday through sunday. it's not just in effect tonight, tomorrow. it's through sunday. so big snow in the mountains they could see easily five to 6 feet up there. if you have travel plans, or you're going south, check your road conditions, if the snow levels are low we're going to have travel concerns as we get into the period here as we go into the weekend. here's the system, the main system.

john fowler, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> starbucks is urging its employees in the washington area to send a message to congress. baristas will be writing come together on coffee cups for the rest of the workweek. ceo howard schultz says he wants to send a respectful, but potent message. >>> new figures show u.s. home prices are higher than a year ago. today's kay shiller price report shows prices in the 20 largest markets were up more than 4% in october. prices in the bay area are up own moore, jumping 8.9%. phoenix topped the list, with prices up 22%. experts say higher prices are an indicater of continued economic recovery. >>> samsung is looking for a big increase in sales next year. close to 400 million phones are expected to be smart phones. >>> after 35 years, the restaurant is closing its doors for good. the fans are saying goodbye to the owner. >> i'm just crushed. >> tony cruz says he was hoping a miracle would save his restaurant, but that miracle never materialized. the landlord plans to demolish the restaurant for a new building. he says he will miss his customers. >> wonderfu

john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the rain is still to the north but it's starting to break south look at live storm tracker 2. i've put the last two hours in motion. it's been up here most of the day. but see where it starts to bend right here. it's starting to shift south and that means we're going to see some showers move into the bay area proper in the next hour or so. next hour and a half this starts to move into the marine county. you can see the system moving into the south bay. this is the rain that's coming your way. it's a nice looking storm. it's not a giant storm but a nice looking storm. there's a winter storm warning that goes into effect. it stays in effect friday through sunday. it's not just in effect tonight, tomorrow. it's through sunday. so big snow in the mountains they could see easily five to 6 feet up there. if you have travel plans, or you're going south, check your road conditions, if the snow levels are low we're going to have travel concerns as we get into the period here as we go into the weekend. here's the system, the main system. the parent low it's

health and science editor john fowler ktvu news. >>> rescue crews spent the evening rescuing a horse. horse climbed up to the loft looking for more hay. he was stuck up there for three days. the horse is in good shape. >> officials at u.s. airways are looking into what caused one of it aircrafts to catch fire. it happened during maintenance check. the fire started in a small motor under the plane's trail. no one was aboard at the time. the plane was scheduled to fly to vancouver. passengers were put on another airplane craft two hours later. >>> there's word that mcafee is spending christmas in england. the pioneer wrote that he's safe in the country where he grew up. mcafee was born in england. the sun reports mcafee is hoping for a fresh start. mcafee has been in hiding from authorities in belize where he had been living. he is wanted for questioning in the death -- for the suspicious death of a neighbor. >>> ktvu's robert handa followed the mail carriers on their rout today. >> reporter: it's not exactly santa's sleigh but some san jose postal carriers including nancy ray hit the r

john fowler, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> starbucks is urging its employees in the washington area to send a message to congress. baristas will be writing come together on coffee cups for the rest of the workweek. ceo howard schultz says he wants to send a respectful, but potent message. >>> new figures show u.s. home prices are higher than a year ago. today's kay shiller price report shows prices in the 20 largest markets were up more than 4% in october. prices in the bay area are up own moore, jumping 8.9%. phoenix topped the list, with prices up 22%. experts say higher prices are an indicater of continued economic recovery. >>> samsung is looking for a big increase in sales next year. close to 400 million phones are expected to be smart phones. >>> after 35 years, the restaurant is closing its doors for good. the fans are saying goodbye to the owner. >> i'm just crushed. >> tony cruz says he was hoping a miracle would save his restaurant, but that miracle never materialized. the landlord plans to demolish the restaurant for a new building. he says he will miss his customers. >> wonderfu

john fowler investigated some of the latest moves and joins us live with what could happen a week fromtoday. john? >> reporter: do mog, we get deep spending cuts and across- the-board tax hikes. con shull staffers told me -- congressional staffers told me today, expect a bumpy ride of the halls of power empty, although negotiateders and the president are back at work. >> at the very least let's agree right now on what we already agree on. >> reporter: an olive branch to the gop and carrot to corporate giants, including the bay area's google and apple. the administration now suggesting cutting corporate tax rates. the u.s. has among the world's highest. but closing loop holes that helped google, for instance, avoid $2 billion in taxes last year. >> corporations are concerned because they're not sure the extent to which exemptions would be eliminated. >> reporter: wells capital management senior economist gary slosberg is optimistic about a deal. >> i see it at least 50-50. >> reporter: what seems likely is to allow the country to go over that fiscal cliff triggering higher taxes. that w

again, health and science editor john fowler. >> reporter: this nursing student told us it startedded as a painful red patch on her ribs. >> when i got shingles i was on bed rest for two weeks. >> reporter: she blames first job stress. >> i was very unaware that i was stress. to me i thought i was busy, so it was a big surprise. >> reporter: 25-year-old giant's catch, buster posey got shingles and former cardinal's messenger tony la russo got shingles so bad. it's a outbreak of dormant chickenpox virus erupting along nerves. >> the pain can go on for weeks and on occasion can be permanent. >> reporter: studies show 95% of us have the chickenpox virus and the immunization. around kids with chickenpox adults get a immune boost and rare will get shingles. >> doctors say this vaccine can cut your chance of shingles in half. you can think of it as like a chickenpox booster. >> you give it when you are old enough to protect you when you are 80 and yet young enough to have low risk of shingles. >> reporter: just a bigger dose of children's chickenpox virus the shingle's vaccine is fda- appro

again, health and science editor john fowler. >> reporter: 24-year-old nevada nursing student paul told us it startedded as a painful red patch. >> when i got shingles i was out of work for two weeks. >> reporter: pain spread to several spots and first she blamed job stress. >> i was and aware i wasstressed and just thought i was busy, so it was a big surprise. >> reporter: 25-year-old giant's catcher, buster posey got shingles and got him out one game. tony la russa got it so bad. >> the pain can go on usually for a couple or three weeks. and on occasion can be people nent. >> reporter: kaiser infectious disease doctor said shingle was once thought a disease for the elderly:there is growing evidence immunizing children against chickenpox may be leading to more adult cases of shingles. adults get an immune boost and really get shingles when around children with chickenpox. doctors say this vaccine can cut your chance of shingles in half and think of it like a chickenpox booster. >> you give it when you are old enough to protect you at 80 and yet young enough to have low risk of shingles

fowler. caller: how are you doing? >> bill: what's going on caller: i would like john boehner to say why it's okay to take money from headpoor people and the elderly but nots okay to take money from the rich. explain that to me. >> bill: explain thatis is welfare for the rich that continued bush tax cuts. >> they are not entitlements. they are earned benefits. >> bill: thank you. yeah. caller: farrant benefits and please, please get off of the teachers' union. you want to fire somebody for not doing that job, let's fire all of the republicans. >> bill: start with john boehner. good to hear from you. and bouncing out to the west coast again, in tacoma, washington, gary thanks for joining us. caller: hey, bill, how are you doing? >> bill: all right. great. what's up? caller: picking on boehner, boehner is just a front man. he is just a figurehead. basically, my take on it is it's just like the senate. you get the tail wagging the dog and the tail is led by eric cantor and they are holding the rest. their caucus is holding the rest of the republicans hostage. >> bill: yeah, gary, i hear you, but that comes back to boehner i