lafayette park has many stories to tell. but its views, locations and one of the city's most desirable neighborhoods in the city, it has -- this park has a way of igniting people's passions about green space. and we've got the permit appeals to prove it. >>> yea! >> it is this passion that made la fay it park what it is today. and i want to talk about the community and partnership involved. so, in 2008 san francisco voter displayed their passion for this park by approving an $185 million bond to improve parks, rec centers and play grounds like this one all across the city. more than $10 million of that bond were invested here in lafayette park and you're going to see even more improvements around the city as we start implementing the 2012 parks bond. yeah. (applause) >> by the way, if you're wearing a rec and park sticker today, raise your hand. yeah, woo, look at that. but government can't do it alone, we know that, right? and it's the passion of groups like the friends of lafayette park and the friends of lafayette park pla

today this is the day for one of those groups, the friends of lafayette park. this is a shining example of how a few neighbors can come together, bring together their friends, and make an incredibly beautiful thing happen in a public open space. this park was renovated with bond dollars, but friends of lafayette park brought in hours and hours of hard work over four years to do visioning and imagining what this park could really look like. they raised over half a million dollars of private fund to augment the bond dollars so that this kind of a playground could be added to this park. it's been that kind of selfless generosity, and hours of giving to the city that is just an incredible humbling experience for us at the parks alliance. let's have another round of applause for carina and lynn and all of the volunteers who have made such an incredible contribution to this effort. (applause) >> and now i think phil, ready to go ahead and do the ribbon cutting. >> thank you, matt. all right, we're getting there. so, a couple things. i want to give a big shout out, ron

lafayette park is also easily accessed from the 47, 49, and 90 buses. it is ada accessible. we are here at the historic palace of fine art in the marina district. originally built for the 1950's exposition, the palace is situated on san francisco's number waterfront. it is ada accessible and is reached by the 28, 30, and 91 bus lines. set against the reflecting waters of the lagoon and eucalyptus trees, the palace is one of san francisco post most -- san francisco's most romantic spots to relax with that special someone while listening to the water and gazing at the swans. a beautiful to view from many locations along the mattoon, an ideal place to -- all -- lagoon, an ideal place to walk with a loved one. reservations for weddings are available at sfrecpark.org. discarding contains plants referred to by william shakespeare's plays and poems. welcome to the shakespeare garden here in the famous golden gate park. located near the museum and the california academy of sciences, the garden was designed by the california spring blossom and wildfilower association. here is a truly

government and made clear the importance the united states places on his wealth meanwhile in lafayette park across from the white house chris is one of the eucharist held a vigil hosting a moment to release her husband to bring him home. according to his family crests is no small than one hundred pounds in jail suffers from chronic self righteous and his mental health is deteriorating through. you can during washing team that seemed to be center for the performing arts has teamed up with jewish music group from music that had tory attack to greet a special hanukkah events designed to celebrate the role of the clarinet in jewish music. through music and prayer that was founded by charles and robin krauthammer. mr krauthammer says that their goal is to bring jewish classical music to a larger audience. the new musical by an expanding people's perception of just what constitutes to this music. there are elements of jewish kosher jewish museum of. there have to sue a new occurrence. no discovered them play. we want to bring them collided at a. the we're giant in the respected washington are sma

they're preparing to hold a vigil for him at lafayette park at noon today. cuban police arrested him back in 2009. he's serving a 15-year sentence. gross is accused of spying for the u.s. government. gross says he was there to set up internet in jewish communities in cuba. >>> it's been more than two months since the deadly navy yard shooting. today is a special event honoring the victims. actor gary sinees is at constitution hall. it is intended to boost morale among friends and families of the deadly shooting. it is open to local service members, navy employees and contratoo.s it begins at 7:30 this evening. >> and we have a traffic alert for you. d.c. crews will begin bridge inspections that could cause delays for you. key bridge to the white hurst freeway. the connecticut avenue bridge over rock creek and northwest. and the acostia. the work is expected to happen during the day. everything should be done, though, by friday, they're telling us. >>> well, be happy you aren't in north dakota right now. this is what fargo, north dakota looks like. as much as

you know, across the street from the white house you have lafayette park where you have statutes to lafayette and three other professional military officers, mercenaries that came and built the continental army. the u.s. is having a hard time fighting the british, fighting for that their independence untl professionals showed up and showed them how to train, so the idea of mercenaries or battlefield contractors literally goes back to the beginning of the country. think about guys like john smith or miles standish. america was founded not by the british government, it was founded by private companies, you know? the jamestown colony was actually a london publicly-traded company on the london stock exchange, and they hired guys like john smith who was a professional soldier to come and protect the colony and later became the first governor. and miles standish, the same way. so the idea of contractors in american history being armed, i mean, look, nine out of ten ships taken during the american revolution were taken by privateers, private ship, private master, issued a hunting license. it's even

across the street from the white house in lafayette park you have before professional military officers and contractors and mercenaries if you will that built the continental army and the u.s. is having a hard time fighting the british, fighting for their independence until the professionals showed up and showed them how to train so the idea of the mercenaries and battled contractors really goes back to the founding of the country. even as you were sitting down for thanksgiving dinner next week, think about those like john smith or miles. america was founded not by the british government, it was found by private companies. the jamestown colony was a one-man publicly traded company and they hired a guy like john smith was a professional soldier to come and protect the colony and later became the first governor and he was the same way. so the idea of contractors in american history being armed, nine out of ten were taken by private years. private ship, crew, master issued a hunting license. it's called a letter of market reprisal as the hunting license that allows them to go after enemy s

. >> now to developing news in lafayette where a radioactive container turned up mysteriously in a parkinglot at brown avenue and mount diablo boulevard. kpix 5's mark kelly reports. mark? >> reporter: michelle, we can breathe a sigh of relief now all is calm here in lafayette but it was tense for a couple of hours earlier this morning. let me show you where everything happened. just an hour ago it was right behind that maroon colord ford suv. the to -- colored ford suv. the owner of the repair shop next door saw a suspicious container in his parking lot at 8:30 this morning when he reported tubeworks. the container had a radioactive symbol with the label on the side instro tech. it is not dangerous they determined. we just got off the phone with the company, the product manager there says the device has a radioactive source to it. it is used to measure the density of things like soil and asphalt. but he also tells me it's not dangerous unless someone tries to destroy it. which he also said is difficult to do. as far as who dropped it here, that we still don't know. >> still trying to trac

a box that was labeled radio active was found in the parking lot of lafayette auto repair. it was a large green box that prompted the evacuation of several near by businesses. a hazmat team declared the box harmless. the box had been stolen from a walnut creek business. no word yet on who may have stolen it. workers from that business have retrieved it. >>> the city announced today that the city council has ratified the appointment of larry esquivel. he's been san jose's interim chief for the past year. he replaces tom moore who retired from the job after two years. esquivel inherents a department with budget cuts while fighting a spike in crime. >>> a proposal includes a potential city wide ban on dispensaries or a regulatory program that would greatly reduce the number of pot clubs already in existence. new rules would likely include buffer zones around a magnitude of businesses. >>> despite promises that the city of san francisco would benefit financially from hosting the 34th america's cup, the city remains in the red. initial figures show that the race generated more t

well, we know a box labelled radio active found in lafayette had been stolen from a business in walnut creek. employees discovered the box in a parking lot. streets were closed until detectors showed the box did not pose a danger. >> developing news in washington, d.c. good news, budget negotiators say they've reached a deal to avoid the threat of another shut down. the agreement send spending levels replaces unpopular spending cuts with other savings ask does not raise taxes. it would require federal workers to increase security fees paid by airline travellers. >> just ahead at 4:00 world celebrates nelson mandela. the freedom fighter's legacy. >> gm reaching a new milestone. the announcement is coming up. >> and labeling women. why a hair product commercial got the endorsement of cheryl sandberg. >> checking the afternoon traffic on a tuesday afternoon. here is a look at the skyway. it's usual, heavy for the cars on the left side of the screen. better on the right hand side going towards >>> south africa and the world came together to remember nelson mandela. and for hours, world leaders paid tribute to mandela's legacy. >> it was

is closed for the winter and then near chester in the national park in shaster, it closed due to the snow. >>> closer to home near lafayette, i know it is westbound on the left-hand side of your screen there. >> youyou can see it is very clear and last minute shoppers are perhaps okay and in the south bay, westbound traffic on the upper portion of your screen, that is headed towards sunnyvale. >>> let's head over to rose mary. >>> another hazy day, and if you are just joining us, look at the air quality for the region, you can see the shade of orange, air quality above 100 and indicating if you are susceptible, if you have asthma, bronchitis, this will definitely be something you need to consider for all of us and it's not healthy especially for our sensitive group. >>> temperatures at this hour, 44 degrees in santa rosa and we are looking at widespread 30s and 40s out in parts of the north bay, and areas right around san francisco, they are reporting lower 60s this morning and that has to do with an offshore breeze which is blowing for the half-moon bay. you are checking in for 38 in pleasanton and upper 30s, walnut creek

lafayette. let me show you where this went down. the owner saw a suspicious container in his parking lot when he reported to work this morning. the container had a radioactive symbol with the label written on the side. authorities came on round 10:00 a.m. it was not radioactive. this morning we spoke with a spokesperson. product manager there says the device has a radioactive source to it. but he also tells me it's not dangerous unless someone tries to destroy it. as far as who dropped it here we still don't know. >> trying to track down the nature of that. it's ground penetrating radar. we are trying to track down the owner and how it ended up here. >> so all safe here but the auto shop had to start working and it's backed up. >> i can't fix about 12 cars and four employees. >> might have to have a later night. >> got to call the wife and tell her i'm going to be late for dinner. >> he says he didn't get nervous. he just stopped and called authorities. in lafayette, mark kelly. >> no arrests in in this case. >> the f.b.i. is cracking down on the most wanted fugitives in northern california. san francisco f.b.i. launched it's

news right new in lafayette, hazardous material experts with the all clear a short time ago after a potential radioactive object. employees discovered a bright green box in their parking lot and it had a radioactive warning label on it, with radiation detection showing the box did not pose danger and was some kind of ground penetrating radar that may have been stolen. they contacted its owner. >> black ice is investigated as the cause of a bad accident on northbound 280. we were on the scene at black mountain road win that happens. c.h.p. says we have to be so careful as we travel the icy roads and take it slow and avoid slamming on the brakes. >> another round of flight delays this morning as mineta san jose airport but not because of weather around the country. >> instead, the de-icing equipment broke down and two flights were canceled. eight flights were delayed. houston week, sky 7 was over the airport as workers sprayed a combination of water and glyco to remove the ice an unusual sight in the bay area. we have a weather app where you can track the live doppler 7 hd or download it at abc7news.com/apps in the app store or google play. >> snow shut down the federal

and slow and campbell at 29, and cambrian park at 28, and saratoga is 27, and newark is 29, and 31 in san carlos and low-to-mid 20's in danville and lafayette pablo and calistoga and 31 in brentwood and freezing cold there, and, also, beautiful colorful picture from mount tamalpais this morning, and we have high clouds coming in this afternoon and a "spare the air" day, with no burning of wood. last freeze, widespread freeze is likely tomorrow and warmer and dry this weekend. temperatures are 40's along the coast and otherwise we have low-to-mid 50 with mostly sunny conditions this afternoon. tonight, we have most of the bay and into san jose above freezing, and to the coast and inland, deep into the santa clara valley we have the freezing temperatures, again, and during the overfight hours starting at 10:00 through 9:00 tomorrow. as far as what is happening, high pressure is pulling away and directing the cold air east the rockies and moving forward we are going do have this high pressure, milder high pressure because it is warmer over the ocean and this will go steering the jet stream away from us mid-50 tomorrow and mid-60's and then 60'