>>> i'm terry mcsweeney live in hercules. five people dead, a cache of explosives found in a house in vallejo. three bay area cities affected by all this and did it all begin with a loving relationship? that's what police are looking into. we'll have the story. >> an east bay teacher is arrested at school after police discovered child pornography at his home. >> good morning. a clear start, a beautiful start to the day but another spare the air day with hot temperatures inland with cooling at our coast. >> and we are following an injury crash in concord. it's westbound highway 4. all those details coming up in your complete traffic report. >> it is 6 a.m. on this thursday morning. thank you so much for joining us. i'm eric thomas. kristen is off today. police think they may have zeroed in on a motive on a three-city killing spree that claimed at least four lives and the prime suspect in the case was killed himself tuesday night in the a shoot without with police. officers are also still looking for another potential victim. t

for now live in hercules, terry mcsweeney. >> terry, thank you. the two other victims terry mentioned in vallejo will be autopsied in hopes of determining a specific calls of death. police say the victims are friends 262-year-old an lan and 60-year-old smart. neighbors say for the past decade they lived off and on at the vallejo home where the two were found. that was owned by alan and her husband charles writtenhouse. they're not sure what the suspect's relationship with the homeowner was but say police visited the home on several occasions and have reports he fought with them, stole money and disturbed the neighborhood. rittenhouse lived in the house after reporting his wife missing on sunday. >> all i can say is when he was confronted with the fact bodies were located in his residence, we believe he may have been involved. he did not react in the way we feel a normal person would react. >> rittenhouse was arrested yesterday morning and is being held at the solano county jail for possessing a cache of highly explosive material. investigators are

. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in sunnyvale on the trail of an arsonist.nvestigators after a man they believe has set 15 fires, most recently nearly killed a man. they're looking for your help. the story's on the way. >> and bart is expected to get millions to push forward with a controversial plan to build a tram to the oakland airport. >> check out this picture of the embarcadero. a little less this morning thanks to the drizzle that fell during the overnight and will do so through the morning commute. where it hangs for the rest of the day, how much cooler on this coolest day of the forecast. >> and traffic is really heavy now on the suspension span of the bay bridge because they're trying to push off a rig into san francisco. not much of a delay at the bay bridge toll plaza but keeping an eye on this and update on a hot spot through livermore. >> 6:01 this wednesday morning. updated information on all that in just a few minutes. thanks for joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. you can see what frances is talking about, the traffic jam. right

. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in san bruno. federal investigators on the scene of last week's deadly explosion and fire here. we're going to be talking to the vice chairman of the ntsb, get some answers to the questions coming up. >> also the eye of a camera could be the answer to more peace between police and the public. i'm theresa garcia live in oakland. we'll let you know more about a camera project in the works here in the city. >> and marin county supervisors call for a review of when deputies and use tasers after an abc 7 report. >> here's a look from downtown san francisco. the clouds a little lower and they have more moisture in them so expect some drizzle this morning but warmer weather this afternoon and i'll update you on the chance of rain. >> an update on the cash paying lanes at the toll plaza. everything looking good around the bay area. >> it's 6 a.m. this wednesday morning. thank you for waking up early and joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. topping our news, governor schwarzenegger will arrive i

terry mcsweeney joins us from oakland with the latest., could a single person be responsible for both these attacks? >> they certainly think that is the case. happened about the same time. the descriptions are very close. not saying a whole lot about this, only that these two women were sexually assaulted and robbed somewhere in a neighborhood near lake merit and they both happened again on sunday evening. police aren't saying exactly where they happened but we can get a pretty good idea of the picture from what police are releasing in the form of a warning. women are being warned to stay in well-lighted populated areas and be aware of their surroundings. we talked to some women out here this morning and asked them how this made them feel. >> a little nervous. that's why i don't come alone. that's why we run together when we're here. >> like anyplace, i think you have to be on alert and i carry mace with me at all times in the morning when i walk the dog. i think you just have to be careful no matter where you live. >> another part of the

terry mcsweeney is live in hercules. terry, all these crimes lead back to one man. >> lead back to one man indeed. police from here in hercules heading to a landfill in pittsburgh to search for the body of frederick salas missing since saturday. the 35-year-old salas was last seen at his house in hercules, a house where murder suspect 38 efren valdamoro, he lived there on and off. last saturday they found the father's body, rick salas. they fought the week before. one officer wrote i saw ricardo on tap of valdamoro lying face down on the floor. valdamoro was completely naked. it may have been over 46 cindy tran, valdamoro's girlfriend who he killed tuesday in richmond before chp officers killed him. frederick salas coworkers are hoping for closure. >> they're very sad. everybody's so sad. they don't know what happened. i told you that i'm praying for his recovery. somebody or whatever, i hope that we will find him. >> police have also found two bodies in vallejo in a house tied to valdamoro. it focuses on the crimes in h

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thank you.e other two victims terry mentioned in vallejo will be autopsied in hopes of determining a specific cause of death. the victims are friends, a 63-year-old and a 60-year-old. neighbors say for the past decade valdamro lived off and on at the home where the two were found. that home was owned by allen and her husband 72-year-old charles rittenhouse. they're not sure what the relationship with the homeowners was but say police visited the home on several occasions and had reports that he fought with them, stole money and disturbed the neighborhood. risenhouse lived in the home after reporting his wife missing on sunday. >> what i can say is that when he was confronted, we believe he may have been involved. he did not react in the way we feel a normal person would react. >> rittenhouse was arrested yesterday morning and is being held at the solano county jail for explosive material including c-4 and dynamite. investigators are still trying to determine whether he played a role in the death

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thank you very much.ne of the first journalists on the scene arrived just moments after the explosion. freelance photographer brian karmady. he described what he saw. >> i got here 15 minutes after it happened. >> these are your pictures? >> that's correct. >> the fire was absolutely -- the gas line was actually burning right behind that home right there that you see burning. and what struck me, aside from the obvious heat, was the sound that this thing was making. it was clear to me when i got there that this was something to do with gas and not a plane. there was a lot of debris from an explosion that had happened. there were actually holes in the roofs of some of the houses from rocks that were falling. the firefighters were -- i had several come up to me and say that they were just frustrated. there was nothing that they could do. >> you can see from the intensity of the flames why folks would want to get away from the area as quickly as possible. san bruno's recreation center was pressed into service

terry mcsweeney is live at kennedy high school with more.re separate, school districts and cities. >> yeah. this is a little bit of a different kind of a twist to the story, but it is fairly straightforward. you've got three schools, about 900 students would be affected waiting to hear if they'll be open next year. the city council tonight is going to decide if it wants to give $1.5 million to the schools but west contra costa unified school district doesn't have that $1.5 million. it's only open is have city council come through with the money. >> if the city of richmond does not approve $1.5 million, then the board will take immediate action to close the schools and send kids off to other schools like richmond high or el cerrito high. >> these tight times you may be surprised to hear that. the city of richmond does have some money. it recently reached a settlement with chevron for $114 million to be paid over ten years in unpaid utility taxes. the ball is in the city council's court. if it does not approve the money, 900 students would be

terry mcsweeney is live in san bruno.erry, several alleged scammers have already been arrested. >> yeah, four people arrested for basically impersonating fire victims. they're trying to get their hands on that money that is given out of the kindness of some companies' hearts given to the people that were hurt last week. they almost got away with it. the real victims were going back to their red-tagged homes yesterday for the first time sifting through the wreckage to see what was left. the san bruno rec center is where the folks are offered gift cards and other help. four people went over there, said they were victims, tried to get their hands on the money. in fact, they got their hands on some gift cards. they were caught and face a slew of charges. the locals are outraged. >> they need to be locked up for a long time. they need some serious, serious punishment. that is just the lowest of low. >> and there are more scams. one person arrested for looting, another for impersonating a firefighter. another for impersonating

♪ >>> i'm terry mcsweeney live at san quentin. man scheduled to die out here early wednesday morning was asked to choice his manner of death. his attorneys are now saying that's a reason to let him live. that story coming up in a live report. >> and a plan to prevent the disaster like this one. live in san bruno, i'll tell you about new proposed legislation. that's coming up today. we'll have more in a live report. >> off to a clear start and calm conditions this morning but high pressure still sitting on top of us bringing us the hottest day in this cycle, poor air quality that will linger a couple of days. i'll show you where. >> not a lot of overnight road work. the toll plaza showing no delays. >> and supporters of same sex marriage will launch political ads today to pressure candidates who support the prop 8 ban. >> 5:01 a.m.. thank you so much for joining us. it's going to be a scorcher. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. topping our news, in a few hours a hearing held in marin county to determine whether to halt californi

terry mcsweeney is live in san bruno with more on that. terry, there have been arrests already. >> there have been four arrests. the warning and the threats are coming from today down at san bruno city hall, the san mateo county district attorney's office, san bruno p. d. and the state contractor's licensing board and state insurance department and they're all saying pretty much the same thing: watch out for scams. there have already been some. now, the -- take a look at some video from yesterday. people just getting back into their red-tagged homes, warning about possible scams. these people may face scams and they're telling these people to use licensed contractors. there have been scams already. we mentioned the four people arrested. they went to the rec center saying that they lived in rentals in the affected area. the rentals burned down so they applied for and received i.d.'s. they took those i.d.'s to pg&e and various companies like old navy and started cashing in. >> essentially you would walk out with $1500 in gift cards and a fre

>>> i'm terry mcsweeney live in richard mond. the man gunned down at this mall last night tied to not just two but four murders. two bodies found this morning in vallejo. the story in a live report. >> here's a live look from sutro towers on a clear bay. fortunately we have high pressure. brings us poor air quality and high heat the next couple days. >> the road work just cleared off the upper deck of the bay bridge but plenty more out there. all the details coming up. >> it's 5:00 this wednesday, good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. we begin with breaking news out of the east bay. police have found the bodies of two murder victims in vallejo early today. those killings and at least two more maybe linked to a man who died in a shoot-out with the chp last night in richmond. that's where terry mcsweeney is right now, and that's where the shoot-out took place. terry? >> there was two bodies you mentioned found in vallejo this morning are two people who were missing, both tied to the murder suspec

live at san quentin, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks, terry. 6:34 now.morning investigators are trying to determine if an electrical problem caused a late-night house fire that injured three people in bay point. firefighters got the call around 11:30 last night. the fire destroyed many of the belongings inside the single story home and spread to two vehicles parked in the driveway. three of the residents were taken to the hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation. in total nine residents are left without a home. >> governor schwarzenegger and top legislative leaders meet at noon today to continue working on a budget deal. they met last night for the first time since last thursday. that's when all five said they had worked out a budget framework. without going into specifics, the governor says the legislature could vote on a deal in the next week or so. the lawmakers are still trying to hammer out specific agreements on budget cuts, taxes and pension reforms. >> getting word of a new development that could help california's budget crisis. california auto

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thank you very much.lso this afternoon the husband of one of the two other victims believed to be linked to this complicated case, scheduled to be arraigned on charges of possessing chemicals and explosives including radioactive material. he was found livings in the vallejo home. both were long-time acquaintances of valdamoro. the home contained the boxes marked depleted uranium. they don't know what rittenhouse was going to do with it but gave more insight what happened during the murders. 42-year-old christine hubs was arrested last month. she delayed ent iring a plea during two court appearances. she faces 67 felony charges. she's accused of something sex with the boys over a two-year period. her lawyer says he needs more time to review the evidence. two east bay high schools are expected to be operating as usual this morning arch a lockdown yesterday. numerous officers spent three hours at bay bridge point high after one student claimed seeing one student pass a gun to another student. they briefly lo

. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in richmond.bout 900 students will find out tonight if they need another school to go to next year. i'll tell you about the problem and the solution in a live report. >> and check out the clouds that are starting to invade the bay. that as the sea breeze hits back and drops temperatures 15 to 22 degrees today with more cooling on the way. i'll show you how cool it's gonna get in your neighborhood. >> all lanes now open in the north bay southbound 101 sir francis drake boulevard. no delays for your back to school tuesday. >> we welcome frances back on this back to work tuesday. thank you for joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. back to school, the school year's just getting started and one bay area school district is talking closure. the fate of three richmond schools will be decided oddly enough by the city council. terry mcsweeney is live at kennedy high school which is on the chopping block. terry? >> yes. three schools, 900 students, dozens of faculty members will all be impacted by

terry mcsweeney is live in san bruno with the story. terry, pg&e has been ordered already to reduce pressure in the effected pipe. what happened to that? >> well, they haven't done it yet. i'm about to tell you why. i want to let you know we're directly across the street from the entire block that has been reducedto rubble by the explosion and pg&e has been criticized not reducing the pressure enough in its natural gas line. the public utilities commission has ordered pg&e to reduce pressure by 20%. it has only reduce it had by 10%. the company says it needs more clarification on that issue. mercury news has uncovered evidence of 15 incidents of what you were talking about, over-pressurezation in pg&e gas lines between 2008 and 2009. pg&e says it has completed safety inspections on about 750 miles of natural gas transmission lines, but that took five years and it's not going to be able to finish the next 250 miles for the next two years. as far as where those pipes are or where any transmission lines are, that is secret. fire department

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> all right, terry, thank you very much. more news. environmentalists are monitoring the petaluma river following an oil spill estimated in the hundreds of gallons. most of the slick has broken up and washed away but nobody's sure where the rest will end up. alan wang has more. >> the department of fish and game says this old tugboat was being chopped up for scrap metal and it leaked between 200 and 600 gallons of oil. the owner of the tug apparently knew it was leaking because he already had an oil boom around it. residents say these are extremely sensitive wetlands. >> last week i saw river otteres. >> there was a lot of disgusting smell. it was just gross. >> booms were placed in front of creeks to keep oil from creeping into the downtown area where boaters float through and stop to shop or dine. >> it was supposed to be a big day and all of a sudden around 11:30 we had the coast guard and the fire department came in and all the boats evacuated. >> the department of fish and game biologist did not find dead wildlife or major deposit

. >>> i'm terry mcsweeney live in san bruno. later today we may have the complete list of pg&e's 100 most dangerous natural gas pipelines. this morning we have a partial list coming up in a live report. >> good 6 a.m. on this monday morning. thank you for joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. topping our news we could find out which local gas pipelines pose the biggest risk to life and property. in the wake of the san bruno explosion and fire, local officials have put intense pressure on pg&e to release that list of the hundred most dangerous. terry mcsweeney is live in san bruno with the story. terry? >> yeah. the report that we're all waiting for today is 100 most dangerous natural gas pipelines on pg&e. don't have that yet but we do have a partial list to share with you this morning. right now let's take a look at some video that we have of the situation that we are talking about. we're talking about very dangerous pipelines. our media partner, the mercury news reports that san jose and milpitas city officials rece

terry mcsweeney is live in sunnyvale with the story. terry, this is far beyond the prank stage. >> absolutely. and investigators know a lot about this guy. they know where he operates. they know how he operates. and now they may have a good idea what he looks like; but as of this morning, he is still on the loose. take a look at this new sketch you were talking about. the suspect described as hispanic, about 20 years of age, 5-9 give or take with a slender build. the arson fires tend to occur in bunches. nine were set september 1st, one week ago today. the most serious happened as you mentioned when the arsonist set a pickup truck on fire on sold san francisco road where i am with someone inside that truck. this is not a homicide because police helped rescue that man. since may this guy has set fire to trash, dumpsters and now two cars. >> people that tend to do this, they start small and start gradually as they build up their comfort level. start building up the intensity and the dangerness of what they're doing and that's why we're re

live, terry mcsweeney. >> thank you for the update. this morning many in san jose will ask whether one of the city's police officers was enforcing the law or breaking it. that's because the officer decided to make a fake arrest of a teenager boy having sex with his stepdaughter. theresa garcia with more on this bizarre story. >> good morning. apparently the officer is saying he never pretended to arrest the young boy. this is a case of two sets of parents who obviously are both upset that their teenager children had had sex. but the issue now is how one of those parents handled the case. our media partner, the san jose mercury news is reporting that the motorcycle officer abused his authority. the parents say last month the officer pulled up to their house in full uniform after his shift ended, berated and warned the boy to stay away from his stepdaughter and handcuffed him and told him he could face sexual assault charges. later the officer unlocked the cuffs telling the boy's parents he just wanted to scare him. legal analyst dean jo

. >> team coverage begins now with terry mcsweeney near ground zero. terry the declaration you had to move. where are younow? >> we've been half a block away from where we were earlier. the pacifica police one of the law enforcement agencies involved, had us move up half a block. the area in and around where the fire burned has been declared a crime scene. we don't think this is anything notorious about that. we think it's just a matter they want to have more control over the entire area. when they declare it a crime scene they can keep everybody out. one, they declared it a crime scene and, two, the fire chief is quoted as saying there are six dead as a result of this fire. take a look at the video we have from last evening when this was burning at its peak. a fireball erupted shortly after 6:00 last night. according to pg&e -- we have seen a number of pg&e trucks pouring into the scene this morning. they're saying a 24-inch gas line blew. they don't know why. it left a 15 foot crater behind and the devastation and what you're seeing. when it blew, it

terry mcsweeney is in hercules.et's begin with leslie brinkley in vallejo. >> well, a strange sceneas been unfolding all morning. one detective likened it to out of silence of the lambs. he said it was a mad scientist inside the house on this cul-de-sac. police recoved what they believe to behe bodies of two missing vallej women. >> police came to this house on upland court after last night's shoot-out in richmond because the murder suspect often rented a room here. they found the bodies of 60-year-old carol smart and 63-year-old rita allen. allen'houses are holed up in the house des spied the overwhelming stench. he's being questned by police. >> i appears the bodies have been here for several days. i could say that one body was located inside the residence and the second body was located in the backyard. >> explosives were also found on the property. by daybreak the travis air force base bomb squad assessed the danger. there were large quantities of dynamite and c-4, ats responded. many of the explosives and chemi

on "good morning america" or anytime at abcne >>> i'm terry mcsweeney, new developments following last week's explosion and fire. coroner is expected to have a news conference to talk about new numbers and some people that have homes to return to aren't sure they want to go back. >> as the investigation grows, the stories are emerging. some neighbors risked their lives to pull neighbors to safety. >> we're getting a dramatic look at the reaction of people, the images of shock and terror captured bay surveillance cameras. >> good morning, a little bit less of an onshore push and brief warmup. >> and some earlier morning accidents have cleared. live shot of san mateo bridge shows traffic flowing well but road work on both ends and i'll have details. >> off and running at 4:31. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. >> in just a few hours, the san mateo county coroner will give us an update on the number of victims of the san bruno explosion and fire and dozens of residents are wondering what happens next after they took an emotional tour of their neighborhood last night. terry mcsweeney is

live in san bruno, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks a lot. counselors will be available at several novato high schools to cope with the loss of a teenager in a car crash last friday. the collision killed one student and injured four others when their bmw struck a big rig hauling cattle. all the students attended novato high school. some 300 students attended a memorial vigil for the victims over the weekend. counselors will also be available at hill middle school, san jose mill school and hamilton elementary. siblings of the class members attended those schools. >> three suspects in a weekend shooting left an 18-year-old man dead. adrian gonzalez was shot several times in the chest in front of his home on santa susanna way. two friends and an 18-year-old and 23-year-old were also wounded. three suspects got away in a black four-door sedan. both the suspect and victims are known gang members. >> possible victims of a man they say impersonating a police officer. police officers are distributing a booking photo. he owns a retired police squad ca

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks a lot. funeral mass will take place at 11:00 this morning for a mother and daughter who died in the explosion. 1,000 people packed saint cecilia's catholic church for a vigil. during last night's vigil mourners watched a video of janessa from a confirmation video last spring. >> sometimes feels everything is going wrong. >> the 13-year-old served as student body president at the school. her mother jacqueline worked for the public utilities commission. both took active roles in their community and church. >> this is very difficult. my heart is very heavy right now, but with all the support of friends and family, it's making it a little easier. >> the school has cancelled classes today so students can attend the funeral mass set for 11 a.m.. the two are survived by jacqueline's husband james. >> services for another san bruno victim, 20-year-old jessica morales are scheduled for this weekend. a public memorial service will be held tomorrow night. we do not yet have information about services f

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thank you.he alameda county sheriff's department is looking for a man who tried to kidnap a 12-year-old girl in castro valley on her way to school. they have released this sketch. the 40-year-old man with short hair and a goatee was driving a dark red or maroon sedan when he tried repeatedly to make the girl get into his car. the girl refused and reported the incident when she got to school. >> vallejo police have arrested a man in connection with the beating death of a woman they believe was his ex-girlfriend. the body was found inside a blood-covered car after the suspect drove to a coworkers apartment complex in american canyon. police arrested the 33-year-old of vallejo. police were tipped to the crime by the suspect's ex-wife who said he called her to brag about the killing. >>> pg&e has now released a list of what it calls the 100 riskiest pipelines in the bay area. this all follows that deadly gas line explosion in san bruno. topping the 100 list is a pipeline that runs through cordelia.

terry mcsweeney is live in san quentin prison.erry, part of the reason the time is type is because of the age of the lethal drugs involved. >> yeah, one of the drugs needed for the lethal injection scheduled for 9 p.m. wednesday night has an expiration date of three hours later and the manufacturer says there's not going to be anymore available for months. that's one development. another is this: federal judge jeremy mcfogel could call a hearing today to reconsider his ruling giving albert brown a choice between a one-drug or three-drug lethal injection. that places undo burden on mr. brown. also the execution of brown convicted of kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl back in 1980, it's being delayed by governor schwarzenegger so the appeal can be heard. one of those appeals was heard yesterday in marin county. >> he is going to be excused for protocol not properly enacted. >> brown cannot prove that he will suffer pain if he's executed under the current regulations and not demonstrated that. the reason for the application for

terry mcsweeney is in hercules. begin with leslie brinkley in vallejo. >> well, a strange scene has been unfolding all morning. one detective likened it to out of silence of the lambs. he said it was a mad scientist inside the house on this cul-de-sac. police recovered what they believe to be the bodies of two missing vallejo women. >> police came to this house on upland court after last night's shoot-out in richmond because the murder suspect often rented a room here. they found the bodies of 60-year-old carol smart and 63-year-old rita allen. allen's houses are holed up in the house des spied the overwhelming stench. he's being questioned by police. >> it appears the bodies have been here for several days. i could say that one body was located inside the residence and the second body was located in the backyard. >> explosives were also found on the property. by daybreak the travis air force base bomb squad assessed the danger. there were large quantities of dynamite and c-4, ats responded. many of the explosives a

live in richard, terry mcsweeney. >> terry, thank you so much.e'll continue to follow those breaking news developments this morning. 4:34. let's check on more news. more surgeries scheduled this week for fremont police officer todd young who was critically wounded last week while trying to make a gang member -- make an arrest. barrientos was charged yesterday with attempted murder. police arrested him saturday near the mexican border. according to court documents, barrientos said he didn't know the person he shot was a police officer. officer young was many plainclothes when he and another officer tried to arrest the suspect on a warrant in east oakland. blood donations for officer young continue to pour in. another emergency blood drive will be held this afternoon at santa clara high school where he graduated in 1989. the community is asked between to donate between 2:15 and 6 p.m. >> today the california attorney general's office will file an appeal to have a stay lifted on state executions. yesterday a superior court judge extended the ban on

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thank you. there's another issue regarding the death penalty in california and dozens of other states. at least for execution in the near future. california's attorney general's office says its very limited supply of sodium pen ethanol expires october 1st. other states are running into the same problem and the company that makes the drug says it's out of stock until at least next year. that company also recently sent a letter to state officials earlier this year saying they provide these products because they improve or save lives and they're facing a backlog in production. the company goes on to say "we do not support the use of any of our products in capital punishment procedures." >> police are investigating a fatal shooting involving one of their own officers. it happened on sutter and hyde yesterday. police responded to a noise complaint at the granada residential hotel at 11:00 in the morning. they found someone throwing stereo speakers out of an apartment window. when they went to investi

. >> our coverage begins with terry mcsweeney near where the gas main ruptured. terry's going to walk us through what happened. good morning. >> yeah. i've gotta tell you the latest right now is that the san bruno police are moving all the media an additional block away from the scene. a scene that has been declared a crime scene by san bruno police. eric, you were asking me a few minutes ago if it was something more sinister than just making sure that the police can totally control the area. i have no reason to believe it's anything more than wanting to really be in charge of this large, devastated area. just had a couple people walking down the street here, supposed to be starting work at linardi's market. they're told they're not going to be allowed in. at the crime scene, nobody but nobody but law enforcement and firefighters are allowed in. take a look what it was like out here last night. you'll understand some of the grave concern of the san bruno police department. a fireball erupted about 6:15 last night. and according to pg&e, it was caused by a 24-inch

live in san bruno, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thanks a lot. 4:34.he families hardest hit by this fire finally had a chance to go home even though many have no home to go back to. yesterday they put on white protective suits and walked on to their property for the first time. one woman stood silently for more than a minute as she pondered the ruins of her home. others found most of their personal property intact. they were given one hour to tree triev their most precious belongings. one fire victim says he doubts he'll come back. >> whether we'll be comfortable moving back in, that's a whole different story. my wife and children ran down the street with a fireball behind them. hard to bring the kids back to this neighborhood. >> authorities identified all four people killed. 81-year-old elizabeth torres lived yards from the site. also torres' neighbors, jacqueline greeg and her 13-year-old daughter general necessary sa and jessica morales visiting her boyfriend on earl avenue watching a football game. >> state senator leland yee says he's working on

terry mcsweeney live in the neighborhood with more. terry?. >> yes, i am. can you hear me? >> yep. we gotcha. >> all right. more and more questions for pg&e and ely elected officials. especially last night's meeting. a couple hundred people turning out for the town hall meeting at the church of the high lands. the people were asking questions such as i've got a home to go back to and you say it's safe but we don't think it is. jackie spear was there to offer assurances but some say the problem is still there, it hasn't gone away. some people have no homes to return to. they went through the neighborhood, looking at homes. some red-tagged for demolition. some already demolished by the natural gas explosion and resulting fire. the pipe that blew is 50 years old and the most current technology, accurate way of inspecting those pipes is not going to work in a pipe that old. also it has a number of curves in it. that prohibits the device from getting in there and doing its work. at the core of the questions last night, pg&e, did they know there we

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks a lot.at least two victims ended up at san francisco general hospital with injuries they suffered while trying to escape from the fire. what happened to his aunt and grandmother. >> my aunt is all right. she broke her arm and that's about it. >> how did she break her arm? >> she hopped over the fence. and -- yeah, i guess when she came down she broke -- i'm not too sure what bone but pretty much snapped it in half. >> she was that desperate to get away. >> yes. i guess her instincts thought this came into play and had to do whatever she had to do to get 'em out. she had a collapsed lung, second degree burns on her arms. they were able to get out through the back fence. >> they were among the dozen of residents who ran for their lives last night. some will wake up shortly in a makeshift evacuation center in san bruno. that's where abc 7's laura anthony has been talking to people this morning. >> eric, as the sun comes up here, the activity also is increasing here. i have an update on some of

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks a lot. other news, contra costa county sheriff deputies and say there's no connection of a sexual assault of a woman last night and three other attacks at the same apartment complex over the summer. the victim told investigators she was assaulted during a home invasion robbery last night at the park regency apartments on oak road in unincorporated walnut creek. police have no suspect descriptions. antonio muton has been charged with one rape and two attempted rapes that happened at the same apartment complex. if convicted he faces up to 25 years to life in prison. >> joe biden released a report today about the 100 recovery projects that are changing america. >> the bay area is benefiting from several that includes expanding the caldecott sunshine which is using $198 million in recovery act funds. >> in addition, nearly 9 million dollars is going to creating jobs and growing small businesses in snowstorm. >> $2.8 billion is being used for the bay bridge retrofit project. $10 million was award

live in san jose, terry mcsweeney, abc 7news. >> terry, thanks a lot.he bay area's first freeway express lane is open for business. solo drivers on 680 can now pay to use the carpool lane. abc 7's jenelle wang is live in fremont. jenelle, you drove it. any confusion? >> actually i was a littl bit confused and a little anxiou because it was my first time even though everything was clearly marked and chp told me some people were actually cutting across al lanes to try to get into the express lane. there was a backup at highway 84 and 680. alteration officials and chp were very happy with the first day. solo driverss? you can now buy your way into a faster commute by using your fas trakpass. all you have to do is pay an electronic toll and you can zip down a 14-mile stretc at 680 between sunol and milpitas. >> i would where using the express lane >> once i got to 84 it was wide open so why get on? >> if you do get on, you only have three chances. the locations are marked in green, highw 84, washington boulevard and mission boulevard. and you can only exit

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks, terry. if there's another massive disaster like the one in san bruno, should pg&e customers have to pay for any costs not covered by the utility's insurance? a questi state regulators are takg an initially look at right now. theresa garci is live at the public utilities commission meeting in san francco. theresa? >> well, the proposed plan is to require customerso pay any of the costs not recoupable by those utility companies. but this morning a pg&e spokesperson conrmed the utility company will not put the san bruno explosion and fire into this category that would require t cost to be paid by the customers. so this morning here in san francisco the state public utilities commission began its first hearing into a proposal that would require customers to pay all costs of wildfire damages that exceed a utilits insurance coverage. the proposal was introduced last year by the state's three major utility companies, southern california edison, pg&e and the san diego gas and electric company. it wa

live in san jose, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thanks a lot.he bay area's first freeway express lane is open for business. solo drivers on 680 can now pay to use the carpool lane. abc 7's jenelle wang is live in fremont. jenelle, you drove it. any confusion? >> actually i was a little bit confused and a little anxious because it was my first time even though everything was clearly marked and chp told me some people were actually cutting across all lanes to try to get into the express lane. there was a backup at highway 84 and 680. alteration officials and chp were very happy with the first day. solo driverss? you can now buy your way into a faster commute by using your fas trak pass. all you have to do is pay an electronic toll and you can zip down a 14-mile stretch at 680 between sunol and milpitas. >> i would where using the express lane. >> once i got to 84 it was wide open so why get on? >> if you do get on, you only have three chances. the locations are marked in green, highway 84, washington boulevard and mission boulevard. and you can on

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thank you so much. $25,000 reward is now being offered for the murder of a tiburon mder nearly one year ago. joan rosenthal became tiburon's first murder victim in a decade when she was shot to death outside her hillary drive home. her murder remains a mystery despite intense efforts by authorities. they conducted more than 100 interviews and submitted a significant amount of evidence but still have no suspect. the reward is by a person who wishes to be anonymous. >> instigators found a body inside a bloody covered car in american canyon. the suspect had driven to his coworker's apartment complex. police say they were tped off by the suspect' ex-wife who said he called her to brag about the killing. >> san carlos leaders are meeting now with pg&e officials. the peninsula city has learned it sits on top of one of the most high-risk tural gas pipelines in the bay area. david louie joins us live from san carlos with the latest revelation after the san bruno fire. >> kristen, that meeting as you say is unde

>>> i'm terry mcsweeney live in richmond. two more bodies found overnight in vallejo bring to four the total bodies last night. team coverage in just one minute. >> a live look from downtown san francisco. notice the clouds the free air conditioning. also marine layer gone. talk about astagnant air and hot above average temperatures as we head into the holiday weekend. >> good morning. it's a nice ride on southbound 680 as you make your way into the san ramon valley. we'll have a complete traffic report coming up in just a few minutes. >> what's falling from apple's tree. the company prepares to unveil what experts say will be the next generation of i-pod. the buzz grows about a possible extreme makeover of apple. on wednesday, middle of the week. first day of september. thanks for joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> kristen sze. following breaking unless you in the east bay. abc just confirmed the bodies of two missing women found in vallejo this morning are connected with the man who died in a shot without with the chp. that's

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thank you so much. $25,000 reward is now being offered for the murder of a tiburon murder nearly one year ago. joan rosenthal became tiburon's first murder victim in a decade when she was shot to death outside her hillary drive home. her murder remains a mystery despite intense efforts by authorities. they conducted more than 100 interviews and submitted a significant amount of evidence but still have no suspect. the reward is by a person who wishes to be anonymous. >> investigators found a body inside a bloody covered car in american canyon. the suspect had driven to his coworker's apartment complex. police say they were tipped off by the suspect's ex-wife who said he called her to brag about the killing. >> san carlos leaders are meeting now with pg&e officials. the peninsula city has learned it sits on top of one of the most high-risk natural gas pipelines in the bay area. david louie joins us live from san carlos with the latest revelation after the san bruno fire. >> kristen, that meeting as you sa

terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks, terry.nd if there's another massive disaster like the one in san bruno, should pg&e customers have to pay for any costs not covered by the utility's insurance? a question state regulators are taking an initially look at right now. theresa garcia is live at the public utilities commission meeting in san francisco. theresa? >> well, the proposed plan is to require customers to pay any of the costs not recoupable by those utility companies. but this morning a pg&e spokesperson confirmed the utility company will not put the san bruno explosion and fire into this category that would require the cost to be paid by the customers. so this morning here in san francisco the state public utilities commission began its first hearing into a proposal that would require customers to pay all costs of wildfire damages that exceed a utility's insurance coverage. the proposal was introduced last year by the state's three major utility companies, southern california edison, pg&e and the san diego gas and electr

live in san francisco, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks, terry. in orinda it took pg&e crews six hours to stop a natural gas leak. the pipe was cut by a construction crew late last night. it was the third lk reported in the last 24 hours. someone hit a gas main near camino pablo around 11:30 p.m.. it wasapped about 5:30 this morning. more than two dozen homes were briefly evacuated as a precaution. no injuries were reported in millbrae, a gas main forced a section of el camino realo shut down justefore 6:00 last night. everythingas clear and the road reopened aout two hours later. the third leak happened yesterday at t cal state east bay campus in hayward on the first day of classes. a construction crew there hit a 2-inch gas line. no evacuations were ordered. >> castro valle check out this man's precario pech in a cherry picker. we have a picture here for you from sky 7 hd. it tooks police on hampton road, he was stuck there a little less than an hour. a firefighter secured him with a safety harness and the man climbed down on his own. >> oakland

live in san francisco, terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> thanks, terry. in orinda it took pg&e crews six hours to stop a natural gas leak. the pipe was cut by a construction crew late last night. it was the third leak reported in the last 24 hours. someone hit a gas main near camino pablo around 11:30 p.m.. it was capped about 5:30 this morning. more than two dozen homes were briefly evacuated as a precaution. no injuries were reported. in millbrae, a gas main forced a section of el camino real to shut down just before 6:00 last night. everything was clear and the road reopened about two hours later. the third leak happened yesterday at the cal state east bay campus in hayward on the first day of classes. a construction crew there hit a 2-inch gas line. no evacuations were ordered. >> castro valley. check out this man's precarious pech in a cherry picker. we have a picture here for you from sky 7 hd. it tooks police on hampton road, he was stuck there a little less than an hour. a firefighter secured him with a safety harness and the man climbed down on h

live in hercules, terry mcsweeney abc 7 news. >> terry, thanks very much. six-year-old salinas boy is in serious condition after an accidental shooting. officers responded to an apartment complex yesterday and found the boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach. police say the child found the gun underneath his parents' bed. his 12-year-old brother tried to take away the weapon but it went off hitting the young boy. the boys were the only ones home at the time of the shooting. the parents could face charges for improper storage of a firearm. residents in the east bay felt a minor shake this morning. the 3.3 magnitude quake hit san pablo around 9:30 this morning. there are no reports of injuries and damage. bart trains did briefly shut do you know to check for damage but everything is back on schedule. a public hearing is happening right now in san francisco on pg&e's controversial smart meters. an independent report on the meters was released in the last hour. the california public utilities commission hired an outside consultant to evaluate those m

terry mcsweeney joins us now to explain all the legal wrangling. terry?the big news today is judge jeremy fogel in san jose issued this order telling attorneys for both sides to file briefs by 2:30 this afternoon in this case. and he is especially looking at two issues. joining me now legal analyst dean johnson to talk about exactly what judge fogel is asking for by 2:30 this afternoon. what's he wanna know? >> what he wants to know is first of all has the department of corrections and its new regulations solved all of the problems that led in 2006 to the delay of michael morales' execution. the next say little issue which is the supreme court has issued an on point case called base versus reis as recently as 2008. he wants to know if the legal standards for examining those regulations has changed significantly. >> you are saying it looks to you that there's going to be a stay of execution? >> yeah. i think the message throughout this litigation, ever since the death warrant was issued, has been what's the rush? and it appears according to the 9th circuit

live in hercules terry mcsweeney abc 7 news. >> terry, thanks very much. six-year-old salinas boy is in serious condition after an accidental shooting. offirs responded to an apartment complex yeerday and found the boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach. police say the child found the gun unrneath his parents' bed. his 12-year-old brother tried to take away the weapon but it went off hitting the young boy. the boys were the only ones home at the time of the shooting. the parents could face charges for imprer storage of a firearm. residents in the east bay felt a minor shake this morng. the 3.3 magnitude quake hit san pablo around 9:30 this morning. there are no reports of injuries and damage. bart trains did briefly shut do you know to check for damage but everything is back on schede. a pubc hearing is happening right w in san francisco on pg&e's controversial smart meters. an independent report on the meters was released in the last hour. the california public utilities commission hired an outside consultant to evaluate those meters after moun

terry mcsweeney joins us now from the bart station in oakland. terry? >> yeah. the report this morning san francisco chronicle says for bart passengers it's loud. the passengers we spoke with said they already knew that but didn't know exactly how loud. and when we told them, the response was deafening. that is what it sounded like this morning as we rode bart in the trans bay tube. the reading of 100 decibels, the same as a jack hammer. you can't have a conversation. maybe the reason nobody tried to have one. the high-pitched irritation lasted perhaps a minute, not long enough to cause hearing loss. >> while you go on for hours and hours, this is pretty much 20 or 30-second stretch. >> johnson says the high-pitched screech is caused by the trains rolling over tiny ripples in the tracks which is caused by steel on steel and most prevalent where the elevation changes. bart riders talk about the jack hammer comparison. >> and that's a good analogy, definitely. jack hammer. >> definitely. >> jack hammer? well, i mean, it's hard to hold a conversation. so but that's

terry mcsweeney joins us now to explain all the legal wrangling. terry?> the big news today is judge jeremy fogel in san jose issued this order telling attorneys for both sides to file briefs by 2:30 this afternoon in this case. and he is especially looking at two issues. joining me now legal analyst dean johnson to talk about exactly what judge fogel is asking for by 2:30 this afternoon. what's he wanna know? >> what he wants to know is first of all has the department of corrections and its new regulations solved all of the problems that led in 2006 to the delay of michael morales' execution. the next say little issue which is the supreme court has issued an on point case called base versus reis as recently as 2008. he wants to know if the legal standards for examining those regulations has changed significantly. >> you are saying it looks to you that there's going to be a stay of execution? >> yeah. i think the message throughout this litigation, ever since the death warrant was issued, has been what's the rush? and it appears according to the 9th circu