morning in san fransisco, alex savidge ktvu channel 2 news. >>> we have more details now about mel murphy. in january of this year a project that murphy was working on in the mission district was shut down. according to the san fransisco chronicle and the san fransisco examiner, murphy was allegedly operating without the proper permits. at that time murphy was president of the building inspection commission. now in march he was appointed to the city's port commission by mayor ed lee. critics opposed that appointment because of the earlier controversy. >>> time is 6:06. happening now fire crews in monterey county are back on the fire lines of that huge wildfire in big sur. the 500-acre fire is burning out of control near pfeiffer state beach. so far it has destroyed 15 homes, forced the evacuation of 100 people. so far there's no word of any injuries but containment is at 0%. the sheriff of monterey county says firefighters are facing some big challenges as they battle this rare december wildfire. >> the nature of the fire, the low humidity, the wind, the fuel, it just hasn't rained here a

according to an sf weekly article from last year, originally mel murphy planned to demolish this home but then the planning department rejected that because they said that the home was structurally sound. so instead he applied to remodel it and expand the size of the home and that was approved. reporting lookive in san francisco, cate caugiran, kpix 5 -- reporting live in san francisco, cate caugiran, kpix 5. >> san francisco police say the 100 block of graystone terrace will be closed. >>> the woman accused of causing a crash that killed a teenager in san francisco is now charged with manslaughter. 58-year-old jennie zhu is also charged with two counts of reckless driving causing serious injuries. >> police say that she was driving 80 miles an hour when she slammed into a minivan at pine and gough streets in september. 16-year-old kevin san in the van was killed. his mother and sister were seriously injured in the accident. through an interpreter kevin's father says he still doesn't know what really happened. >> i want her to reflect and think deeply on herself why this happened and

according to property records that home was built back in 1941 and is owned by mel murphy. hed worst say he's the former president of the san francisco building inspection commission. he originally applied for aer mit to demolish this property. records indicate murphy was in the process of read molling this home now and it was set to go from two stories to four stories with contractors adding on an additional 4,000 square feet of space. but then the building suddenly collapsed last night at about 10:30. inspectors out here trying to figure out at this point exactly what went wrong. live this morning in san francisco, alex savidge, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> we have more details about mel murphy. in january of this year, a project murphy was working on in the mission district was shut down. according to the chronicle and the san francisco examiner, murphy was allegedly operating without the proper -- permits. at this time, he was the president of the building commission. in march he was appoint to the port commission by mayor lee. critics opposed that because of the earlier con

>>reporter: owner of the president is mel murphy. politically connected developer who ironically was once president of the city building inspection commission which oversee the effective safe enforcement of san francisco housing codes. murphy held a fundraiser for ed lee mayor campaign in 2011 and was appointed by lee to the port commission earlier this year. murphy didn't respond to our calls today. but his create rick talking. questioning if he had the proper permit for the work and if the tie to city hall led to the project approval. >> that related in the general was related to the sort of brush off or general hostility of the various commission we appeared before. seemed like it was lost cause before we even appeared. >> mayor ed lee rejects that cushion and says he will review the case and speck with murphy. >> if there is a violation of the permit i think that will be cited and appropriate responses and follow-up to that. >> in the mean time city inspectors checking the stability of the house and engineer says it seems stable

. >> well, turns out home that collapsed overnight in san francisco belongs to mel murphy who was a member of the city's building inspection commission for six years. abc7 news obtained this photo of the house from a neighbor taken saturday it shows what the home looked like before the collapse. neighbors had been fighting the ren yes vacation since 2009 demanding answers to ensure he did not get preferred treatment on this project. >> safety is paramount. mr. murphy, anyone associated has to add theer levels of safety protocols that is the work to make sure it's safe for everybody. >> engineers spent the day trying to determine what caused this home to tumble. there are no answers. >> bart service stopped this morning police dwelt a man on the tracks. sky seven shows us the man. police cut power to the tracks and negotiated with the man. the man was taken to the hospital. >> a mill valley man fell off a bridge friday will face attempted murder and domestic violence charges prosecutors say it appears was trying to crash into the bay. witnesses intervened grabbing her leg and he fell in. he

live this morning in fran, alex savidge ktvu channel 2 news. >>> more details now about mel murphy. in march of this year, he was appointed to the port commission by mayor ed lee. critics opposed that appointment. according to the reports by the san fransisco chronicle and examiner, a project murphy was working on in the mission district was shut down because of allegations that he was operating without the proper permits. murphy was president of the building inspection commission when that project was shut down earlier this year. >>> time now 5:06. a huge wildfire still burning in big sur, firefighters are trying to get the upper hand. this 500-acre fire is raging near pfeiffer state beach. here's some video we shot last night. so far 15 homes have been destroyed by the flames. at least 100 people have evacuated. there are no reports yet of injuries but containment is at 0%. the sheriff of monterey county says the reason bone dry weather there is a big factor in this rare december wildfire. >> it hasn't rained here at all. normally by this time of the year everything would be wet, b

. >> he is mel murphy and was a building inspection commissioner. questions have been raised about whether he had proper permits if a project. someone from his office is on site in morning but had in comment. the city's engineer also stopped by the site and says he doesn't think there is an immediate threat and neighbors can stay put but should take defensive action. >> i don't think there is any need for evacuation, the build ing on the south side or the east side, it may need to have plywood on the windows in case something happens. >> i just got off the phone with a spokesman from the building department. he says this was permitted for a remodel. there has been inspections here at the site and they are looking into why this happened and what to do next. >> developing news. we are waiting to learn the names of the six american soldiers killed in a helicopter crash in southern afghanistan this morning. according to the defense department, it appears the helicopter engine failed. only one person survived the crash. officials say there were no report

the owner of the building former president of the san francisco building inspection commission mel murphy used a frind to get low ball estimates for the construction. those estimates determine how much permit fees costs. costs were 1/10 of what the actual cost would be. the home was propped up for construction when it slid down the hill. no one was hurt. murphy did not respond to the paper's report. mayor chuck vooed appealing the state's ruling that resulted in a $1 fine. it says that reed and his committee violated state law when they reportedly used $100,000 to help get rose elected to the council. late ter commission determined that reed did not commit it intentionally and fined him $1. according to -- also to clear his name. organizers in san francisco hope to collect toys for the bay area's forgotten children in less than 24 hours. the lefty o'doole's last chance christmas eve toy drive is a tradition for some. it starts at 5:00 and will go to 2:00 christmas morning. the owner hopes to beat last year's record of more than 10,000 toys. stop by for a meal or swing by during last minut

. >> the house is owned by developer, mel murphy, he was once a building inspection commissioner in the city. that's a position that oversees enforcement of building and housing laws. >> tonight, one bay area home is a glow with an amazing holiday light display called, a heart for christmas. juliette goodrich tells us the inspiration came from a little girl named katie who desperately needs a heart and a lung transplant. >> 1 #-year-old katie grace loves to hang out with her friends and family. being together this season holds even more meaning. >> it's a roller coaster. we never know one day to the next. >> katie grace suffers from pull ph. she wears this backpack. her sister designed a teddy bear so she wouldn't feel alone. >> we take this tubing and stick it right there and put a patch over it. >> katie grace's story and dire need for a heart and lung transplant inspired 22-year- old, jeffrey holmes to do more than just display lights on his childhood home. he created a heart for christmas and amazing light display. a total of 30,000 holiday lights. all of them to bring awareness to

the property is owned by developer mel murphy. he is a former building inspections commissioner. he did not return our the calls today for comment, but neighbors say they failed to stop the plan to convert his two-story house into a much larger five-story home. >> we were trying to stop this from happening because he was going to build a 5,000 square foot house in a neighborhood of 2,000 square foot houses. we fought this constantly. >> after the building is stabilize, the owner will is to show the city how he plans to safely complete the renovation. >>> the holiday travel forecast for christmas is out. looks like people are getting the itch to hit the road. aaa says because the holiday spans two weekends it is estimating a travel increase. nearly 12 million californians will leave home over christmas or new year's. that's up half a percent from last year. more than 10 million people will be driving. that is a 1% jump from 2012. >>> holiday tradition of giving is in full swing in the bay area. more more than 20 years, children at christ the king school gather toys each christmas

the house was owned by a prominent developer named mel murphy of murphy, o'brien real estate. the house was being remodeled and being enlarged. the plans call for the house to become too big. >> we were trying to stop this from happening. he's gonna build a 5,000-square foot house in a neighborhood of 2,000-square foot houses. we fought it constantly. >> reporter: the neighbor sent us a picture of the home before it collapsed. contractors were repositioning it to a new foundation and that perhaps that contributed to the house. the contractors are discussing plans to stabilize the house to prevent any further problems. it may be that the house has to be demolished. rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the oakland police department is rolling out new additions to the fleet today. we'll show you their new ride. >> we're less than a week until the final 49ers' regular season game at candlestick park. we'll take you inside for a final tour. >>> we have new information about the fire at santa rita jail in alameda county. the alameda county fire department says there was an explosion i

neighbors say it's owned by mel murphy a prominent local developer who is also a past president of the building inspection commission here in san francisco. the house again on the side of the hill on crown terrace. it collapsed at least one other home has been evacuated. there was a smell of natural gas earlier from what we heard. fire department is on scene as well as the police department. no report of any injuries at this point but the house is open the side of the hill and we'll be checking it out further for our newscast in the morning. live in san francisco, abc 7 news. >> all right again john thank you very much e.house collapsed in the twin peak area of san francisco. no injuries ironically owned by the past president of the building inspection commission in the city. we'll stay on the story update you on our morning news beginning at 4:30 am and of course our reporting continues on twitter at the bay area. for all of us here thanks for for all good. here thanks for good answer. check it out. learning's fun now. yeah, back in our day, we didn't have u-verse high speed internet

. >> reporter: the fallen home belongs to mel murphy. he originally planned to demolish this home but the planning department rejected that saying the home was structurally sound. instead he applied to remodel it and dramatically expand the size of the home, and that was approved. the house was under construction at the time and now it's under investigation to figure out what went wrong. live in san francisco, cate caugiran, kpix 5. >>> a warning by the way to people driving in the area: roads in the 100 block of graystone are still blocked. >>> well, today 15 tech leaders got a chance to tell president obama about their concerns surrounding government snooping. google's chairman was at the white house along with facebook's coo cheryl sandberg and apple's ceo tim cook. originally they were supposed to talk about problems with healthcare.gov but they also discussed the data mining practices by the nsa. tech companies have expressed misgivings about having to comply with nsa requests for information. >>> now on to developing news in redwoo

the home is owned by 67-year-old mel murphy. he was a member of the building inspection commission overseeing the enforcement of the city's building and housing laws. >> it sounded like a dump truck emptying its load. it was in my house and heard this crashing and came outside and didn't hear anything or see anything after i got outside, so didn't think anything else was going on. about five minutes later the fire trucks and the police trucks were coming down the street. >> now, no one was in the home when it collapsed. no injuries are reported. >> in san francisco a park worker accused of running over and killing a young mother with his work truck is back in court today. 57-year-old thomas bernoski faces felony vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run. back in september police say he ran over 35-year-old christine spanamire in the burney heights district. she was lying in the grass with her baby and dog. they were not hurt. he has been suspended without pay from the parks department. >>> also san francisco court has sheriff's dep

. >> reporter: the fallen home belongs to former building inspection commission president mel murphy. he originally planned to demolish the home but the planning department rejected it saying the home was sound. he applied to remodel and that was approved. cate caugiran, kpix 5. >> we'll look more into the owner's background and his past battles over this home tonight at 6:00. >>> more than a half a billion dollars on the line. a last-minute rush before tonight's mega millions drawing. what if you win? the expert advice to protect your new found riches. >> what happened in the blink of an eye, the amazing airport save when a baby fell off a luggage counter. >> a tricky repair job in space. the mission to fix a glitch on the international space station. spacewalks at the internati space station's coolin >>> new at 5:00, nasa has ordered a series of urgent spacewalks at the international space station. after half the station's cooling systems shut down last week, the six man crew is okay. but nasa wants to send two american astronauts out to replace a bad pump in case of another failure

" >> pam: property records show, the owner of the house is port of san francisco commissioner - mel murphyho ironically was once the president of the city's building inspection commission >> pam: as for what caused the house to collapse. that is still under investigation >> pam: police now say, a man who fell off the san mateo bridge last friday, was actually trying to throw his wife off of it. >> pam: the suspect -- xavier mcclinton is charged with attempted murder. investigators say the couple of eight years got into an argument while driving on the bridge. that's when the husband veered the car into the wall. then allegedly grabbed his wife and tried to toss return >> pam: he was rescued by coast guard. catherine? >> catherine: said another to set it over again. harold camping has died at age 92. he's the california preacher known for predicting the end of the world. when it didn't happen -- he'd simply readjust to another date and start the warnings all over again. on one occasion he predicted the world would end in may of 20-11. then insisted he had been off 5 months - and >> catherin

neighbors say it's owned by mel murphy a prominent local developer who is also a past president of thelding inspection commission here in san francisco. the house again on the side of the hill on crown terrace. it collapsed at least one other home has been evacuated. there was a smell of natural gas earlier from what we heard. fire department is on scene as well as the police department. no report of any injuries at this point but the house is open the side of the hill and we'll be checking it out further for our newscast in the morning. live in san francisco, abc 7 news. >> all right again john thank you very much e.house collapsed in the twin peak area of san francisco. no injuries ironically owned by the past president of the building inspection commission in the city. we'll stay on the story update you on our morning news beginning at 4:30 am and of course our reporting continues on twitter at the bay area. for all of us >>> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight, colin farrell, from "criminal minds" jeanne tripplehorn. and music from megadeth. with cleto and the

now according to property records, this home was originally built back in 1941 and is owned by mel murphy. a published report says he's the former president of san fransisco's building inspection commission. now building inspector was called out here overnight. that person according to police came and left the scene. no word at least this morning on what caused this collapse, but i am told that the contractors will be back out here later on this morning. we're live this morning in san fransisco, alex savidge news news channel 2 news. >>> right now fire crews on the rugged monterey county coast are trying to get the upper hand on a huge wildfire in big sur. the 500-acre fire still burning out of control near fifer state beach. so far the fire has destroyed 15 homes and forced the evacuation of 100 people. there are no reports of injuries, but containment is at 0%. the sheriff of monterey county says firefighters are facing some challenges as they battle this rare december wildfire. >> the nature of the fire, the low humidity, the wind, the fuel that just hasn't rained here at all. normally

. >> the house is owned by developer mel murphy.was once a building inspection commissioner, a position that oversees enforcement of building and housing laws. his plan is to replace the 800 square foot home into a 5100 square foot structure did not sit well with neighbors. there was an unsuccessful petition to fight what they called his mega mansion. when finished, it will be twice as large as other single-family homes in the neighborhood. >> there's no law against building an ugly house, okay, so -- >> i get the feeling that you would rather have had a house that was in good shape there than the existing house, however, the builder was not kind to the neighbors in his discussions with us. >> what do you mean? >> he was arrogant basically, you know. >> pushy? >> no. >> just kind of ignored us. >> there's a lot of opinions about what people should or should not do. >> murphy hosted a fundraiser for mayor ed lee's campaign and was appointed commissioner, but the mayor emphasized today murphy will get no special favors as the city inv

. >> reporter: the house is owned by developer mel murphy. he was once a building inspection commissioner, a position that oversees enforcement of building and housing laws. his plans to replace the 800- square-foot home into a 5100- square-foot structure did not sit well with neighbors. there was an unsuccessful petition to fight what they called his megamansion. when finished it will be twice as large as other single-family homes in the neighborhood. >> there's no law against building an ugly house. oka? >> i think the feeling is they would rather find a house that's in good shape than the existing house however the builder was not kind to the neighbors in his discussions with us. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> he was arrogant, basically. >> reporter: pushy. >> no. >> just kind of ignored us. >> there's a lot of opinions about what people should or should not do. >> reporter: murphy hosted a fundraiser for mayor lee and was aported the port commissioner but he emphasized murphy will get no special consideration in the investigation. >> i

. >> reporter: the house is owned by developer mel murphy.commissioner. a position that oversees enforcement of building and housing laws. his plans to replace the 800- square-foot home into a 5100- square-foot structure did not sit well with neighbors. there was an unsuccessful petition to fight what they called his megamansion. when finished, it will be twice as large

neighbors say it's owned by mel murphy a prominent local developer who is also a past president of then francisco. the house again on the s crownl on crown terrace. it collapsed at least one other home has been evacuated. there was a smell of natural gas earlier from what we heard. fire department is on scene as well as the police department. no report of any injuries at this point but the house is open the side of the hill and we'll be checking it out further for our newscast in the morning. live in san francisco, abc 7 news. >> all right again john thank you very much e.house collapsed in the twin peak area of san francisco. no injuries ironically owned by the past president of the building inspection commission in the city. we'll stay on the story update you on our morning news beginning at 4:30 am and of course our reporting continues on twitter at the bay area. for all of us mom swaps one of my snacks for a yoplait. i don't mind, i mean it's orange crème. and when mom said bobby was too edgy... 'sup girl. i just swapped him out for tyler. 'sup girl. mom never questioned bobby agai

. >>> and the partial collapse of a house in the twin peeks area, the home is owned by mel murphy who recently served on the commission. the house was being renovated at the time. dennis herrera indicated this case could end up in court. >>> an update, us food services safety rules are not good enough and the focus is the salmonella outbreak linked to foster farms chicken. at least 9293 people have gotten sick and 43% much them end up in the -- 43% of them end up in the hospital. they should emphasize preventing contamination. >>> they are moving towards illuminateing the rules and the change could have a huge impact on tell advising proball games. they will have time to weigh in before they make their final decision. >> they are expected to get a very generous donation they will get a 5,000 donation from the site, lucky.com. the band has already received $15,000 in other donations and they will pay for other games at the school's weekly games. >>> later this morning, the city of fell lay will -- vallejo will honor their own superhero. her favorite superhero is wonder woman and they a

mel murphy has reported to save all documents related to the home in case there is legal action. the home on crown terrace was under construction when it slid down the hill on monday night. >> palo alto officials will consider allowing tesla motor add a couple of signs to the showroom today. adding the new signs would also go over the number of signs companies are allowed to put on each wall. tesla says the signs will make the property look better, that the current signs can be missed by people driving or look by. officials made an exception for a grocery outlet and allowed it to attach ta 26-foot sign. >>> time to check in with christina. >> looking pretty good. we have some wind out there. did want to point out temperaturewise, actually, not too bad at all. temperatures mostly in the mid to upper 40s. truckee is a balmy 48 degrees. but if you are traveling, make sure your chains are ready to go. right at the coast and through the higher elevations, you will likely be impacted. watch out for debris on the highway. this wind is really getting going. just started to whip in san fr

the home's owner, mel murphy, has been ordered to preserve all material and documents relating to thecase there's legal action. dennis herrera has not said if the city will be suing murphy. the home was under construction when it slid down the hill monte nigtd. >>> the school district has agreed to give money to the families of children who were reportedly abused by their teacher. the teacher was accused of beating and humiliating that children. some of the kids cannot speak. parents filed a lawsuit earlier this year against the teacher, the district and top officials at the school who they say knew about the abuse and tried to cover it up. the district has agreed to an $80 million settlement. >>> a san francisco woman charged in connection with a crash that killed a 16-year-old is set to enter a plea in court today. she faces felony vehicular manslaughter. it happened in september. witnesses told police say saw her suv going about 80 miles an hour before it slammed into a mini van and catering truck. >>> the utilities commission will hear from the public today on whether pg&e should

the owner of the building former president of the san francisco building inspection commission mel murphystimates for costs. those estimates determine how much permit fees will cost. the cost was were listed at one tenth. it slid down the hillside. murphy did not respond publicly to the paper. mayor chuck reed is appealing the fair political practices commission ruling that resulted in a $1 fine. the commission says that reed and his pension reform committee violated state law when they reportedly used $100,000 to help get rose herrera elected last year. later the commission determined that read did not dmit violation intentionally. according to the mercury reed is appealing the fine, hoping to recoup lawyer fees and also clear his name. >> a san jose sixth-grader getting national attention after his design was picked. it was submitted weeks ago. it was yesterday that king james officially announced that the 11-year-old from the evergreen neighborhood was the contest big winner. it took raul 45 minutes to design the t-shirt but a lot of thought went into that. >> i started off with a mess

. >> reporter: the house is owned by developer mel murphy. he was once a building inspection commissioner. a position that oversees enforcement of building and housing laws. his plans to replace the 800- square-foot home into a 5100- square-foot structure did not sit well with neighbors. there was an unsuccessful petition to fight what they called his megamansion. when finished, it will be twice as large as other single-family homes in the neighborhood. >> there's no law against building an ugly house. okay? [ laughter ] >> reporter: i think the feeling is they would -- >> they would rather have found a house that was in good shape there than the existing house. however, the builder was not kind to the neighbors in his discussions with us. >> reporter: what do you mean? >> he was arrogant, basically. you know -- >> reporter: pushy? >> just -- >> no. >> just ignored us. >> there's a lot of opinions about what people should or should not do. >> reporter: murphy hosted a fundraiser for mayor lee's campaign and was appointed a port commissioner.

the house is owned by developer mel murphy, once a building inspect commissioner.is now a city port commissioner but mayor lee says he will get no special favors as the city investigates what happens. >> in this case i want dbi to complete a thorough investigation and make sure he is held to the highest standard of safety and get the building done properly. >> murphy was in the property of replacing the 800-square- foot home with a 5100-square- foot home. many neighbors were not happy about the change. >>> christmas is all about giving and glide memorial is doing just that. kpix 5's cate caugiran is there now where people are lining up to get free groceries. tell us about that, cate. >> reporter: brian, they have actually been here for a few hours now. i can show you this line, this is only the beginning of it. it wraps around the block over down on jones all the way down to eddy. this is something that they do every year here at glide, one of the many generous events they put on. we know also volunteers will be here in the half hour to start filling thousands of b

the house is owned by developer mel murphy, once a building inspect commissioner. now a city port commissioner but mayor lee says he will get no special favors as the city investigates what happens. >> right now we are issuing emergency shoring to hold up this particular structure before it go further to, you know, move out. >> murphy was in the process of replacing the 800-square- foot home with a 5100-square- foot home. many neighbors were not happy about the change. >>> a woman in her 50s was killed while riding her bike in oakland last night. police say she was hit by a big rig making a turn at fifth and market streets. they say that she was dragged a few feet by the big rig. police are still investigating that. >>> new this morning, a messy scene on new york highways after more than 30 cars were involved in a pile-up. icy roads are blamed for the accident last night in the bay ridge section of brooklyn. so far, five minor injuries have been reported because of that. >>> bart will offer passengers safety escorts at some of its stations on friday. the idea is to

the home is owned by mel murphy who recently served on san francisco's building inspection commission. the house was being renovated at the time. the chronicle says the city attorney has sent a letter to murphy indicating this case could end up in court. >>> there is a new report calling for change in the chicken industry pause of a salmonella outbreak. tara moriarty is live in walnut creek with more on what this report is saying needs to happen. tara? >> reporter: well, the people who wrote this report, they would like inspectors to drop by chicken facilities unannounced to test. they would also like them to be more adamant about releasing some of these -- communicate the outbreaks to consumers through these public health alerts as soon as possible. these are some of the proposals outlined in the report. this most recent salmonella outbreak is linked to foster farms changen with about 4 -- chicken with 400 people getting sick in 23 states. the seven strains are particularly toxic. people have been hospitalized at tubl the rate expected a previous outbreak happened last year. it made

mel murphy owned that house in the twin peaks neighborhood. , now, murphy saved at least $15,000 in permitartner provided a low-ball estimate of the construction costs tied to the renovation. part of the house crumbled sending debris down the hill. an investigation continues. >>> a little puppy found stuffed in a garbage can and thrown anway was rescued at the last minute by workers at a recycling plant. take a look. it's a poodle mix. found friday night. workers were hand sorting trash on a steel conveyer belt. they've nicknamed the puppy jame. it was scaured. had some injuries but it seems to be okay. when if he found the puppy, the bork workers immediately -- the workers immediately called animal welfare. >> we stopped the line in time before it actually fell off the belt into the pit, you know, where it would have been transferred to our landfall -- one of the landfalls. >> the little puppy named jim is recovering this morning in san francisco animal care and control. welfare officials are trying to figure out what truck the puppy was placed on and they are trying to track down the cit