it all started in the '90s when a water quality consultant was hired to assess lake merritt. what he found was a lake with a lot of problems but even more potential. >> trash was more proef lent, home. >> he founded the lake merritt institute. because it's just him and a few part timers. the institute came up with the enjin use idea of self help stations. written with people on their hands and tirmt on their mind can get to work cleaning. their efforts appeared to have paid off. when the i understand staut started checking trash in 1997 it could easily collect five pounds of it after a heavy rain. that number has been cut dramatically. it's pollen, it's not paint. this, fix, is a lake after a rain just the previous day. compared to what it was like? >> you would see masses of floating fair some paper cups. >> the institute doesn't xwlam. the city has installed new filters to crash price before we cut down on new laws. still, many long-tim residents say they see a lake much cleaner than it has ever been and they let never body. >> you get a lot of people that come by and say t

bailey founded the lake merritt institute. because it's just him and a few part-timers, they rely on a lot of volunteers. they came up with the idea of he self-help stations. their efforts appear to have paid off. when the institute started collecting trash, back in 1997, it could easily collect 5,000 pounds of it after a heavy rain. that number has been cut dramatically. >> the yellow stuff is pollen. >> reporter: this, for example, is the lake after a rain, just the previous day. compared to what it was like -- >> you would see masses of floating styrofoam paper cups, paper plates, bottles. i mean, it would be five times more than this. >> reporter: the institute doesn't claim credit for all the success. the city has installed new filters and passed new laws on trash being created in the first place. still, many long time residents say they see a lake much cleaner than it ever has been, and they let dr. bailey know it. >> you get a lot of people coming by and saying thank you. it happens every time we clean up. so that's enc

wayne explains how people want to ban lighting up at lake merritt in oakland. >> oakland lake merritt walk to. run. to look at the duck. how about to smoke? >> i just try to be mindful of people very sensitive with smoking now day and i'm not oblivious to that. >>reporter: clearly the smoke offends people. hence 250 signatures on internet petition to the oakland city council that would ban smoking along lake merritt perimeter. council member shav hasn't seen it yet. >> certainly we have seen other petitions with more signatures than that. but 250 people is certainly something that is going to makes us stand up and take notice. >>reporter: already in oakland smokers ban from office buildings or areas within 25 feet of them. runners around the lake hear support the proposal. why be forced to breathe lethal fumes when exercising they skichlt it's horrible. i can't stand it. it's almost disrespectful to the runners. >>reporter: didn't they have a right to smoke. >> somewhere else. this is jogging running area. not a smoking year. >>reporter: but not that simple. at the core this isn't so

i'm don ford along oakland's lake merritt.ion worth of improvements look like these days? i'll have that story coming up. >> what is really dry weather looking like? like this on kpix 5 hi-def doppler but there is rain in far northern california. will we tap into that on the weekend? i have your forecast coming up. >> which kpix 5 television show is jim harbaugh's favorite? and why giants fans may be seeing double in spring training. that's coming up in sports. >>> all week we're looking at who is hiring here in the bay area. a big biotech company has literally hundreds of job openings. kpix 5 consumerwatch reporter julie watts says it doesn't matter if you don't know the first thing about what they do. >> it was one of the most exciting days of my life. >> reporter: for kate the call that led to a career at genentech was life changing. >> i want to go to my next career path. >> reporter: at the age of 40, at genentech. the bay area biotech giant expects to fill about 600 open positions this year alone. many of them right here

this is the scene happening right now at lake merritt, part of a multimillion dollar restoring project to improve the stagnant and once polluted waterway. the mayor joined others for the big opening, the first of three phases to connect a lake and the oakland estuary and will be completed in 2014. >> gorgeous outside. let's look at what is going on as we look to san mateo from the east bay hills this morning, you can see haze but not much happening today. sprinkles are possible tonight, snow in the sierra for the weekend and i will update you on that. >> interesting story, the danger of the super sized goldfish are posing to lake tahoe. researchers are concerned about the rare species. plus, the latest on pope benedict's resignation and what the online followers can expect with the >> cupertino, concord, wine country, and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. >> the vatican has a big task at hand to select pope benedict's successor but they have made a decision when it comes to the twitter account. he is fold by two million people and the vatican radio announced when he leaves office ne

this is the scene happening right now at lake merritt, part of a multimillion dollar restoring projecto improve the stagnant and once polluted waterway. the mayor joined others for the big opening, the first of three phases to connect a lake and the oakland estuary and will be completed in 2014. >> gorgeous outside. let's look at what is going on as we look to san mateo from the east bay hills this morning, you can see haze but not much happening today. sprinkles are possible tonight, snow in the sierra for the weekend and i will update you on that. >> interesting story, the danger of the super sized goldfish are posing to lake tahoe. researchers are concerned about the rare species. plus, the latest on pope benedict's resignation and what the online followers can expect with the >> cupertino, concord, wine country, and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. >> the vatican has a big task at hand to select pope benedict's successor but they have made a decision when it comes to the twitter account. he is fold by two million people and the vatican radio announced when he leaves office next

the city removed dams, culverts, and redesigned roadways to reopen a link to the lake merritt channelrst major milestone in a multimillion dollar effort to reconnect the lake to the bay. and improve water quality. the three phase project is scheduled to wrap up next year. >>> a startling discovery has been made in lake tahoe. giant goldfish. researchers discovered them this week on their daily search for nonnative fish. it's the same species you can get in your store. people dumping their aquariums in the lake. >> those small little things that people have, can do a huge impact when you consider, probably not just one person doing it. >> researchers say the growing number of goldfish show how easy it is for an invasive species to take hold. the clarity of the lake will be impacted. >>> the stars avoid being part of nhl history and can a new jersey help the warriors snap a losing streak? we have a model. the sports minute is next. ,,,, well, well, well. growing up, we didn't have u-verse. we couldn't record four shows at the same time. in my day, you were lucky if you could record two

a 750-foot section of the lake merritt channel was open in 45 years.part of a $47 million project to connect lake merritt to the oakland and eventually to the bay. >> it's going to make a central place where people will come. >> reporter: the next phase involves demolishing culverts. >>> new information tonight about yesterday's crane collapse. in eight minutes the damage that wasn't revealed until today. and why part of that project is now on hold. >>> chief meteorologist bill martin is tracking a trend in our weather. he's back at 10:45 with a chance you wi >>> an east bay performer is facing charges for allegedly abusing girls. jason pedroza worked for a ballet company. pedroza appeared in court this morning but he did not enter a plea. >>> the california judge association is endorsing a plan to lower the number of members of the jury. that would save the state more than $5 million a year. some defense lawyers are against the change. saying that smaller jurors are less likely to convict. >> in south africa, pistorious was released today. greg palcoc

a 750-foot section of the lake merritt channel was open in 45 years.t's part of a $47 million project to connect lake merritt to the oakland and eventually to the bay. >> it's going to make a central place where people will come. >> reporter: the next phase involves demolishing culverts. >>> new information tonight about yesterday's crane collapse. in eight minutes the damage that wasn't revealed until today. and why part of that project is now on hold. >>> chief meteorologist bill martin is tracking a trend in our weather. he's back at 10:45 with a chance you will notice this weekend. >> he was arrested for murder. why a judge allowed olympic athlete pistorius out on bail today. >>> an east bay performer is facing charges for allegedly abusing girls. jason pedroza worked for a ballet company. pedroza appeared in court this morning but he did not enter a plea. >>> the california judge association is endorsing a plan to lower the number of members of the jury. that would save the state more than $5 million a year. some defense lawyers are against the ch

the 77th mile of lake merritt opened in 140 years. it's all part of a plan to connect the merritt to san francisco bay. >> it's going to make in area instead of a barrier a central place where people will come. >> reporter: the money came from measure dd which was approved by oakland voters back in 2002 to complete the first phase of the project the 12th street dam, culverts and pedestrian tunnels were all removed. the next phase involves demolishing culverts underneath tenth street. the project also includes a new path way and restored marsh land along a portion of the lake merit channel. >> i think it's going to become in and of itself this whole walk is going to become a bay area destination that everybody is going to love. >> reporter: the project will also improve the water quality in lake merry. tidal flow is expected to increase by about 50%. the city of oakland is also planning a big celebration in june when the entire project is expected to be finished. >> google plus users got their chance today to chat with astronauts. nasa

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carolyn merritt, appointed by president bush to chair of the u.s.n 18-month investigation into what happened at texas city. >> these things do not have to happen. they are preventable. they are predictable, and people do not have to die because they're earning a living. >> you think this accident could have been easily prevented? >> absolutely. >> merritt's investigators found problems at texas city just about everywhere they looked: antiquated equipment, corroded pipes about to burst, and safety alarms that didn't work. >> there were three key pieces of instrumentation that were actually supposed to be repaired that were not repaired. and the management knew this. >> and nothing was done about it? >> they authorized the startup knowing that these three pieces of equipment were not properly working. >> but it wasn't just equipment that failed at texas city. bp broke its own rules by placing trailers full of workers in this open area right next to the unit being filled being filled with gasoline. bp also failed to tell the workers in those trailers a

this is the first of a series of projects to reconnect lake merritt to the oakland and san francisco bay. >> we'll check pack in for a look at the friday morning commute. >> i like the way you said that. thank you very much. good morning to you both. the traffic is looking good. we have had a little bit of road work here and there but it hasn't been major. sometimes on fridays we have lighter conditions. we're hoping that happens this friday. no major problems on 80 westbound as you drive west toward the bay bridge toll plaza. that looks good. so does northbound 181. 5:07, let's go to steve. >> pretty quite conditions out there. it's clear skies. doesn't mean it won't form but high pressure is moved in and everything is moving to the north. the extended outlook looks very quite and very dry which is not good. i've seen out to march 8th and 9th and there's little rain in there. we do have sunshine though and it will be warmer and a little cooler on saturday. next week though looking sunny and mild to warm. every system seems to drive in north and east of us. what we had on tuesday was

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we are to have a very cold start and we are dealing with a crash in baltimore county at dundalk on merritt boulevard at wise avenue. traveling on the beltway in the area, no delays whatsoever as we look live south of brunning highway no problems getting across the key bridge. outer loop will remain nice and clear as you push from 95 to 83. that stretch had take you the normal 11 minutes and looking at the other abc2 timesaver traffic drive times, the jfx will be clear heading downtown. just 11 minutes southbound from the beltway to east fayette street and everything is up to speed through the fort mchenry tunnel. an 8-minute ride northbound on 95 from the beltway to the toll plaza. that's a look at your morning commute. megan over to you. >>> it was not too long ago 't term fiscal cliff. now the term is sequestration and get used to it because we will hear a lot of it until march 1st. abc2 news linda so is live with what it means for you. and people want to know what it means to them? how will it affect them. >> reporter: well if it happens, it's going to affect people in many ways. drasti

a problem spot in dundalk get wise and merritt boulevard. otherwise looking good on the major roadways. 10 minutes on 95 northbound. 80. .n 895 between the 95's no problems on the inner core outer loop is. southbound traffic into the tunnel. northbound traffic looking good. that is the latest on traffic pulse 11. >> you will not find many people out on the roads today. >> congress begins a week-long vacation today. george lettis joins us with more. >> big spending cuts will hit the country on march 1 without a deal. airs a movement that has begun. a massive fiscal crisis, the economy hanging in the balance. what this congress doing? taking a break for presidents day. >> congress gets off one week for every federal holiday, a august.n a government watchdogs say government is not getting the job done. david walker has launched the no deal no break campaign. no deal to address the fiscal challenges. no break for members of congress. >> it is time to focus full-time on trying to defuse our ticking time bomb. >> democrats blame republicans. repub

dog owner and trainer jan merritt put her australian shepherd through the test. >> i knew she was smafrmte have success. and what the dognition experience gave me was information about how she solves problems. >> how does she solve problems? >> her profile indicates that she is a seeshlite. >> a socialite. >> that her success in life comes from here communication from humans. >> reporter: merritt says knowing how her dog thinks to train her. >> i can take the neverings from the dognition profile and it allows me to be able to do things faster. >> reporter: as for dr. hare, he hopes his stois eventually lead to pairing particular dog personalities to specific jobs, anything from canine police dogs to seeing eye dogs to military dogs. >> what makes dogs so indispensable is they're amazing at working together with us. >> rebecca says she found a girlfriend for barkley at duke. >> we like her already, don't we? >> yes, we do. >> there's barkley. that's a handsome dog, charlie. >> it is barkley. >> is he an ace or a maverick? is he an independent thinker? >> yes. >> well matched with his owner

city will hold a public celebration for this and other lake merritt improvements later this summer. that looks beautiful being out on the lake, something to do today? >> you and i noticed the rain on the pavement earlier this morning. for those just waking up, we had a weak system that brought a couple hundredths of rain around the bay area. it was raining for a time in san jose and also along the central coast. right now, nothing to show you. live doppler 7-hd with a sweep atop mount st. helena and national weather service we are dry and the clouds continue to erode. a look at east bay from emeryville camera, it's sunny out there and gusty winds in the higher elevations. 47 in san francisco. you are in the lower 50s with the cloud cover, higher dewpoints. numbers in the 40s to petaluma with the clouds hanging along the central coast. vollmer peak, it's very bright out there and another fair afternoon with high pressure sitting offshore with the winds kicking up today. gilroy cool at 46. it hasn't been as cool as it could be if we were clear the entire night. with the cloud cover ea

san jose merritt mayor chuck reed says moving the team to san jose should be an easy decision.on that remains is what will happen. reed says " we have the slight, the economics are compelling and eventually it will happen. mary also says he is in constant contact with a's owner lew wolf and both are optimistic, will happen. mom, i invited justin over for lunch. good. no, not good. he's a vegetarian and he's going to be here in 20 minutes! [ mom ] don't stress. we can figure this out. ♪ [ male announcer ] get the speed to make a great first impression. call today to get u-verse high speed internet for as little as $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. this is delicious. ♪ [ male announcer ] save the day in an instant. at&t. ♪ >> after the kron4 morning news don't forget to catch up dr. phil. today he talks on overprotective helicopter mom. she did she learn to take a setback on our kids to become independent? find out attend at after the kron4 morning news. >> still had a car for morning news will have more on the deadly crash of a popular stretch of las

two men walk up to the counter at it chevron station in grand avenue and perkin streets near lake merrittone man asked the price of candy and bar and the other man tied a chain and yanked the machine off the wall. >>> new details involving the discovery of a body of a teenagerred girl found anyway fairfield park. ktvu's john sasaki spoke about the homicide case with the man who discovered the young gir's body. >> i thought to myself, it looked like a mannequin. >> reporter: eric may says early yesterday morning he was wack thru favored's alan witt park when he saw the girl's body. >> the closer i got the more real she looked and it was oh, my god that is human being or was a human being. >> reporter: he says he flagged down a passing police car and later gave investigators a dna sample. >> rule me out and go after the people that did this. >> reporter: people have been bringing in mementos to honor the 13-year- old who ended up here naked and dead. >> it's sad for our neighborhood, it's just too close to home. we live three blocks away and it's sad. i hope them catch them. >> reporter: th

virginia merritt mcdonnell will be at the air is -- virginia mayor mcdonnell will be at the ceremony. it should be finished in time for training camp this summer. >>> the wizards will have to start another winning streak after the nba all-stare break ends. the pistons ended a stretch of four wins for the wizards last night, 96-85. washington led through three quarters but allowed the pistons to outscore them in the fourth and steal the win. okafor led with 20 points. ♪ i want your desire cuz your a criminal ♪ >> lady gaga says she is sorry but she has to cancel the rest of her "born this way" ball tour. she has a hip injury that requires surgery. that means her little monsters will not see her at the verizon center later this month. fans will receive refunds, though. >>> the snow overnight was a nice change of pace for these deer in olney, maryland. some parts of the area waking up to a light dusting of snow this morning. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein here with what we can expect today. tom? >>> it accumulated on grassy areas and melted on roads. but as the roads stayed wet o

you ran a stat before -- you said merritt -- we've never had an l.a. winner and normally when we say that the opposite happens. get me? maybe merrick will win. jim: you play all those vibes. nick: every time. we did it with bill haas much. through 40 holes, as soon as we say he hasn't bogeyed, he bogeyed. jim: i never imagined when i was covering your career that you had all of this floating through your mind. nick: i wasn't listening. let's continues trait on this. his caddie need to go the other way for the shadow. walk behind him. wow! that was the biggest six-foot of his career. david: no shortage of intestines. jim: pulls back the visor. he's got like on everyman kind of quality about him, doesn't he? the die you might get a bucket of balls and saddle up next to on the driving range. now, one-footer. and we're on to the second playoff hole. which will be the 10th. which i just love that a playoff actually finds it way to that hole with -- its way to that hole with so many strategies in play. here's the lineup tonight on cbs and here is a broadcast

. >> a new channel at oakland's lake merritt was opened to boats today for the first time in one hundredthe ongoing two hundred million dollar improvement project to the lake that the shoreline and recreational paths and bridges for bicycles and pedestrians. eventually the new channel will connect to the oakland estuary. >> coming up -- the latest into olympic runner oscar killing his model girlfriend. plus: the pentagon is grounding its entire fleet of fighter jets. after discovering a problem with the engine. and: details on the f-d-a approval of a bay area companys treatment -- for [ female announcer ] now get high speed internet at home on our newly expanded advanced digital network, a connection you can count on. at&t u-verse high speed internet offers more speed options, reliability and wi-fi hotspots than ever. call at&t now to get u-verse high speed internet for as little as $14.95 a month for 12 months with a one-year price guarantee. it's the fastest internet for the price. our newly expanded advanced digital network gives you more of what you enjoy online. and with at&t, our w

the gender barrier in our family, three daughters, four granddaughters and yesterday archer thomas merrittroke the barrier. it's the two of us and the alpha females in the family will probably still prevail. >> our best to sarah. congratulations. >> thank you. >>> the 20 somethings behind snap chat. why he is welcoming comments right after this. how do we take an unpolished room and make it shine? we get doing... ...with a store full of ways to get it done. we can all throw on our work clothes... ...and throw out any doubt. because right now's the time to take those rooms from... ..."think i can do this?" to... ..."let me show you what i just did." more saving. more doing. that's the power of the home depot. outsmart your budget with this shaker vanity, a special buy at just $199. [ male announcer ] make your escape... twice as rewarding. earn double points or double miles on all your hotel stays through march thirty first. sign up now at hiltondouble.com. on all your hotel stays through march thirty first. nature's true celebrities aren't always the most obvious. it's more than being glam

. >>> lake merritt channel has reopened for the first time in more than a century.o be completed next year. >>> the chinese new year parade isn't the only thing being celebrated in san francisco. today, the unusual talent that will be on full display this afternoon at ripley's believe it or not. . >> outside our doors, partly cloudy skies turning mostly sunny by the second half of the morning and into the afternoon. not as warm as yesterday afternoon. i'll show you what you can expect in your neighborhood, coming up. whatever you want, baby. hmm. let's just share a 20 piece. [ internal ] 20 mcnuggets, for only $4.99? oh, man. she's beautiful smart and sensible. jackpot. [ crewperson ] anything else? [ male announcer ] mcdonald's crispy, juicy chicken mcnuggets are now part of the extra value menu. so you get the tastes you love at a price you'll love even more. guess who's going to the game? [ internal ] thank you. [ male announcer ] the simple joy of having more to love. . ♪ >>> justin timberlake and jay-z have announced they are going on tour. one of their stops i