the deal makes solar city the largest residential installer of home systems. >>> the median home price fell to $338,000 last month that is down more than 3% from $350,000 a year ago. still it is better than the 10% drop in december. foreclosures accounted for 40% in october. >>> stocks traded at their highest level in more than two years. the dow gained almost 30 points. the index has been rising steadily this month with only three down days so far. >>> the giants closer is in a pinch. the physical challenge he's facing right now at spring training. >>> the giants closer is back in the news. and probably something you won't expect. they're up such a tight microscope. >> ordinarily wouldn't even report this story. spring training they are there to work out the kinks but bryan wilson. they don't want to take any chances and he reported a little stiffness in the back today so he was held out of his scheduled throwing session. stiffness in his back. nothing serious. he could in fact, start throwing again tomorrow. sounds like he just needs a good massage. >>> meantime albert pujols arrivin

hi, i'm here with carl, he is the operations manager for solar city. we decided to take a little break from the cls room to so we could see some of the solar panels in action. carl, how are you? >> very well. nice to meet you. >> how do you like the weather? >> not too bad. >> kind of sunny. how does that impact our solar panels when we have lots of sun versus fog which we are typically accustomed to in san francisco? >> well, contrary to popular belief, solar panels will produce electricity when it's foggy out. how much depends on the density of the fog. on a day like today it's hazy for typical san francisco weather. on a day like talking, you can expect 80% of your what would be your full production on a clear sunny day. >> so if i were thinking about getting solar panels and i lived in san francisco and i was worried about haze versus full sun and how that will impact what jets yated, are there any tools or tricks that i can use to determine what the production is going to be like? >> the first thing you need to do is look at what available area do

panels and i still don't support eliminating fees in the instaulation of solar panels or in gardens because in the current environment city departments need to cover their cost. from that perspective there is more room for opportunity on the value side than the fee reduction. i saw the president has arrived. i don't know if you want to make any comments as a co-sponsor. thank you very much. >> so it sounds like there is a general city ordinance in place for fencing requirements, period. >> that's correct. i presume part of it is driven by the work suggests that it is about aesthetic but i am sure it is also about safety. >> it is about consistency. >> we have an odd situation where they don't have to have a fence at all. if they do they have to have a particular type of fence. >> that's correct. >> i would express a little bit of concern about starting the precedent of issuing out, you know, exceptions to what i agree with is a nice idea and something i want to be a supporter of which is locally home grown produce gets rid of fuel, machines carrying produce all over the world. i am totally behind that. but i also caution

. >>> the city of belmont is becoming a high-tech company. solarny sun edison is moving its international headquarters from maryland to the peninsula. city leaders say they plan to hire 400 local workers over the next three years. sun edison says their new building is right next to highway 101 making it very visible to nearbily a quarter of a million drivers every day. an they also hope to tap into the silicon valley talent pool. volkswagon of america recently announced they will also move a research lab to belmont. >>> all right. bringing some jobs to the bay area. 5:37 right now. the rain is coming to the bay area as well, although it has been spring-like temperatures. i saw blossoms on the trees. >> yes, especially in the north bay. if you have been working outside, you love the weather. the rain returns next week. we are looking to a soggy workweek. but this weekend will be nice. we'll talk about the good before we have to deal with the bad. 38 degrees in concord. and we are at really chilly conditions in the agricultural areas and outlying are

solar on their roof. [applause] hawaii and also dedicated to making sure that every home owner gets their fair share when the city might be losing money. right now, given the huge drop in home values, we have some people who bought after 2004 who deserve a reassessment our office, proactively, like many offices across the state -- we have looked at 20,000 home owners. we reduced the assessment by 15,000 homeowners -- 50,000 homeowners got a reduction. many of you have worked with me closely to make our tax system more transparent. to close loopholes to make sure that the very few do not escape paying what they are owed. i am also honored and grateful that you have stood by me, even when some of the most powerful institutions and people -- we work closely with homeowners to fight against predatory lenders and we work to make sure san francisco can leverage that most important asset, their home, to put solar panels on their roofs. by doing that, we have launched one of the first green jobs programs in san francisco. go solar not only allows of 1000 people to get solar on their roof, but it injures 40,000 san franci

solar weather patterns and plan for future space missions. >>> and now a look at one of your top health headlines. new york cityfficials confirm three new yorkers contracted cholera last month in the dominican republic. that nation shares the island with haiti where thousands have recently died from the disease. officials are testing to see if the strain is similar to the one in haiti. new york typically sees only one case a year and officials report all three people infested have recovered. for more information on this and other health stories, you can always head to the web and check out the health page online at msnbc.com. >> reporter: "early today" health is brought to you by vagisil screening kit. >> and now here's a look at how wall street will kick off the day. the dow opens at 12,029 after gaining 29 friday. the s&p inched up 3 points. the nasdaq rose 15. taking a look at overseas trading this morning, in tokyo, the nikkei added 48 points, but in hong in hong kong, the hang seng tumbled 355. >>> sunshine may be in short supply this winter, but on wall street, optimistic investors are looking on the brig

. >>> solar company sun edison is moving its international headquarters from maryland to the peninsula. the cityrs say the firm plans to hire 400 local workers over the next three years. sun edison says a new building is right next to highway 101 making it visible to 240,000 drivers a day. and they can tap into the silicon valley talent pool. volkswagon of america recently announced they are moving to a research lab in bell month. >>> a bay area man is rocking a heavy metal hall of famer with a lawsuit claiming he have he was not paid enough for the work he did. steven wigs claimed metallica drummer owed him for years of unpaid overtime. the man's lawyers say that wig was essentially on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. wig says that he was given a partial bonus of $20,000 back in december but they argue that it does not cover the overtime of the 70 to 80 hours he worked each week. the lawsuit doesn't say how much money wig is asking for. >> i would like somebody on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. >> it will cost you, though. >> yeah, that's true. >>> some south bay people are open to payi

city. >>> caught off guard, a dashboard camera captures a brazen attack on an ohio police officer. >>> and global katrina. england's chief scientist warns the earth is way overdue for a ferocious solar storm. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> hello and good morning. welcome to our viewers across the nation, including the pacific time zone. i'm lynn berry. today we begin with searching for survivors. this morning, new zealand is scrambling to find people trapped under the rubble of a massive 6.3 earthquake. it struck midday yesterday in christchurch, the country's second largest city. the country's prime minister says so far at least 65 people are confirmed dead with that death toll expected to rise. this marks the second major earthquake endured by the southern new zealand city in just five months. hopefully no one was killed in the previous quake. however, this quake is proving to be much more devastating, in part because it was closer to the surface and centered the nearer to the city's main population. it also took place during lunchtime when the streets were crowded with people. christchurch's mayor described the city of 350,000 as a war zone and has declared a s

solar power at the waste water facility in the bayview hunter's point. he will be responsible for putting power on our libraries, on our schools, and everywhere possible in the city and county of san francisco. we're very fortunate that this mayor has been the first mayor to create a climate action plan that will reduce the green house emissions by 20 percent by the year 2012. this mayor has also been a leader and innovation and we're looking at creating -- in harnessing paddle power below the golden gate bridge and that will be done under gavin newsom's leadership. so please put your hands together and give a warm san francisco welcome to our mayor, my mayor, gavin newsom. >> thank you. newly elected so i've got to now call him mr. president. thank you, president brooks. i want to thank the commissioners for being here and of course our director, susan leyall, recognize her extraordinary leadership in putting this to the. as they say, god's delays are not god's denials. we should have been here a decade ago. i had the great privilege of just getting back a couple days ago from the world's economic forum in suite err land. it was an extraordinary experience for t

city. our media partner, the san jose mercury news reports that they are moving from maryland to belmont bringing 500 jobs with it. they are planning an $8 million renovation. sun edison operates solar plants. >>> tomorrow morning a san jose judge will decide whether a man accused of assaulting a priest will stand trial. william lynch is accused of beating him at the sacred heart jesuit center. he says the man molested him more than 30 years ago. demonstrators were gathered to support lynch. defense attorneys tried to call him to testify, but the judge denied the request. >> at this point in his life, he claims he is not the molester everyone else says he is, he doesn't have the courage to come to the courtroom and say he is not. >> the catholic church paid out $600,000 to him and his brother, but lynch never said he did it. >>> an inmate at the napa county jail was severely burned when he set his clothes on fire in his cell. the man was airlifted to the burn unit at uc davis. he has been there since last september when he was charged with assault with a deadly ep with. >> officials in menlo park are taking its squirrel problem seriously. after starting a poisoning campaign, the pub

solar heated pool. that's not the club. that comes with the house. not a bad thing. >> last house in austin, texas, $299,900. >> one of the hippest cities in the u.s.this home has no direct neighbors on any side. it has a green area on one side and a dog park across the street. you don't have to see human beings for weeks. >> looks like a dr. seuss house. >> it's spacious and lovely. looks tall and squeezed in. it's not on the inside. windows on every wall of the house. that's a back screened in porch. there is a big kitchen with stone counter tops and a double sink, cherry cabinets, glass-tile back splash. the backyard is miniature, but private and big enough for me. it backs into a creek. >> we're always waiting for joe, our director. >> that's fine. >> thanks so much. for more information on the homes go to todayshow.com. coming up next, high profile celebrity rehab. why charlie sheen and lindsay lohan and others have such a hard time beating the demons. >>> plus, the crushing weight of snow. record accumulations causing buildings to collapse. we'll show you what's going on, but first these messages. ice sculpture means i don't have any margin f