i'm consumer editor tom vacar, what young parents have to say about that. still ahead. >> as the rain pulls out, the cool windy weather pulling in. we'll take a look at what you can expect for your tuesday. look at you guys with your fancy-schmancy u-verse high speed internet. you know, in my day you couldn't just start streaming six ways to sunday. you'd get knocked off. and sometimes, it took a minute to download a song. that's sixty seconds, for crying out loud. we know how long a minute is! sitting, waiting for an album to download. i still have back problems. you're only 14 and a half. he doesn't have back problems. you kids have got it too good if you ask me. [ male announcer ] now u-verse high speed internet has more speed options, reliability and ways to connect. rethink possible. reliability and ways to connect. when i take a picture of this check, it goes straight to the bank. oh. oh look the lion is out! no mommy no! don't worry honey, it only works on checks. deposit checks from your smartphone with chase quickdeposit. just snap a picture, hit s

ktvu's tom vacar sin west oakland -- is in west oakland. tom? >> reporter: look up here. the thing that is interesting, this was impressive for speed and lucky for its circumstances. >> reporter: there is only one reasons the repairs could proceed thought engineers determined the heat didn't compromise the over pass. it was a few feet away from where the blaze raged. heat can compromise such structures. >> the oakland fire department got the fire out quickly enough. it did not create damage to the rails on which the train runs. we did suffer electrical damage. >>> the repairs were done with speed. a small army of engineers, technicians and maintenance workers worked to replace the insulators to ensure it wouldn't short out. badly burned cabling necessary to control the train system was replacedplaced and rewired. the computer controls and censors may not be fully up and running, forcing trains to go slower. >> what the goal is to get the service up and running safely. that doesn't mean we replace everything that was damaged, we want to make sure the communication is safe.

ktvu's tom vacar is in san francisco with the impact it will have on small employers. tom? >> reporter: what employers are faced with will have everything to do with how many employees they have. >> reporter: healthcare impacts. >> i cannot tell you how many tragedies i have seen related to being uninsured. and i think that having a nation with health insurance will translate into better healthcare for all. >> reporter: a million people who run their own businesses will have access to competitively priced insurance. >> it says the minute i hire more than 50 i have a new obligation. >> reporter: 50-200 employees are obligated to pride insurance -- provide insurance or pay a penality. >> in fairness, 95% of businesses over 200 employees are providing health insurance. >> this will give them an avenue they can go to that can bargain in the best interest of the consumer and lower the cost. >> reporter: the discounts will take a while. >> it will take time for the effects to work their way to the system. >> the key of whether this will be judged successfully, can they put in cos

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live at the scene of a house fire where every fire truck make as difference -- makes a difference. you see this damage. this reignited a controversy over the city budget cuts. >> reporter: some believe this fire could have been handled better and quicker. >> could have been faster if they got here faster. could have only been fire damage. >> engine 29 would have been the first engine but they weren't available. >> it may or may not have had impact. >> i think it could have been faster. >> our standard is 8 minutes. >> reporter: even between labor and management. >> the fewer people we have the more fire damage we have. >> we are the lowest staffed. >> reporter: not only do they have the fewest firefighters per capita, they have fewer firefighters than the nation's 25 largest cities. one contractor we spoke with told me he has noticed one thing, more complete burn outs of late. >> doesn't surprise me. fewer resources means less of an ability to stop fires quickly. >> reporter: he analyzes public budgets. >> they made choices about paying people who

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the fall out from facebook's ipo could become more widespread. he asks the securities and exchange commission for advice on whether regulations need to be changed. he wants the sec to answer questions about whether laws get preferred stock market clients an unfair advantage. >>> a pair of mountain lions spotted in contra costa. a man reported the sitings yesterday. he had saw mountain lions in an open field. police contacted fish and game officials. if you see one, do not approach the animal. >>> palo alto, a bike sharing program was approved today. calls for 100 bikes. no word on pricing. the plan needs approval from the planning and transportation commission and the city counsel. they hope to have it running in october. >>> a dangerous fight to try to save a life. we will hear from a neighbor who ran towards this burning home where a woman was trapped inside. >> nearly 30 degrees cooler today in parts of the bay area and tomorrow you might need the umbrellas. i will let you know when that all occurs, i will see you back here. ♪ [ male announcer

. >> i'm consumer editor tom vacar, infrastructure still ahead. >>> another look at the fire scene near sunol here's a live picture from news chopper 2. firefighters tell us this fire has burned about 300 acres but the good news is it's about 75% contained right now. winds are light in the area, they are about 200 firefighters on the scene and there were aircraft involved earlier making drops on the area. no homes are threatened in the area of this fire and we'll keep an eye on it for you. >>> structural and concrete engineers arrived on the scene late today to investigate that massive west oakland fire that shut down b.a.r.t. yesterday. crews will have to shore up the burned down construction side before anyone can go inside to look for evidence. right now investigators say they are focusing on the outside of that area. >> we're following up on investigative leads, we're conducting interviews and are openly our goal is to get in and to find out exactly what happened. oakland fire investigators say the electricity was out and no tools were left that could have been a source of ignition.

i am consumer editor tom vacar, what you need to know. >> and it was hot out there today, but a major cool down coming your way, i will let you know how much cooler in your neighborhood. >> and we continue our live coverage. a massive traffic back up in the san francisco embarcardero. this is one of the results from a massive fire at pier 29. @@0 hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios >>> more live coverage of a developing situation. news chopper 2 is over a traffic mess at san francisco's embarcardero. that line of cars is the result of a fire that happened at pier 29. it happened before 2:00. and we are still seeing the traffic results. embarcardero is shut down from bay all the way to broadway, that is 12 blocks. as a result drivers are forced to find another way to get around town. pier 29 went up in flames, the building was empty except for construction workers. traffic delays are in effect 3 hours later. we are working to find the cause of the fire.

tom vacar is live with answers to a tough question and why some are not liking what they are hearing from the utility >> reporter: pg&e begins by saying that a contractor who was working in this now covered hole puncture add gas line and started the fire. not yet clear whether there was a site walk shutoff valve or the intense fire mate it impossible to access them. pg&e then chose to dig into the street to shut off the gas from the lane line. this took almost two hours. >> within 10 for 15 minutes from their arrival on to the scene, they should be able to shut it off. if it goes as long as yesterday, you know, we are lucky it didn't cascade all up and down the street. >> reporter: consumer advocate mindy spat. >> it's a fire leaded burn. that's not what we consider a safe plan. the plan is something that gets put into place in minutes. why >> reporter: why not shut off the whole neighborhood? >> it would take time for the gas to go down from the pipe and escape. that might take hours. >> reporter: in other words, the gas might have kept spewing and when the gas pressure was restored

i am consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. are going now to christien kafton at the scene of the fire with more on the investigation. >> reporter: tom, since our last report we moved around the corner to give you a better perspective on the fire. there is still a fence being put up. investigators believe the fire started at the far end of this building over here. they believe that is where much of the investigation is centered. we are hearing rumors that we heard of a security guard who may have had an altercation with a group of people before the fire broke out. late this afternoon oakland police responded to our inquiries with an e-mail. it reads based on information provided at this time it does not appear an assault appeared this morning at that location. it does not address whether there was verbal interaction. we can report that we have seen bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives here on scene and seen investigators from the fire department working to determine the cause of the fire. we are joined by the chi

i'm tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> go to ktvu.com to view more coverage of today's big decision, a link to the text of the ruling. look for the health care tab we posted for you at the top of our home page. >>> weekly jobless claims fell slightly last week but the latest numbers indicate hiring remained weak. applications fell by 6,000 with seasonally adjusted 386,000. the four-week average was essentially unchanged at a little more than 386,000. applications below 375,000 generally signal hiring is strong enough to actually lower the nation's unemployment rate. >>> a change in the weather for firefighters who are battling a huge blaze in the rockies, but will it help them? coming up, new damage totals from the worst wild fire in colorado history. ktvu meteorologist mark tamayo will be here to tell us if the bay area can expect a warm-up in time for your weekend. >> number numbers this evening indicate flames have destroyed an estimated 346 homes, making it the most destructive fire in colorado's history. it remains only 10% contained. crews are finally getting a break in the wea

tom vacar tells us the nexus 7 is smaller, cheaper and faster than its competitors. >> the nexus 7 is a compeks minitablet with a powerful processor. the wifi android device has a siri-like command system. >> it is small and definitely sophisticated, and for $200, it's inexpensive, and it has the enormous marketing power of google behind it, but the question remains, is it an ipad killer? >> no, because i don't think it targets it. it's going after folks for the pure cost and entertainment aspects. >> it's a smaller device and roughly half the price of an ipad. it's not necessarily a direct competitor with apple, which i think is a smart move. >> a $300 black warp that can play anything you buy on google's play store, music, movies and shows or anything on youtube right on your tv. >> gives you more reason to be in their media consumption ecosystem, but gives you a nice accessory to get to the television. >> reporter: but with the kindle fire already established and many other minitablets on the market as well, is google too late. >> there's so much happening as far as where this stuf

ktvu consumer editor tom vacar explains what's at stake for oakland and who stands to gain. >> reporter: the former oakland army base was closed 13 years ago, and tonight, the best proposal to date may live or die on the boat of an oakland city council committee. oakland native developer phil tomer says a lot is at stake. >> just a little over 4,000 permanent jobs to the area. >> reporter: labor and community groups want those in the impoverished zip codes to get many jobs, regardless of a criminal record. >> i think there's many jobs out there they don't need to be investigated or that they've been in trouble before. >> reporter: that's simple enough for construction jobs impossible for those requiring certain clearances. >> there's a great deal of responsibility and respect to local interests, but it has to be commercially viable. >> even the simplest form of this project boils down to 730 pages and that's a disstillation of more than four years of pain staking work. anytime somebody makes a demand to change something, it can set off a reaction that takes months to resolve. another st

but as our consumer editor tom vacar reports, it may be awhile before the newly passed measure b sees of day. >> reporter: san jose's public employee union filed two lawsuits this morning, one to kill measure b as unconstitutional, and the other to block its implementation until a final court ruling. >> we had a hearing this morning before judge lu cas, and in that hearing, the city agreed to -- that no part of measure b will be implemented into further notice. >> reporter: the city expects to prevail. >> the california constitution gives the city of san jose, a charter city, complete authority over employee compensation. our charter says we have the right to dial back retirement benefits. >> reporter: the union lawsuits rely on a ruling that preserves state legislator's pensions when they were diminished by the term limits initiative. >> the california supreme court, in a published decision, entitled legislature versus you, held that that was an unconstitutional impairment of those pension benefits. exactly the way measure b operates. >> reporter: the mayor says two successful califo

as ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar reports, parents are more than grateful. >> reporter: coffee, tea, spongebob? this is the play cafe, parents can take a coffee break while their tots meet and play. >> great way to have copy and the children can give moms talking time. >> you meet other parents, dads. >> i think they are a great place for parents to go. you need to be able to function. >> reporter: he created this business to spend time with his family. >> we have kids that are shy and then they warm up. they see all the other kids interacting and then they integrate themselves. >>> the cost, $8 a child plus food and beverages. >> it is worth it to have 30 minutes of coffee. yeah. it is worth it. >> kids need a place to play that is safe and we need a place. >> reporter: unlimited talk time is free. >> good to have a community place so people can get together and talk. >> reporter: small cafes offerer a cheap alternative. consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> san francisco is overcoming one of the last obstacles to the america's cup with a bird study. they voted to set

reporting live, consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> good news for drivers. gas prices took a dig dip. we haven't dropped below $4 yet but prices have dropped 11 cents a gallon. aaa says san jose has the lowest gas prices in the area, $4.01. oakland $4.03. in san francisco $4.14. coming up, what is bringing the prices down and how much further they might drop. and to find the least expensive gas, go to www.ktvu.com. >>> they will start rolling out its new model s. the ceo will hand deliver keys to a group of holders during a ceremony on friday. the car is billed as the first electric sedan with a range of 265-miles and capable of going 0-60 in 6 seconds. $49,000.900. >>> lawmakers have a lot of work to do to complete the budget. right now only portions have passed. the bills lay out what to do with hot button issues. it is sitting on governor jerry brown's desk. the governor has till june 27 to sign or veto. >>> four football players current or former members of the new orleans saints appealed their suspensions in the bounty scandal. they met with nfl officia

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is in oakland with more. >> reporter: i want to show you this.neath the over pass would be their bedroom. in effect, only 1-2 americans say they could carry on for more than three months before collapsing financially. >> reporter: a financial coach for the unity counsel. >> maybe i say five of the 28 have a sabings plan and -- savings plan and ideas and goals, but most are living pay check to pay check. >> i lived that way till i was in my mid-30s. so i am not surprised. >> deeply distressing. having lived on the edge myself for a long time, i am with them. little bit better position now. >> i am a saver so that would scare me to death. but given the economy and the way things are, deis not surprising -- it is not surprising. >> reporter: family stress rises. >> most of the adult children are unemployed. so they are providing for their children, grandchildren, a lot are sharing households now. >> reporter: more and more people are falling through, many into the hands of inland debt. >> pay day lenders may offer a loan but it will be 459% in calif

ktvu's tom vacar joins us with that. >> reporter: today it was evolution. not revolution.olution that is driving technology. >> i am your assistant and today i was asked to warm up the crowd. which should be easy since the high will be 75 degrees. [ laughter ] >> thank you for that. >> reporter: today apple introduced new notebooks and laptops. better than the best hd tvs at the same or lower cost. new software. iphones will get a new operating system two, where it becomes more responsive to your commands. >> who is taller lebron james or kobe bryant? >> lebron james appears to be taller. >> reporter: and it will give users turn by turn directions, catching up with android systems. >> they don't do -- they don't respond to pressure for the sake of responding. they take their time. >> reporter: smartphones are cutting into sales of cameras, gps devices. as we see the intelligence grow it is difficult for competitive devices to keep up. >> they know where you are, what you are doing. not too much of a reach to think of it as sensory extensions. that sounds a little bit far e

tom vacar live there now to explain why this incident is so unusual. >> reporter: well it was a rarely seen chain reaction. rarely seen until the fire came out of the ground, right here. late last night in millbrae a suspected drunk driving hit a power pole. that set off a -- >> mysterious set of circumstances. >> reporter: a live wire blew off the pole. it landed on the chain link fence. in a blink of an eye, the electricity went down a pole that was sank to a pipeline 3 feet deep igniting the gas. >> very odd. >> reporter: neighbors responded with their fire extinguishers. >> put it out at first, as soon as we moved the dirt it lit right back up again. once that happened, san bruno idea kicked in and we pretty much came back, got everybody out of the house and went down the street. >> reporter: pg & e says it happened once every three years or so almost always caused by something far more common. >> generally happens because the lightning strikes. >> reporter: but the biggest threat to gas lines and it happens every day in pg & e system, that some excavator simply digs into it. >> we

tom vacar, ktvu news. >>> after 13 months of digging a new water tunnel has reached a milestone in thest bay. the tunnel stretches 3-1/2 miles from the sonol valley to fremont. part of a multi million dollars project to make seismic upgrades. the old tunnel was built back in the 1920s and is seismically unsound. >>> five platforms known as travelers are being made by a southern california company. they will be suspended from tracks beneath the bridge workers will use them to conduct bridge inspections, repairs, and painting operationals after the bridge -- operations after the bridge opens next year. >>> there are major upgrades for caltrain. the project that could pump money into the local economy and create hundreds of jobs. >>> verizon will allow customers to bundle several devices into one plan. under verizon's share everything plan, customers will pay a device. the changes are set to take effect january 28th. >>> while oakland and the east bay mourn the potential loss of the warriors to san francisco, not everyone in the city is thrilled with the idea of the team moving across the

we will have much more on the stuff they talked about, ktvu's tom vacar will have more on ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. >>> special interest in the late leader of apple, we will have that story coming up. >>> tomorrow a major construction project in san francisco is expected to make life difficult for many making their way through streets. they plan to excavate fourth street. part of a 1.6-mile tunnel to china town. it is expected to cause major traffic delays delays and detours. also expected to effect muni lines. >>> a three-alarm fire sends a dozen people running from their homes. >> we will tell you more about how long the hot temperatures will last in your neighborhood and the good samaritan who jumped into action and a body of water when a car ran off the road. >>> three good samaritan rescued a woman after her car ran off the road last night. rescuers spotted the car in the water feet from the shore. they say it was sinking fast. so they jumped in and pulled the woman to safety. she was treated and released. there is no word on why

ktvu consumer editor tom vacar tells us there is a fire concern involving toyota's window switches. >> reporter: toyota power window switches ltd.ing to fires happened only a few times but the national highway safety administration didn't like what it saw. >> they will send an information request and we give them all the information that they've asked for. >> reporter: according to the ralph nader is there for affiliated auto safety, the consequences could be severe. >> the worst case scenario is it shorts, starts an interior vehicle fire and the door itself, because of the electronics, will lock up. >> they have 32 complaints and one report of an injury and at this point that injury would be unconfirmed. >> reporter: the 1.4 million cars under investigation include 800,0002008 and 2009 toyota camries, the' 07 rav 4, and the '08 hislander hybrid. >> none of these are a safety recall. they are investigations. >> reporter: but they're investigations called engineering analyses. >> that's the last stage of investigation, which means they're very near to ordering a recall so i'd suggest t

tom vacar, channel 2 news. >> president barack obama says the economy is not growing as fast as he would hope. they want him to take on his proposal. >> right now, congress should pass a bill to help states prevent more lay offs to put thousands of teachers and firefighters and police officers back on the job. >> first it was george bush and then it was congress, atm machines, europe, he always has someone but the truth is the job of the president is to get america back to work. >> room flee is in los angeles following the bay area visit. this afternoon the republican nominee said voters should hold the president responsible for the slow pace of the recovery. shares of facebook fell adding to the stocks losses since the ipo two weeks ago. it closed at $27.22 a share. it is a 27% drop from its debut price of $38. facebook may be ready for an about-face when it comes to the privacy policies. ahead in 11 minutes what facebook is asking from the users. >>> now we go to los angeles where there was more grim testimony from a friend of gianty's grand stowe. marvin norwood and sanchez are accuse

coming unat 5:00, consumer editor tom vacar will have the latest on the investigation. >>> people forcedrom their redwood city apartment building last week by an arson fire are still scrambling to find places to live. the fire on wednesday displaced 25 people. it started in the carport and spread to eight units in the building. there have been three apartment fires in san mateo county in the past two weeks. the red cross says it's running out of motel and hotel space for the victims. >> there's been a lot of need for hotel rooms and as a result, not a lot of spare inventory available for over 130 people that have been displaced by the fire. >> red cross officials say if there are any more apartment fires, they may to have use their contingency plans and open up shelters and house fire victims. >>> this morning the defense presented its first witnesses in the child molestation trial of former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky. one man said he and other coaches were present when jerry sandusky brought young boys into the team showers. he says he never saw anything inapprop

joining me are will reisman, tom vacar and marisa lagos, political writer for "the san francisco chronicle." you know, marisa, the state budget being passed, some people saying, my goodness. >> and on time. >> and on time. but were there still sticking points? the governor and the legislature weren't necessarily walking step by step. >> no, and this is, you know, the big sort of appropriations bill was passed today. we still have about 20 trailer bills that are going to need to be taken up. and the big sticking points that the governor and the legislator have been negotiating throughout this week really haven't been resolved. as late as friday, the governor's office was saying, we're not there yet. the biggest issue is cal works, there's question, the governor really wants to cut it by almost a billion dollars. and he would like to see the sort of grant levels be reduced. the amount of time people can stay on this program. democrats are saying no way. this is, after years of cuts and we don't want to leave people homeless. we saw $92 billion spending plan passed on friday. there's $8 billi

joining me tonight on our news panel are tom vacar, ktvu news, consumer editor. and richard gonzalez, npr correspondent. and david lazarus, the las vegas times. david, if there ever was a time when we could use a crystal ball and that would be you, tell us where are we in this and when will the court let us know what's they're deliberations have brought them to rule on? >> frs of all, there's no percentage in trying to second guess the supreme court. anything we say will remain in the realm of speculation. that said, polls that have come out and my own conversations with a number of health care experts suggest we have a sense of what could happen next week. on the one hand, what we're looking at probably the conservative wing of the supreme court striking down the so called individual mandate. at the beginning of this process, it was thought legal footing, now a lot of people are thinking, you know, bagsed on the aggressive questioning during the testimony, the individual mandate probably living on borrowed time. the question is what about the rest of the health

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live from one of four libraries that never opened but now may be able to. >> reporter: indeed the mayor says savings from measure b could open up these soon. >> we had a hearing this morning and the city agreed to -- that no part of measure b will be imelemented till further -- implemented till further notice. >> gives san jose authority over employee compensation. we have the right to dial back retirement benefits. >>> the lawsuit rely on a ruling. >> the california supreme court in a published decision held that that was an unconstitutional impairment. exactly the way measure b operates. >> reporter: he says wisconsin had little to do with california's measures. >> measures that are unpopular with unions but not seeking to eliminate the unions. in wisconsin we had a governor that made collective-bargaining agreement illegal. >> i think collective- bargaining agreement is alive and well, unions remain a powerful force in the state. 1-5 workers in the state is a union member. >> reporter: measure b could be in the courts for years to come. >>> warr

reporting live, consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> today's jobs report also shows it is getting tougher to get a job if you've been out of work for a long time. the number of americans who've been jobless more than six months rose last month from 5.1 million to 5.4 million. about 43% of unemployed americans are considered long term employees. >> we still have more than three unemployed workers for every job opening and they are competing against a lot of other folks who are just looking to change jobs. >> reporter: the labor department says people age 55 and older wait the longest to get a job. >>> there was one bright spot today when it comes to the economy. americans are buying new cars in big numbers. double digit sales gains were reported. toyota led the pack with an 87% job compared to last year but that increase was expected as the company recovered from last year's earthquake in japan. chrysler was second with a 30% increase in sales followed by volkswagen and ford. >>> new information regarding the case on the beating of bryan stow. we go to robert handa, and