ktvu's tom vacar joins us with more on the situation. tom? >> reporter: have a look over here. in a usual year these prices would head down but because of the chevron refinery fire it is anything but usual. >> reporter: they made a road trip round trip because airplane tickets also spiked by fuel cost were also too high. >> cheaper to drive here even though gas prices are so high. >> reporter: bay area wide, the average price of a gallon of regular is $4.20. that is up 2 cents from a week ago. up 35 cents from a months ago before the chevron refinery fire and up a quarter from labor day a year ago. >> i got back from a trip from the mid-west, it is amazing i am paying a dollar more here. >> reporter: many blame speculators as much as they do chevron. >> the speculation drives up fuel prices. >> out of our control. up to them. i think, you know, they panic, they say we are going down, they raise the price. >> we have to always pay big, rich people. not fair to us. >> reporter: that is why dianne feinstein called for a special investigation into gas prices in the wake of the chev

consumer editor tom vacar ktvu channel 2 news. >>> bart added more trains to its week night service. officials say ridership has increased. four additional trains will run. that means trails will arrive every 7-1/2 minutes. >>> the chamber of calm ranks californiavise the 4th worst climates for lawsuits. california judges allow too many of frivolous lawsuits. >> every time you turn around companies are getting sued for any little thing from all these attorneys and it is creating a huge cost and it is causing companies to make decisions not to invest in california. >> attorneys in california say the legal system works well and that everyone is well served when juries are allowed to make decisions based on evidence. coming up, the big name that is being lured to one bay area city. >>> we will tell you what kinds of schools are more likely to have children who are not immunized. >> i am tracking the fog right now, the latest computer model up and ready to go. i will see you back here in a few minutes. >>> a man accused of running down a bicyclist last month pleaded not guilty today. pol

ktvu's tom vacar joins us now with the rumor that was wrong. >> reporter: the beat goes on. the phone is real, the ipad many was just a dream. >> reporter: looks can be and are deceiving. >> every year we introduce new versions, new features, each time setting a new bar for what is the standard. >>> the phone's screen is larger, it is thinner, lighter, faster processors and network network connections, and a better camera, all of this with extended battery life. can apple maintain its lead over competitors? >> as far as experience is concerned, which is where your margins are, the added value you give to the consumer. >> the competition is hot, but i think apple can continue to focus on what they need to do and less on what the competition is doing. >> no. is it going to maintain their lead and dominate? yes. >> reporter: years of future improvements are already in the works. >> they don't rest and they have the funds and the genius to increase innovation. >> rumors of an i.d. pad mini might be true -- ipad mini might be true next month. >> we are going a come back in the fu

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live there now where he talked to people today who say they ran for their lives. tom? >> reporter: it was a rare and freak accident, one woman filling up her car found it too real. >> reporter: this video show as car having left the gas pump, darting back into it, starting a fire. >> i heard a crash. i turned around. it was a quiet moment at the moment and i saw a car in the tank, the gas tank. right next to me. >> reporter: she got into her car to move it. >> then i saw fire. and there were people screaming, run! so i decided to run. and leave the car. >>> the manager next door ran outside to look. >> and right after that it had started to really burn and we heard popping and cracking. >> and then there was an explosion and i assume that was the car behind my car. >> they did seem to get it shut off quick enough. >> reporter: 5-10 gallons caught on fire above ground. >> i was shaken by it. i will envision what happened. >> reporter: this is one of the most rare fires gas stations experience. >> i haven't had to go to the gas station yet. i will be he

i'm consumer editor tom vacar. danger or not. >>> more developing news to tell you about. the people on this amusement park ride have been tuck high above the groubd for more than two hours. >>> i'm back here at 7:20. the fog has gone away. temperatures tomorrow. it could be a bit warmer. i'll let you know how much warmer in your neighborhood. . >>> happening now 20 people stranded and dangling 300 feet in the air. the riders are stuck the attraction at southern california's farm down in orange county. the ride broke around 4:45. there's no indication the riders are in any danger, but the same ride was stuck in the air on september 7th. . >>> dna evidence released today on the gun who killed tray von martin could help prosecutor neighborhood watch george simer man shot and killed martin. simer man says martin tried to grab the guns and claiming self-defense. not provide information on whether martin had touched the gun's holster. zimmerman is charged with second-degree murders and currently out on bail. >>> a new report invails arsenic in rice in children. tom vacar report

consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. more at 6:00 p.m. >> more details now. the company introduced i-pod touch and nanny. the touch will have a larger screen and include siri and new head phones that will fit the ear better. however the mini ipad did not happen. and no surprise apple stock finished strong. they added $9.20. $670 a share. the iphone 5 and the adapter means many devices and accessories you have will be out dated. coming up, we will look that flood of e waste. >> for the next time this year police are warning residents about a spike in home robberies. 151 burglaries this year. police are increasing patrols and stepping up their locket or lose it program and encouraging people to be suspicious of neighbor's homes. >> what they are doing is they are inside burglarizing and they place the property in the van and drive away. >> it includes detectives in plain clothes. >>> new information on the clifford -- on the chevron refinery fire. new video here. investigators revealed the corroded pipe had walls as thin as a penny in some areas. they are tryin

tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> worries about the hantavirus resulted in cancellations at yosemiteational park. usually they are sold out for labor day weekend. most of the cancellations are in curry village where concerns are focused. they involve 20% of the 75,000 visitors. officials announced last week that 10,000 people are at risk for contracting hantavirus after staying in yosemite national park over the summer. >>> crews in santa clara will be spraying for west nile virus. the area will extend south from the expressway to blossom valley, highway 85 and to parts of lose altose. -- >>> a colorado man was surprised this weekend. a deer decided to take a dip for summer. the swim woke up the house. >> my dogs were barking and i couldn't get them to quit and i got up and i looked down and there was a buck in the middle of my pool. >> this shows you that police couldn't get the animal out so firefighters built the ramp for it. the homeowner says the pool repairs will cost $2,500. >>> one of the oldest art events of the year is wrapping up now. artists from across the country set up

consumer editor tom vacar ktvu channel 2 news. >>> after weeks of anticipation shell announced it is scaling back its plan to trial off the alaskan coast -- to drill off the alaskan coast. it comes in the wake of several mishaps, including work delays and the failure of one of the well's oil containment system. >>> on wall street today it was down across the board. the dow is down 40 to 13,553. the nasdaq is down 5 at 3,178. the s&p is down 4 t 1,461. >>> coming up here, a samsung ad that takes a bite out of apple and more excitement over the iphone 5, how the cell phone is already setting records. >>> happening now, back out live that occupy protest going on in san francisco. demonstrators are marking the one year anniversary of the occupy wall street movement. protesters have been marching and demonstrating in san francisco's financial district for the past few hours. what you are hooking at is protesters at kearny and california in front of the bank of america building. at this point it looks like they are not blocking traffic on the street. there are about 250 people there and so

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live to show us what passengers need to know about. >> reporter:is because over the weekend on one of the runways, arrivals and departures will be cut in half and that could cause delays. >> reporter: one of the runways that parallels the 101 will close friday night. crews will finish work on the runway to relocate obstacles. >> what we are doing is a mandated program, is putting a buffer area around. >> reporter: there have been incidences of over shooting runways. >> should an aircraft come in and have a breaking problem, it has an area where there is no buildings, no lighting, anything like that, it could roll off safely. >> reporter: they are shorter. and on the shorter run ways the last few hundred feet will be dug up and replaced with a soft concrete cushion should the airplane over run it won't go into the bay. >> we don't have the space to go into the bay so we will use a concrete. >> reporter: as this airliner over shoots the runway, the concrete cushion stops the aircraft but doesn't cause it to break apart. saving the plane and the passe

ktvu's consumer editor tom vacar is live to explain why the station didn't explode and turn into a fire ball. >> reporter: frank, as accidents go, this one was a freak. >> reporter: a car leaving the pump backed into it, starting a fire that destroyed it and several car. the manager saw it. >> pushed the gas more on full power. >> reporter: he saw it on the news. >> and we have got so many safety guards that i thought it was impossible. >> reporter: all gas stations have automatic and manual shut off and cut off valves. the underground tank has the same. there is one or more switches near the pumps and a master one in the cashier's booth. there is still 5-10 gallons of gas up here above the ground. which is why they have these defensive guards right here to keep people from slamming into the pumps. the car missed the barrier and hit the bump spilling the above ground gas that ignited. one technician told me he never seen this in 25 year. normally the car hits the barrier. not the pump. a four year study says with more than 100,000 u.s. gas stations, this happens only 10 time as year --

tom vacar joins us live from a rice farm with why rice isn't the only food that's come under scrutiny. >> reporter: and the most important question of all, is this truly a danger, or is this just a grain of the truth? it's the very beginning of california's commercial rice harvest, now a 100-year-old $2 billion a year industry. rice in grown in basins we call rice paddies. it's the water that contains the arsenic, the kind used in pesticides, that feeds it into the rice, presenting a toxic risk. after finding what it calls significant levels of arsenic in samples of rice in foods containing rice, consumer reports wants the u.s. food and drug administration to set strict safety limits. >> the consumer report study showing the amount of arsenic that can be in rice is certainly a wake-up call for the food and drug administration. >> reporter: though consumer reports says it wants to inform and not alarm, it also wants consumers to limit their intake of rice and other arsenic- containing foods including various foods, vegetables and seafoods. >> the biggest area where consumers may want t

our consumer editor tom vacar reports which side should you believe? job seekers were void yesterday when private check processers adp said private employers hired 210,000. however adp says it was only 96,000. >> the private-sector is picking up some of that. >> reporter: others, including labor lawyer believe job loss was far less. >> this past month there's a drop of 7,000 jobs in the public sector. >> reporter: it's confusing since most of the time this graph shows adp and the labor department usually match up. despite the differences of statistical numbers, statistics are really nothing more than numbers on paper what is really important are the people behind those numbers. >> it's kind of hard. it's kind of hard because you know you don't have that degree to really get on the top level. >> knowing all that, not being applying locally and online. >> reporter: in fact, east bay works has a program that pays $4,000 to employers who hire the long term unemployed. >> and we have had seven employers take us up on that. and we still have 40 plus slots th

as ktvu reporter tom vacar tells tells us now, home buyers on the sidelines are taking action. >> reporter: merris delane was packing tonight. for the delane's things finally lined up. >> the mortgage rates were incredibly low. we were thinking about expanding our family and there was a house we had to jump on. >> reporter: even as the sale sign went up, there have been several offers. >> it's in the right area, with good schools and that's what people are looking for now. >> reporter: the days of denial and false home have ended but not so much so in other bay area counties. >> sellers, real sellers have acknowledged the adjustment in their price. because they are being welcomed by ready buyers. >> reporter: in other words, priced 20% below. august bay area sales are at its lowest since 2006. 14% more homes sold than in august of last year. and at prices almost 11% higher. but make no mistake, better than the rest of the nation. >> well it's never a better time to buy if you have the financial resources to put the down payment. i mean that's the key. >> reporter: when people do move, that

as ktvu reporter tom vacar tells tells us now, home buyers on the sidelines are taking action. >> reporter: merris delane was packing tonight. for the delane's things finally lined up. >> the mortgage rates were incredibly low. we were thinking about expanding our family and there was a house we had to jump on. >> reporter: even as the sale sign went up, there have been several offers. >> it's in the right area, with good schools and that's what people are looking for now. >> reporter: the days of denial and false home have ended but not so much so in other bay area counties. >> sellers, real sellers have acknowledged the adjustment in their price. because they are being welcomed by ready buyers. >> reporter: in other words, priced 20% below. august bay area sales are at its lowest since 2006. 14% more homes sold than in august of last year. and at prices almost 11% higher. but make no mistake, better than the rest of the nation. >> well it's never a better time to buy if you have the financial resources to put the down payment. i mean that's the key. >> reporter: when people do move, that

and tom vacar has a sneak peak of what it's going to look like. >> reporter: installation comes next march, but come march these high tech leds will dazzle the night with a harp of light. this icon looming over the city will soon get an amazing facelift. this is the artist animation of how 25,000 lights firmly attached to 300 vertical cables will glisten for two years starting in march. >> and use the power to let people see it new, see it fresh and really recognize and celebrate the beauty that it is. >> reporter: some might object as was done in 1986. >> remember when we strung the lights on top of the bay bridge, we had a lot of the similar concerns about that then everybody loved it. it's worked very organic, very subtle structures. we believe it's going to be so popular people aren't going to want to have it taken down. >> reporter: 2-1/2 million yet unraised but all of it private money. >> just to be able to get a permit for two years itself was almost a near impossible task which has been done and the project officially started as of today. >> reporter: the current and two for

i'm consumer editor, tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news.y area drivers can anticipate a break at the gas pump, but not quite yes. lundberg survey finds the average of $3.00 across the u.s., but the first nationwide dip in several weeks. this weekend triple-a reports local prices of $4 about the are 25 a gallon in san francisco, $4.17 in oakland and $4.1 in san josi, up about $0.01 from a week ago. >>> more election 2012 news, both the romney and obama campaigns are concerned about apathy among voters, worried that they will stay home on november 6th and swing states, such as virginia, they are signing up voters not only at rallies, but at school nights, libraries and barbershops. >> we have one of the best operations in virginia. we have registered and made contact with over 300,000 people just in the last week, and 150,000 just last weekend alone. >>> the deadline for registration here in california is coming up on october 22nd. california secretary of state now offers on-line registration. thousands ever voters signed up last week when th

tom vacar has the story. >> reporter: what's amazing about this is, this is about the seventh version of this phone and it's the hottest ever. there were launches from australia to america as the sun spread across global skies. >> i'm really excited. i want a white one and i'm looking forward to the big screen and all the cool things. >> i already took a half day to get this iphone. >> it took us 70 hours. >> we told people to get it first. to be the first in my country. >> reporter: it all adds up to this. >> over the years the iphone has become the most popular phone in the world. and actually most of apple's growth right now is happening overseas. >> reporter: here in the bay area the reasons for buying are varied. >> i haven't upgraded since the 3gs. so i'm really far behind. and my phone sucks. and i'm excited to finally get the new one. >> i'm about to make some money. he's about to make some money. we're all about to make some money. >> reporter: though this version of the iphone like previous ones is far from perfect, the seemless interaction of the hardware and software compa

tom vacar, ktvu news. >>> august was a banner sales month for chrysler and ford. general motors sales rose 10%. the company credits it's television ads during the olympics and the chevy money back guarantee program. >>> we're mixed on wall street. nasdaq rising about eight. >>> a company on the peninsula plans to lay off 133 employees. that's about 1/3 of the workers in codexis. the company makes fuel and items related to pharmaceuticals. the company just added a research agreement with shell oil company. that deal paid the salaries of the people who will lose their jobs on october 30th. >>> the fbi is refuting a claim by hackers that an agent had millions of the identification numbers for apple devices on his laptop. a group called anticec says it hacked into the fbi's computer and found a device with 12 million apple devices. the group says it took the file and posted 1 million of the numbers on the internet to get people's attention. in a statement this afternoon, the fbi said there is no evidence that an agent's computer was compromised or that he had collecte

tom vacar has the two things that may disappointment them. >> reporter: take a look at this, the line has been here all day long. it's getting longer around the world. the problem already a very short line. but the connector problem that could be pricey. >> the new map stuff is pretty cool. >> reporter: the iphone 5's new mapping direction replaces the google mapping system that's come with the phone since the beginning. >> it does have turn by turn directions for free that it didn't have before. but the quality of the data is what's going to keep you from getting lost. so i think that's the biggest concern right now about this. >> reporter: in other words some locations are misplaced and it'll take time to make it completely accurate. >> the mapping data isn't as good. i know apple is working very hard on it but google has had several years of a head start on apple. i know that's going to bother some people. >> reporter: the other problem the new data port/charger cord is all new and won't work with the old connector system. >> people who for instance have bought a speaker dock that

the idea had a lot of promise as tom vacar reported in 2005. >> reporter: expect for the b.a.r.t. tube it's been many decades since commuters got to cross on the dumbarton as commuters had for a long time. but now a rail line will be in place. >> we're going to take that old bridge out, put in a new bridge and rebuild that corridor. >> reporter: what will this new train look like? not a heck of a lot different than caltrain and other standard trains people have been riding for many years. the money is coming from transportation agencies in alameda, san mateo as well as bridge tolls paid by commuters. >> it's going to come into a new station in menlo park. it will continue on to redwood city. from there you'll either be able to go north to san francisco or south to san jose. >> reporter: in union city in the east bay, the service will also connect with b.a.r.t., the ace train and the amtrak capital corridor. if you build it, they will come says amco. >> i think the only way to get across is by the b.a.r.t. and that's up at the city. going all the way down san jose is also sometimes

tom vacar ktvu channel 2 news.nvater died today at the age of 69 from brain cancer in new jersey. stable and his father ed created and filmed in 1964. stable held that his father was inducted into the nfl hall of fame. the younger stable said they saw as art and the game's greatest moments. he won 35 emmys in several different categories. . >>> two of the silver screen's most popular leading men are up in the bay area. coming up star sitings that are link today a company in silicon valley. . >>> and meteorologist tells us when we can expect warm weather and the sun cool down on the horizon. and if you're on the go or away from the tv you can still watch ktvu news casts live on your computer or tab let. get the app or go to ktvunews.com . >>> take a look inside reservoir near twin peaks so can begin size mick. officials say it's the final project within the city of san francisco's massive upgrade water system. the reservoir is expected to be completed in 2015 as part of a much larger billion-dollar water improvement

consumer editor tom vacar explains how lay away deals could impablth the purchases you make in the coming months. >> a few years ago retailers would reestablish holiday lay aways, you know, make the payments before you get the goods. >> lay away started during the recession again after many many years of not being around because some people lost their credit cards. >> lay away fees proved to be very expensive. >> because you're going to end up for most items paying about the same or a little bit more in service fees than you would on the charge card. >> so starting today until the end of october, toys r us and babies r us announced a better idea, customers will be able to lay away items for no up front fee. lay aways established after november and on will incur a $5 fee. >> not only are we starting a month earlier than we have in the past years but we're giving the guests the ability to use those flexible terms without having to pay a fee up front. >> with the recession and economy the way that it is right now, it's a good idea, no extra fees. >> when they, you know, forget some fees, peo

i'm consumer editor tom vacar ktvu xanl 2 news. >>> developing news out of contra costa county. that is where crews on the scene of a grass fire. we have pictures here actually e-mailed to ktvu within just the past 20 minutes. the county fire department say it is fire started just after 5:40 this evening in an unincorporated area nearby pittsburgh. the crews are working to contain the flames which are burning in a remote area. firefighters from across san jose have been keeping vigil around the clock at a hospital in support of a comrade who suffered cardiac arrest at the scene of a fire. remains in critical condition tonight but doctors say they are pleased with his progress. the 16-year veteran had been fighting a fire at st. patrick's church when he collapsed. siblings flew in from southern california to be by his side. >>> actor michael clarke duncan has died. >> duncan is best known for his oscar-nominated performance in the green mile. he appeared in dozens of films including armageddon, the scorpion king and can you think fu panda. he never recovered from a heart attack h

but as ktvu consumer editor tom vacar shows us, a recall to fix that problem may come with its own problems. >> reporter: there are millions of the toilets with this high pressure unit across america. emily williams became suspicious when she got a card in the mail strongly advising her to get a free repair kit for her toilet, no information why. >> that information was not given to me. i got this information off the internet myself. >> reporter: when she learned from the internet that her toilet was a potential bomb. the center of do it yourself fix it kit. >> i have the repair kit. i haven't done anything with it yet because i'm not physically able to do it. >> reporter: and as i learned, without clear directions, the do it yourself kit is difficult if not impossible to install. >> i don't see why i should pay a plumber to do something that's basically their product is faulty. >> have you ever installed one of these kits. >> yes. >> how tough is it for a professional let alone a neophyte? >> they're a pain. >> put the screw in here to screw it down. >> reporter: many owners must pay a plu

as tom vacar reports, the young ceo acknowledged the ipo flopped along with many other things his company has tried to do. >> reporter: the tech crunch conference is one of the nation's premier showcases for start ups. here some start ups some just days old. the main attraction of the conference, mark zuckerberg commented on the disastrous initial offering where investors lost millions. >> the commitment we make is we're going to execute this mission and we're going to do the things we think are going to build value over the long term. >> reporter: zuckerberg says facebook's future and financial success includes being in new high tech tools. >> we understand he represents all of the start ups that are here. because facebook is one of the biggest start ups that succeeded. >> it's all about getting a group of people together and changing the world. mark zuckerberg stands here as one such person who did that. >> reporter: many see here see big growth more and more as facebook becomes available in smart phones. >> facebook ended the day up adding 62-cent. more than 3%, but at $19.43 a share t

but as ktvu consumer editor tom vacar shows us, a recall to fix that problem may come with its own problemsorter: there are millions of the toilets with this high pressure unit across america. emily williams became suspicious when she got a card in the mail strongly advising her to get a free repair kit for her toilet, no information why. >> that information was not given to me. i got this information off the internet myself. >> reporter: when she learned from the internet that her toilet was a potential bomb. the center of do it yourself fix it kit. >> i have the repair kit. i haven't done anything with it yet because i'm not physically able to do it. >> reporter: and as i learned, without clear directions, the do it yourself kit is difficult if not impossible to install. >> i don't see why i should pay a plumber to do something that's basically their product is faulty. >> have you ever installed one of these kits. >> yes. >> how tough is it for a professional let alone a neophyte? >> they're a pain. >> put the screw in here to screw it down. >> reporter: many owners must pay a plumber to

as tom vacar reports, the young ceo acknowledged the ipo flopped along with many other things his company has tried to do. >> reporter: the tech crunch conference is one of the nation's premier showcases for start ups. here some start ups some just days old. the main attraction of the conference, mark zuckerberg commented on the disastrous initial offering where investors lost millions. >> the commitment we make is we're going to execute this mission and we're going to do the things we think are going to build value over the long term. >> reporter: zuckerberg says facebook's future and financial success includes being in new high tech tools. >> we understand he represents all of the start ups that are here. because facebook is one of the biggest start ups that succeeded. >> it's all about getting a group of people together and changing the world. mark zuckerberg stands here as one such person who did that. >> reporter: many see here see big growth more and more as facebook becomes available in smart phones. >> facebook ended the day up adding 62-cent. more than 3%, but at $19.43 a share t

in line, we have tom vacar, of course, heading on in there to get the latest and greatest from apples they announce it in morning. when will this be available when you want it? they are saying as possible -- possibly as early as today. there's word it will be in the stores as early as next week. it will likely cost the same as all previous generations of the iphone. but again, in just about an hour, we'll hear from apple what it wants to unveil in its iphone. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> thank you. we'll have more on our website and at noon. >> yes. >>> we want to go to sal. >> we still have a lot going on. san francisco near the school there is a traffic accident there, the fire department is on the scene. also at bay and larkin there is a crash. it's backed for a little bit of a delay. and then we also have slow traffic on 280 in san jose. let's go to steve. >> thank you, sal. >>> it looks cooler today. inland temperatures, even though some are warm to hot. it looks like a slight rebound thursday, warmer inland friday and saturday. another cooler pattern on sunday. >> all