in the headlines this wednesday morning, firefighters make progress overnight in a battle to control a 375 acre wildfire burning in contra costa county. they're trying to get the upper hand on it before daylight brings hot, dry conditions again. >> also could your bay area commute be too hot to handle again today? i'm theresa garcia live in oakland. bart has so many overheating problems yesterday causing major delays but will it happen again today. we'll talk about this coming up. >> here's a live look from sutro this morning on a clear and warm bay morning. more records will fall today but today is the last day. we'll show you where the heat advisories are, how much cooler it's going to be by the weekend. >> no delays in your morning commute through contra costa county but we will keep you updated with a full traffic report in just a few minutes. >> indeed we will. it's 5 a.m. on this wednesday morning. gonna be another scorcher out there.

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. yep, waking up to day three of the scorching heat wave. looks like it's going to heat up a little, emphasizing a little starting today. >> mike, we have got firefighters out there. what can they expect today? >> all right. let me go over here and click it real quick and show you mount diablo. it is still 85 degrees with the humidity 24% and a wind that's light out of the northeast about 2 mph which has been the keep to this fire threat. we haven't had the winds. we've had the dry air, had the hot temperatures, dry vegetation. just haven't had the wind and won't have it again today but we'll have the heat, the santa clara valley, the east bay valley and also the north bay valleys. that's where the heat advisory is until 8:00 this evening. watch out. it is day three and day three. even when it starts to cool, looking at mid to upper 80s around san francisco, richmond

and oakland. mid-90s through the south bay, upper 90s and near 100 in the north bay and well over 100 in the east bay valleys. eric? >> mike. more on the heat. firefighters are racing against the clock and the searing temperatures the daylight will bring. they're trying to control a 375-acre brush fire burning east of mount diablo near the intersection of morgan territory road and curry canyon road. it's about 50% contained now and here's amy hollyfield with the latest. >> the fire got off to a big and fast start incurry canyon. so big smoke could be scene as far as away as san francisco. it was enough for residents of this rural area to start getting ready to leave. >> live with this threat all summer every summer. and it's something you think about. i have an evacuation list that i have inside my house numbered one through ten. >> the fire threatened one home and a massive power line.

firefighters saved both. they've relied heavily on aircraft to fight this fire. they also have hand crews in the hills. >> a terrain, light hill and grass areas. through the hills a lot of brush and trees and timber. right now the fire's involved in the timber areas where the crews are putting backfires in place. >> pg&e had to cut the power to 57 customers out here so firefighters could safely do their work. they haven't called for any evacuations and the residents we spoke with say they plan on sleeping here. >> i have faith in the fire department. i think they're doing a great job. residents kept in close contact with firefighters throughout the evening. even though they like their privacy and live far apart from each other, they say they're all ready to pitch in. >> the people that live out here like to live away from people, they like the country but yet when you need 'em, they're there for you. heights like what america was built on.

when you need people, they're there. sounds corny but it's true. >> firefighters discovered a downed power line and they'll look into whether that caused the fire. they hope to know what started it the next day or two. amy hollyfield, abc 7 news. >> bart is warning riders there could be systemwide declays and uncomfortably hot trains after they overheated and the debate how to spend a budget surplus. theresa garcia is live at the station in oakland. theresa? >> talk about timing. you know, bart has been debating what to do with some $5 million budget surplus, everything from a temporary fare reduction to perhaps cleaning its cars. but certainly probably will get passengers saying why don't you just upgrade the a. c. system so we can be done with that problem. what happened is bart said the heat caused trackside computer equipment that monitors use of trains around 4:00. this switched the system into a

manual safety mode which means trains that travel speeds up to 70 mph slowed to 25. the bay area systemwide slowdown caused at least 20 minute delays at commute time. passengers suffered through broken a. c. systems on about a quarter of train cars. the combination of problems that bart's extra surplus money could help fix. >> we have $7.5 billion with a "b" worth of needs. we've got the control rooms, you've got cars. so many different needs that the surplus is really just a small contribution. >> bart has some 50 train control rooms. about a half dozen overheated. one of those rooms where the equipment failed is located in dublin.

crews have kept the doors open in order to cool it down but hope with the expected drop in temperatures today, that overheating problem won't happen again. so this morning there are no heat-related problems expected. it's actually pretty moderate right now temperaturewise. but the problem could pick up again systemwide later today. so probably word to the wise, be prepared for pop delays and maybe bring your own cooling system, a little fan, something like that because the cars could overheat, too. theresa garcia, abc 7 news. >> theresa, thank you very much. pg&e is urging customers to reduce power use for another day between 2 this afternoon and 6:00 in the evening. the high temperatures are creating heat-related issues at five regional power plants. this is not a statewide shortage of electricity as we sometimes see during extended heat waves. there's plenty of electricity available thanks to hydroelectric power generated from the sierra snow melt. >> because there's been a relatively moderate summer, a

lot of that snowfall that happened in may which created a lot of water after three years of drought, a lot of that water is still available for use this late in the season. >> now, many bay area companies are conceiving power by turn up the lights and thermostat a if you degrees. >> two branches closed by the heat should be opened as scheduled. the piedmont branch and medicalrose plant both had to close early because temperatures inside reached 87 degrees. that's the limit set by the state. neither branch has air conditioning. allen rock regional park in san jose closed today. temperatures there topped 100 yesterday. park officials will make a call about what to do for the rest of the week on a day-to-day basis. both cal fire and local fire agencies determine when conditions are too dangerous for the park to open. >> now, here's another danger from the heat you might not have thought about. rattle stakes are becoming more

active. there's been a spike in rattlesnake encounters. reptile rescue service has gotten a lot of calls from people who find rattlers on the property. >> we have seen an increase in calls for people finding rattle snakes on trails and backyards. >> the best things you can do if you encounter a rattlesnake is keep your distance and call an expert to have it removed and released far from people. no matter what you see on tv, you don't want to go in there yourself and try to do that. >> trust me, i wouldn't! happy campers. most people are not. >> dive right for the telephone. help! >> help! we need a little relief, mike. when is it coming? >> coming to the coast today. parts of the bay won't be nearly as hot as yesterday but inland you have to wait until tomorrow. let's take a look at our 8:00 temperatures. notice how they're still very warm in most areas from mid-60s around san francisco, upper 60s

in santa rosa to 70 degree temperatures at 8:00. fremont, mid-70s san jose and near 70 in the east bay valleys. by noon starting to see the temperatures reach their peak along the coast at 72. we're 77 in san francisco. 80 oakland. mid to upper 80s for the rest of the bay to low 90s in our inland valleys. by 4:00 notice how temperatures don't change much along the coast into san francisco. that's the sea breeze starting to kick in. low to mid-70s there. 80 oakland, upper 80s for san rafael, fremont, palo alto. mid-90s in the south bay, upper 90s in the north bay valleys and 100 in the east bay valleys. check out these temperatures and look how quickly they drop. nearly 12 to 16 degrees around the bay and inland tomorrow and about another 6 to 10 degrees on friday and the coolest weather will be saturday and sunday with the thickest morning clouds giving way to some afternoon sunshine. temperatures well below average.

>> good morning. i'm happy to report we have no accidents or slow spots right now. the east bay commute, a live look at interstate 80 heading through the berkeley area. headlights are moving westbound. the drive time from the carquinez bridge to the maze about 19 minutes. once you reach the bay bridge toll plaza you'll find no problems making your way through the toll plaza and heading right on into san francisco. checking other bridges, a live look at the san mateo bridge. looks like we don't have that camera up but trust me, traffic moving nicely in both directions. also if you're commuting on highway 12 today through rio vista, planning to close the highway in both directions between 7 p.m. and 4 p.m. between highway 160 and i-5. >> must be very colorful on the san mateo bridge. >> well, just want to give you a chance to set the color on your tv. it's a public service. >> sure. >> still ahead, the government investigates possible safety problems with millions of jeep

cherokees. >> toyota offers an option to investigate concerns that its popular prius is too quiet. >> where has all the oil gone

>> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >> it's 5:13 this wednesday morning. five years of tech support couldn't save ma rin county's five-year-old central computer. the county decided to scrap the $30 million computer system. critics say it never worked right, cost $9 million more than

the old system and cost $24 million to fix. the computer was supposed to handle payroll, revenue and other basic functions. the county is suing the company that designed the system for $30 million. >> a lab researchers says all the oil from the deep water horizon still in the gulf is now gone and he knows why. he says a previously unknown species of microhas degraded the oil and it happened at a much faster rate than anticipated. he said the fact that microbes are consuming the oil is nothing new but the speed which it's happening with the spill is. >> there's an equivalent of the exxon valdez spill going into the gulf of mexico every year and it's been going on for millions of years. so they've become quite adaptive to degrading that oil to its only carbon source they had down there until everything else is gone. >> hayes's team of 25 researchers began studying this

in late may. so far no evidence of long-term damage. they began researching oil degradation four years ago through a $500 million grant from b.p. >> federal highway officials are investigating reports of gas tank problems on as many as 3 million jeep grand cherokee s.u.v.'s. the probe involves possible fuel leaks that lead to fires and affects model years from 1993 to 2004. since 1992, 55 people have died in fire-related crashes in the grand cherokee. federal officials say that's not significantly higher than other cars but critics say the grand cherokee's fuel tank is in a vulnerable spot near the rear axle and below the rear bumper. the investigation is the first step in determining whether a recall is needed. >> toyota priuses will soon have an option to keep those hybrids from startling pedestrians. the auto maker says it will start selling noise makers for the whisper quiet cars. it will be a speaker that mimics

the traditional engine. it runs $150. they hope to offer this noisy extra in the next few months. >> you may be able to watch tv shows on i-tunes for less than a dollar. apple is in talks with cbs, nbc and disney about a deal that will allow it to offer tv shows for rent for just 99 cents an episode. that's according to bloomberg news. disney and newscorporate are close to reaching a deal with apple. right now tv shows from i-tunes cost $3 in hi-def. by the way, disney owns abc 7. >> i thought maybe i was grouchy because my power went out again. day 3 of the heat wave affectings everyone again. today will be the last day for all of us. let's take a look outside. >> he's not grouchy.

he's just doing his thing. >> trying. >> the a. c. goes out. >> i feel the pain for everybody that didn't have a. c. went through last night. another tough day today. 5:17. let's take a look at the big story. it is the hot weather. the heat advisory continues for the north bay, east bay, and santa clara. those valleys will have heat that will be very dangerous this afternoon. where it could feel 110 to 115 in the shade -- excuse me, in the sun. in the shade it can feel what the temperature says it's going to be, in the upper 90s to low 100. let's take a look at temperatures. here's the reason why it's so difficult to sleep in many areas. we're still 70 oakland, 79 fremont. san jose at 75. san rafael 70. same in concord. antioch 77. along the coast going, yeah, whatever. 57 here at half moon bay. we have no problems sleeping. near 60 degree temperatures around the monterey bay and

inland. all right. our highlights, the dangerous heat inland today. the cooling breeze that returns to the coast this afternoon. the cooling highs that hit all of our neighborhoods tomorrow and saturday and sunday. new record highs again today with mid to upper 90s through most of the south bay. saratoga and los gatos 100. on the peninsula low to mid-90s from san mateo, southward millbrae about 88. you'll get that breeze late in the afternoon. the breeze will hit the coast first and keep you in the mid to upper 70s. could squeak out 80 in daly city once again because we're starting so warm. downtown south san francisco and sausalito, if you look mid to upper 80s about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday but still very hot. upper 90s around petaluma and vallejo. near 100 through the rest of the north bay valleys. richmond, berkeley, oakland, low to mid-90s the rest of the east bay shore and everybody touches 100 if not more in the east bay valley. down around the monterey bay, santa cruz around 92, monterey 78.

near 100 for gilroy and hollister once again. hot one this afternoon. sitting in the sunshine at 12:45. going to be 84. feel warmer than that because of the sun and then we'll drop to 78 by the time the game ends. take a look at tonight's temperatures. more 50s especially the north bay valleys into san francisco and oakland. low it mid-60s for the rest of us and that's that breeze. you see the clouds? yeah. we see some of them tomorrow and more so sunday morning. that's the cooler weather. very strong system down from canada. drizzle possible saturday in the north bay. really the clouds and the cooler weather already the big story. >> we start things off in the south bay with a live look in san jose at 101 right at the 880 overcrossing. no problems here making your way out of morgan hill and heading up the peninsula. road work on northbound 101 through san jose has been cleared. it should be a nice commute right now. when you reach the golden gate bridge, you'll find -- look at

that -- no problems making your way into san francisco from sausalito. a beautiful ride. the repaving project through solano county is continuing today. it's on interstate 80 affecting both directions. a couple lanes are blocked between sassoon valley road and the parkway. that can be cleared by about 7 a.m.. also in mass transit, as of right now no delays. bart rung running on schedule. you can get mass transit by going to our website, abc7news.com. just click on that traffic link. eric, kristen. >> megan, thank you very much. it's 5:20. >> singer bob dylan has a new plan for beating the scalpers. you know, those fans, they may have to spend all day waiting in line. >> oh! the robot that can climb walls. how an engineering break-through at stanford can one day be used in space. >> the youtube.com video that has police guarding a bri thththh

welcome back. it's 5:24. police are stationed outside a woman's house in england to protect her from an angry mob because of a video that shows her throwing a cat into a trash can. it shows the woman gently petting the cat and grabbing it by the scruff and tossing it into the can. the cat's owner say she was trapped for 15 hours before they found her. authorities are investigating. >> bob dylan fans will try not to overheat today as they stand in line to buy tickets for his concert tonight. tickets for the concert are being sold today only, day of show, as opposed to in advance. the reason? dylan's camp wants to serve the fans by eliminating ticketing charges and preventing brokers and scalpers from buying huge blocks of tickets. concertgoers can start lining up

at noon. they must pay their $60 in cash. >> don't know if paul simon's on that tour. mechanical engineering students at stanford have come up with a robot that can climb walls. the sticky bot gets its inspiration from a gecko maybe spiderman, too. tiny hairs allow it to grip flat, slick surfaces. cool but isn't hope the technology can have a practical purpose as well. >> we can have the robots climb for inspection or for surveillance. also we can use them in outerspace so we can have robots that do space exploration or even cling to the side of the space shuttle. >> students are also working on improving the adhesive so it can hold heavier objects such as a person. >> spiderman dreams, huh?

>> he wasn't my favorite. >> all right. still cool technology nonetheless. >> ironman. you're right. still ahead, 5:30 on the abc 7 morning news, fire crews in the east bay are making slow progress on a 325 acre while fire burning near mount diablo. >> if you're a bart commuter grab a person fan and perhaps extra patience, too. i'm theresa garcia live in oakland and there may be more systemwide delays all due to the heat. we'll explain what the problem was yesterday and could be again today up ahead. >> and another unwelcomed and surprising side effect of the bay area heat. rattle snakes on the move. >> it is hottest across the country here all the way up to portland, 93, 83 phoenix. around 107. notice how much cooler across the eastern two-thirds of the country. a little bit of rain just in. flight arrival delays and

departure delays into new york and philadelphia. check out our you guys hungry? thank you for noticing. it's a good snack. you're welcome. they grow so fast. [ woman ] i know. they do, don't they? why is carol sitting all the way over there? carol almost told evan that there are vegetables in the chef boyardee.

nearly ruined their favorite after-school snack. so she's in a time-out. i hope she learns from this. [ female announcer ] chef boyardee micro beef ravioli microwave cups. an after-school snack with a full serving of vegetables. just don't tell them. shh.

♪ the headlines this wednesday morning, firefighters make progress overnight in the battle to control a 375-acre wildfire burning in contra costa county. they're concerned the hot, dry conditions today will fuel the blaze. >> and here's a live look from sutro tower. the clear air and the warm temperatures this morning. it is day three of our heat wave. i'll show you where some relief hits today and how they'll spread across the rest of the bay as we head to the weekend. >> at it again. >> and the triple digit heat is producing a venomous danger. rattlesnakes are slithers out of their dens and prompting people to watch where they step.

>> riders warned that heat could cause system-wide delays. critical equipment overheats. we'll have a live report. >> no delays at the bay bridge toll plaza. right now the road work has been cleared on the bay bridge. we'll have a complete traffic report in just a few minutes. >> it's 5:30 on this wednesday morning. could it be another hot one? there's some relief on the way. mike will tell you when that's gonna come. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. could you sleep last night? >> yes. with the expensive air conditioner running. >> lucky you. no a. c. here. the bay area under a heat advisory on this third day of a major heat wave. >> tell us more about the good news, when the cooler temperature is moving in. >> moving into parts of the bay today and especially the coast. but if your coworkers are a little grouchy, you might want to cut them some slack because they probably didn't sleep well. oakland 71, fremont 79. 75 san jose. concord 70. 77 antioch and still 88 in the hills around los gatos.

the rest of us mid to upper 60s. hot again today. but especially in our valleys the north bay, east bay, the south bay. that's where the heat advisory is until 8:00 this afternoon or this evening i should say and all of us will start to feel cooler weather. feel quite like fall this weekend. here's kristen with more news. it's 5:31. our top story in contra costa county, investigators are trying to determine if a downed power line sparked the 375-acre wildfire that still burning east of mount diablo. it started yesterday near the intersection of morgan territory road and curry canyon road southeast of clayton about 4 p.m.. 200 firefighters are battling these flames. officials say the combination of rugged terrain and low humidity have kept the fire from growing too quickly. several rural homes are threatened but no residents have been evacuated. >> live with this threat all summer, every summer.

and it's something you think about. i have an evacuation list that i have inside my house numbered one through ten. >> i have faith in the fire department. i think they're doing a great job. i feel safe. >> and crews are working to contain the fire and are using back fires to burn out areas. the fire is 50% contained right now. >> talking about the heat, bart couldn't beat it yesterday. the same problems could affect your commute today. overheated computers slow down the trains and overwhelmed air conditioners. hot, sweaty trip for many. theresa garcia is live at lake merit bart. theresa? >> just when you thought you could hop on a cool bart train, you're pouring sweat on a quarter of the fleet at least. that was yesterday and the situation could happen again today. probably some of the best advice is grab a little tiny size fan, a little patience because it could happen to you again today. bart says the heat is what

caused the trackside computer equipment that monitoring the movement of its trains to fail yesterday afternoon. it happened around 4:00. this switched the system into a manual safety mode which means trains that travelled 75 mph slowed to 25. it keeps the greater distance between the trains so the systemwide slowdown caused at least 20 minute delays at commute time. passengers suffered through a. c. failure on many train cars, a problem that won't go away without the transit agency spending some money. >> about a quarter of our fleet, the temperatures reach above 95 degrees, the air conditioning won't -- just shuts down in many of those cars. and so what we'd like to be able to do is spend about $26 million or so and put in a temporary patch so we can replace all the train cars with a whole new fleet. >> and not just that the, bart has some 50 train control rooms and said about a half dozen of them overheated. one of those rooms where the

computer failed is located in dublin. the crews kept the doors open to cool it down but hope with the expected drop in temperatures today, even though slight, the overheating problem won't happen again. this morning it's cool enough so you definitely won't get overheating issues. the morning commute should be fine. it's just by the afternoon that systemwide failure could happen again, especially with triple digit temperatures especially in the inland areas. >> the heat is also causing problems for caltrain. officials are worried the heat could soften the rail and expose them to possible damage. so they ordered trains to slow down to reduce pressure on the tracks. trains were running up to 40 minutes behind schedule during the evening commute. caltrain says the commuters can expect the possibility of more delays today. >> there's another warning about the heat. rattle snakes. the high temperatures -- excuse me -- the high temperatures are luring normally nocturnal rattlers into the sunlight.

there's been a spike in rattlesnake encounters the past week. lots of calls from people who find rattlers on their property. the best thing you can do if you encounter a rattlesnake after you stop screaming is keep your distance and call an expert to have it removed and released far away from people. >> 5:35. in southern california 500 firefighters are working to contain a 1300 acre wildfire in a mountainous area of curry county. that started west of interstate 5 near the pass. about 60 miles northwest of los angeles. 200 homes were evacuated but residents have now been allowed to return for now. temperatures are again forecasted to be close to 100 degrees in the area today. the cause of the fire is under investigation. >> 5:35 now. let's find out from mike if those firefighters are going to get any help today. probably not. >> the wind, that's the key again. the winds just like yesterday

will be very light but they will be blowing from northeast to southwest. if you live south of mount diablo, you're waking up to ash and maybe more ash falling wherever the sky and smells like a campfire outside. thankfully we didn't bring the tankers in but helicopters were flying yesterday and probably see that again this afternoon. 8:00, look how warm. upper 60sto low 70ss east bay valleys. napa 62, one of the cooler spots, 65 san francisco, 68 half moon bay. quick warming, especially our inland valleys. low to mid-90s in the north bay, east bay and south bay were mid to upper 80s fremont and palo alto. upper 70s to near 80 san francisco and otherwise. notice by 4:00 the sea breeze kicks in, half moon bay 71. san francisco 76. oakland down to 80. but still away from that upper 80less to low 90s throughout the bay, mid-90s in the south bay, upper 90s to over 100 in the east bay valleys and upper 90s also in the north bay valleys. if you head to at&t, got a

baseball game right in the heart of the heat. it will start at 84 but once that sea breeze kicks in because it's a 12:45 first pitch we should drop to 78 by the time the game ends. 10 degrees cooler inland tomorrow. 16 degrees cooler inland around the bay and another about 20 degree drop by saturday. it's going to feel like fall over the weekend. good morning, megan. >> good morning. if you're getting ready to leave the house, no need to rush. pretty quiet on the bay area roadways. contra costa county with a live look at 680 near the north main exit. these taillights moving southbound. no problems as you make your way into the san ramon valley. a live look at interstate 80 heading to the berkeley area. headlights moving westbound. the drive time from the carquinez bridge to the maze about 20 minutes. north bay commuters, let's take a live look at 101 heading southbound through the san rafael area. traffic moving nicely. as these headlights make their way out of novato and head all

the way towards 580. eric, kristen. >> thank you, megan. it's 5:38. >> still ahead on the abc 7 morning news. information about the driver who plowed into a group of people at a san francisco bus stop. >> it has happened again. vandals destroy more plants in 3q fact: if you're using bleach to clean your toilet you're not covering the whole bowl. with this stain-revealing dye you can see the stains bleach leaves behind. but lysol power toilet bowl cleaner gives you a complete clean

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good morning, everyone. it is 5:41 on the abc 7 morning news. a live look at early traffic in san jose at 280/17 interchange. you see traffic here is light. one little tip for you as you head out this morning, anotherñ hot one in many spots in the bay area. so that radiator is very important if you don't have enough antifreeze in it, put some in there. maybe even keep some water handy. overheating can be a problem. >> san francisco police say the driver who lost control and crashed her vehicle into a group of people at a bus stop did not have a license. the accident happened yesterday morning in visitation valley. the 24-year-old driver says her ford explorer lost the ability to steer and brake. her s.u.v. slammed into five people. she was cited for driving without a license and released. all the victims are in the hospital, two in critical condition and three in serious condition. >> a young san francisco woman is among the victims of a plane

crash in nepal. the 19-year-old graduated last year and was attending u.c. san diego. school officials say she was in nepal working at an orphanage and she was among 14 people in a private plane heading to the mount everest region. it crashed in heavy rain killing everyone on board. crews expect to retrieve the remains of the victims today. >> more plants were vandalized near golden gate parkway last week. nine newly planted tea tree shrubs were cut at their bases on the boulevard near fulton street. that's not far from where nearly 3 dozen rose bushes were destroyed last week in the park. 30 to 40 trees have also been cut down in golden gauge and lincoln park since may. they hope to catch the vandals responsible. city officials are offering a $2,000 reward. >> mechanics at american

airplanes lay the groundwork for a possible strike. the bloomberg business report straight ahead. >> police beef up patrols at the u.c. berkeley campus. this jump in crime targeting students. >> a bay area soldier home from war. coming up how he faced the threat of constant enemy fire. >> a marathon swimmer, a native of santa cruz manages to

welcome back. here's a look at your california forecast. notice the clouds creeping up towards big sur. that's the return of the marine layer and the cooler weather. but still 82 big sur before it gets there. 73 eureka. well over 100, 105 in sacramento, fresno, chico, yosemite and palm springs. 85 tahoe, 95 l.a. and 84 san diego. hot everywhere in california. kristen, eric? >> mike, thanks a lot. it's 5:46. >> taking a look at the stories we're following this morning. in contra costa county, 200 firefighters are battling a 375-acre wildfire east of mount diablo. it's now about 50% contained. investigators are trying to determine if a downed power line sparked that fire. >> bart expects this morning's commute to run smoothly but this afternoon's commute could see more delays because of the hot temperatures. the overheating of trackside

computers caused major delays during yesterday evening's commute. train operators had to operate manually at no more than 25 mph. >> the heat is motivating rattle snakes to become more active during the day. as a result, people have been having close encounters around the bay area. experts say stick to paths and avoid wooded areas this time of year. if you come across a rattler, keep your distance and call in a snake removal expert. the latest with all these stories at 6:00. >> berkeley and u.c. berkeley police officers are teaming up to try to cut down on crime near the south part of campus. the contra costa times reports an officer from each department will ride together in two squad cars patrolling the area between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m.. the area near the south part of campus has seen more crime in recent years, including at least 19 sexual assaults where women were approached from behind and had their skirts lifted. >> this morning an national

guardsman who served in afghanistan for a year is waking up at home. sergeant john hanson returned home last night to his wife, family and friends at the monterey airport. during his deployment, he trained afghan farmers to be self-sufficient. sergeant hanson has a video of his mission during the year of his work with animals and people. we are only now learning about the serious danger he faced daily. >> and 21 separate engagements with the enemy besides trying to do what we needed to do. got mortared a lot, shot at a lot. >> sergeant hanson plans to take two weeks to transition out of military life to civilian life and will go back to work for city of carmel in october. >> relishing the accomplishment of swimming 25 miles across monterey bay. chase is only the second person ever to do so successfully. he plunged into the 55 degree waters at santa cruz at 4:30

yesterday morning and monterey after 6:00 last night to the a lot of cheers. chase says he did it to draw the attention to the importance of the natural marine sanctuary like monterey bay. >> you gotta get out here, take a look what's out there. if more people get out in the ocean, i think we have to spend lots of time trying to protect it because those people would view it as their home. >> jelly fish forced chase to abort an attempt last year. this year he tried do it without a wet suit but had to put one on an hour into the swim to prevent jelly fish stings. you would think he's resting up. he's not. tweeted an hour ago saying he can't sleep. probably the adrenaline and excitement. >> he's a marathon swimmer so he's not satisfied unless he's swimming 40 miles a week. >> gotta get out there. >> gonna feel good today, area, compared to what it feels like

on land. show you what's going on right now. almost a full moon as we look from emeryville back to the east. lack of clouds again this morning. off to a warm start. at 5:50 let's jump in and give you the highlights of the weather today. it's the hotness that's going to take over again. the north bay, the east bay and the santa clara valleys. that's where the heat advisory is until 8:00 today. it looks like this is day three. you may not have felt it yesterday. you may not have felt it on monday but today if you're not careful, you will definitely feel it so be careful outside. let's talk temperatures. it is warm again this morning. we'll highlight the warmest weather in the hills around los gatos at 82. fremont at 79. 70s san rafael, concord, antioch, oakland, mountain view, san jose. mid to upper 60s in most other neighborhoods until you get to san francisco, 62 and half moon bay at 57. around the monterey bay, temperatures around 60 degrees. so the dangerous heat inland, number one highlight, the cooling breeze though that returns to the coast today,

number two. and number three still has to do with cooling and that's the highs. they'll drop everywhere tomorrow all the way through saturday. our 24 hour temperature change. yes, everybody's going to be slightly cooler today. yesterday was the hottest day of the year. it was the hottest day ever in some areas for august. in fact, a star next to each and every city that set a record high yesterday. today only 103 in concord. drop 3 degrees. 10 degrees cooler in oakland, redwood city, 88 and 94. still going to be 85 outside. here's a look at the east bay valleys. the warmest weather, everybody over 100 again. the breeze will eventually touch richmond, oakland. mid to upper 80s but low to mid-90s for the rest of the east bay shore. near 100 saratoga and los gatos. millbrae gets the breeze 88. low to mid-90s the rest of the peninsula. mid to upper 70s along the coast. 80 daly city. south san francisco and sausalito joining them in the

mid to upper 80s. 100s through the north bay valleys. morgan hill and gilroy also. santa cruz 92. monterey bay about 78 degrees. tonight, look how much cooler they are. 50s throughout the north bay into san francisco and oakland along the coast. low to mid-60s for the rest of us. what we're watching is the area of high pressure continues moving to the east. as it moves to the east, this offshore flow is going to weaken. look for clouds to start encroaching from the north and the south later this evening and through tomorrow morning. in fact, we'll wake up the clouds along the coast and some of those spilling into the bay. that's when you know the cooling is here for just about all of us. drop from 8 degrees tomorrow at the coast, 16 around the bay. we'll drop another 10 to 20 degrees with those morning clouds becoming thicker and thicker, in fact thick enough for some drizzle saturday morning, going to drop 20 to 30 degrees by the weekend. megan. >> good morning. if you're getting ready to leave the house, you have a nice

commute. no accidents or problem spots right now. a live look at san jose at 101, the 880 overcrossing. a beautiful ride out of morgan hill and head up the peninsula. other drive times for this wednesday morning commute. westbound 4 out of antioch towards concord only 17 minutes and a 20 minute commute time on westbound 580 from the altamont pass from 205 to 680. taking malls transit this morning, right now no delays. everything is operating on schedule. you can always get a check of drive times and have them delivered right to your e-mail by going to our website, abc7news.com. click on that traffic link under abc 7 extras. >> it's 5:53. >> there's a new idea about getting some peace and quiet on an airlines flight. >> here's jane king with the "moneyscope" report. >> good morning. tired of screaming kids on airplanes? you're not alone. a sky scanner polls 59% of travelers would like to see a

families only section on flights and guess what, most of the people who want kids to be cordoned off are people who don't have children. meantime mechanics at american airlines are a step closer to a walk-out. turning down a three-year contract. next step the 30-day waiting period and request from mediation board for permission to strike. they're already asking for that as they try to remain some of what they gave up in 2003 to keep the airline out of bankruptcy. more bad news about the housing market may be right around the corner. a report of new home sales about a half hour from the opening bell. the july report is likely near a record low. stocks yesterday tumbling after sales of previously lived in homes plunged in july. home sales dropped 27%, 25% in the western part of the u.s. you know how prius is so quiet pedestrians have trouble hearing the car coming. now adding a humming devials to make the gas electric vehicle

more audible. a $148 speaker system under the hood makes it as loud as a regular car engine. the associated press says the device goes on sale this month but plans in the u.s. aren't clear. i'm jane king. >> it's 5:55. two closely watched senate primaries have produced different outcoming for incumbent republican senators. senator john mccain won last night but his victory is not taken for granted. mccain promised his supporters to fight with every ounce of his strength in november to keep his senate seat. a different story in alaska. incumbent republican senator lisa mckowski is in a tight race against tea party candidate joan miller. she has the support of sarah palin. trails miller by about 1900 votes. many say the outcome will offer a look at the political strength of both palin and the tea party

movement. >> the state is saving money by cancels prison visits. corrections officials say state prisons will be closed to most visitors on labor day september 6th. that should save $325,000 in overtime. lawyers will still be able to visit their clients. so will relatives of terminally ill prisoners and juvenile offenders. prison officials say labor day draws the fewest visitors of any holiday. >> a san francisco sandwich shop too popular for its own good has a temporary reprieve. ike's planned to close its castro district doors yesterday. neighbors long complained about the long line, noise and aroma of the sandwiches. a legal technicality is keeping it open. the eviction noticed ike and his mother but not the company running the store. they have 48 hours now to file papers asking for yet another court hearing. >> the meantime keep slathering on that stuff.

popular. ahead at 6:00. the slithering side effect of the heat. the decision one bay area county is about to throw away $30 million. >> and breaking her silence, tiger woods's ex-wife offers new inside after her husband' affair. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in contra costa county where firefighters are not only lucky, they are good. you combine the two and they are on the verge of knocking down a