♪ good morning. i'm theresa garcia live in oakland, a city that is forging into a new business as an agricultural hot zone. we're talking about mega-pot factories with heavy hitters trying to get involved. the story just ahead. >> oakland arson investigators will return to the scene of a house fire this morning. among the things that burned, an unknown number of tires that were inside. >> a live look from ballmer peak this morning. dry around this part of the bay but i am tracking some light rain in the north bay. i'll show you where it's going and where more showers may pop up this afternoon. >> a new accident on the peninsula north 101 at the woodside expressway. lanes are blocked so we'll check that for you. a live shot of the golden gate bridge where they're changing the lane configuration right now. >> and the san francisco board of supervisors okays a proposal for hosting the next america's cup. the project could generate 9,000 jobs. >> good morning, everyone. it's 5:00 this wednesday.

i'm jenelle wang. eric thomas has the day off. >> i'm kristen sze. thank you for joining us. oakland tries to establish rules for hosting marijuana warehouses that would open if california voters legalize recreational pot. a city council meeting last night even drew a national talk show host. theresa garcia is live at oakland city hall. theresa? >> that's right. some very heavy hitters including talk show host montel williams are vying for the opportunity to lay down some serious cash and get one of the city's permits to build mega-pot factories and these would be the first large-scale city approved ones in the country. last night you had city council meeting and debating the rules for the selection process in order for them to decide which growers would be awarded the four permits for marijuana farming. it would be sold for medical use and possibly recreational use, too. geographically oakland is not a hot zone but if the state

measure passes to legalize recreational marijuana use then oakland gets the tax benefits. candidates are looking to submit applications. some prospective pot growers including grow tech already with land deals. >> full capacity, 50 to 60 million a year. >> my facility alone provides over 316 jobs. these jobs have an average pay of over $50,000 per worker. >> everyone including talk show host montel williams will have to submit an application selected based on a point system. points will be given out for the best business model, security plan, environmentally friendly growing pressures and fair labor practices. just to be considered, each candidate is required to have about a million dollars in capital to start the business. last night the city council sent the selection process back to the committee unfinished but it expects by late december it will

choose six to ten finalists and january 20th will award those four permits. live in oakland, theresa garcia, abc 7 news. >> thanks, theresa. this morning arson investigators will be back at the scene of a late night fire at an abandoned building in east oakland. the fire was first reported just after 11:00 last night and was under control about an hour later. officials say it's the fifth time a fire has burned at this location. several tires can be seen inside part of the building that burned. firefighters were not allowed to enter the building because of safety concerns. >> after spending a small fortune renovating playgrounds at three schools in novato, kids are still not being allowed to play on them. experts need to make changes to keep children from getting hurt. as amy hollyfield reports, several kids took bad falls and school officials are trying to find out why. >> when lucas fell off the new play structure, it wasn't like his typical tumbles. >> it was different because i

dive when i usually fall at the play structure. >> he broke his arm, his first broken bone. his mom figured it was an unfortunate accident until she found out lucas was not alone. a total of six kids in novato suffered broken bones after falling off new play structures at school in less than three weeks. the injuries prompted school officials to close down the playgrounds and call for a thorough inspection. they're considering three possibilities: first, that some of the features are too high. the second possibility, the new structures are just too popular and therefore too crowded. and a third explanation came from the manufacturer and the insurance company. >> you cannot open new play structures without proper training or retraining of your yard supervisors. >> since they don't know exactly why this happened, they're going to address most of the possibilities. they're going to be lowering the play structures. they're going to hope that the popularity of the structures

will soon taper off and there's definitely going to be more staff training. >> we will do specifically the manufacturer's training, the insurance carrier's training and our own training to insure safety on our playgrounds. >> once they lower the structures and train the staff, they plan to reopen the playgrounds. in novato, amy holyfield. >> six hayward high school students are facing criminal charges this morning after getting into a lunchtime brawl that drew hundreds of spectators. hayward police say it started yesterday before noon when a fight broke out between a boy and a girl and escalated between a second fight of two girls. a boy took a swing at an on-site officer. they responded to restore order. >> the city council has taken the final step to bring um to 700 workers to the city. these are clorox employees moving from oakland.

last night the council let a developer add a building to hacienda bills park to accommodate the household product maker. they decided to consolidate to this new pleasanton location. it will use space previously occupied by washington mutual bank. >> the san francisco board of supervisors has approved a proposal for the cities to host the america's cup race in 2013. it outlines the plan for the race including a venue, financing, sponsorships and long-needed repairs along the waterfront. they say it will a great economic boost creating thousands of jobs. opponents say they're concerned saying the race could cost the city millions of dollars. san francisco is competing with spain and italy for the internationally-known race series. >> the giants begin the national league divisional playoff series against the atlanta braves at at&t park. this morning a lot of speculation whether the manager will include barry zito on the

25-man roster. he has been the source of fans' frustration because they believe he has not lived up to his $126 million contract. while he hasn't made a decision yet, the giants must submit their post-season roster by 10:00 tomorrow. >> did you get those tickets? >> i tried. they were sold out so quickly within like 20 minutes. went online at 3:00 and they were sold out by 3:20. i guess i have to go face-to-face with a scalper. >> yeah! complicated but good luck to you. let's check with meteorologist mike nicco. is there going to be any rain tomorrow? >> no, i don't think so. we don't need to worry about the fact the weather will probably even be better on friday for baseball. but this morning live doppler 7 hd -- good morning by the way -- napa county you can see light rain showing up on the

radar. these storms were pretty impressive when they moved across, saw lightning strikes. you may get gusty wind as they collapse and a little light dusting of rain. as far as what's going to happen, 8:00 most of this is falling apart. but still a sprinkle or two possible in the north bay. temperatures for the most part the 50s. by noon the rain is over there but we're going to watch it start to develop in other areas, 'em the south bay. temperatures mid to upper 60s at noon. pretty much where we're going to stay through 4:00. may see 70s concord, antioch, fairfield and napa. a little more sunshine there and upper 50s half moon bay. the scattered showers that develop, they will have the potential for thunder. don't be surprised if you hear it. tomorrow drier but as cool as today. slightly warmer with more sunshine friday and the warmer days for saturday and sunday. yeah, on the weekend. a great time to come on out for fleet week in downtown san francisco. here's frances. >> hi, mike.

sounds like we have a pretty bad accident now on the peninsula. this could be the hot spot for the morning because a sigler has been issued for this crash. it may be there quite some time, at least half an hour. the three left lanes are blocked woodside road. several vehicles involved, and apparently there's glass and debris all over the lanes. only the two right lanes getting by at this point. traffic is moving slowly just right at the scene because of the pretty early in the morning. but if it's out there for a while, you may want to consider 280 as an alternate. we'll keep an eye on that for you. winton, early road work cleared but an accident to the shoulder. look out for that. live camera shot of the san mateo bridge. there traffic is still fine in both directions. jenelle, kristen. >> thanks so much, frances. time now 5:09. >> we've heard the question asked for a long time now, right: is it possible your cellphone can cause brain cancer? why the cellphone industry is

getting a lousy reception at a convention getting underway in san francisco. >> the problem millions of facebook.com users had making friends. as governor, he balanced budgets without raising taxes. and california created 1.9 million jobs. as attorney general, jerry brown took on wall street banks, mortgage scammers and public officials stealing from taxpayers. at this stage in his life, jerry brown has the independence to make the tough decisions california needs. as governor i'll cap government salaries and pensions. on the budget, we have to face reality. make do with what we have.

and no taxes without voter approval. jerry brown, knowledge and know-how we can trust.

>> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. good morning. we begin your "moneyscope" report with the dow's best close in five months. the dow jones industrial average picked up 193 points yesterday closing at 10,944. the surge followed a report showing surprising strength in the economy service sector. ford is making big moves to save the lincoln car. it plans to cut one-third of lincoln dealerships. it plans to introduce new cars and trucks. and it seems new smart phone owners like androids 62% of smart phone buyers got an andrade in august. the i-phone had 25% of the market. that is your "moneyscope"

report. >> the cellphone industry's annual conference is underway in san francisco but this may be the last year we'll be holding the event in the city. that's because the city's board of supervisors voted this year to require cellphone radiation levels be disclosed wherever they're sold in san francisco. under the new law, stores will have to start displaying emission ratings in february. the wireless industry is suing the city over the law and says the board action is misleading because all phones meet the same federal standards. >> and that standard by science tells us that there's no safe, safer, safest. they're all safe. >> we think the city sent us a pretty clear message: that we weren't wanted here. >> mayor newsom says it makes it more accessible. >> unspecified issues for causing the social net working site to be slow or unavailable for users overnight. the problem started 10:00 and

became a top trending topic on rival twitter. the palo alto-based company says that was the worst outage in more than four years. facebook.com has some 500 million users worldwide. >> frito-lay says it will stop using a specifically created bag for its sun chips. the company launched the bags on earth day promoting them with a slick commercial touting their benefits to the environment >> just one problem. the molecular structure makes them crackle loudly. sales of the potato chips dropped 11%. frito-lay will go back to the old bag. the chips will soon be the same. >> that's what makes a sale. >> i guess it's embarrassing if

you eat the chips and it's crackling really loudly. >> or everybody wants some and then you have to share. >> that's true. (laughter) >> go buy your own chips. >> at least some sprinkles this morning? >> maybe. more of us will see them. show you what's going on. quiet at 5:16. good morning. made it to hump day. here we are looking at the embarcadero in downtown san francisco. in the distance the bay bridge. frances following a couple of accidents right now. talking about temperatures. and we have santa rosa around 48. the rest of us pretty much the mid-50s. livermore a little cooler 50. half moon bay 52. around the monterey bay, upper 40s to low 50s. that does include salinas and slightly cooler, 46 gilroy. scattered showers, that's our first highlight and isolated thunder possible out of those. drying tonight, left over moisture means a few clouds here and there. and then sunny and much warmer for the weekend. as far as what's happening, here's a look at the area of low

pressure and what it did overnight. pretty much just sit and spin once again and hurl another chunk of energy towards the north bay. that's why you'll have sprinkles during the morning commute. the rest of us, we have to wait until the afternoon. storms could develop the south bay and temperatures low to mid-70s for you. on the peninsula, partly sunny, upper 60s to low 70s. low 60s along the coast today with a partly sunny sky. a little more sunshine around downtown south san francisco and sausalito mid to upper 60s. we'll go with the increasing clouds if you head northbound through the valleys. left over moisture from those showers that will dissipate during the latter parts of the morning hours. low to mid-70s for you. over on the east bay shore we'll see richmond, berkeley and hayward in the upper 60s, low 70s for everybody else. a stray shower will sneak into the east bay valleys with mid-70s. better chance of showers gilroy, santa cruz. low to mid-70s there.

watsonville and carmel with mid to upper 60s. as far as temperatures tonight, they will be cool like this morning, maybe even cooler in the north bay without the cloud cover. you should drop into the 40s santa rosa, napa and cloverdale with low to mid-50s for the rest of us. 7-day forecast, after today it gets dry. but pretty cool tomorrow. friday temperatures back to average and then over the weekend saturday into sunday especially temperatures 10 degrees warmer than today above average. and that will continue through monday and tuesday. hope you have a great wednesday. here's frances with that update. >> yeah, mike, an early morning problem for peninsula commuters where traffic is now heavy son northbound 101 from marsh up to woodside road where the three left lanes are blocked due to this injury crash. they say there's glass and debris all over the place. you notice that's where traffic is slow right at the scene. you may want to consider he will camino real and 280 as an

alternate. a sigler issued. they don't know when they expect to clear this up at this point. north 101, at this point not worth making the detour for that heavy traffic from marsh to woodside. 19 minutes the drive time from 237 up to 92 versus the 20 minute ride on to 80. ace train number one now reporting 8 minute delays. other mass transit systems so far look good. you can always get the latest traffic information and personalized drive times by going to our website abc7news.com the place to go and you'll find it under the bay area traffic link. jenelle, kristen. >> thank you so much for all the info. time now 5:19. >> the secret peace talks reportedly underway in afghanistan. >> also a wall of toxic sludge. the government tries to clean up an ecological catastrophic. >> a lion tamer forced to fight for his life. [ whitman ] they say california can't be governed anymore.

i say baloney. this state belongs to all of us. we just have to decide we want to change. i know government isn't a business and it shouldn't be, but the same values of accountability and focus that make california businesses among the best in the world could do a lot to fix sacramento. i'm on a mission to create more jobs, stop wasteful spending, and improve our schools. let's get to work. ♪

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with no blackout dates or restrictions. this morning there's an environmental disaster brewing overseas. a tsunami of toxic sludge has washed over towns in southwest hungary. a flood was let loose at an aluminum plant. four people killed, 120 injured. officials say the sludge contains radioactive material. it is so dangerous it burned through victims' clothes. >> "the washington post" is reporting that the taliban and government leaders in afghanistan are holding secret peace talks. the post says it's apparently the first time taliban leader omar has authorized negotiations. the taliban insisted no talks be held until western troops had left afghanistan.

no comment from washington. >> in ukraine it was a scene more reminiscent of a gladiator contest than a circus. one lion lunges at a tamer before a second one joins in latching on to the man's arm. the lion tamer is knocked to the ground. they beat them off with poles and water cannons. kids were screaming from about 10 feet away. amazingly the lion tamer appears to be suffering only an arm wound and recovering at the hospital. >> 5:24. something that hasn't happened here in more than 30 years. coming up at 5:30, the big discovery that has scientists gathering at a san mateo county beach this morning. and we mean big! >> a new industry could be cropping up in the east bay. we are talking about mega-pot factories and there's some very serious flares vying for coveted permits. we'll explain up ahead. >> and police extend the dragnet for the man wanted for

deliberately running down a cop. >> 70 degrees on the east coast. low to mid-60s boston, new york, d.c. 73 atlanta. all quiet at our major airports this morning but rain is moving through boston and severe weather is possible around phoenix and las vegas this afternoon. we could have delays there and salt lake city. our flight tracker will keep tracking those for you at abc7news.com. as a prosecutor, you never forget the cases

where children are hurt. they stay with you. i'm kamala harris, and it's why i started san francisco's first child assault unit and wrote laws increasing prison time for child sexual abuse. and when i found out that nearly every young person killed was a high school dropout, i started prosecuting parents who let their children skip school. truancy dropped 30%. as attorney general, i can do this for all of california.

♪ in the news this wednesday morning, the supreme court hears arguments today about anti-gay protests at military funerals. the father of a marine killed in iraq is asking the courts to reinstate a $5 million verdict against members of a church. >> and the city of oakland is trying to weed out the serious

from the not so serious candidates as it industrializes pot farming. i'm theresa garcia live in oakland. we'll let you know about the selection process and who wants to become involved up ahead. >> a live look from emeryville to bay bridge. sutro tower off in the distance. don't see here light rain that may be falling in the north bay. tracking it. i'll show you where it is and where it's going. >> following a hot spot on the peninsula where three lanes are blocked on north 101. a sigalert has been issued. i'll keep an eye on traffic for you around the area. >> and the richemont police and firefighters union that indicate mayor gail mclaughlin said she suffered from serious psychiatric disabilities in a bankruptcy filing. the unions are strongly opposed to her re-election. good morning, everyone. it is wednesday morning, 5:29. i'm jenelle wang. eric thomas is off today. >> i'm kristen sze. topping our news, the supreme court will hear arguments in a controversial case which raises

questions about free speech and privacy. it pits a group against a family that says they have a right to privately mourn their son killed in iraq. >> in 2006, corporal lance snyder was killed in iraq. the westboro baptist church stages protests at funerals. they believe american soldiers are defending a sinful nation that tolerates homosexuality. >> they held signs that said god hates you. you're in hell. >> later he and his church arguing that their protest was a

violation of the family's privacy and inflicted emotional damage. an appeals court ruled the protests were protected by the first amendment. now it's up to the supreme court to decide what wins, privacy or free speech. >> a very important question in how much protection do relatively private figures have against hurtful, outrageous, insulting, emotionally aggravated speech. >> has been defiantly unsympathetic in the past. >> often the greatest chance for free speech comes in cases with the least sympathetic speakers. >> in the court rules in their favor they could pass a law without infringing on the right to do so. >> time now 5:31. competition in oakland is fierce sew open a pot factory.

we hear a well-known tv host wants one of those permits. theresa garcia is live in oakland with more. >> that's right. you've got talk show host montel williams as one of almost 200 candidates vying for the opportunity to lay down some serious cash and that is a requirement just to get in there. and this is just to get one of four coveted permits to be part of a mega-pot-growing facility. this is one of the first city-approved ones in the country. last night city council got together and debating the selection process to decide which growers will be awarded the four permits. they would be cultivated and sold for medical use and possibly recreational use. it's not a agricultural hot zone but if it passes the marijuana use, oakland is poised to reap even more tax profit. larry reid who has the most industrial land in his district says the competition is tough

with 179 candidates jockeying for four profitable permits. >> i have a meeting requested by montel williams to meet with him this week. there are a number of serious players. >> full capacity is 57,000 square feet. we're probably looking at 50 to 60 million a year. >> everyone including talk show host montel williams will have to submit an application that will be selected based on a point system. the points are given out for the best business models, security plan, environmentally friendly growing procedures and fair labor practices. each candidate is required to have about a million dollars in capital to start the business. the city council sent that selection process back to the committee last night unfinished but they say by december they should be ready to choose six to ten candidates and by january 20th they will award those four permits. >> thank you, theresa. more help could soon be on the

way for families affected by last month's deadly pipeline explosion in san bruno. the senate will consider a bill providing additional disaster relief which includes a property tax exemption. the city council unanimously continued local state emergencies and governor schwarzenegger's office is in the process of appealing a request for a federal disaster declaration that was denied by fema last month. eight people were killed and 37 homes were destroyed nearly four weeks ago. damage from the disaster is estimated at $50 million. >> arson investigators will be back at the scene of a suspicious fire this morning at an abandoned building in east oakland. the fire was first reported just after 11:00 last night. it's the fifth time this home has burned. the abandoned home was full of tires. officials worry those tires could smolder for hours. and that could have a bad smell walking across the city today. firefighters were not allowed to enter the building because of

concerns the building may collapse. >> a political battle is forming between the richmond police and firefighters union and the city's mayor less than a month before election day. the unions released documents yesterday showing mayor gail mclaughlin filed for bankruptcy before she was an elected official to avoid paying $119,000 in credit card bills and student loans. in the papers mclaughlin stated she suffered serious psychiatric disabilities which kept her from holding a full-time job. mclaughlin calls the revelation an attempt to undermine her re-election bid. she says her past is her own private medical history. they do not want her reelected because they opposed the hiring of three firefighters during her first term. >> police know who rammed a stolen van into a fremont motorcycle cop and issued an arrest warrant. 36-year-old alexander diaz may have fled to the l.a. area where he's from. he's on parole for grand theft

conviction. officer patrick brauer remains hospitalized. he's a ten-year veteran of the police department. diaz hit him after the officer tried to stop him on monday. the van dragged the officer and his motorcycle through two lanes of traffic into a light poll. >> this wasn't a traffic accident. this was mr. diaz trying to get away by running over our police officer. >> he will be charged with attempted murder of an officer when he's caught. >> time 5:36. i think we're gonna feel some raindrops perhaps, especially in the north bay. >> yeah. your hair won't know the difference! >> live doppler 7 hd. good morning. on the north bay you can see just north of santa rosa heading up 101. all the way up north of santa rosa. we're seeing some of the light rain start to fall. not very impressive but it is out there just like we talked about yesterday. here's how it moves to the

southwest. it should be hangin' around through at least 8:00. 50 degree temperatures for most of us. by noon i think that area in the north bay pretty much gone. starting to watch showers develop, especially around the south bay. temperatures for the most part will be in the low to mid-60s around the bay, upper 60s in the south bay, east bay valleys. still holding in the 50s in the north bay due to the cloud cover and the rain from this morning. by 4:00, some of these showers, especially the south bay and east bay valleys could have a clap of thunder or two. upper 60s around the bay and south bay. hit 70s around concord, antioch, fairfield and napa. 58 half moon bay. you get caught under one of these, it could be a brief pouring of rain but for the most part they're going to be very scattered. most of us will miss out on them. the best area will be the south bay. just about anywhere you could see some. thursday just as cool as today. warmer with more sunshine friday and over the weekend looks like temperatures could be 10 degrees warmer with total sunshine compared to today. good morning, frances.

>> mike, back to our hot spot. on the peninsula, northbound 101 heavy from marsh up to woodside road where the three left lanes have been blocked since about 5:00 this morning due to a car that spun out. several cars crashed into that. they need to wait for the sweeper crews to get there and the two right lanes are open. this point it may not be worth a detour but you might need a couple extra minutes as you make your way through the area. check out 101 in millbrae. traffic light as you make your way northbound in san francisco. ace train number one still reporting ten minute delays. >> thanks, frances. time now 5:38. a big mystery, we mean big, on a bay area beach. a blue whale washes on shore. trying to figure out how it died and what to do with the carcass. >> an investigation of the foreclosure freeze has several foreclosure freeze has several california house members

i'm jerry mcnerney, and i approved this message. he worked his whole life, served his country defending our freedoms, and depends on social security. so, who would want to privatize it? corporate lawyer david harmer. harmer's social security privatization plan would cut guaranteed benefits and gamble with social security on wall street. while we worry, harmer's wall street friends would make billions in profits from privatization. david harmer. a social security privatization plan we can't afford.

meet the real meg whitman: serving on the board of goldman sachs, whitman was caught reaping millions from

insider stock deals. after ebay shareholders sued and a judge cited the obvious conflict of interest she was forced to pay the money back. what kind of person would be involved in deals a fellow republican congressman called corrupt? and in her last year at ebay, whitman paid herself $120 million right before the company laid off 10% of it's workers. we're choosing a governor, shouldn't character matter? >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. welcome back. it's 5:41. 30 health members in california are calling on federal regulators to see if mortgage companies broke the law in foreclosures that may have contained errors. democratic lawmakers led by congress woman and house speaker nancy pelosi urged bank regulators and the justice department to look into the problem. three banks have halted

foreclosures in 23 states after evidence surfaced their employees or outside lawyers signed documents without reading them or filed inaccurate paperwork. >> in san mateo county, researcherless plan to take tissue samples from a rare blue whale and her fetus to determine how the whale died. the whale is south of atascadero off highway 1. >> it's a male, the fetus. >> hollow state beach, it's about what washed up. a massive 85 foot female blue whale. and just 50 feet away, her fetus. the whole scene is extraordinary. the last time a dead blue whale came to shore in this area was more than 30 years ago. normally the only way to see a blue whale is during a whale watching trip in the open ocean. they're too big to hold in captivity and the only blue whale skeletons on display in

the state are santa cruz in santa barbara. >> i've always wanted to see the biggest animal that's ever lived and it's quite a specimen. >> they saw it floating in the water saturday. researchers got their first up-close look once the bodies came up on the beach. scientists think a ship's propeller struck the while which then likely died while at sea. they don't think she died while giving birth. >> i think when the whale died, the fetus died. probably in hitting the rocks so that it ruptured and came out. >> blue whale calves are born after is it months. this fetus was only six months old. the whale was likely swimming south to baja, california, for the winter. no one is going to remove the carcass. animals and water should break everything down but it will take some time. a state ranger told me that area of the beach is not used very often so he doesn't expect it to be a problem.

in san mateo county, lisa amin gulezian, abc 7 news. >> 5:43 now. retailers get their on-sale signs ready. the bloomberg business report is straight ahead. >> despite a financial crisis, caltrain has given administrators a hefty pay raise. >> first of its kind investment to make sure every kindergartener goes off to college. college. >> the sierra [ whitman ] they say california can't be governed anymore.

i say baloney. this state belongs to all of us. we just have to decide we want to change. i know government isn't a business and it shouldn't be, but the same values of accountability and focus that make california businesses among the best in the world could do a lot to fix sacramento. i'm on a mission to create more jobs, stop wasteful spending, and improve our schools. let's get to work. ♪

welcome back. time for your california forecast at 5:47 on this hump day. pretty unsettled across the state with showers possible throughout the central valley with mid to upper 70s there. even snow lingering in the higher elevations of the sierra. wet weather around tahoe, 55, 72. yosemite, 60 at big sur and drier today l.a. and san diego, upper 60s there. scattered showers palm springs and 70. kristen, jenelle. >> thanks, mike. time 5:47. >> the stories we're following this morning. today the supreme court will hear arguments in a controversial case which raises

questions about free speech and privacy. it pits a church group that stages protests at military funerals against a family who says they have a right to privately mourn their son who was killed in iraq. >> arson investigators will be back at the scene of a suspicious fire this morning at an abandoned house in east oakland. officials say the building was full of tires when it started late last night. they worry the burning tires could smolder for hours. it's the fifth time the home has burned. >> awarding only four permits for pot-growing factories in the city should the measure to legalize marijuana in california pass in november. the council met last night and sent the process back to committee. the very latest on these stories coming up at 6:00. the caltrain board of supervisors is expected to vote to raise fares and trim service when it meets tomorrow to close a $2.3 million budget deficit. but a new report reveals those same executives gave themselves a pay raise, about 14%, over the

past three years. the bay area news group obtained the documents and with benefits added in, total compensation jumped 34%. that money would be enough to save service and prevent those drastic cuts. salary information for conductors and engineers were not available as these employees also work for amtrak. caltrain extends the pay raise saying employees are spending extra hours on the rail line. >> the winnerses of the nobel prize in chemtry were announced today in sweden. they were shared by three. they were recognized for developing a chemical method that has allowed scientists to test cancer drugs and make thinner computer screens. the royal swedish academy of sciences says their work has helped give man kind new medicines and revolutionary materials such ace plastics. >> more rain is forecasted today in southern california where the region's first measurable

rainfall in the season has left thousands without power. utility crews have been working around the clock and restored service to 50,000 customers since the rainy and windy weather began on monday. in the high sierra, it was snowing. this is outside reno where snowplows were out during yesterday's storm. hey driving in the snow but tahoe ski resort operators are very excited that the snow will melt away. they're hoping it could mean the possibility of an early ski season. >> or snow board, whatever you do. >> is that your thing? >> no, no. i can't balance on that board. >> what about you? >> i'd like to try. haven't tried yet. >> can't handle it with these knees, not at my age. >> the skis are killing my knees out there. i'm hoping maybe snow boarding. >> maybe you're going down too fast. >> that's it! >> going downhill too fast. >> you're not that old! (laughter) >> hello! >> no. i meant skiing. >> just teasing.

sprinkles out there this morning. >> yes, we do. take a look outside. save me! here's a look at the port of oakland this morning where it is dry for now. scattered showers in the forecast for all of us during the afternoon hours. right now live doppler 7 hd showing that over on the coast you can see around half moon bay we have some radar returns showing up there. kristen said someone just tweeted they had a brief shower there. and light rain moving through the northern part of napa now heading into the northern sections of sonoma county. light sprinkles for you. the storms in the north are stronger or were. they had lightning in them the last couple hours but they're falling apart. they're moving from the southwest and moving out into the ocean. as far as temperatures, santa rosa the cool spot at 49. livermore at 50. half moon bay at 52. everybody else the mid to upper 50s. monterey bay we have lower 50 5 -- 50s, inland 46.

one or two showers may pass some lightning and clap of thunder. dry tonight with patchy clouds, sunshine and much warmer for the weekend. as far as our 24 hour temperature change, everybody a little cooler except oakland. going 70 once again. san francisco one, san jose 3, concord 4 and the biggest drop in santa rosa from 80 down to 73 degrees. you can see the south bay, maybe one of the areas that we see some of the scattered showers develop with temperatures in the low to mid-70s for you. the peninsula we'll have upper 60s to low 70s. we'll have definitely low 60s abeing lo the coast today. downtown sausalito mid to upper 60s for you. low to mid-70s the north bay valleys and low 60s at your beaches. east bay valleys we could see a stray shower sneak in. mid-70s. the monterey bay a better chance of those showers developing this afternoon with 66 monterey, 69

watsonville, 70 santa cruz and low to mid-70s inland. all clear as far as the wet weather. scattered clouds though. upper 40s the north bay valleys, low to mid-50s for the rest of us. here we're watching the showers pull offshore, dissipate by noon. redevelopment down to our south and into the east bay valleys by 5:00 and then by 11:00, they're gone. we'll wake up tomorrow with a few of those clouds and look for more sunshine thursday. a few showers in the sierra possible. here it's dry and cooler and starting the warming trend friday and by sunday we're 10 degrees warmer than today. here's frances with an update. >> the traffic growing on northbound 101 because of this injury crash blocking the three left lanes for about an hour now. the brake lights start around willow and continue up to woodside road where the three left lanes are blocked. looks like they hooked up all the cars but waiting for the sweeper crews to get there to clean up the fluid and debris and glass scattered about in the left lane. traffic slows from 72 mph to 11

mph as you make your way past the scene. it is adding about a 3 to 5 minute delay. maybe not worth a detour but something to think about this morning. also ace train number one running about 10 minutes late and ace train number 3 now reporting five minute delays. but elsewhere traffic looking good and you can always find out what your ride to work looks like by going to our website, abc7news.com the place to go. you'll find it under the bay area traffic link. jenelle, kristen. >> frances, thanks a lot. 5:54 now. >> retailers hoping early discounts will get you to spend more money this holiday season. >> good morning. gearing up for your holiday shopping? retailers are getting their discounts ready. the national retail federation predicting that will move sales by the most in four years. retailers including toys r us and e-toys banning together to offer a program free two-day shipping made with participating stores over a one-year period.

called shop runner and made to compete with amazon. cisco systems hope they will introduce a video conference service you'll be able to make from a hi-def tv while expected to offer video conferences with the hot box. a lot of noise at your job, allow the workplace to have twice the risk of heart disease than those of quieter jobs. the government says men younger than 50 also smokers are the most vulnerable. their greatest risks are mining, agriculture, construction and manufacturing. no more on risks working at home with screaming kids. i'm jane king with the bloomberg business report. >> time now 5:55. san francisco launching a first in the nation's program to help today's kindergartners afford college one day. the mission district yesterday. >> all of you are going to be

given a savings account. so we're going to put money aside so when you're ready to go to college, when you grow and you eat a lot and you get bigger, that you'll have the resources. >> the amount isn't large. just 50 to $100 depending on family income. but the idea is for private corporations and nonprofits to match the money and parents to chip in as well. the pilot program kicks off november 1st and will serve 1200 students. >> schools in san mateo county will join schools from 40 nations to celebrate international walk to school day this morning. the aim is highlight the health benefits of walking and the importance of making streets safe for pedestrians. it comes on the heels of a study which finds among major industrialized nations no one walks less than americans. researchers found that we take an average of 5,000 steps a day. compare that to nearly 10,000 steps a day taken by australians. they're the walking leaders there. experts say taking a stroll

every day and walking more around the office is easy ways to get exercise. >> i know. good idea. you should wear a pedometer. make sure you're walking 10,000 steps a day. >> the bomb threat by an 11-year-old that forced a berkeley school to evacuate now has the district considering an enrollment change. >> and creating new school play structures. why are children being prevented from being anywhere near them. >> marijuana farming in the east bay. it is a big growing cash crop business and many are vying for a permit. i'm theresa garcia live in oakland. we'll let you know about the heavy hitters who all want a piece of the action and

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