the manhunt is over for an escaped jail inmate. police nab him after he is spotted riding a bike in dublin wearing his jail clothing. police searching for a driver who hit and killed a pedestrian. he got out of his vehicle, looked at the victim then drove away. >> reporter: i'm terry mcsweeney in novato with the story of the hyperactive arsonist still on the loose. 56 fires set so far. novato pd looking for him and help from the public. good morning i'm mike nicco live look downtown san francisco, hazy, moisture in the form of fog. we'll talk about how that will translate that sprinkles. good morning i'm frances dinglasan. still looking good on the roads. major construction i'll show you where and the waze traffic app.

4:30 on this tuesday morning. thank you for joining us i'm eric thomas. and i'm kristen sze. deputies looking into how an inmate escaped in dublin. that inmate is back in prison this morning. jose franco was brought back to the jail 10:00 last night. franco in jail for burglary reported missing 2:00 yesterday afternoon. a witness spotted him at a chevron station in san ramon valley he was still wearing blue pants and brown shirt marked alameda county jail. >> a dublin police officer showed up, flashed his sirens, his lights and he took off, crashed his bike around the medicinian and he took off running -- the median and he took off running and they got him. >> investigators aren't shower how franco slipped away from the bus that was taking him back to jail after a court appearance. they also want to know how he

got the bike. police asking for help identifying a hit-and-run driver who killed a pedestrian before midnight. a man crossing the street was struck by a dark colored full sized van possibly a chevy or gmc. witness told police a man in his 30s, 40s got out, looked at the victim then drove off. serial arsonist in the north bay shows no sign of slowing down. police are searching for clues. more than 50 fires have been set, some close to homes. terry mcsweeney is live in novato. the most recent fire was not set that long ago. >> reporter: it was 1:00 yesterday morning. there's a little good news. he apparently did not strike overnight. is that because he took the night off or because of the increased patrols by novato police and fire department going into the areas where he

has struck. take a look at some of the fires that he has set, 24 of the 56 fires, in the rush creek open space preserve neighbors say the smell of smoke was strong, scary. the previous fires in the seascape village neighborhood. >> it shows that the person is mobile and at this point it would be a guessing game as to where they may show up again. we are a fairly large community, 28 square miles resource only go so far itch >> reporter: that is why arson experts from across marin county are being called to help with this case. novato police and fire patrolling overnight. this arsonist taking advantage of strangely bone dry conditions here in january, scaring residents, putting a strange on city services. novato pd set up a hotline for

people to call in. they would like you to look for someone walking in these overnight hours, it very cold up here, maybe someone sitting in a car in a spot where they usually don't. they would like to hear anything suspicious. they would like to get this guy before he strikes again. maybe next time that fire is going to burn down a house. terry mcsweeney, abc7 news. in the central valley an animal rights group claiming responsibility for a fire. it happened before dawn sunday morning. 14 tractor trailer rigs were set on fire and destroyed at the site near i-5 and highway 145. arson investigators are looking into it. north american animal liberation says it is behind the fires. it sent out an e-mail with specific details. this morning a nevada man charged with killing four women will learn what kind of evidence prosecutors have. 77-year-old man will have a defense attorney this time.

he tried representing himself in court. he's denying that he murdered four northern california women between 1977 and 1994. last september the judge ruled that he must have an attorney because he could face the death penalty if convicted. a public defender was appointed at his expense. the deal to extend bart is -- construction could begin this spring once the federal money is secured. the first phase of the bart extension will go from fremont. the second phase to downtown san jose and santa clara. santa clara voters approved sales tax increases in 2000 and 2008 to help get federal assistance. there's still a hail mary attempt to keep the 49ers in san francisco.

some business and labor groups remain determined to get a new stadium built. planning commissioner has set up a meeting this afternoon for a dallas stadium builder to present a different game plan, including an investment company capable of raising all 600 million needed. the santa clara city council will try to clear another blocker in the 49er stadium. the council expected to vote on a deal that will allow the stadium to be built on one of the parking lots next to great america. the owners will get bigger shares of the stadium's profits and 12.5 million dollars from the team. the 49ers begin selling seat licenses yesterday. current season ticket holders can buy lifetime rights ranging from 20 to $80,000. the mayor is expected to ask the city to raise sales tax on medical marijuana sales.

he wants to raise the current tax on pot from 7% to 10%. the city council passed an ordinance last september shrinking the number of collectives from more than 100 to 10. opponents gathered enough signatures for a referendum. the mayor says he would consider allowing more pot clubs or modify the ordinance to address their concerns. mike has been keep -- has been keeping a small chance for rain. >> is it going to happen? >> it is happening to our north. the radar returns aren't that impressive over the last hours they are shrinking normally we like to see robust rain there because we know the systems weaken as they come towards us. even smaller chance than yesterday's sprinkles at best.

moisture in the form of fog, visibility down to five miles in santa rosa and concord. keep an eye on this for the morning commute right now not a big problem. it is freezing around novato, santa rosa 31 napa and fairfield everybody else in the mid 30s to the upper 40s like in san francisco where we will stay around 8:00 partly cloudy increase in clouds today with storm system passing west over the ocean that and a stronger sea breeze will keep us mid to upper 50s noon and upper 50s to low 60s for highs today will be cooler across the board for all of us. seven day forecast, warming trend and drier wednesday through the holiday monday. good morning. we are going to take you to the north bay where there's major roadwork that has a connection ramp shutdown now westbound 37 to northbound

101. that connection ramp should be reopened by 6:00 this morning. there is a detour in place until that time. elsewhere, pretty much accident-tree. here's a live shot of the bay bridge toll, you can see no delays. we are going to check out the south bay northbound 280 for head lights in san jose, that's highway 17 across your screen looking good in the south bay. roadwork going on 680 scheduled through the san ramon valley. waze traffic maps, this is a free traffic app that you can download to your smartphone. we have an abc7 news traffic spotter on 680 now i'm going to click on that person they are moving at 40 miles an hour along 680, roadwork not causing delays. you can be part of this. go to abc7news.com/waze, download the free application

and have this tool available to you while you are driving. join the traffic spotters' group. >> apparently we got a lot of new traffic spotters, welcome. president obama tests a new campaign line. next, his fiery defense of the last three years. >> reporter: i'm katie marzullo. voting underway in the new hampshire primary. the first test toward who will be the president's opont -- opponent in the race for the white house. miracle, unbelievable. >> san francisco's newest lottery millionaire. why she now feels twice, i might venture three times, when your deep-dish masterpiece doesn't stay in the dish

easy-off oven cleaner cuts through five times more grease than the leading all-purpose cleaner. cook with passion. clean with easy-off.

good morning. live look on san francisco the embarcadero the financial district the ferry building, bay bridge have i listed everything in the picture? oh yes a little clouds.

>> there's joe down there you missed him. >> hi joe. we were waiting for the rain. mike says it to the north. unfortunately, we are still on rain watch, waiting for it to come. he'll check in with us for a longer term forecast in a few minutes. >> joe we'll tell you when the umbrella is necessary. >> s are open in new hampshire in the first -- state primary. mitt romney still the front-runner on the ran side. another candidate is making it close. katie marzullo is following things from our newsroom. it is early, how do the results look? >> reporter: it is very early, but we have a time the first count taken after the first nine votes were cast in the nation's first primary in dixville notch, new hampshire. the winners are mitt romney and jon huntsman each with two votes. there are still hours of voting ahead. romney is expected to win with a larger margin than he did in iowa huntsman did not campaign

in iowa so this is the first time voters have a choice between the two of them. >> i love new hampshire and i appreciate your willingness to welcome us here. if i am president of the united states, i will not forget new hampshire. >> ladies and gentlemen can you feel a little know len item in the air? -- a little momentum in the air! >> reporter: dixville notch has picked the republican nominee in every election since 1968. katie marzullo, abc7 news. meantime, president obama is trying out what may be his basic campaign theme. he told the audience at two fundraisers last night that the u.s. is a nation with a common purpose, not divided between rich and poor. >> the president: we can't go back to this brand of on your own economics. we are not a country that was built on the idea of survival of the fittest, we were built

on the idea that we survive as a nation, we thrive when we work together, all of us. >> president also defended health care reform and touted the end of the iraq war and the death of osama bin laden. owning up. next, what a bay area lawmaker is saying about her arrest for shoplifting. first drought, now deluge. huge storm that has texas mopping up this morning. california's newest lotto millionaire. women everywhere are joining the revolution against scrubbing on their hands and knees. they're using resolve easy clean to deep clean their carpets.

its upright brush with activating trigger removes three times more dirt than vacuuming alone. it's just three easy steps for beautifully clean carpets. resolve easy clean. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean. and try resolve triple oxi to remove stains the first time. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury ham and cheese crescents. with just a few ingredients, you have an easy dinner. pillsbury ham and cheese crescents. school night ideas made easy. here's a better idea... pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits. in just 15 minutes, the light delicate layers add a layer of warmth to your next dinner. pillsbury grands! dinner ideas made easy.

temperatures across the

country mild from the chilly upper 30s around seattle and great falls, phoenix and atlanta 60s, new orleans and miami in the 70s. one airport with a flight arrival delay philadelphia, rain around dallas and memphis could cause delays. everybody in california on time. flight tracker abc7news.com at the bottom. 4:48. east bay assemblywoman is taking full responsibility for a union square shoplifting incident. she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge last friday she was caught+0;8n leaving nein marcus in san francisco with $2500 in merchandise she hadn't paid for. she called it unintentional. her lawyer blamed it on a recently diagnosed brain tumor in a statement yesterday she said my medical condition may have complicated the situation but i take full responsibility for my actions. federal hearing set to

begin this morning into an air race crash in reno that kill 11 and injured 70. a plane plunged into the grandstands september 16th. the incident will be part of the national transportation safety board's hearing into the overall issue of safety during aviation events. those scheduled to testify include a pilot from san mateo. the information will help the ntsb during its crash investigations. roads in houston, texas flooded thousands have lost electricity after storms plowed through the area. several inches of rain dropped over two hour period on the drought stricken area yesterday roads flooded, drivers became stranded possible tornado damageed shopping mall no immediate reports of injury. even with above normal rainfall this winter it won't stop texas from having one of its driest periods in history

that is really bad. [ unintelligible ] >> then the ground is so hard everything runs off and causes the flooding. >> it has been feast or famine you've had dry weather, forest fires. >> we thought it was bad here, texas does have it worse but we are starting to get closer to them. let's find rain if we can we've been trying for a couple of months and we haven't had much luck, other than sprinkles today we'll still be out of luck. looking down from sutro tower looks hazy not a spare the air but there's extra moisture in the air we are keeping an eye on that fog, right now it is not very thick and widespread. let's talk about freezing temperatures in the north bay valleys, spreading to fairfield, mid 30s to mid 40s in the east bay valleys and everywhere he will he except for san francisco at 48°.

monterey bay temperatures upper 30s to low 40s until you get to gilroy, frosty 30°. the real big story for today the fact it going to be cooler. we won't threaten record highs, extra clouds and wind that will blow in off the ocean that is cooler because the ocean waters are running in the upper 40s to low 50s. 58 concord, five degree drop is as is redwood city 60 same in santa rosa oakland and san jose six degrees cooler than yesterday, nine hours and 44 minutes of sunshine today in between the clouds. 60 palo alto, san jose, low 60s santa rosa, 63 cloverdale everybody else upper 50s. monterey bay mid to upper 50s around the bay into salinas inland low 60s also see a lot of clouds mixing with our sun. tonight clouds will fade and

look at how it gets cold inland low to mid 30s north bay. mid 30s around palo alto upper 30s in fremont, san jose morgan hill and santa cruz. [ unintelligible ] here's a look at the front, just unlating through the west coast -- undulating throughout the west coast starting to break up. notice how far it is from the coast not only this morning but as we head to noon into the afternoon cold front rolls through, clouds clear wake up to temperatures just as cold tomorrow morning and a lot of sunshine tomorrow afternoon. rainfall deficit only 20 -- 26% of average in santa rosa and san jose to 32 to 33 in san francisco and oakland that goes back to july 1st. here's your accuweather seven day forecast warmer tomorrow by two to four degrees.

have a great day. still looking good on the roads. live shot san mateo bridge westbound on the right you might find roadwork on the dunbarton bridge eastbound that has been until 6:00 this morning. as we check out the other bay area bridges, looking good here, very clear across the golden gate bridge. i want to take you to the waze traffic maps once again this is a free traffic app available to you. i'll show you some stuff going on towards the south bay. there's roadwork scheduled on eastbound 237 towards milpitas and southbound 880 through milpitas that should be cleared in the next 10 minutes or so. with these waze maps it will show you slowing. right now we are not seeing a lot of activity. that means traffic is flowing well through the area. see those little wazers out there a few with the abc 7 icon attached, they are part

of the abc7 news traffic spotter community. they are moving slowly in this area it didn't look like a big slow down they could have pulled off the freeway now. you can be a part of the abc7 news traffic spotter community. download the free waze app to your smartphone and join the group, it is free. hopefully we can feature you on our traffic report. you can get that by going to abc7news.com/waze and learn more about the free app. >> free and fun. 4:54. the san francisco board of supervisors is expected to vote today on a proposal to regulate professional dog walkers in the city. if the board approves the measure dog walkers would be limited to eight dogs during each outing currently there are no limits. professional dog walkers would need to complete training for

a permit and have vehicles undergo inspections. people walking four dogs or less would not be affected. golden gate bridge officials are revealing plans for the span's 75th anniversary celebration. this time around there won't be a bridge walk. the celebration will be in may during the memorial day weekend. it will include a two day festival along the waterfront. organizers didn't want a repeat of the 50th anniversary walk that drew 300,000 people and created a safety hazard. >> the sidewalk is open everyday during the daylight hours we encourage people to walk the bridge, but not that day. we'll have a celebration along the whole northern waterfront lots of fun activities so people will do that and celebrate the bridge. >> unique part of the year long celebration is for the first time the bridge will offer guided day and nighttime tours starting this summer. new visitor and educational is going up on the san francisco side of the bridge. bay area woman who

miraculously awoke from a coma two years ago has another reason to be feeling blessed. emily leech is california's newest lottery millionaire. the 30-year-old won the big prize over the weekend when she bought $40 in scratcher tickets. >> i was crying so bad and i called my mom she thought i had been in a car accident. i said mom please get here right now. she said sign the back of the ticket. and i signed the ticket and locked myself in my car until my mom and grandma came up. >> leech is no stranger to winning the lottery she won $5,000 right before christmas. leech says she will use the money to payoff her medical bills and take her family on a trip. she woke up from that coma -- [ unintelligible ] 4:56.

got 'em! bid for freedom short what he was doing when police nabbed him. >> reporter: what does the federal government think of the tension of bart down to san jose? it is an important opinion we have the answer, stay with us. pg&e goes into over time to make sure that power remains on at candlestick park for this weekend's 49er playoff game. so, this is delicious

okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your ceal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way. lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one.