grocery store. some of the best ways to go about it. good monday morning to you. monday, august 2nd. where is the summer going? school quickly approaching, kids. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm is 6:00. we want to get to the forecast with rob. noticeably cooler all weekend, you're saying it could get cooler still? >> unbelievable run of mild weather looks like it will continue heading into the work week. we are in august now. the last full month of summer. boy, is it foggy now in san francisco. keeping an eye on that for flight delays at sfo. 50s to get your day started. we will finish the day in the mid 80s inland. upper 70s to near 80 in san jose. coming up, the seven-day forecast, you will be surprised by where the temperatures are going around mid week. a look at that coming up. >> thanks. we expect an important ruling today that could effect your commute through the east

bay. it effects a long-running labor display. christie smith is live in oakland with what transit riders have been dealing with coming and going to work every day. >> reporter: this could turn into a battle, depending on what happens today this could heat things up or some people believe if the union wins in court today this could ease delays that riders have had to deal with for nearly two weeks since ac transit imposed a work contract that included big changes to schedules and rules for bus drivers. the agency says about 20% of their drivers have been failing to show up for work in a sick-out. the union says those numbers are inflated and some drivers may not be showing up because of safety issues or other concerns. on friday a judge listened to arguments on both sides. the union is asking for an injunction preventing ac transit from continuing to impose a contract, at least until an

arbitrator decides the dispute. negotiations stalled last month. arbitration is expected to start august 20th. mike inouye joins us with more on how this might impact your commute. >> reporter: in the morning we heard about delays, but no specifics. watch the timing on that this morning and this evening. i'm looking at a memo from last friday where about 30 lines were listed, 30 departures were listed from the transbay terminal out of san francisco. check that site before you leave. you may want to consider the b.a.r.t. system as one of your alternates for transbay service. that will take you under the bay bridge to the east bay and throughout. 45 trains, no problems. there is a delay at the toll plaza westbound out of oakland. seeing the cash lanes with a significant back-up. considering this is 6:00 a.m.,

we may see some folks returning from summer vacation, and that may be what's going on now. we'll watch this. this is heavier volume than we have seen the last month or so. heading across the bay, a smooth drive. we see haze and fog that rob is talking about that will effect your drive along the coast and heading over the santa cruz mountains. use those low beams and maybe those windshield wipers as well. muni operators are about to get a 6% pay raise. san francisco city charter says operators must earn an hourly wage the average of the two highest rates in the country. so their average wage will jump from $27.92 an hour to 29.52 an hour. the operators union rejected a plan that would have saved muni millions of dollars. new information on a story we brought you last month. eight childhood development

centers in oakland will be open this morning. they were supposed to close on friday because of state and local budget cuts, more than 100 parents protested and now fund hag been restored. the centers serve nearly 1,000 underprivileged kids. bp says it can start the static kill on the oil leak as early as tonight. oil started leaking into the gulf about 105 days ago. that means pouring cement and mud into the well from above, and if that works more cement and mud will be put into the well from the bottom. this morning crews have an upper hand on a wildfire smoldering north of los angeles. the fire is now 87% contained after burning 22 acres in palmdale. flames also destroyed four homes and five outbuildings. it is believed somebody working on a car sparked that fire on

thursday. in los angeles county, crews knocked down a smoky wildfire alongside the north edge of highway 101 in calabasas. it did char about 12 acres of heavy brush. we have new developments on a shift in the war strategy. >> president obama is about to take off from the white house. we just got an early look at the speech that he is set to give on the war in iraq. >> scott mcgrew is watching for the latest in our newsroom. no claims of mission accomplished? >> no, paresident obama will tak about the winding down of the iraq war, but no mission accomplished statement. while he talks about the two wars frequently, it has been some months since he made a major address about strategy. the most significant came this -- at an appearance at west point late last year.

this is a live look at air force one. in the address we expect the president to say the military will transition to a support role in iraq. he will say there are those with bombs and bullets who will try to stop iraq's progress. the hard truth is we have not seen the end of america's sacrifice in that country. but make no mistake, president obama will say our commitment in iraq is changing from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats. president obama will leave the white house in a few minutes, travel to edwards -- andrews air force base and then on to atlanta. he will be back in washington by about 1:00 our time. brent? >> we'll be following that. thanks. news that effects your bottom line. the economy is changing the way woe shop for groceries. bob redell is live with a look

at how people are pinching pennies these days. >> reporter: the surprise is that more americans are not becoming more frugal when shopping for groceries, it's that many shoppers are telling researchers that they plan to keep up their new penny-pinching ways even after the economy improves. deloitte and the harrison group came to that conclusion after surveying roughly 2,000 shoppers over the past couple of years. they found that we as americans have become much more resourceful, less wasteful in the grocery aisles, using more loyalty cards, you could upons, and fewer people are cleaning out their pantry because the food has expired. >> now we buy the minimums of what we need. we don't buy pre-made product like we used to. everything we buy we buy from scratch. >> cut back on salmon and the costs of that. don't make as many trips to the

stores. probably buy more store brands than i used to. >> reporter: he's not alone. more shoppers are turning to the cheaper store brands, consumers don't seem to notice a difference in quality. 85% of those surveyed said they have found that a store brand is just as good, if not better, than a name brand. reporting live in santa clara, bob redell, nbc bay area news. a reminder from grocery store chains to restaurants, a lot of companies offer hefty coupon discounts that you can often only find online. it's beyond what you get in flyers from the grocery store. there's been an explosion of online coupon sites like coupons.com and fatwallet.com. just print them out and then you take them to the store. but authorities also say as easy as it is to find those genuine coupon offers on the web, it's also just as easy to get conned. so make sure that you double check any site that appears to offer a deal that seems too good

to be true. let's check the forecast right now on this monday morning. first monday of august. >> a new month and we're starting to see temperatures climbing up maybe to the mid 80s. that's about as good as it will get around the bay area. 54, fog and mist around san francisco. still checking to see if that will impact flights at sfo. patchy clouds inland this morning with lots of 50s bay area wide. around lunch time, we will get the sunshine inland with the clouds sticking around the coast. high temperatures today in the mid 80s out towards livermore and concord. 62 around san francisco. coming up, a closer look at that seven-day forecast which will call for, of all things, a cooling trend this week. a look at that coming up. >> cooling to the cooling. wow. the wait is over. lindsay lohan is free at last, kind of.

see why s and big salaries to city leaders, we will investigate why other city also have to pay for big pensions. murder for hire. a trial gets under way for a bay area man accused of paying to have a businessman killed. a live look from the south bay. one of the big reasons it's so cool. great start today. that marine layer is well inland. we will check your forecast and temperatures coming up.

welcome back. time is 6:12. lots of folks heading off to work right now. this is a look at the bay bridge approach. some folks are crammed up at toll plaza. others are using the fastrak lanes, a bit more open and getting through quickly there. a check of commute times coming up.

jury selection starts today in the trial for three men accused of a murder for hire blot. mark achilli was gunned down in 2008. 29-year-old paul garcia will be tried alongside the two men he allegedly paid to shoot achilli. prosecutors say he hired them for $9,500. they say the plot was spurred by a love triangle. anthat garcia wanted achilli out of the way. friends of achilli are glad to see the trial finally begin. >> nothing, nothing, nothing is worth this kind of anger and mark would never hurt anybody, never hurt anybody in his life. for this to be directed at him, the most easy going, so friendly, so full of life, such a people-loving person. >> the three suspects face a maximum sentence of life without parole. lawyers today for the man accused of killing journalist chauncey bailey will submit paper foors change of venue f they don't a judge said he will schedule the case for trial right here in the bay area.

defense attorneys say yusuf bey iv and macey should be tried somewhere else because of notoriety of the case. three grizzly bears have a new home. they are at a zoo in montana billings. experts say the two female cubs and one male cub are showing signs of stress that may help explain the mother's unusually aggressive behavior. t officials euthanized the mother on friday. overnight short-range rockets hit israel and jordan's red seaports. they were reportedly launched from an area where islamic militant militants were in the past. local media says four people were wound. the uc berkeley campus is froo

feeling the loss of one of their own. misha was a sophomore and rising star on the women's soccer team. she was on that air blue flight from karachi to islamabad. she was on her way to join her pakistani soccer club for that country's national women's championship. all 152 people on board died in that flight. there are no official causes declared, though fog and heavy rain were happening at the time of the crash. a big incentive to go solar kicks in today in san francisco. a new group purchase campaign will be started. homeowners or renters who earn $63,000 a less or year or $73,000 or less for two people qualify for a 15% rebate off of home solar panel installation. for more information check out our website, nbcbayarea.com and search go solar. passengers on another airline now have a tough choice to make. carry-on less or pay more. spirit airlines is charging for carry-on bags that won't fit under your seat.

the airline says carry-on bags are out of control and so it's leading to longer security lines. passengers who need space in the overhead bins are now charged $30 at check-in. if you wait and get to your seat and as you're boarding the plane and find out you need the bin, then the price to pay is $45. >> the longer you wait, the higher it goes. >> i think this is . i was on a flight the other day where someone bought a king bed comforter, one of those things a lady was trying to take down the aisle. you are allowed to bring a backpack, diaper bags, that kind of thing without charge. >> you know, you do see some of the crazy things people think they'll fit in there. >> aren't you gentlemen there to help these people put them in? >> it don't matter.

>> as they pass me going back into coach class. >> analysts say the conservative government of the uae is worried about intelligence services not being able to read e-mails sent by blackberry the way they can on other phone systems. saudi arabia apparently considering a similar ban. we are watching reports this morning that intel could buy a german chip company called infineon. if that name sound familiar, they are the title sponsors of the infineon race way in the north bay. the interesting thing is infineon makes chips that go into the apple iphone and ipad. intel knows mobile technology is a big growth area, much pore than the traditional desk top. they make a lot of mobile chips at intel, but here's a way to get into more things. this is what people are doing, this is how they're computing, these days, in their hand and

not on a desk. >> everybody is at it all the time. >> thanks. new this morning, cities across southern california are now on the hook for the pensions for that city we told you about called bell. public outrage to big salaries led to key leaders including robert rizzo stepping down. he made nearly $800,000 per year. now, get this, he is set to get $600,000 a year in pensions, that money will come from a pool paid by 140 other smaller cities. the pensions are now on hold because there's an investigation. lindsay lohan is out of jail this morning but not exactly tasting sweet freedom. lohan left jail around 1:30 this morning. she served 14 days of a 90-day sentence. remember a few years ago when paris hilton left prison and it looked like a red carpet premiere? this time the sheriff's

department out a side door. now lohan had to report to a rehab center immediately after her release. we want to check your commute with mike. he has a new problem, a sig-alert. >> a big accident. all lanes, all lanes of northbound 101 currently blocked towards hospital curve. an accident that involved a semi truck and another vehicle. this effects all lanes. folks heading towards the lower deck will have a big problem now. this is causing major slowing towards the toll plaza. if you can get over to 280 northbound, get over to 6th street and take brennan over to 5th, 5 is a better way to get on to the bridge. i hear folks are heading to the lower deck are forced off the freeway at 9th. that's a problem if you're heading out of the city towards oakland. heading into the city, the bay bridge toll plaza is showing no problems, other than an earlier back-up than we've typically seen. this may be a return to the fall

traffic. the back-up in the cash lanes over to the 880 overcrossing. the maze itself is moving smoothly. coming out of san francisco, we said the bay bridge approach will be a problem for the lower deck. you might want to head south down 101 over to the 92. this is the san mateo bridge. we will follow that commute down the peninsula and across this bridge. that sig-alert effecting folks 101 heading up to the lower deck of the bay bridge. the east bay showing the effectses of this fog coming through sunol. we don't see major slowing in sunol, but there is low cloud cover here and through livermore. general slowing through livermore as well. we will follow that and your forecast coming up. >> crews are getting ready to start the first step in stopping the gulf oil leak for good. kristen dahlgren leads our coverage. she is life in the gulf. today is day 105. walk us through the time line

and how we got to this point. >> reporter: good morning, brent. well, it's been a long 105 days. that first explosion on april 20th. we've seen all different attempts at trying to stop this leak. a lot of people are optimistic that today and into tomorrow could be the beginning of the end here. we are all waiting for now what they are calling the static kill. they put in the last casing on the relief well. they are pouring this cement. waiting for that to dry. in the meantime they will start the static kill, pumping in heavy mud from the top of the well. now that the cap is in place, it will be different from the top kill because they hope that cap will then hold down the oil and the mud. so they will try to fill it up from the top, relieve some of the pressure and choke off the well. they'll then go forward with the relief well, intercept with that original well and do what they're calling the bottom kill, filling up with the mud from the bottom. they hope the combination of those two are able to

permanently seal off this well. they hope do that by sometime mid-august. we are waiting now. officials say the static kill will likely start tonight or into tomorrow. of course it's been a tough time really for people in this area, continuing to watch a lot of oil. they don't see as much these days, but they know they have a long clean-up ahead, brent. >> bp is coming under fire for trying to make the problem seem better than it was by overusing a chemical dispersant that breaks up the oil slick. here's a quote from a congressman from massachusetts, he said bp often carpet bombed the ocean with these chemicals and the coast guard allowed them to do it. kind of a new controversy. what is the coast guard saying in response to that? >> strong words from representative markky. all along we have not known the long-term environmental impact of these dispersants, so the epa was trying to limit their use. but there were instances where the coast guard did allow bp to

use more. yesterday admiral allen was asked about that. he said they did not violate any environmental guidelines and they got the effect that they were looking for. at times, on a case by case basis, the coast guard did allow them to go over the amount of disper d dispersants that the epa set out for them to use. a lot of people here say they will see into the future what the effect of that dispersant will be. >> and look at the lesser of two evils there. kristen dahlgren, appreciate your live report this morning. always good to see you. >> thanks. a big corporation is playing hard ball with san jose. te what is standing in w of a proposed a's stadium next.

welcome back, just before 6:26. a few seconds away from that.

waking up to overcast skies in san jose. 54 degrees. in san francisco, you can't see much, mist with low clouds. 54 degrees and a sea breeze pumping in the low clouds. let's look at the wide angle view on the satellite and radar. monsoon moisture staying over arizona, and that ridge of high pressure typically over arizona is centered over texas. we got this trough along the west coast, healthy sea breeze, unusually low marine layer. 70s to 80 inland. 62 around san francisco. highs of 68 in oakland. to the north bay, numbers from 74 in petaluma, 90s getting up to lake port and ukiah. temperatures warmer there, but notice the trend here mid week. cooling down even more as we head towards wednesday. those highs in the 70s inland. as we head towards next weekend, temperatures will start to climb, but still below average

for this time of year. back to you. >> thank you very much. a company has a $12 million field operation center right now in the middle of the proposed stadium site. the chronicle reports that at&t is playing hard ball and says the land is not for sale because the center employs 100 people and is vital for taking care of customers. some of the most popular household products could be hurting your kids. we'll show you the simple things you can do to keep them safe. and cainan schierhotlz in jail this morning accused of going on a drunken hit and run spree. and where are the worst findhe outy' i therey' in your neighborhood coming up next.

it is 6:30 this morning. do you know where your money is? what is the big news on the

state of our economy? waiting for the opening bell on the new york stock exchange. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm brent cannon. the commute is about to pick up. we want to check in with mike, helping you save time especially if you are heading through the city. we are hoping they pick this up. this is the sig-alert that had all lanes blocked because of a truck that hit a van. northbound 101 at the interchange. folks are moving over to the bay bridge or continuing northbound 101. hospital curve is the area. a lot of folks know that. no major injuries, but a big problem. one lane has just opened northbound 101. avoid that if you're heading to the bay bridge. if you can get over to 280, use the 6th street off-ramp, get over to 5th and use the 5th street on-ramp to the lower deck. the commute direction, that just has minor back-ups.

the cash lanes looking full on the oakland side. rob, just fog all over the place. >> it could slow down your commute in spots, especially over highway 17 over the summit or the golden gate bridge. san jose, 54 degrees, mist with those low clouds around the peninsula and coast. mild temperatures again today. upper 70s to near 80 in san jose. 85 in livermore. 62 around san francisco. laura? >> thank you very much. drivers are navigating bumpy rides on some bay area streets because of potholes. nbc bay area news learned that one city in need has hundreds of millions of dollars worth of road work with, but it won't happen any time soon. christie smith is live this morning in oakland with what's behind the big backlog. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. money is the issue here. and oakland doesn't have a lot to spare. we are right downtown near 14th street in front of city hall. there are some big cracks and potholes around.

oakland is $418 million behind in street repairs and it's getting worse. in 2006, the city was $300 million behind in repairs. potholes make it hard on everyone, the elderly, bicyclists and drivers. a recent report showed that oakland needs about $26 million just start reversing the trend. another report ranks oakland 95th on a list of 109 state jurisdictions on the quality of roads. the average bay area driver pays about $700 more in costs on their car because of problems with bad roads. alameda county proposed a $10 per car vehicle registration fee for the november ballot. even if approved that would bring oakland only about $1.8 million a year. if this is any help, the study shows some of the worst roads are actually in the downtown areas. if you want to avoid it, there you go. christie smith, nbc bay area news.

>> we have to sponsor your own poll hole program. put your name on it. >> absolutely. >> thanks. the younger brother of san francisco giants outfielder nate schierhotlz is in a martinez jail this morning. cainan schierhotlz turned down our request for an interview and his side of the story about an hour ago he faces multiple charges after a drunk driving rampage in walnut creek. they say that the 23-year-old was driving a pick-up truck when he hit a bicyclist on danville boulevard sunday morning. he then hit a pedestrian, a light poland several vehicles. neighbor's finally banded together to try to stop him. one man blocked the street with his truck and schierhotlz finally stopped. that's when several people wrestled him to the ground and held him until police got there. >> the same man blocked the street here with his truck, and then the kid came back down the street in the red truck and of course stopped because he couldn't get through.

just a bunch of neighbors got around him and got him out of the car and sort of held him until the police came. >> none of the victims were seriously hurt, but cainan schierhotlz faces ten charges including drunk driving, driving without a license and several counts of hit and run. it is 6:34. time to check the markets. they have been open for a whopping four minutes. >> it's the beginning of august as far as the markets go. july was tremendous. starting august well. dow jones up better than 113 points. nasdaq up 29. as a group of cyclists opened the nasdaq. they are playing on the word wi. looking forward to friday's information where we get the jobless numbers. these are crucially important to the economy and they have been disappointing up until now. laura and brent, mid week, we will get a couple of previews of

the jobless numbers. some private industries will take some guesses. this is the number we watch more than anything else that comes friday at 5:30 our time. >> it's interesting, scott, talking about jobs. i think maybe a lot of people are heading back to work now that it's august. it seems like everybody had july off because there was no traffic out on the roadways. typically it gets thicker, but we are seeing more than usual on these days. and another sig-alert? >> this is the first sig-alert that we will talk b the big issue coming out of san francisco. same one. to major update as far as the lanes being opened, northbound 101 restricted to one lane coming up towards hospital curve and moving over towards the split with i-80. this is the area, southbound side also is slowing, spectator slowly because of the activity. folks are getting off of that ramp coming down off of the bay bridge and the approach into san

francisco. this is not a great point. distracting a lot of people. northbound 101 restricted to one lane right now. if you can, use 280 over to 6th, then 5th to brennan and then use that to get on to the lower beck. getting into san francisco, the bay bridge toll plaza, a live look at that side of the bay. the cash lanes which back up early. they are holding steady around the 880 overcrossing. the fastrak lanes are moving nicely. no issue as far as a need to turn on those metering lights. still no metering lights. the back-up for the cash lanes. fastrak, big advantage for you. livermore, just general slowing coming out of the altamont pass. 21 minutes out of that area, through livermore and the dublin interchange. typical volume of traffic. also maybe some fog impeding your view there. cutting down through sunol, smooth drive there. the south bay starts that slowdown, northbound 101 approaching 680 heading up to

880. 87 slowing down to about 50 miles per hour. heading south, watch 17 over that summit. some fog there. along the coast and then the golden gate bridge. a look at the live view here. you can hardly see the south portion of the bridge. can't see past that first tower coming out of san francisco. a good number of cars, heavier volume than we typically see on a monday. there is a break in the traffic now, north bay not showing any major slowing. you are slow because of that fog. >> that is thick. there are patches of it around the bay area. that's part of the reason that it will be cooler today. we have low clouds to start, a healthy sea breeze. a view from the golden gate bridge looking into the mid-span of the towers, couldn't see them. from the tops of the buildings looking down towards the bay bridge, can't really see anything. 54 degrees. san jose also 54 with gray skies. notice the winds blowing through fairfield, southwest at 23. any time you see winds that strong you know you have a good

push of marine air moving inland. no problems there today. no chances of seeing mountain thundershowers. that activity continuing well off to the east of the sierra. inlands, 70s to 80s. tri valley, probably one of the warmer spots off in the east bay valleys. the north bay, 74 for petaluma. things will cool off more and slight warming saturday into sunday. brent? >> thanks, rob. okay. i'm attempting to get the script they want me to go to right now. we are talking about the iran hikers, josh patel, they do remain in iran, jailed there this morning. they were picked up on the iran/iraq border in 2009 and are

accused of being spies. there were rallies over the weekend on the one-year a anniversary of their capture. >> the public needs to be reminded sometimes, as i myself need to be reminded, that they're still there. i go on with my daily life. a year goes by. that's a very long time to keep up the energy and attention. >> similar rallies and marches were held in london and paris and new york as well as minneapolis and part of the international weekend of action. the president is also calling on iran to release the americans. if you use ac transit, it might be a good idea to check out your route before you leave home. a judge is expected to decide whether or not ac transit has the right to force a new contract on its employees. of course his ruling and all of the contract issues could effect your ride. bus drivers have been working under an imposed contract for nearly two weeks now. that contract went into effect

after the company and union could not come to an agreement on a number of issues. the union wants the old contract until both sides come to a new agreement. the transit agency claims workers are staging sick-outs to get what they want. the union denies that, but one way or another riders are seeing a lot of delays and canceled service. that's why you probably need to check early. the very things that we use every day to keep our houses clean and smelling fresh might be dangerous and often are deadly in the hands of young children. tracie potts live this morning in washington, d.c. some of the most common household cleaning products appear to be some of the worst offenders. >> reporter: they sure are. brent. this is a study coming out today in the journal "pediatrics." it shows a huge issue with these household cleaners that are in spray bottles. over the year we have done a good job of keeping children away from medicine chests and the cosmetics in our bedrooms, but the area that, according to this report that needs some

light shed on it is what's under your kitchen sink. take a look at the numbers. nationwide well over 250,000 children were sent to emergency rooms specifically because they ingested these household cleaners, mostly in spray bottles. obviously it typically tends to effect toddlers, ages 1 to 3 more. 4 out of 10 of these incidents happen in the kitchen. in california alone, the poison control system handles almost 900 calls every single day. so it's something that parents want to pay attention to. now what do you do about it? lock them up. probably no surprise there, but a lot of people don't do that. those child safety locks readily available. store those products higher, and a lot of these spray bottles

already have child-proof caps on them. you turn them one quarter and they cannot be sprayed. the child can grab the bottle by not invest what's inside. a lot of us use them but forget to look them back when we put them away. they say that's very important. >> just did the child safety locks this weekend on our cabinets. >> yeah. the kids are trying to figure them out now. lead poisoning is another danger in your home. a sonoma county community service group says children under 5 are most at risk because their growing bodies and brains are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. protect your family by making sure toys are not worn or eaten by your kids. wash the toys since they can pick up lead dust from deteriorating paint and soil. check recalls frequently because sometimes you might have something that has been recalled. make sure you get a home lead test kit. here's some important phone numbers for you, they are the

poison control numbers for you in the bay area, you should always keep them handy. in san jose 800-662-9886. and in san francisco, 800-523-2222. we'll also put them on our website, nbcbayarea.com. have them handy. hope you never have to use them. >> hope you never have to, but if you do, they'll be there. massive crane alsofloatinge flting away from the port of oakland today. we will show you where they are headed next. in their pocket.got exty those are happy passengers. how much does it cost for those snacks again? nothing. at southwest airlines, when we have a sale, it's a sale. [ male announcer ] southwest airlines has flights starting at $49 one-way. book now only at southwest.com. [ rand ] how can you not want to get on the plane? come on and get on the plane. we're saving you money. now that's a plane full of happy. [ employees ] grab your bag. it's on. [ ding ]

east bay commuters are awaiting a key decision from a judge on a labor dispute. christie smith is live in oakland this morning. the decision could effect service for riders. >> that's right. this decision has to do with a contract that was imposed on ac transit bus drivers. we have been speaking with riders this morning, they are hoping whatever happens it will ease the delays they've been dealing with for almost two weeks now. today a judge will decide on the union's request for an injunction preventing the transit agency from continuing to impose a contract at least until an arbitrator can decide this whole dispute. ac transit imposed a contract when negotiations failed in mid-july, and since then about 20% of their drivers are not showing up each day. the union says that number is really too high. we spoke with one rider this morning who says he just wants to see it over and he doesn't have a lot of sympathy.

>> because at least they got a job. you know, i think they just need to sit there and come to an agreement and just get on to wor work. >> it's getting old? >> yes. they got a job. i mean, can't sit there and ask for more than what the economy can give you. >> reporter: now, the union for its part says there really is no sick-outgoi going on, and some drivers may not be showing up due to safety issues or erratic schedules. arbitration will begin august 20th. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, nbc bay area news. today's the first of a scheduled five-day strike for health care workers in oakland. certified nursing assistants are rallying outside a couple of assisted living centers. this is a live look at one of those rallies in oakland. they will be at the piedmont gardens and grand lake gardens. this is the grand lake gardens facility. they are already on the picket lines today.

they are not happy with their contracts and are protesting the negotiations. 6:47 right now. >> a surprise this weekend at the movies, "inception" stayed in number one. what you didn't see at the number one spot is "dinner for schmucks." i didn't know you were allowed to say that on television. apparently you are. the word dinner is fine to say. there you go. that came in number two, a bit of a surprise, behind "inception" which has been number one for three weeks now. the one that never took off was angelina jolie's "salt." did okay, but "inception" at number one. coin star has rolled out bluray discs to many machines, and they expect the project to

have been completed by fall. i read about that on twitter. >> it is a sign of the times, making it easier to see movies. >> 6:48 now. the port of oakland will send a set of huge cranes packing this morning. the 130-foot tall cranes will be shipped to the massachusetts port authority. oakland used the cranes to meet flight path safety standards, but since the base closure they are no longer needed. if you are among the millions of americans tries to lower your blood pressure, new studies suggest how much you weigh is more important than how fit you are. researchers found overweight people are more likely to have a high systolic blood pressure, that's the top number in the blood pressure reading. and how in shape they were only had a small impact on the blood pressure. the key there is to lower your weight, which often involves getting in shape.

>> there you go. ice havarou, s haveom s ways to save some cash at the grocery store.

grab a pen and paper. we have been talking about the dangers of household cleaning products and the problems they pose for your children. the poison control center numbers in the bay area, 800-662-9886. in san francisco, 800-523-2222. >> ah. >> you are a bad man. >> i was -- i was scrambling for my pen and paper trying to get those numbers.

falling all over myself trying to get that. >> yeah, trying to mess me up. >> want to check in with mike and look at the morning commute. >> nwe will give you some good news as well. bad news for brent off camera, he gets hit. a van was hit by a big rig no injuries, but now completely cleared from the roadway. the back-up has been holding steady around the 280 interchange. if you can, still use the 5th street on-ramp to get on to the lower deck. the sig-alert has been canceled. i told folks to go to the san mateo bridge, i was worried about slowing from 101 down to the area, but no one listened to me. no one ever listens to me any way. a nice flow westbound with the

taillights away from us, eastbound no problems here as well. the bay bridge toll plaza, a back up in the cash lanes and no metering lights. that mist and fog still hanging around. >> we will continue to see enough of those low clouds along the coast and the highway 17 drive into los gatos, you will probably run into mist. temperatures, 50s for the morning. that's not unusual. it's the afternoon temperatures which continue to stay quite cool for this time of year. 70s to mid 80s inland. san francisco and oakland, only in the 60s today. middle part of the week, we will cool down more. the sea breeze strengthens and warm us up heading towards the weekend. now to news for your bottom line. a new study shows more and more people are willing to skip the name brands in order to save money. nbc bay area news bob redell has a look at the new trends in a tough economy. bob? >> good morning to you. if there is an upside to this recession, new research shows that it has made us more smarter

when it comes to shopping, specifically for our groceries. we are more resourceful and precise in our decisions of what to buy, and less picky when choosing between a name brand and a generic. >> you have to be careful with what you do. >> he speaks for a lot of people. a new survey done by deloitte and the harrison group found that 92% of americans have changed their grocery shopping habits because times are tight and brand loyally has taken a hit. 85% have said they found a store grand just as good if not better than a name brand. these new habits could be here to stay. many of those surveyed say they plan to continue pinching pennys in the grocery store even after the economy improves. bob redell, nbc bay area news.

>> i got in trouble once for buying thin wheats instead of wheat things. i said i would never do that again. everybody knows the best way to get young people to plant trees is to climb a building. >> that's what a guy in mumbai india did. nothing says plant a try more. he climbed 17 stories and handed out trees. he brought the little plants with him. as he goes up, he hands them to people. he says the message got through because everybody, he claims, highly appreciated it, especially the children and the youngsters. >> he's a modern day johnny appleseed. >> nothing like a man climbing on the outside of your building to make children -- >> honey, let's run to the window and see the man. >> a building made out of ladder ladders. >> should have gone next door to the escalator building. >> no kidding.

thank you very much for joining us this morning. "today" is coming up next. >> a local news update in a half hour. have a great monday, everybody. we'll see you back here in a bit. >> yeah, please come back.