new school year. >> we believe all children deserve to have a stable learning environment, whether it's up in the hills or down here in the flatlands, but these kids more so than anyone because of the economic challenges they're facing in their community. they need it more. >> reporter: the school board member, charles ramsey, says these students are have a lot of new teachers to get used to. he estimates 10 to 20% of the teaching staff will be new to the campus because of layoffs or teacher's leaving the district. >> we'll never get out of the chronically low-performing situation that we're faced with and the persistent problems that we have 23 we can't bring a steady and stable workforce here to these school. >> reporter: but there's a push in sacramento to change that. lawmakers are debating a bill that would ensure teacher layoffs at low-performing schools don't outpace layoffs at schools in wealthier neighborhoods. >> it's like a dump k ground. and it's not fair.

>> cynthia griffin, pta member and aunt to these twins, says she's tired of low-income schools getting short-changed. she's behind any push that will help her nephews succeed. >> they're going into the sixth grade and they're excited. and they know they have to buckle down now. >> reporter: griffin says having solid and stable teachers can make-or-break a child's future. >> a kid can grasp it with one teacher and that teacher could have done the one thing that helped that child's brain forever and took them on over and -- to a better life. >> reporter: not everybody is for this measure. the california teacher's association says they have some very real concerns and believe that the seniority rules should stay in place. this measure has already passed through the senate and assembly appropriation's committee will consider it later this week. reporting live in richmond, jodi

hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> jodi, thank you. the california board of education unanimously approved new and rigorous guidelines for students called "the common core standards." the new plan is meant to help students improve their understanding of math, english and economics and part of an effort to make academic expectations tougher and more consistent nationwide. state superintendent jaek o'connell says the measure also help in the ""race to the top"" program which will bring in $700 million to fund the new curriculum. >> this curriculum is going to be historic. it will help better prepare our students for the global economy. >> critics say more work is needed to make the plan work for students learning english. california is the 29th state to approve these guidelines. it has been a long wait at east bay bus stops lately as a judge weighs in on ac transit's labor dispute with its drivers and this evening that wait

continues. this morning, an alameda county judge was expected to rule whether ac transit has the right to force a new contract on its employees. so far no decision has been made. bus drivers have been working under an imposed contract since last month. after three months, failed talks to reach a new labor deal. the transit agency claim the workers are staging a sickout to get what they want. the brother of a san francisco giants player is behind bars this afternoon after an alleged dui incident in danville. 23-year-old caanan swhooheerhol. he's the president brother of giants' out fielder, nate. he did not speak to the media but police say he was driving a red dodge pickup without a license when he allegedly mowed down a bicyclist and struck a pedestrian. he also knocked out a light pole and hit two cars. they say he was convicted of a dui when he was7 years old and

was involved in a crash last year. a spur of the moment change of travel plans proved fatal tal for a berkeley student who was also a rising star in pakistan women's soccer. 19-year-old misha was a passenger on the plan that crashed in pakistan killing all 152 people aboard. the friends tell "the daily cow" shall she had planned to travel with her family but at the last minute she decided to join her hometown club soccer team for a tournament in pakistan. she was planning to major in geography and told friends her goal was to return home one day to her native country to help the underprivileged. >> she was an amazing individual. she had the most brilliant mind. such an opened heart. any time i needed a favor 14e6s always there. >> the plane veered off course during its approach to do the islamabad airport last wednesday. the plane's black box has been recovered. the death toll is rising

along floodwaters in northwestern pack stanl. over 1,100 people are dead as rescue worker try to save people, the rescuers are cut off from certain areas because of washed-out bridges and roads. heavy monsoon rains triggered the flooding considered the worst in decades. doctors are concerned the flooding could cause a wave e of water-born illnesses like cholera. one year, that's how long the grads have been in iran after they crossed the border from iraq. iran said the three should stand trial on charges of spying and illegally entering the country. the three have been in jail for about a year but still have not been charged. three were hiking in northern iraq when their families say they accidentally strayed into iran. this weekend, president obama said they have done nothing wrong and should be freed. could it finally be over? plans are in place tonight to begin the process of plugging the oil well in the gulf.

perhaps, permanently and perhaps, even without the use of a relief well. nbc bay area's jay gray is in venice, louisiana, with the story tonight. >> reporter: right now, a crucial time on the floor of the gulf p gulf, using the injection test. >> it's designed to establish communication or a path for fluids to throw from the q 4000 down to the well. second to be to establish pumping rates. >> if it works the team also begin the static kill, pumping the thick mud through the containment trying to dry the oil back down below the seabed. even then, the fight which has already lasted 105 days won't be over. >> when we're done the static kill, we'll have some choices to make. >> the most important choice, how to send in cement to permanently seal the well.

>> decide whether, is it beps based on what we observed during the static kill, to cement the well in a similar fashion that we did with the static kill? or is the best way to wait and intersect it with the relief well and cement it from there? >> the primary relief well, long considered the ultimate fix, will be ready in a couple of weeks. but even when the cement flows and the oil does not, there will still be plenty of concern and work left here. >> this isn't done until all the woil is out of the water, off our coastline and until our wetlands are restored to our prespill status for us this is a marathon. >> with hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil still in the water, no one on the gulf coast is ready to let down their guard. >> and as jay reports later on, they're starting the process tomorrow. this afternoon, a house panel announced it is charges a california congresswoman for questionable ethics. those charges against ten-term

democrat, max seen waters, focus on whether she broke the rules when she asked for federal hope for a bank she and her husband are involved with. waters denies the charges. this is the second ethic's scandal to rock capitol hill. days ago, nierk representative, charles rangel was charged in a separate ethic's case and his trial is set to start in the fall. the military's fighting role in iraq is scheduled to ends by august 31st. will it? critics have deep concerns about iraq's ability to govern itself. they had two bombingless just yesterday. today, the president is putting a positive spin on the still, unstable situation there, declaring his promise to withdrawal is right on target. >> but make no mistake, our commitment in iraq is changing from a military effort led by our troops to a civilian effort led by our diplomats. >> figures released by iraqi authority overs the weekend show july was the deadliest month for iraqi in more than two years. u.s. military officials

dismissed the numbers as too high. low fat versus low-carb diets. the key finding that puts one on top. and i'm your chief meteorologist, jeff ranieri. the fog makes a quick return to the coastline. across the golden gate bridge and 64 right now. we'll tell you about even cooler temperatures coming our way this week coming up. and savvy shoppers change your buys habits to put more change in their pockets. what they're doing to save some serious money. but first, lindsay lohan out of exnot y actleea franom w. she's not exactly a free woman. those people are happy

'cause they're gonna have a good time, and they've got extra money in their pocket. 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 ]

a budget disaster. california on the brink. jerry brown's plan? you run for office and the assumption is, oh, i know what to do. you don't. i didn't have a plan for california. [ female announcer ] with our state in crisis, we need a governor with a plan. you need a real plan, something i'll acknowledge i did not have. [ female announcer ] jerry brown. no plan then. no plan now. meg whitman. a plan for jobs. log on. learn more.

from red carpet to rehab, after serving almost two weeks of a three-month sentence, lindsay lohan is out of the slammer. but she's not off the hook. without time for a family visit or a photo op, lohan went from jail to a court-ordered 90-day alcohol rehab program. the starlet dodged the media by leaving jail through a side door to a waiting van before 2:00 this morning. >> a court order she has been sent directly to her next destination which is a treatment center. and she will now be under the supervision of l.a. county probation. >> she violated her probation by missing seven weekly alcohol education classes since december. turns out all the time your teenager spent in front of a computer puts them at greater risk for depression. erika edwards reports on new scientific research.

>> reporter: like pep rallies and pimples, the internet is a fixer in the world of teenagers. research to be done online for schoolwork and not to mention the huge popularity of social networking. when the net is the only social scene a teen has experts say that's a sign of a serious problem. >> whether you're limiting your social interactions or it's impacting your schoolwork or your job or interactions with your family, that's when we start thinking that something is looking more pathological. >> reporter: in fact, pathological or excessive use of the internet may lead to depression in teens according to new research. they say teenagers in their study were mentally healthy at the beginning of the study but those who became addicted to using the internet were two and a half times more likely to become depressed within a matter of months. what's unclear is which came first, the internet or the risk or depression. researchers did not ask the teens whether they had a family history of mental illness. >> it's a little hard to know if

it's the internet impacting the depression or if depression also impacts the internet use. >> they say teens should be limited to about an hour of recreational screen time each day, that includes mindlessly surfing the net, social networking, video games, tv and movies. >> we need to make sure they're still involved in other activities like sports or clubs. going out with their friends so nairp still getting social interaction. >> and not social isolation. erika edwards, nbc news. >> of the 1,000 teenagers, 6% were classified as having an internet addiction. well, it is a daily occurrence. children rushed to the e.r. after they swallow something that's found in nearly every home. household cleaners. >> as scary as it sounds, researchers say fewer kids are getting really sick from accidental poisonings. e.r. visits are down 46% in the last 20 years. researchers credit aware parents and better child-resist stants packaging but researchers also

found that nozzles on some of the most common cleaners were child's play. >> many spray bottles have a nozzle that you can turn that would change the stream or close the stream but that's not necessarily child resistant. >> experts urge parents to keep the cleaners locked away in cabinets and in their original containers. bleach is the most common cleaning product that can poison young kiz and is often stored in tu tupp tupperware. replacing brand nickel-sized name food with store brands? >> 85% of people said they found a store brand that was as good as or better than a branded manufacturing product. >> and researchers say stores are seeing more shoppers use loyalty cards and coupons. and these new shopping habits

likely will not change when the economy improves the researchers say. a. a space station breakdown forced nasa to come up with a repair plan on board the international space shuttle. the astronauts had to shut down half of the station's operation. a space walk is planned for thursday now to replace a cooling pump and despite the problem, nasa says all critical systems at the international space shuttle are fine and the astronauts they i have are not in any danger. turning to the weather, a beautiful day? >> we could have sent some of the cool air up. it would have been a long journey. we've had a lot of cool air here across the bay area. look at the fog rolling in. pretty majestic this time of year. that's the transamerica build something rouded ed ing shrouded in cloud cover. let's look at this.

we've not only had fog and been stuck in that pattern for ten days which can be typical, but some cooler air aloft which is putting us at record-setting temperatures for san jose. a record cool month for san jose. the new july average, 67.9, averaging in the highs and the lows. it's given us a break when it comes to the a.c. and turning it on. 77 in santa rosa. 76 in sunnyvale. and 84 in livermore to 91 in gilroy. here's your weather headlines. as we head throughout tonight, fog continuing to return across the coastal regions and we'll see some warm pockets as we head to tomorrow. that will mean a few more of the 80s popping throughout the interior valleys but overall, a mild start to august. in fact, since summer has started we've only had a couple 90-degree days across the valley. pretty remarkable when you think about how hot we usually can be

this time of the year. the fog is offshore. that's not going to budge tonight. or for the next couple of days. we look out here at the satellite loop and we don't have any big storm systems but as we peel away the layers, what we're noting is the jet stream. it's taking an unseasonalbly far dip to the south and that's pulling down some cooler air for this time of year. you're combining the slightly cooler air aloft with folg and that's why we see temperatures possibly cooling down, even more so as we head throughout the middle part of the week so looking at more mild conditions as we head throughout your tuesday, wednesday and also, thursday, with plenty of signs across the bay area and for wednesday, it will feel more like spring than summer. no big complaints. still comfortable outside. by 6:00 a.m. tomorrow, 55 degrees. and by 11:00 a.m., mostly sunny with temperatures near 70. tomorrow, the warmest spot will be in the south bay per normal. late by with this pattern we've been stuck in.

85 in evergreen. palo alto, 75. the peninsula, 60s to near 70. 82 in concord. 85 in fairfield. 75 in napa. for the north bay, wide wide range from 50s at the coastline to 72347 santa rosa and up to lake port and you have 90 degrees. morningtime on the weather channel, on cable, and you'll see in our seven-day forecast, we'll see upper 70s for all of our interior location force wednesday and thursday and, yes, the calendar is in august. >> can you believe it? >> maybe a little bit more heat as we head to the upcoming week. >> these are not the dog days of august, that's for sure. >> no, definitely not. >> all right. thank you. capitol hill has no short am of beautiful people. and they came out with the top 50 last and several bay area lawmakers and staffers made that

list. plus, duelling diets. what's better?r low-carb or low-fat? see which one comes out on top.

the low-carb versus low-fat got for confusing. a study says which is better. after two years, research found that both groups lost 7% of body weight showing both methods can be successful. when compared with lifestyle changes the low-carb diet eblged out the low-fat when it came to boosting good cholesterol. researchers found 23% increase in hdl, the good cholesterol, 'compared to 12% improvement from the low-fat die jeet as if you need another reason to sleep in on the weekends, there's now scientific proof that catching a few more z's is goose for your health. scientists say sleeping in one weekend day a week will

replenish your brain and alert your attention span. they found people that sleep in performed better on the following monday than those that did not. scientists say 10 hours of sleep will work unless you bush the candle at both ends then you need more. they found the optimum amount of sleeper night is seven hours. >> with all the bipartisan bickering on capitol hill, there's something that some people agree on and that is, that california lawmakers are a good-looking bunch. that's according to the new list of 50 most beautiful people on capitol hill. this year, california has the most people on the list compiled by politico website, the hill. california congresswoman, judy chu cracks the top ten. including democratic representative, michael bloom of san francisco, the deputy director for speaker nancy pelosi. and cal grad, the financial adviser for representative, gary miller. >> congratulations to those

beautiful people. >> indeed. a company comes up with a cool idea to help beat the chicago chill, help beat the chicago heat during the dog days of summer.

parents are fond of displaying their kids' works of art on their refrigerators, aren't we? >> yes. >> a utility company took that idea one step further. con-ed turned refrigerators into art and put them on display in chicago on michigan avenue. chicago artist designed the nine

recycle prerefrigerators which will line the street through settlement 15th, so they're not necessarily kids, obviously. what ever it takes to get chicago to chill out during these hot summer months and it can be hot in the old windy city. >> i can't believe it's so hot there. >> and it would be nice if they left those -- you could just hop in on a hot day. >> it is hot in chicago but a different story here. >> i don't know where i come up with some of this tough. here's your seven-day forecast. cooling coming our way as we head to wednesday and thursday with upper 70s. that's for inland locations. upper 50s and low 60s for the coastline and the fog sticks with us the next couple of days but the cooler air aloft will bring us unseasonably mild temperatures. heading to saturday, sunday and monday and some of the forecast models heading to the upper 80s and right now we'll peg it with mid 80s. i'll kale an eye on that for you. >> i'm be on heat watch.

>> you like that. >> okay up next on "the nightly news," brian williams updates us with a young afghan girl he met in an orphanage. >> see you at 6:00. those people are happy

'cause they're gonna have a good time, and they've got extra money in their pocket. 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 ]