from putting out fires to sweating it out, the new heat wave continues to touch people all across the bay area. good morning, everybody. probably feeling that heat. i'm brent cannon. >> that's right. i'm laura garcia-cannon. we've got team coverage of the scorching temperatures. nbc bay area's christie smith live near mt. diablo where the heat isn't doing much to help firefighters today. and kris sanchez is live at b.a.r.t. where commuters are begging for a break from the systems. the heat is forcing it all to move slower. >> we want to get you started with rob mayeda trafficking the heat from our weather center. i guess the good news is it may not be as hot as yesterday, but still hot. >> for some places on the coast, we'll start to see some cooling, but san jose waking up to 75 degrees this morning. again, this is the coolest point of the day, an hour or so before sunrise. and you can see our temperatures there in the south bay, in the mid-70s to get your morning started. 70s across the board for breakfast time. look at those lunchtime temperatures inland, soaring

well into the 90s again, above 100 degrees for livermore, but notice san francisco. starting to see some cooling, but not soon enough to prevent a heat advisory for most of the bay area. the comfort level starting to get pretty uncomfortable with the heat and those hot conditions, especially inland. it's also impacting how you're getting around the bay area. for more on that, let's send it on over to kris sanchez with a look at how your commute could be affected later today. kris? >> reporter: good morning, rob. that triple digit heat that you're talking about in some parts of the bay area could mean another one-two punch for commuters, whether they are on rail lines, on the bus, or on the roadway. here at the fremont b.a.r.t. station, we're hearing from passengers that the delays were about ten minutes for most of them. the problem was that riders were stuck when the b.a.r.t. train control rooms overheated because of an air-conditioning problem. that put the trains into manual mode and that means driving those trains at 25 miles an hour instead of 75 miles an hour. so you can imagine the backups there. on caltrain, the trains were slow as well, but for a different reason. there, because if temperatures

are this hot, caltrain slows down the train so they don't warp the tracks as they're passing by. on ac transit, passengers were just hot and sticky. though today is expected to be a full degrees cooler, commuters are expecting more of the same, and that's why one commuter tells us he will take b.a.r.t. from fremont to daly city, but he'll carpool with a friend this evening. >> i think, like myself, a lot of other people probably feel the same way. you know, they would rather find a much cooler route. you know, because it's extremely hot. it's a nightmare. >> reporter: so it is hot and sticky, if you are stuck in the middle of it. like i said, most of the passengers that we talked with said that their delay was about ten minutes, and something that they're used to. we did talk to one guy who was stuck on his commute an hour and a half longer yesterday, because of the b.a.r.t. delays, he tells us. also talked to a new daddy. he says his 3-week-old, not enjoying the heat wave. in fremont, kris sanchez, nbc

bay area news. >> nor are the parents taking care of it. the record heat adding to the danger for firefighters, working to put out a wildfire in the east bay. the blaze is burning at mt. diablo state park. nbc bay area's christie smith live with the latest on. the firefighting efforts there. >> reporter: good morning. it's already pretty warm out here in contra costra county, but it's not windy and firefighters say that's a good thing. that has helped them to fight this fire. they tell me that in just a couple of hours, they're going to go back out and map this fire again and get some more updated information on exactly what it did overnight. but they tell me that it appears that this fire hasn't grown substantially. it's burning east of mt. diablo. this is near morgan territory road and curry canyon. and it's much cooler now, obviously, than it was yesterday afternoon, when this broke out. this is in a remote area, but it did initially threaten at least one or more homes, but at least 200 firefighters jumped on this immediately, as people who could see the large plume of smoke

watched quite nervously. and they're not sure, this morning, firefighters, exactly how it started, but they're looking at the possibility of perhaps a downed power line. we should mention that there was one injury to a firefighter. he stepped in a hole and twisted his ankle. firefighters are telling me this is 50% contained, about 375 acres burned and they hope to have it fully contained some time today. reporting live in contra costra county, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thank you very much, christie. we have developing news and some tragic news just coming into the newsroom this morning. a train hit a school bus, killing at least eight children. and scott mcgrew has been working details on this new story. scott? >> good morning. this happened far away, but it is one the sort of nightmare things that no one wants to think about, parents just absolutely dread. video coming into us from south africa where a train hit a school bus, at least nine children have been killed. they were on their way to school when apparently the bus driver

drove through the barrier. the barrier was working, the bells and lights were also working, according to safety regulators, but for some reason, the bus drove on to the tracks, where it was immediately hit by a train. the driver and five other children have also been critically injured. we'll continue to watch this, brent, and update as we know more as to why this happened. it didn't seem like this was something that should have happened. everybody says it was fairly straightforward. but we'll continue to update you. >> hate to see it, though. thanks a lot, scott. two people are in the hospital this morning with injuries from a boating accident in vallejo. now, that happened at the glen cove marina. apparently a boat caught fire and it took about 20 minutes for firefighters to get that fire out. one man suffered burns over 60% of his body and a woman who was with him is also badly burned. investigators say the man was burning excess fuel when his boat went up in flames. it's 6:05 right now. new this morning, we're getting our first look at what an as stadium in san jose would look

like. check it out. the baseball san jose organization just released digital pictures of the proposed cisco field site near highway 87 and the high pressure pavilion. from what you can see, the stadium appears to have an open outfield, which means visitors outside the park might be able to catch a home run ball. but groundbreaking a long ways off. the giants still own territorial rights to san jose. 49ers had taken a little bit of a gamble, you might say, on the california lottery. they are teaming up for the first time to offer scratcher tickets. it's part of the 25th anniversary celebrations for the california lottery. if you buy a 49ers scratcher and you don't win the lottery part, you can then enter your nonwinning ticket on the replay website. you get a second chance at 49er prices, such as sweeps to games, autographed helmets and jerseys from current players, and some vip ticket packages. by the way, nobody won the mega millions $150 million jackpot last night, which means it all

moves forward to friday, there's a new draw, and now it's worth, $133 million. >> isn't it amazing? >> you can't win if you play, but you can't win if you do play. it's tough! >> $5 less in my pocket. >> go get a sandwich or something like that. look out to the roadways, where $5 will also take you across the roadway, across the bridges, at least. continuing pricing, but they stabilized over the last few months. returning is the volume of traffic. coming through the east bay, a steady flow of trafficking coming underneath the 880 overcrossing. speeds still close to the limit on the approach to the bay bridge. get slower because of the east bay buildup. right now, i'll show you a live shot of one of your east bay slow spots. sunol southbound 680 coming out of pleasanton. from time to time, a burst of traffic and slowing coming around the bend heading over to fremont on the southbound. there's another burst of traffic there. you'll see this start to build

and slow over the next half hour. we'll follow this. continue down through fremont into the south bay, a nice easy drive, but look at that, 101 north of 680 speeds down into the 40s now. 45 on average coming between 680 and 880. that's the first spot we typically see a slowdown for the fall pattern of traffic. i say fall, because we have the return to classes in session at san jose state, so the fall commute is back for the summertime heat, i guess. >> right, exactly. summertime is right back in time for kids to go back to school. >> yeah, it is. and comfortably hot, unfortunately. we have another heat advisory today for temperatures that will soar well into the 90s to above 100 degrees, especially out toward the trivalley. a warm start to the morning. we're now at 72 in san jose, the coolest point of the day, if you want to call it that. winds are light in san jose, starting to see a sea breeze, though, picking up around san francisco. 65 degrees, looking off to the east, mt. diablo looking pretty nice this morning. our weather headlines, we're going to be in the 70s for most of the bay area around breakfast time. lunchtime temperatures will be the hottest today around the peninsula and coast. that's where, i think, we'll get

into the 80s around san francisco, but unlike yesterday, midafternoon heading into the evening, that's when the ocean air-conditioning turns on and we should see some cooling temperatures. air quality today, moderate bay area wide. temperatures still hot, i would say, inland, about half of the bay area, our inland valleys nearly as hot as yesterday. 90s near san jose. and san francisco and oakland cooling down as we head through the midafternoon and the evening hours. and the cooling we'll see starting at the coast and peninsula today, hits the entire bay area tomorrow and our temperatures kind of just drop off a cliff, heading towards the weekend, out of the 90s, into the 70s inland, beginning friday, straight on through the weekend. back to you. >> thanks a lot, rob. 6:09 right now. there's new hope now for people who always feel tired. how drugs that fight aids may be the answer. this is bob redell. what in the world does the food bank have to do with the undead? everything, as it turns out. we'll talk about zombie-orama

coming up in a live report. and breaking her silence, after one of the most explosive breakups in history, what elin woods says about her divorce from tiger. and taking a live look outside from the south bay this morning in san jose. temperatures creeping up once again. we'll check the full forecast rob

welcome back, everybody. a live look outside, the bay bridge, a nice-looking shot there. you see some of the temperatures, not current temperatures. this is what we expect later on. and i think rob says that the 86 in san francisco could be close to record. a lot of other places getting triple digits. in the meantime, i think we want to check in with bob redell this morning. you know, halloween, a little while away, but people already getting in the ghoulish spirit of things.

>> we've been following one -- well, a couple ladies now who have kind of been going through a transformation, getting their makeup put on. we'll tell you why they're getting all dressed up, not for halloween, but for something else. bob redell's got that. >> reporter: yeah, brent and laura, looks like tasha's got a minor skin condition on the right side of her face. can we see your tongue real quick? okay, that was good. you can put it back. that is nasty. ken franklin is making her up. he's with face effects. he's going to be doing a fashion show tonight as part of zombie-orama. it's a fund-raiser for the second harvest food bank. they're asking anyone who wants to "zombie" their way to the park, it's going to go from 5:00 to 8:30 and at 9:00, they'll have a screening of "zombieland" at starlight cinema where you're asked to bring a canned good. we've got felicia who's friend with tasha. you were at the zombie-orama

last year. what's the obsession with zo zombies? >> it's just fun. >> reporter: what's the atmosphere like? >> there's massive amount of people. you have the basic do it yourself at home makeup all the way up to fx. it's just insane. there are so many people. >> reporter: and a fashion show? >> yes. this year, there's a fashion show, and a haunted house out there in costume and pretty models made to be creepy zombies. >> reporter: tasha, can we hear a groan or something. [ groans ] >> reporter: pretty good. poppy pembroke is with the second harvest food bank. nice look. sorry you got dragged into this. >> that's all right. we'll do anything for you guys. >> reporter: i look at the food

banks as a good indicator of what's going on in the economy. do you get a sense things getting better, the same, or worse? >> we're still seeing a steady increase in need, and all i can say is people have to work so hard these days just to make ends meet in the bay area, it really takes two people working in a family to make enough money to provide all the basic needs. now, if one person loses their job, they're going to need help. so that's why we're here. >> reporter: okay. and you're asking for canned goods tonight to be donated to the starlight cinemas, this would be at the end of the zombie walk. if you want more information, go to our website, nbcbayarea.com, you can search "zombie walk" and get all the details this. and you can maybe bump into people like tasha tonight. or run. she's good. >> no kidding. she plays the part very well. >> she's in the role. >> reporter: that's actually me about four hours ago when i woke up, before i put on my

foundation. >> the things we all see. >> reporter: i've got a compact. you want to see how it looks. >> thanks a lot, bob. from the undead to space aliens, scott mcgrew has that. >> don't forget the double tap. alien planet, let's talk about that. scientists in europe said they found evidence of planets outside our solar system. they can't wail see them. this is an artist rendering of what one might look like. scientists are using ground-based telescopes to measure the wobble of stars, figuring where there are wobbles, there are big gravitational bodies like planets. now, get ready to rumble, because a guy from nasa has a better way of finding exo-planets, they have their own space telescope named kepler and they're going to announce their own new discovery tomorrow at a press conference. kepler looks for stars, when the stars dim, they figure that's where the planets are. different method, same goal.

meanwhile, spacex has delivered a rocket similar to this one to cape canaveral, where it will eventually lift the new dragon capsule into orbit. now, spacex put a robert into orbit. it's tested the dragon capsule with high altitude drop tests. they are one step closer to putting a private astronaut into orbit, which has never happened before. private astronauts have gone into space, but never into orbit around the earth. >> it is coming. >> all right, thanks, scott. this morning, the results are in for key elections in five different states. the election featured u.s. senate house and gubernatorial races, but the two biggest contests were the senate races in arizona and florida. john mccain now one step closer to his fifth term senate, after spending more than $20 million to fend off the competition in the gop primary. critics argue the senator has lost touch with his conservative roots, but mccain says he's worthy of the job.

also in arizona, the son of former vice president dan quayle won his nomination to fight to get to congress. 33-year-old ben quayle is running to represent parts of northern phoenix. experts are now trying to figure out what message voters sent during this first round of primaries. the main lesson seems to be, don't count incumbents out. despite voter anger over things like the economy, they may not be pushing washington insiders out. and democrats could keep their senate majority in november. >> i want to thank president obama for helping me with this victory. >> a new reuters poll shows only 45% approval of president obama on the economy. there is new hope for millions of people who suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome or cfs. researchers say they have identified a family of retroviruses in people who have cfs. what that means is patients might be able to get treatment with drugs that also fight hiv,

because many of the retroviruses in that lead to aids and so they're kind of in the same family and can be treated. the center for disease control says you might have chronic fatigue syndrome if you have chronic sleeplessness, memory and concentration loss, pain in muscles and joints, headaches and sore throats. more than 3 million seniors may have to switch medicare drug plans next year, whether they like it or not. the reason, a new effort by medicare to try to make it simpler for people to pick prescription coverage. it could come as a surprise for seniors who hadn't planned on making a change during medicare's open enrollment this fall. researchers estimate the seniors will see their prescription plaplan s narrowed down in order to eliminate duplicate coverage. circumstances surrounding tiger woods' divorce have mostly been just speculation, but in a "today" show exclusive this morning, woods' ex-wife, elin nordegren, breaks her silence.

she talks about what really happened the night of that infamous accident. ann curry sits down with a reporter from "people" magazine who kronchronicles elaine's sto. she tells "people" magazine, quote, i've been through hell, and she says speculation that she used a golf club to hit her husband, tiger, absolutely ridiculous. she says, this is the first and only time that she's going to address this incident publicly. >> she said that, you know, being a private person is the only normalcy i've been able to give my kids, given that they have such a famous father, but she's stepping out one time and then she plans to return to being a completely private person. she said, i'm not a celebrity, i don't want to be. >> and you can catch this "today" show exclusive and coverage this morning, starting at about 7:30. >> all right. we continue to take a look at the fire that was burning in mt. diablo, really took off yesterday. it's about 50% contained right now. a live look at the flames, you can see them still burning. not just smoldering, but k see

the flame there is. the sympathetthick, dry brush a heat has something to play into it. >> you see those temperatures there. temperatures in the hilltops around mt. diablo, actually in the 80s. humidity levels down about 15% or so, but it's not too gusty this morning, so that's a little bit of good news we're seeing around the fire lines, east of mt. diablo. 72 in san jose. no sign of a sea breeze yet. it will start to arrive as we head towards the evening. oakland, 70 as we start off the morning. we are starting to see the winds pick up a little bit in san francisco, and eventually those will turn more strongly to the west as we head through the afternoon. so san francisco, likely warming up through about noon, and then temperatures should start to drop off, actually, as we head towards the evening, you'll see those numbers starting to drop off in the forecast. so there you go. 65, right now, in san francisco. around the bay area, breakfast time, we'll be mostly in the 70s and high temperatures for the peninsula and dose around noon, then as that sea breeze turns stronger, half of the bay area from the peninsula out to the coast starts to cool down. inland, though, still another day in the 90s to above 100

degrees. tomorrow, everybody starts to cool off. we'll actually have some morning clouds coming back as we head towards the start of the weekend with highs out of the 90s and actually warming up into the mid-70s inland, saturday and sunday. back to you. >> thank you very much. mike's got an eye on the roads. we'll check with him in just a little bit. and it's no secret, up next, how it could soon help solve some of our energy problems.

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live look outside, this time from the south bay this morning, overlooking san jose, where temperatures, we're in the triple digits. it was a hot one. everybody talking about it, everyone feeling it. that's for sure. >> it certainly led to a few commute slowdowns yesterday. we want to check in with mike. he's got the latest looks at the roads this morning. >> good morning, brent, good morning, laura. you're talking about the problems that were created for the b.a.r.t. system as well as the caltrain system. commuter and rail issues by the heat. but no delays reported on those

systems so far this morning. ace train coming through this portion of the east bay, also moving on schedule, but we have the slowdown continuing, added another two or three minutes on to your drive coming out of the altamont pass over the last 15 minutes i've been watching. slower now all the way through livermore, heading over toward dublin and pleasanton. there's your slow drive coming through this area. as well as highway 4, here's what we're expecting to see as well. slows down below 25 miles per hour where it's red. then there's a break coming past pittsburg and bay point, another slowdown there. concord and walnut creek moving smoothly through the interchange. lafayette all nice. no delays 580 westbound or 880. interstate off the carquinez bridge, 18 to 20 minutes. and the volume of traffic holding pretty steady over the last ten minutes. a burst of traffic over the next tin minutes. the volume on the bridge itself

getting a little heavier. may turn the metering lights on in about ten. the san mateo bridge, no metering lights, but the taillights away from us in the commute moving very smoothly, but the volume building, coming off of 880 as well. that bridge transition, we'll see some slowing coming off of the nimitz freeway heading over to 92. back to you guys. >> thank you very much, mike. san francisco mayor gavin newsom will announce a new option for green drivers this morning. he's unveiling toyota's new plug-in high braybrid and the c upgraded charging system. it will be at 11:00 across from san francisco city hall. a new power source could be the next wave, so to speak, of clean energy. a coast guard station in maine is the first federal facility anywhere to use tidal power as an energy source. researchers say tidal currents can create water speed and of course, that can generate power. companies are trying to harness that power through a barge that's been outfitted with a turbine engine. so far, researchers say they can get about 60 kilowatts of power from the tide and that is enough

to power about 17 average central air-conditioning units. so it's a start. and if you had more of those going, you could power even more. >> there you go. 6:27 right now. there's a law to keep your families safe from sex offenders that's taking a big step forward. plus, we learn more about the driver who slammed into a handful of people at a san francisco bus stop. and we're keeping tabs on flames ripping through mt. diablo. these are live pictures. and we'll be live with the latest effort to get the flames under control. and a live look outside this morning from the sunol grade. one of those places where we see some backups, but traffic looks pretty good right there. f up os.minucoinck a r full couple of minutes. is soft on cats.

but deadly on fleas. so ask your veterinarian adfo agvar e,ntna the flea specialist, for effective, but gentle flea control. firefighters have been at it all night and into this morning. and now we have new information on that fire burning near mt. diablo. i'm christie smith. that story, straight ahead. >> and we're tracking another day of potentially record-breaking heat for the bay area. a look at your forecast is coming right up.

and we're helping to keep your family safe during this heat wave. see the simple steps to keep your kids cool. good morning. and thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. time now is 6:30. we have heat wave patrol going on, taking a toll on some of the bay area's most popular parks. of course, the most obvious thing we've been following is that the flames have been burning for more than half a mile at mt. diablo state park. it's happening just off of curry canyon road, on the east side of the mountain, kind of at the base. now, rob mayeda has been looking at what firefighters face from the weather, the dry conditions, lack of wind, humidity, that kind of thing. but first, christie smith joining us live. she has a look at the efforts to get this fire under control. christie, i understand they are making some progress? >> reporter: yeah, that's right. i just got off the phone with cal fire and they're telling me

good news this morning, that the weather has worked in their favor. it's cooled off a bit. winds not really a factor at all, and they're now telling us that the fire is 80% contained. we have live pictures this morning, and that 80% number is up from 50% that we last reported. still, 375 acres burned. this is grass and oak. it's happening near morgan territory, by curry canyon road. when this broke out around 4:00 p.m. yesterday, temperatures were through the roof, absolutely blazing. and a handful of homes in the area were threatened. that's not the case this morning. firefighters tell me that they got more help last night, about 250 firefighters involved. certainly helped them out quite a bit. they were downed power lines, they're telling me, in the area, but they're still not sure if that's the cause of this. we should mention that one firefighter was slightly injured. he got a twisted ankle when he stepped into a hole, but of

course he's going to be okay. they're hoping to have this fully contained a little bit later today. reporting live in contra costra county, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thanks a lot, christie. and now we want to check in with rob, see how high those temperatures are going to get today. >> christie reporting there, some great news, 80% containment on that fire. and right now we're probably seeing the most favorable conditions for fighting that fire right now east of mt. diablo. we're going to be looking at temperatures as we go through the morning, warming quickly. 80s and 90s as we approach lunchtime. for the afternoon, we're still expecting 100-degree temperatures out towards eastern contra costra county, up toward solano county. now, one item to watch, the wind has not been a factor this morning, but by the evening, i do expect it to pick up, and that's going to be part of the sea breeze that actually helps to cool off parts of the bay area today. you can see san francisco and oakland, hitting the hottest temperatures of the day around noon. then as we jump towards the evening, starting to cool down. still another hot day inland that could break records for san jose southward or east out towards livermore, but the cooling we're seeing later today is going to make a big dent in our temperatures and hopefully help out the firefighters in terms of the temperatures.

the winds, though, could be an issue later on this evening. brent? well, joggers and hikers are going to have one less place to go in the south bay today because alum rock park is closed because of the dry conditions outside of san jose. temperature there was 100 degrees yesterday. weather definitely isn't too cool for school. in fact, it's too hot to handle in some districts. students in a few bay area school districts sweated it out in class without air-conditioning, and scorching triple digit temperatures prompted some schools to cancel after-school sports. the cdc says the key to keeping cool is really using common sense. if you can, drink sports beverages to replace the body's natural salts and minerals, electrolytes. and wear appropriate clothing. and wear sunscreen with an spf of 15 or higher, and apply it every two hours. if you have to exercise during the day, make sure to pace yourself and use the buddy system. more evidence of the economic recovery may be more wishful thinking than an actual river.

and scott mcgrew has more on that. >> wall street gets to pick from either no news or bad news lately. it's been a while since we've seen anything positive to talk about. the latest we just got a bitting a ago, the durable goods report. the bay area cares about this, because we make a lot of durable goods, computers in particular. if you take airplanes out of the report, which we don't make airplane airplanes, the number in this latest report was lousy. and this comes a day after the national association of realtors saw home sales with their biggest fall in levels we haven't seen in 15 years. particularly disturbing, because the environment's so conducive to home sales. we've got low mortgage rates, reasonable prices, but still nothing. we get new home sale data this morning, as wendy williams, of all people, opens the nasdaq to another lousy day on the market. the dow industrials closed below -- or didn't close below, but dipped below 10,000 yesterday. we're expecting another pretty bad day today. brent? >> thanks a lot, scott. new this morning, at least

43 people are dead after a series of attacks all across iraq targeting local government and police. the deadliest attack was a suicide car bombing in baghdad that killed 15 people. officials say the bomber blew up a truck near the police station, causing part of that building to collapse and also damaging surrounding houses. the attacks come a day after the government announced that the number of u.s. troops now in iraq has dropped below 50,000. do ministers have to answer to a higher law? that's the question behind a controversial church trial that's under way in napa. the reverend jane spahr is accused of violating the laws of the presbyterian church when she married 16 same-sex couples back in 2008. at the time, gay marriage was legal in california. but the eyes of the redwood presbytery -- through the eyes of them, spahr violated the church's constitution. they say marriage is between a man and a woman. reverend spahr, who is openly gay, says it's all a matter of interpretation. >> you believe it's a sin, and i

believe it's a gift. see, it's all the same to me. marriage is marriage. >> the trial is expected to wrap up tomorrow. if found guilty, she could have her ordination revoked. a crime bill that allows convicted child molesters to be locked up for life is now on its way to a vote in the state assembly. the bill is called chelsea's law after a san diego county teen who was raped and murdered this year by a convicted sex offender. the bipartisan bill would increase penalties and sentences and would make treatment mandatory for the most dangerous offenders. chelsea's law was already approved unanimously by the state senate, and now if it clears the assembly, governor schwarzenegger has promised to sign it. 6:36 right now. police say the driver of an suv that plowed into five people near a bus stop in san francisco did not have a license. the suv jumped the sidewalk at the corner of san bruno and arletta avenue in the visitation valley yesterday morning. right now two of the victims are listed in critical conditions

and the other three are in serious condition. the 24-year-old female driver told investigators the brake on her ford explorer failed as she was coming down the hill on san bruno. time now, 6:37. we want to check in with mike inouye, taking a look at the bay bridge, some problems there that might hamper your commute. >> definitely. bad timing as well, because a lot of folks heading there, this is the beginning of the real slowdown for the commute, for the bay bridge itself. east shore freeway, still showing an 18-minute drive. that's okay. at the toll plaza itself, reports of a disabled vehicle there. that should clear pretty quickly, take a look at the toll plaza, what isn't clearing is the backup. that's starting to form. the metering lights have been on just under ten minutes, and the backup going toward the back end of the parking lot, made slower by the activity. and across tupper deck, another disabled vehicle reported at treasure island, blocking your slow lanes. so stay over to your left as you're coming towards that treasure island tunnel. sound like bridge crews are heading there and they should be

able to make pretty quick work of it, but it's been there for ten minutes. that's relatively slow. meanwhile, we'll look at the peninsula where the slowdown will start in about another 20 to 25 minutes for the southbound side of 101. right now it's moving very smoothly, but there was a disabled vehicle reported southbound 101 at 84. as you're heading over westbound, and that may be an issue for traffic as a tow truck arrives on scene. i'll let you know right now, the speed sensors showing okay there, as well as 280 heading down into the south bay. south bay northbound traffic is the flow here. we saw the earlier slowing on 101 holding up we'll see 280 slow past san jose state, which is back in session. there's 87, the slowdown coming in through downtown. and two earlier car fires, one still reported at 237 right around 101 on the side of the road. earlier, one cleared from 280 as you're approaching de anza. that one shouldn't be a problem. sunol heading through the area getting down into the south bay. we have a nice slow southbound, but you see that truck there showing the slowdown, and a little slowing coming through the construction zone. once this starts, it will probably continue, because all these folks heading over from

livermore, they still have to head over there. the map shows you the slowing from that area. it continues to grow, 21 minutes coming out of the altamont pass. >> green is usually on fire. too much red these days. >> too much orange and red. this morning, we're watching a nice sunrise around the bay area. i can confirm, yes, it is sunri sunrise. notice the orange tint to the sky. we have some of that smoke from the curry fire burning east of mt. diablo, but 80% containment on that fire, which is great news, because things are still quite warm and dry in our hills this morning. let's show you the temperatures around bay area, san jose, 72 degrees. the wind is like. oakland, 70, northwest wind at 3. and some of our headlines today, we're going to be warming up fast towards lunchtime, except the difference today will be a stronger sea breeze as we head through the afternoon and evening. so the coast and san francisco should start to see some cooling as we approach, say, 4:00 or 5:00 later on this evening. a quick check of our temperatures around the bay area today. you will see 98 in san jose, but

san francisco and oakland, we'll hit those high temperatures probably around lunchtime, and then cool down as we head towards your evening commute. 90s across the north bay valley. so, yes, heat advisory again today for inland valleys, but tomorrow it's gone, along with the heat. look at that temperature drop off as we approach the weekend. brent? >> thanks a lot, rob. more and more bay area students than ever are making the grade on the state exit exam. "the examiner" reports more sophomores are taking and passing the required exam in the san francisco unified school district. they have five chances to pass that required math and english test before graduation. now, in san francisco, 185 students in the 2010 graduating class did not pass the test in time. but the good news is that that is down, a big reduction from last year when 291 students didn't pass. however, the percentage of san francisco students who do pass on time on the first try is a little bit lower than the statewide average, but eventually it looks like they're making progress, headed in the right direction.

6:40 right now. where you going? dave mathews band fans across the bay area have a good answer for tonight. so do fans of the undead. it's not even halloween yet, but we've got a zombie crawl taking place in the south bay and it's benefiting, yes, a food bank. we'll explain what this is all about coming up in a live report. and a mass transit meltdown. we will explain why trains have to go slower at high temperatures. we'll have a live report on what's ahead today and how the weather could affect your commute. and how high will those temperatures go? just look at the sun. it just looks hot already out there. dress cool as you head out the door this morning, or as cool as you can. stay with us. fuorec u

welcome back, everybody. look at that sun this morning. bright and burning hot, and it's going to be another hot one. as you see there, a lot of temperatures going to be in the 90s and the 100s again. a little cooler overall, but still hot. >> makes you want to put on sunscreen in your living room, doesn't it? >> just stay inside. if you're in the south bay today, you might see zombies on the loose. >> but it's nothing to fear. turns out these zombies have a little heart. bob redell is live at a charity drive with a ghoulish twist. >> reporter: ken franklin finishing up tasha. ken with face effects. tasha is now officially undead. tonight, it's the zombie-orama

here in san jose, benefiting the second harvest food bank. is she wrapped up there? >> she's done, she's dead. >> reporter: how you feeling, tasha? >> that's a good look. >> reporter: can you show us the walk? we've got felicia here. so the walk is, it looks like it's a strut more than anything. >> kind of. it's a little bit of dragging your leg behind you and seeing if you can catch it up to the other one. >> reporter: you were at is zombie walk last year. you had over 1,000 people. what are you expecting tonight? what should people expect if they want to come out? >> we're hoping for an even bigger crowd this year, and they can expect to have a lot of fun. there's going to be the zombie crawl. they can go to different bars and restaurants. there's going to be a fashion show and we're going to be watching "zombieland" at 9:00. >> reporter: and does everyone in that crowd dress up, or a lot of stragglers who are just there to observe? >> i would say about 75% dress up. >> reporter: 75%, all right. yourself? >> no, i don't dress up like a

zombie. >> reporter: all right, thanks. poppy does, she's with the second harvest food bank, i would have done this for you -- >> this is my first time, bob. >> reporter: you were champing at the bit to volunteer, so i didn't want to take that volunteer. how big is the need for donations tonight? >> we just wrapped up your share your lunch drive, which is collecting food and funds for feeding children during the summer, when they're not getting their school meals. and we met our goal, our fund-raising goal, but we if you will fell short on our poundage. so an opportunity to raise, you know, barrels of nonperishable food is something that we are jumping at. and what says community support like a zombie crawl? >> reporter: of course. you've got -- >> a little something? >> reporter: a little something. give me your best zombie real quick? real good. >> she's a smart zombie. >> reporter: go you can to nbcbayarea.com, type in "zombie

walk," do a search, goes from 5:00 to 8:30 at gore park, i know, an odd name for the start of a zombie walk. at 9:00, showing "zombieland." >> i thought we were going to see a little reporter participation. >> i was thinking about it, but i think tasha will be hard to -- >> that is hard to beat. >> reporter: hard to upstage. >> that's a good zombie right there. >> thanks, bob. another day of record heat on the way, but will it be hot enough to cause another transit meltdown? kris sanchez is live at the fremont b.a.r.t. station. hot temperatures overwhelmed the transit system yesterday. commuters in store for more delays today? >> reporter: they're actually starting out the day pretty hopeful. for many of the folks we pulled aside, about a dozen in all, they all say their delay was about ten minutes, though we did find one guy whose commute from the city to fremont took an hour and a half longer than he's used to. here's the problem. along the b.a.r.t. lines, the

problem was air-conditioning, not on the trains for the passengers, but the ac this keeps the train's control rooms cool. the computers overheated and that sent the trains into manual mode, when that happens, the trains go 25 miles an hour instead of 75 miles an hour. you can imagine the backup there. con caltrain, trains were slow too, but for a different reason. there, because when the weather is this hot, they slow down the trains so they don't warp the tracks as they're whizzing by. on ac transit, passengers were steamy and a little sticky. though today is expected to be a few degrees cooler, commuters are expecting more of the same. that's why one commuter says he's going to take b.a.r.t. to commuter system and then this afternoon he's going to carpool with a friend. >> i think like myself, a lot of other people probably feel the same way. you know, they would rather find a much cooler route, you know, because it's extremely hot. it's a nightmare. >> reporter: now, the morning commute seems to be on track so

far, but we'll have to wait and see how it shakes out later on this morning. as for the evening commute, well, here's to keeping our fingers crossed. in fremont, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> keeping cool on many counts. thanks a lot, kris. >> as a matter of fact, mike inouye has been tweeting like a bird this morning, trying to find out from people who are actually out live in the commute to get the latest conditions. >> riders, no one's replying back with any delays. i messaged someone who just checked in after getting off at the manilow park station. we're looking over here where there are delays, because of the volume of traffic, 24 minutes coming out of the altamont pass. watch this, that is little traffic note for you. eastbound 580 coming off the castro valley wide. mike, get that sun in your eyes. we've seen those shots from rob. that sun looked like it caused a problem yesterday. no official reports from chp. a tremendous slowdown coming through castro valley in this area. see that slowing as you're

coming off the castro valley wide and heading through this area. a lot of slowing yesterday. slow in both directions as you're heading toward that san mateo bridge. that's to be expected here. oakland, 880 itself, a little further north shows a you a nice steady flow past the coliseum. no delays downtown. the bay bridge toll plaza, the backup is there, because those meters lights are on. and there's that sunshine we're talking about. looks like that sun is doing the full work this morning already. >> the heating lamp is on for the bay area. you can see it around the bay bridge toll plaza. 72 in san jose. and that's as school as the morning low has dropped to san jose. maybe a record low, high low temperature, is what i'm trying to say, with these low 70s this morning. 70 right now in oakland, there you see the sun, as mike's been talking about, rising up over the hills there. 65 degrees. northwest wind at 12. currently in san francisco. and that sea breeze is going to try to battle it out with the hot temperatures inland today. notice places like the coast and the peninsula hitting hot temperatures through the lunchtime. and through the afternoon, a strengthening sea breeze will lead to cooling temperatures,

but really not until tomorrow inland. still 90s to near 100. a big drop in temperatures the as we wrap up the week. >> no kidding. looking forward to it. >> some relief on the way. and we have the latest on that fire burning in mt. diablo state park coming up just ahead. >> and we first brought you this video that's causing quite a stir. now we're hearing from the owner of that cat that got tossed in a garbage can. and the dave mathews band is playing at the sleep train pavilion in concord tonight. you can still get tickets online for less than $40. and the band will also do a show at the shoreline on saturday. ♪

want to take you out to some

more live pictures of that fire, still burning in the mt. diablo state park this morning. firefighters did make a lot of progress, though, overnight, which is good news there. plus, a lot of people in the area that were fearing that it could effect their home feel better about it. we do see flames close to this particular building, though, so they're not out of the woods just yet. we want to check in with nbc bay area's christie smith. she's live with the latest on the situation there. and christie, it sounds like they're headed in the right direction on this fire. >> reporter: that's whoo we're hearing. with the combination of the intense heat, the dry grass, and the scattered homes in between, this huge plume of smoke near mt. diablo was quite unsettling for anyone living nearby, but there is major progress to report. we have live pictures this morning. what they're telling us is that this fire is now 80% contained. and that's new this morning. the area is curry canyon road near morgan territory road. crews still hard at work this morning. no homes threatened right now,

specifically, but we're told they were last night. cal fire got help, lots of it, about 250 firefighters overall. no winds this morning. and that has helped quite a bit. this is a remote, rugged canyon area full of grass and oaks. by 8:00 a.m., what they're telling us is that you may see more aircraft overhead, helping out. at this point, they are concerned, though, about a possible wind shift later this afternoon. but for now, things looking pretty good. reporting live in contra costra county, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> some good news there. let's hope they make more progress today. thanks, christie. police now have to protect a british woman caught on tape tossing a cat into a trash can. have you seen this? the owners of the cat posted this video online of a middle-aged woman throwing 4-year-old lola into the dumpster. then she just walks off. the video led police to the suspect. she's now getting hate mail and death threats, so police have to protect her. even lola's owners are pleading with the online community to

back off and let police handle the case. we really got quite a few comments on our nbc bay area morning news facebook page. most are offended and think her punishment should involve spending some time in a dumpster herself. one of our viewers didn't even want to believe it. he thought the video was actually fake. >> you know, that would be nice. sometimes we do see those fake videos and that would be nice if that one was fake. a horse race proves what all the married men already know. i guess scott mcgrew -- >> i heard this. >> a video off the internet. this happened in new jersey at a horse race. there are two horses in this race. one is named "my wife knows everything." the other is named, "my wife doesn't know." through most of this race, they were really far apart. but we'll pick it up in the last furlough. >> my wife knows everything, the wife doesn't know, they're one-two, of course they are. my wife knows everything in front, to the outside, the wife doesn't know. my wife knows everything, the wife doesn't know! my wife knows everything!

more than the wife doesn't know. >> now, did anyone bet against -- >> you better not. >> -- my wife knows everything. nobody made any money on that. of course, my wife knows everything. >> in unison. >> my wife knows everything -- >> why didn't you say it? >> you didn't say it? >> it needs not be said. of course we know it without saying it. >> day and night, 24 hours a day. a long row to hoe. thanks. people! look at you!

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