nexting, hope inside a hospital room. passion for desi. ♪ and tempered by 125 years of legendary performance. introducing the all-new 2012 cls from mercedes-benz. where the world's greatest automobiles take shape. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. evening a lit bit goes a long way. a glimmer of hope for brian stow. latetonight, doctors say ogress likely be moved to the bay area to continue his recovery here. good evening, and thanks for joining us on this friday. >> it is an important milestone in what's been a painfully slow

recovery. brian stow opened his eyes. it was only a second, but his families calls it a "we'll take it" moment. stow's family and friends join us tonight with a story you'll only see on nbc bay area news. cheryl? >> jessica, this family is very tough, working hard every day for brian stow. right now, they're thinking about his progress. >> the reason why people still care is because -- >> danny simon has been brian stow's friend for the past 25 years. >> last night he opened his eyes for the first time. he wasn't able to focus, but other than that, he's stable enough to where they're ready to bring him home next week, up to san francisco. >> reporter: if all goes as planned, brian stow will be flown by jet from l.a. to san

francisco and taken by ambulance to ucsf. the giants owner even recommended a doctor to deal with stow's delicate recovery. his sister spoke to us by phone about the overwhelming support. >> people say this story has really touched them as well as made them angry. so it's just really helped us get through and realize how good people truly are. >> reporter: that outpouring of love and concern came to stow's home. the city of beverly hills sent a proclamation in honor of the giants fans, something stow would love. >> he always wanted to be famous. a weird way to go about it. not the path most of us would take, but hey. stranger things. >> family and friends want people to be aware of thieves offering support.

>> people love to give and especially in this situation, and you may not know who you're giving to. >> reporter: people have been giving in a big way, and it comes at a time when family and friends' hopes are high. >> for me, if it's up on the website, it's legitimate. >> reporter: now, according to the family website, people are getting names from that website and contacting people directly and asking them to donate. they say if people are doing that, you should beware. reporting live from scotts valley, i'm cheryl herd, nbc bay area news. an amtrak freight train hit a truck trapping the driver inside. the accident happened about an hour ago on the tracks near marina vista avenue. this video just into our news room now. emergency crews using the jaws of life to rescue the driver from the pinned truck. a chopper then air lifted the driver to a nearby hospital. the driver survived and does not have life threatening injuries he was the only one inside that

truck thankfully. union pacific owns the rail line. and that rail line is double tracked where the crash happened. we'll bring you more details and information as soon as we get it. . city leards in san jose are declaring a fiscal emergency. what exactly does this mean and what services might be affected? >> reporter: they're not happy with what might happen next -- major cut to pensions and retirement benefits. >> just make sure they're secure. >> reporter: the san jose fire inspector is going to retire next month. . >> when you sign on, you plan on your retirement being there. >> reporter: but now he's not so sure. for the past couple of years he's done security checks on the fireworks show at the san jose giants game. off the field for 26 year, he's

fought fires and rescued people. >> i feel i gave to the city and i earned that pension and now, like i said, the possibility of it not being there or being reduced is a little frightening. >> reporter: the san jose mayor chuck reid is proposing a fiscal state of the emergency. he side skyrocketing budgets are inhibiting the ability to serve its citizens. >> we're going to reach a point where we're unable to effectively perform the duties of the city. >> reporter: mayor reid says the unions need to make more changes in their pensions to come up with savings to save the city from fiscal disaster. he now wants to take hit to the voters. but the president of the police association says he understands there's a problem with the pension and hopes the mayor comes back to the negotiating

table first. >> we have been at the table now for five months and i have yet tot see a pension reform proposal from the city. in fact, the only one that's submitted a pension proposal has been the p.o.a. >> reporter: but with his long rewarding career about to end, luis chacon wonders if he'll spend his retirement putting out financial fires instead of relaxing. >> i have a high school age son. i'm planning on putting him through college. so it's something that would have to be reworked. >> reporter: now, mayor reid hopes to secure council approval in the next couple of weeks nord to declare a state of emergency. the union hopes they can get the ma i yor and the city back to the table and come up with a plan.

we're live at san jose tonight, kiriyama, nbc news. fire crews were able to keep flames from reaching some homes. luckily, no one was hurt in the fire. well, a diploma for graduates with none of the pomp you would expect. part of the class decided to pull a harmless prank in the cafeteria. school administrators, not laughing. as a result of the food fight, they're cancelling prom, grad night and even maybe the graduation ceremony. >> did you know that the repercussions would be as severe as they are now? >> no, we really didn't think it would be this severe. we knew there would be punishment, not exactly for the

senior class, but maybe for the 30 or 35 with there were there. >> parents say they are overreacting. some students say the administration is now considering making the senior class choose between a senior prom and grad night, which they say is a much better choice rather than losing both. >> a thousand teachers and students gathered at the civic center issuing a warning about budget cuts. this was the scene here from our helicopter at the seiving center. the event wrapped up a week of protests aimed at getting the attention of state lawmakers poised to make deeper budget cuts. the san francisco unified school district sent out layoff notices to 185 employees, the district also voted to eliminate 152 teaching and administrator positions. governor brown's proposal to extend temporary taxes would help avoid deeper cuts to education funding according to

brown. >> no drinking, no float, no wandering into people's yards and please use the port-a-potties. new rules that thousands of runners are being asked to adhere to sunday at the 100th anniversary ott the bay to breakers race in san francisco. and race organizers are opening those new rules will tame the very wild street party. >> i think i may wear a tutu and leg warmers. >> susie and john are planning zany costumes. it's a true, only in san francisco event. but not everyone enjoys it. >> people urinating all over the place. >> reporter: race organizers are trying to rein in on what they call an out of the control street partying, limiting participation and enforcing a zero tolerance policy. regulators aren't sure this proud will have play by a long list of rule fps.

>> i can understand fepeople complaining about it. i don't know if there's a viable solution. >> reporter: this man says changing the route so it's not close to homes is a better idea. >> it comes out of the homeowners' pocket to deal with it. it's wrong. >> reporter: for the first time, some bars along haight street will open early for pit stops. the idea is to give racers who want to party a safe place off the streets to celebrate. >> continue to party inside the bar in a more controlled atmosphere, a more controlled environment. >> reporter: some say it's time to say goodbye. >> let's see what happens, but i have no faith in them. >> reporter: but fan hope the fun continues. jean elle, nbc news. >> did he confess to double

murder? both murders? oh, my god. . a stunning admission. a man walks into a bay area police department and confesses to a double murder that happened 16 years ago. >> and battling skin cancer, a new break through. the drug that could lead to a cure and why patients are fighting to get it. >> and good evenenin i'm chief meneorologist jeff ranieri. . s in t-- temperaturesn the low s thke weebi ces.tieke, mendbingg-ha sierra know and thunderstorms.

i'll time line it for you coming

up.es well, it's a stunning admission. a man walks into a bay area police station and confesses to a double murder dating back 16 years. nbc broke the news to the victim's family. >> did he confess to both murders? both mirds? oh, my god. >> reporter: 16 years after

ruben solis and vincent betancourt were gunned down, their alleged killer said he did it. >> he walked into a police station and turned himself in. that's what our understanding is in this particular instance is, in this unusual circumstance, we don't have that happen that often. >> police say douglas cabrera now being held at the san francisco county jail was always a suspect in the 1995 double suicide, but they never were able to arrest him. >> half of me died inside. half of me didn't want to live anymore. and a lot of times, i wondered and i just asked myself, how could this be here? will i ever get an answer? will i ever know? >> reporter: the 24-year-old and his 31-year-old uncle hat drinking beers in garfield bark late one december night. elsa says they were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. >> they shot them in the head, shot him several times and shot

his uncle, too, as well. >> reporter: investigators still have not motives for the murders and say neither victim was affiliated with a gang. >> they suffered a lot. it was hard to go to the funeral. it was hard to see him there. he was too young. there was a lot he missed out on that he was robbed from in just a moment. >> reporter: no one know s what compelled cabrera to turn himself reason. whatever the reason, elsa is grateful. >> i would thank him for doing a brave thing, for having the courage to come forth and saying something as difficult as this. osama bin laden may have been a porn fan. navy s.e.a.l.s found a huge

stash of pornography. it was confiscated and is being analyzed by the cia. journalists contained random thoughts how bin laden could kill the president. he later concluded he was too well protected. >> former iran prisoner speaks about iran's unexplained postponement of this week's trial of her fellow hikers. the men weren't even brought into court, which has left the families crushed. >> when something like this happens, we fear the worst. we don't know if they're safe. we are very concerned about their physical and their mental health after nearly two years of extreme isolation. >> appearing on the nbc news show "andrea mitchell" repo rep she feels they've gone on hunger strikes out of desperation. >> we want our lawyer to have immediate access to shane and josh. he's never had the opportunity to meet with them privately.

this is over 21 months and he's never met with them privately. we're demanding that he have access to them so we can at least know that they're safe. >> reporter: initially, iran accused the three americans only of illegally cross skboog the country, but later added espionage charges. short says she's been diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and will not return to iran to be tried. >> stranded in the oregon wilderness for nearly 70 days. tonight, we're learning more of the long and horrifying ordeal that led to a man's death. investigators in oregon say jerry mcdonald first became stranded near marion forks in the cascade range. they say the 68-year-old man was in the area for a week before a snowstorm hit the region on february 14. that's when he began to log brief notes about his ordeal when he made his last entry on april 14. a u.s. force crew found him dead yesterday in his pickup truck. they also uncovered $5,000 in

cash. an update now on the controversial botox story we told you last night. the san francisco mother who admitted she injects her 8-year-old daughter with botox is under investigation tonight. the little girl competes in beauty pageants. the city's human services agency planned to meet with carrie campbell and her daughter britney after they appeared on "good morning america" yesterday, the agency got a flood of calls from people worried act the little girl'slf. welfare. not only are they physically painful, but doctors say the treatments can cause emotional pain as well, especially in children. >> of. >> well, tonight, we have a break through to tell you about in a fight against a deadly form of skin cancer. the faa has approved a drug that could extend the lyght life of melanoa patients. nbc bay area's vicki nguyen introduces us to one man who did

just that. >> reporter: this family is like many families with tanlers -- bu busy. but they slowed down when 42-year-old dad mark was diagnosed with melanoma two years ago. >> we use humor in our family a lot. and that helped us tremendously, even before this happened. and we've got -- i mean, we're always cracking jokes. >> reporter: mark says he never had a bad sun burn, never found a dark mole. >> just nagging back pain and the doctor kept giving me pain medicine and muscle relaxers. it got to a point where plefs gi -- he was giving me so much that i was concerned. >> reporter: mark was diagnosed with stage four cancer that had spread to his organs. >> we were just plugging away at it. basically became my job. >> reporter: as part of that fight, mark entered a clinical trial for a break through drug now approved by the fda to

extend the life of melanoma patients. >> it's for people with invasive melanoma. it's spread beyond the skin to other tissues, to other organs. >> dr. cruz says it's the first in a new class of drugs that works on the immune system. he says four infusions can extend the life six to ten months. the side effects were brutal. >> i got my first dose, and we were very hopeful for it. it's a very promising drug. and i had a bad reaction. so they put me in the hospital for three or four days. and i'm sorry. >> reporter: mark says he wants to try it again. >> those side effects were horrendous? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: but worth it, even knowing that? >> that's a question my wife always asks. is it worth it? yeah, it's worth it.

the drug is that important to melano melanoma. >> he's probably more open to talking about it than i am. when i open that window, it's almost, like, giving in and saying okay, you know, you're not going to be here in six months. and i just can't let myself go there. she's a teenage girl. >> reporter: neither can his children. they are living out every moment, hopeful this break through drug will buy them more time together. >> definitely family gets you through. gives you a reason to keep on going. great family. the treatment is very expensive. $120,000 for those four infusions. and 20% of patients do include the side effects which include

severe diarrhea and bleeding. . we bring in our chief meteorologist with jeff ranieri. is this our winter forecast? what just happened here? >> great wording there. we do have a winter storm watch. by all means, it's winter conditions this weekend. we're looking at 73 today. 75 in livermore and low 60s in san francisco. let's get you into that winter storm watch for the sierra, posted for sunday, where snow levels could go as low as 5,000 feet. we could see eight to ten inches of snowfall as well. more on that coming up. right now, though, most temperatures in the 50s at this point. it's going to be a chilly night as we drop it into the 40s. winds 10 to 20 miles an hour. we'll look fwr the chance of showers to come. it's all about sunday. we bring you the best chance of thunderstorms, also the possibility of isolated hail and even some wind gusts that could

top 20 miles an hour. we start off with more cloud cover than we've had in the past couple of days. then that rain starts to pull in. the model has trouble tracking thunderstorm activity usually. but you can see pockets of green here on the map. that is isolated thunderstorm activity it's picking up on this on sunday, it could produce a tenth to a quarter inch of snowfall. if you're in one of those areas, that's where you could see those totals upwards of a quarter of an inch. look at this, eight to ten inches of snowfall as we ahead throughout sunday afternoon or sunday evening. if you are headed up that way on your way home on sunday, be prepared for winter conditions. 48 in san jose, 47 in gilroy. and bay to braerks happening sunday. one day and seven hour ace way, a chance of thunderstorms in the morning and stps, 50 to 55

degrees. it's going to be a cool start tor that race. temperatures are going to cool off with mid 60s inland. we're looking admit 0 upper 60s.

sdo do you approve?

>> next thursday it will.

enjoy them while you can. when fall arrives, several state parks might be closing due to budget cuts. 70 state parks are on the shutdown list. of the 70, 20 are in the bay area, as well as the leeland stanford mansion in sacramento, as seen here. among the local parks which may close, henry coe and castle rock state park. china camp and tomales bay and

jack london park near somona.

roger mcdowell was back on the bench for a suspension for making homophobic comments and gestures at fans three weebs ago. for the first time since the incident, he spoke publicly. >> in addition, i would like to apologize to anyone who was offended by my actions. i was not proud of the way i acted and i know it will not happen again. he did n . >> he did say called justin quinn, the man that he insulted and he apologized. quinn says he hopes mcdonald learned his lesson and has no plans to press charge against him. >> there was a moment of silence for darryl hawks. as you might know, he was a colleague of ours here and died suddenly yesterday. >> please join us in a moment of silence in honor of darryl hawkes.

>> he was well liked when he worked hooer in the bay area and in chicago. the 38-year-old is survived by his wife and three kids. as for the game, the giants young pitch we are a solid outing, six strong innings, but he drops to 0-6 on the season. the giants' six-game winning streak is over. in oakland tonight, thumb's up from that dude. the a'sesting the white sox. cke a's trying to make a come .a watch carefully. cocoa crisp tries to steal homet

just in time. back in >> stalk about being a team player. tonight, hold that delivery until the playoff game is over. the kwi ta sd red toewh have contractions and she calmly ian i need to go to the hospital after