prescription pill bottles in the singer's room but looking at all causes of death. >> they could have suffered a heart attack or embolism or something. until we run a aa tox, we're no going speculate. >> reporter: the troubled star was in the midst of making a comeback. at sunday night's grammy awards, the mood was uplifting. jennifer hudson sang a moving endition of the song that became whitney houston's trademark. ♪ i will always love you >> in beverly hills, california, sarah edwards, nbc news. >> regardless of the toxicology reports, we do know that whitney houston battled drugs and alcohol for years. last spring she checked herself

into an abuse facility. there are many families that relate to the struggle of addiction. jodi hernandez shows us how houston's death is impacting many local families. jodi? >> reporter: houston's death is a big topic of conversation here at this concord rehab center. the folks here didn't know houston, many of them feel as if they have lost a member of their own family and that's prompting a lot of soul searching. >> she's a year older than me. i loved her music. >> reporter: this 47 year old recovering alcoholic says she's been rocked to the core by whitney houston's death. the mother of three says houston struggles with addiction mirror her own battle with alcohol. >> there are times i went to bed at night and didn't think i would wake up. >> that phrase was used a death in the family for the entertainment community but it's a death in our family too. >> reporter: the folks who run concord's recovery management services, a residential rehab

center, say houston's death has opened a flood gate of emotions. counselor and recovering addict says he's doing a lot of emergency debriefing over what happened. >> lessons to be learned and nerves to be called. some may take this as what's the use? if she could parish in this, why should even bother? why should i try to get straight. i'm doomed. >> reporter: drug and alcohol counselors wants those to know that addiction can be beat. it takes a lifetime commitment. for many patients, what happened to the pop diva is a major wake-up call. >> it made me realize that could have been me with my addiction it could have been me lying there. >> it made me feel blessed that i had -- that i was here and getting help. i want to be around. i want to be around for my kids and my grandkids. i want to be well.

>> reporter: of course we have to point out that houston's cause of death is not yet known. however, as you mentioned, we do know that she had battled drug addiction through much of her life. one woman here told me that she believes houston's story may have actually saved her own life. reporting live in concord, i'm dijoernandez, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, jodi. an emotidial story for so many o people. you can follow our coverage of whitney houston on our website, nbcbayarea.com. you'll find a time line of her life in photos and leave a comment on our homepage. moving to the weather, it's definitely something we haven't seen in a while. look at that. snow in the sierra. the cars covered. that means we also gotñi much needed rain here in the bay area. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri is tracking the storm in the weather center. where is the storm now? >> the storm is starting to push to the south. after one of the driest water seasons on record for parts of the bay area, a moderate storm

system is making headlines here. as we look at sat liellite rada picture, the storm system pushing south but a few areas of moderate rainfall down in the south bay namely across san jose near downtown. also dimpacting santa clara and just near cupertino on interstate 280. areas of clearing and then also some spotty showers. that will be lingering. overall rainfall totals not bad. .55 in berkeley hills. san francisco international airport with .31. wind ushered in with winds topping 40 miles an hour at san francisco international airport producing a few minor delays. now in terms of snow, we just saw the video. e totals range fro four to nine inches. still at 30% of average for the sierra snow pack. we're watching for another system this week. we'll let you know about the intensity and how much rain we could pick up coming up in just

a few minutes. >> jeff, see you soon. today's heavy rain suspended the search for more human remains in what may be a mass grave in san joaquin county. dozens of bone fragments have been found in an abandoned well. the search was launched after a tip from convicted killer and death row inmate who claims there could be up to ten bodies in that well from a killing spree in the 1980s and '90s. >> we have 35 piles of dirt and debris that we're having our personnel sift through. it's tedious. it's lengthy. we'll be here a while. >> his partner in some of the crimes committed suicide last month. along with the bodies, searchers also found clothes, a purse, and jewelry. searchers will resume sifting through the dirt tomorrow morning weather permitting. tonight san jose police are searching for the man who

stomped a little dog to death. the dog was trying to protect his owner who was being attacked near the san jose campbell border. we're joined now from san jose. this happened in broad daylight over the weekend. were there witnesses here? what are police telling you? >> reporter: there were witnesses but police say they are not cooperating because they are afraid of retaliation. it happened on the corner behind me. winchester and colonial where a man was allegedly attacked and his dog killed saturday afternoon. the victim whose birthday is today already has a new dog who is helping him cope with his heartbreaking loss. >> this is actually his stepbrother. same blood line. same everything from the same breeder. >> reporter: he looks almost like shadow and this 4-month-old terrier is how miguel of san jose says he'll cope with the loss of his 6-year-old baby after a group of men attacked them saturday afternoon. >> i walked away but then when i

looked, my dog was on the ground and he had blood coming out of his nose and his ears and his mouth and, man, this is like the worst dream ever. that's what i was hoping it was a bad dream. >> reporter: investigators believe shadow was killed by three to four men who had been across the street at a car wash trying to raise money for their friend's funeral. a 20 year old died after he was shot february 5th in what appeared to be a gang motivated attack. when the man spotted miguel dressed in red, rival gang colors, they approached him. >> i didn't know they were going through something. and i just -- you know, i happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. and, you know, i don't wish that upon anybody. justice has to be served. >> san jose animal services captain says witnesses have not

been cooperative. >> i'm hoping the public comes in with some sort of a tip because those folks are still out there. >> reporter: investigators are trying to secure surveillance footage. meantime, we're told strangers are calling in offering money for a reward. coming up at 6:00, we talk to witness who is say they have been devastated by this. >> okay. thank you. forget valentine's day. apple is feeling the love today from investors. apple shares pushing past $500 for the first time ever. closing at about $502 per share. it's not the rumored ipad 3 that got the company past the landmark. it was greece. apple says an independent group is investigating work conditions

in a factory where iphones and ipads are made. there was a quarter million signatures delivered to an apple store in new york city to demand change at the manufacturers in china. the 11th straight budget shortfall and residents say they would support a sales gap increase to fill the gap. 48% of san jose residents prefer to see cuts to city employee compensation but 65% said they would support a new sales tax hike and 85% support selling one of three city owned golf courses. the city's mayor says he won't support any tax measures until financial reforms including his pension overhaul plan are in place. president obama will be in the bay area on thursday. today he unveiled his budget for the in enext fiscal year. it invests money to create new jobs and as expected it was not

well received by republicans. its impact on california would be severe with fewer subsidies for central valley farmers, smaller block grants for valley counties and the loss of millions of dollars to pay to keep undocumented immigrants in jail. the budget also includes new spending. $8 billion to train community college students for careers in health care, transportation, and manufacturing paid for by nearly $2 trillion in tax increases. >> we want to keep these tax cuts for wealthiest americans or do we want to keep investing in everything else? >> there's not anything in this budget to get our economy moving again. >> house republicans will unveil their own budget plan next month. still ahead at 5:00, bringing affirmative action back to california. the new movement to change admission policies at state universities. on the fast track. the big boost for the plan to bring b.a.r.t. to the south bay. good afternoon. i'm jeff ranieri. re weather center tracking a few showers across

the south bay and doppler radar right now through willow glen and downtown san jose will track more of that rain and also let you know about our sierra snowfall totals coming up in just a few minutes. and a big gesture from a little brother. the treatment one bay area family used that kept a little girl alive. bay area !

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a california law banning affirmative action on texas is the center of a fight. students rallied against prop 209 outside the ninth circuit court of appeals. two years ago district court judge dismissed this latest lawsuit. today a panel of three judges heard the appeal listening to arguments from the prop 209 supporters who say it brought equality to admissions processes

because of race, gender and ethnicity can no long eer be considered. opponents say it caused a drop in black and latino students at state schools despite the increase in the percentages of those groups at california high schools. >> my incoming class at the university of california school of law is roughly 200 people. about 192 students. i am one of two african-american students. and there is three latino students. and the rest of asian and white. >> lawyers on both sides say it was unusual that the judges did not ask many questions during today's hearing. a judge in pennsylvania is allowing former penn state assistant coach jerry sandusky to see most of his grandchildren as he awaits trial on child sex abuse allegations. sandusky is currently on house arrest. the judge also ruled that the trial will not be moved and will take place in the same county as penn state. sandusky is accused of molesting at least ten boys through a

charity he founded. some of the attacks happened on the university campus. he has denied all charges. sandusky's trial is expected to start in mid may. what was once a dream for gay couples is now reality. the state of washington becomes the seventh state to allow same-sex marriage. today washington's governor put her signature on the law that legalizes gay marriage. the law officially takes effect on june 7th but opponents plan to file an appeal that could put it on hold. a young boy helps save his sister's life. marianne favro joins us now with a story you'll see only on nbc bay area news. >> his parents had umbilical cord blood saved and stored. a life saving decision because it was that blood that saved his sister dying from sickle cell

amena. she learned her baby had sickle cell anemia. >> the most severe time and she'll live a hard life and some physicians predicted she may not live past ten years. >> reporter: for the next six years, carol dealt with pain. >> the pain in my head was like a punch and my stomach it was like a kick. my heartfe felt like a squeeze. >> reporter: pain so severe she couldn't attend school. >> she was getting mini strokes. she was sick. >> reporter: that's when carol says her younger brother, mark, saved her life. she was born two years after carol and his parents banked his umbilical cord blood. the registry collected and stored the stem cells in the blood as part of a new program called newborn possibilities. when carol turned 7, she

received a stem cell transplant using mark's banked cells. >> once the stem cells are in the patient's body, they reproduce the blood and immune system so we replace the sickle cell blood system with the blood system from a healthy donor. >> the treatment worked. carol has been disease free for three years. >> now i feel great and i don't have any pain and i don't have to visit the doctor all the time. >> reporter: which is great because now she has time to enjoy school, give her brother extra hugs for helping save her life and meet with president obama to tell him how cord blood can be so much more than your life line in the womb. scientists say stem cells has been used to treat 80 different diseases. marianne favro, nbc bay area news. >> amazing treatment. thank you so much. let's bring in our chief

meteorologist jeff ranieri. we saw snow on the local mountain tops today. that was remarkable. >> right up across mt. hamilton and it almost felt like i was on the east coast today with that cold air in place across the bay area. it hasn't felt like this pretty much all winter long. rainfall totals impressive. berkeley hills, .55. san francisco picking up just over .3. let's take you outside to downtown san francisco sky camera and you notice that sun starting to break through the clouds out here. that's a sign of what we're going to be experiencing as we head throughout tomorrow. also, sierra snowfall totals adding to snow pack here. not doing major things but anything is better than nothing at this point. alpine picking up the most with 9 inches. squaw valley, six. north star with the least amount at four inches for that overall total. now, in terms of rainfall right now, we're still finding areas of spotty showers mainly across the south bay and also throughout the santa cruz mountains.

headed to downtown san jose also near willow glen and across 280 or on 87 is where you will find moderate rainfall. numbers here, chilly. need layers if you are going anywhere tonight. 49 in san jose. also 49 in gilroy with temperatures in the low 50s from san mateo to san francisco. we had these temperatures for overnight lows just a few days back. kind of a shocker for you out there today as you stepped outside. still felt pretty refreshing. as you continue through the forecast for tomorrow morning, patchy fog. tuesday you may love that forecast on valentine's day with more sunshine coming out and also dry weather. that system we had today now pushing to the south and while we are monitoring some cloud cover out here in the pacific, we're not expected to be impacted by this heading through the next 24 hours. for tonight, we just continue the drying trend here and by tomorrow morning on your tuesday we'll see a few clouds develop offshore. maybe some patchy fog. not expecting a widespread fog

event. as we continue throughout 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 tomorrow, we'll find a lot of sunshine through the clouds in the afternoon and into 11:00 p.m. tuesday, a slight chance of showers returning in the north bay and across the peninsula and that chance of showers lingering into the wednesday morning forecast. for your morning, we'll start off with 39 in livermore. also very chilly 35 in santa rosa and 34 in san francisco. for tomorrow, daytime highs, expected to still be right about near average. 58 in san jose. a little bit warmer than what we experiences today but you need the jacket. 58 in danville. back for san francisco, 56. 55 in pacifica. a three-day forecast we keep that slight chance of showers here late, late tuesday and into early wednesday and then as we head throughout thursday, friday and saturday, we are expecting dry weather to return with another slight chance of showers here as we head into sunday's

forecast. no major storms but at least the storm pass earn is doing a little bit of what it should this time of the year. >> nice to see the rain. winter again. >> wow. it's like another state. >> so blustery this morning when i was driving. thank you so much, jeff. cracking down on south bay drivers. coming up, we'll tell you where you may want to be a little more cautious while driving this week. >> also ahead, lost and found. one p hel s mission to help reunite someone with their precious memories.

a $150 million boost to b.a.r.t. is coming from the federal government used for the planned expansion to the south bay. transit leaders are surprised by the amount. it's $20 million more than they were expecting. the money is the first of nearly a billion dollars promised for the project by the department of transportation. the ground breaking is set for this april. construction will begin this

summer. not just for drivers but for kids. be careful how you drive and bike near schools. police in the south bay are cracking down. they are launching their annual operation safe passage in santa clara county. police are looking for drivers and bikers who disobey laws in school zones. this is video from last year's operation. officers will watch for common traffic violations including speeding, failure to yield to pedestrians and seat belt violations and watch for students breaking the rules such as jaywalking and riding a bike without a helmet. you have been warned. we want no complaints. up next, a trip of a lifetime lost? riesbae woman isg thmoe me ay .emstesbr wg those memories .itaysth with us. us

the poor guy went to the super bowl and came home without his camera. now a woman in new york is looking for him. take a look at these pictures. if you recognize this guy or any of the guys in the picture, let someone know. one of them may live or near palo alto. there's the clue. he asked a woman at the super bowl to take a picture. when the picture didn't look that good, he got his cell phone out and in the whole commotion dropped his camera and left the game without his camera. a woman posted a slide show of the pictures hoping there's nothing incriminating in the pictures hoping that he sees them and an e-mail account to contact them if you recognize either of these guys, e-mail her at lostsuper bowlitem@gmail g.c. >> great pictures. >> picture perfect for tomorrow with sun. drying out and temperatures upper 50s. >> valentine's day tomorrow. >> see you at 6:00. ♪

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