but after that, sunshine,'s mix of sun and clouds is expected for today. but plenty of clouds of rainfall coming up in time for the weekend. here's liz with your traffic. >> here's a live look at the dry commute. a nice break for commuters this morning. a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza where so far there is no delay. the metering lights -- this might be a good day to use mass transit. december 15 is supposed to be the most dangerous day of the year for california drivers. back to you. >> we have a chp visiting us and answering questions as well this morning. thank you very much, elizabeth and tracy. it's 5:00. you can see the new bay bridge suspension tower going up today, just don't do it when you're driving on the bridge. sharon chin is on treasure island checking on today's construction work. good morning. reporter: you can see if we zoom in here, we just started to spot here on a barge part of that tower kind of getting

ready, getting into position so a crane can get hooked up and lifted up in a very long and tedious process that will take most of today. once again, caltrans is asking drivers not to be distracted by all this tower construction work that's going to be done. crane also start lifting the third of five steel section for the span. crews have been getting ready since monday unloading 4 million pounds of steel from china. the work was originally scheduled for thursday but the workers got ready a day earlier than expected so all the work is going to begin today. they are going to be busy working around the clock hoisting the newest tower section into the air bringing the tower three-quarters of the way to its final height of 525 feet. >> when we start lifting later on this week, there is a little bit of concern that we can have traffic slowdowns on the bridge when this work takes place. but motorists have been fantastic. with the two other lift we haven't seen a real problem

with it, so we're hoping for the same thing. >> reporter: caltrans asking motorists not to get distracted by the work. drivers on the upper deck will be able to see the huge steel parts being hoisted up on the tower. crews hope to finish the tower by christmas. caltrans predicts that the project will be done by late 2013, 24 years after the loma prieta earthquake. so caltrains hoping to have a news conference at 10:00 to fill in us on some of the details and as we said, the pieces are starting to be put together, getting in place now for this tower section to go up today. >> yeah. it's just amazing, every day something new is happening. but don't look! all right, sharon. thank you very much, sharon chin on treasure island. taking bart to work this morning? if you are paying with an ez- rider card they are switching to the clipper card so old easy rider cards are no longer accepted to pay fares and will

be blocked at some stations. barredclipper cards be found online and at select stations. easy rider cards will be blocked next week. some east bay teachers and staff say they're fed up. members of the mount diablo unified school district held a rally last night. three proposals are on the table to shut down schools and save the school district $1.5 million. each plan calls for the closure of one middle school and two elementary schools. >> that our school is even on that list is upsetting for us. i was on the waiting list for three years for my daughter to get into the school. i really wanted her in this school. >> members of the school closure committee say there's a long list of criteria in deciding which schools to close. that includes test scores, cost to run the schools and if there's room to grow. oakland's police chief is asking for a federal

investigation into the police shooting of derrick jones. jones was shot and killed last month by officers responding to a domestic dispute at a barbershop. police say the 37-year-old appeared to pull a metal object from his pants just before he was shot. police chief anthony batts says he understands some people may distrust an internal investigation. it is 5:04. this morning, we are learning more about the gunman who opened fire at a school board meeting in florida. 56-year-old clay duke was there complaining about his wife losing her job with the panama city school district. almost everyone else ran out of the room when duke pulled a gun including a reporter but she left her camera running. >> i saw him come out spray- paint a big circle with a line or v through it. it wasn't nice and then he said i have a motion for you. and he pulled out his gun. >> before the shooting began, one school board member attacked duke with her purse. his shots didn't hit anyone.

a security guard wounded him and then duke took his own life. in other news, the compromise tax cut bill is expected to be approved by the u.s. senate today. the bill would extend bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year and provide extended jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed. the bill has bipartisan support in the senate which voted 83-15 monday to send it to a final vote. all right. here we go. it is 5:05. let's get another check of traffic and weather. tracy has our forecast. >> hey, good morning, ladies. now that next week winter officially arrives moving into that time of the year. out the door this morning, mostly cloudy, fog inland this morning. napa reporting one-mile visibility. we are also expecting fog at the bay and the coast. temperatures for the morning in the lower 50s to the lower 40s. for this afternoon, sunshine. i need a little sunshine. sunshine today and some clouds. highs today ranging from the

mid to the upper 50s. that's a look at your weather. for your traffice, here's liz. >> thanks, tracy. thank you, tracy. we have our first accident since we have been on the air at 4:30. it's in san jose. southbound 101 just before hellyer, sounds like a solo car crash but an ambulance is heading to the scene for possible injuries. it's still early. we are not sure about lanes blocked but our sensors aren't showing any slow. the rest of the south bay looks good. one more live look at 280 through san jose. i mentioned this during my last traffic report. i just got this press relief from the assignment desk. apparently today december 15 is the most dangerous day for california drivers, an average of 23% more accidents happening today than any other day of the year according to a study from allstate insurance company. they blame travel, holiday shopping and the weather, which we're at least getting a break from today. but be careful. stay off those cell phones and drive slowly. mass transit if you want to use it and avoid the roads altogether, everything is

running on time for bart, ace, muni and caltrain. >> thank you. 5:07. the san bruno pipeline's hidden weakness. >> the potential trigger to the explosion that pg&e said didn't exist. budget problems forcing an east bay city to cut firefighters. how that move is expected to affect response times. ,, ,,,,

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mark sayre is in berkeley to explain one of the suspectsy have ties to a number of pedestrian attacks in the pt month. an operation to nab suspects in berkeley, mark sayre reports. >> reporter: good morning. at this point berkeley police are not releasing the names or photos of the people that they have arrested but they say that the nine that they arrested

they believe are responsible for robberies throughout the city. you may remember back in november there were five pedestrians robberies and the m.o. was somebody would approach these pedestrian was a gun in the area north of university avenue. in those cases the armed man would then approach the pedestrian, demand phones, wallets and other small personal items before fleeing on foot. police now saying at least one of the nine people arrested was actually caught after a robbery in the north university avenue area. at this point, though, police are not saying for sure if that one person that was arrested in this sweep of nine people is definitively linked to one or all of the five pedestrian robberies that occurred in november. police obviously looking very carefully at that possibility at this point. they say that it was a departmental focus. berkeley police actively looking into the series of pedestrian robberies with additional crime analysis and personnel that led them to this one person and eight others.

we do not not nature of the additional eight arrests beyond the one involved in the pedestrian robberies where those robberies were. that information we don't have at this point but it could be a big break in the case of those five pedestrian robberies in late last month. >> thank you, mark sayre. walnut creek will have fewer firefighters on duty in 2011. contra costa county supervisors decided yesterday to remove one fire company from station one in downtown walnut creek. there are two companies there now. the "contra costa times" reports a fire department study found this move would have almost no effect on response times for most emergency calls. the latest national transportation safety board report on the deadly san bruno pipeline explosion talks about weaknesses along a weld in the pipe. pg&e had previously said that the pipe was seamless meaning it had no welds. but the ntsb found a patchwork of seams. they did not find any outside corrosion, dents or leaks that

might have led to failure. investigators haven't yet settled on the cause. >> i think we know a lot more about pipeline safety today than we did three months ago. and i think pg&e had a -- a horrific wake-up call. >> an earlier report indicated a power failure before the disaster may have caused a pressure surge in the pipe but not strong enough to have caused it to burst. the ntsb is not expected to release a final report before next fall. the berkeley city council has tabled a vote on whether to call a soldier accused of revealing classified information a hero. the council took public comment on the symbolic resolution last night. private bradley manning is accused of giving wikileaks a quarter million secret u.s. embassy cables. the council decided it wants to wait and see what happens with manning' trial. if convicted of all charges, manning faces 52 years in

prison. it is 5:12 now. oakland gets serious about keeping the as. a step forward in a bid for a new stadium. >> the trash talk is over. how arlington's mayor is making good on his world series losing wager. >> and it's an easy drive along the peninsula but right now chp is working two separate accidents in san jose. we'll center details coming up. -- we'll have details coming up. ♪

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good morning. out the door, we have fog down to a half mile visibility in napa. we are also fog at the bay and the coast. plenty of high clouds, lots of cloudy conditions and temperatures ranging this morning from the lower 50s to the lower 40s. for this afternoon, sunshine, no rainfall expected today. a mix of sun and clouds, temperatures ranging from the mid to the upper 50s. so here's a look at our satellite as well as our radar. and it's showing all the rain showers we picked up yesterday and the snowfall in the sierra and currently just a few clouds streaming in. that's going to keep us with a mix of sun and clouds today. but more importantly, it is a dry break. high pressure system building in for just a couple of days.

what's back behind us? a low pressure system and that's coming in. that's going to give us more rainfall for friday. and that chance of rainfall will extend throughout the weekend. the sierra forecast, drying out today. a mix of sun and clouds wednesday today as well as for thursday. and snow and windy conditions expected for friday. snowfall for the sierra friday, rainfall for the bay area friday. saturday, sunday, monday, and tuesday rainfall. i would like an umbrella for christmas. >> yeah, really. i know, so would i. >> what happens wednesday? >> another chance of rain but i didn't want to put that on there. >> don't want to bum everybody out. it all of a sudden got busy in the south bay. two separate solo vehicle accidents. southbound 680 before montague expressway, looks like lanes are not blocked in the area because there really is no delay. but southbound 101 approaching hellyer an ambulance heading to the scene of the crash so likely injuries and once the

ambulance gets there they will likely have to block a lane. bart on time 39 transon time. but starting this morning, bart is phasing out the ez-rider cards. so you can switch over to clipper cards or get a cash ticket. we are on twitter now. so if you want to check out the latest hot spots if you have a traffic question, if you want to complain about the pothole you have been passing every day, look us up, cbs 5 traffic at twitter. you got that? back to you. >> thank you. in the headlines, the new bay bridge suspension tower getting taller today. caltrans and the chp warning drivers to not be distracted by the work as they drive across the bridge. the tower could be 300 feet tall by christmas. the future is uncertain for several east bay schools. right now, three proposals are on the table to shut down at least in one middle school and two elementary schools in the

mount diablo school district. supporters say the plan could safety district $1.5 million. and a gunman in panama city, florida, holding a school board hostage yesterday before fatally shooting himself. right in the build of the meeting, 56-year-old clay duke pulled out a handgun. one board member tried to stop him banging him on the head with her purse. the gunman opened fire but no one was hit. time now 5:19. san francisco dropped its controversial plan to impose a toll on drivers entering the city from the peninsula. the proposal would have charged drivers $6 each time they entered or left the city. now the supervisors want to charge drivers a fee for driving the downtown area. a congestion toll of $3 to go in and $3 to get out. oakland is moving ahead in its effort to build a new baseball stadium for the oakland as. a city council committee voted

yesterday to spend $750,000 for an environmental impact study. the entire council is set to vote on that next tuesday. the site for the proposed stadium is just south of jack london square. the mayor of arlington, texas heading to san francisco today to settle his world series bet mayor newsom. since the giants beat the rangers, mayor robert cluck will help out as a junior giants -- at a junior giants game where a giants jersey. the two mayors made the wager in october before the game and as part of the deal, cluck also sent newsom some texas barbecue. >> a lot of pictures will be taken at that one. it is 5:20. there is a resume' buzz word that could kill your chances at a job. what employers have heard to death. can't afford to more or less live like we used to. >> forget savings.

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redwood city. down towards san jose a backup approaching hellyer. we have had three lanes blocked and fire crews on scene of an injury crash. we'll have details coming up in just a few moments. >> elizabeth, didn't you say this was like one of the worst traffic days of the year? >> it is. december 15th, worst traffic day of the year according to a new study. >> people are getting a little crazed out there because of the holidays and a lot of distractions. so if you have a traffic question or something is bugging you on the roads? we want to hear about it. >> coming up at 6:20, we'll chat with chp sergeant trent cross and post your questions at facebook, twitter or email us at cbs5.com. >> i just have a rant... >> we'll talk to officer trent later on. 5:24. are you dreaming of an extravagant christmas? for some people, it may come true this year. luxury shopping is making a comeback! mid level retailers like macy's expect a 3.5% rise this year

but get this, an even bigger jump is expected at high-end stores with a 7% increase over last christmas. shoppers say it's not decadence, just a sign. times. people are getting out of their recession depression. >> we can afford to more or less live like we used to. >> the economy is a compilation of people willing to share their earnings with someone else. i'm doing my part. >> in just the past few weeks, nieman marcus, tiffany, coach and louie vuitton to name a few saw spikes in sales of 45%. now you can buy clothes and appliances on facebook too. j.c. penney is the first major retailer to set up shop on the social media site. this way the chain can ask users for a peek at their personal facebook information giving the company a leg up on marketing. and for consumers, giving customer feedback is as easy as writing a wall post. >> i thought it was fun. >> but my question, was it hard

to watch? >> also, facebook founder and ceo mark zuckerberg has just been named "time" magazine's person of the year. the magazine editors say they chose him for connecting more than half a billion people for creating a new system exchanging information and for changing how we all live our lives. last year's person of the year was fed chairman ben bernanke. >> and not only that president obama and russian president vladimir putin so in your 20s and you're already time's man of the year. 5:26. are you motivated? results-oriented? do you have extensive experience? if your resume' says you do, you might want to make some changes. according to research from linked in, the top 5 most overused words on resumes in the u.s. are these: extensive, innovative, motivated, results- oriented, and dynamic. >> we notice that a lot of people try and put them in so they stand out from the crowd? but when thousands if not

hundreds of thousands of other people are putting these same terms in their resume' as well as their profile, it's not helping you stand out. >> linked in suggests these buzz words can do more harm than good so if you are working on your resume' this holiday season, delete the vague references and provide details. they want to see results. what value did you add to a company? >> all right. 5:27. coming up a new challenge to "don't ask, don't tell." >> what the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian soldiers is threatening to do if lawmakers don't act quickly. berkeley police make nine arrests in a series of robberies including at least one that could be connected to a series of pedestrian holdups. i'll have the details. the warning from caltrans as more work begins today on the new bay bridge tower. that story coming up. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ ♪ every time it's so right ♪ well, it feels so good [ female announcer ] when you have a softer bath tissue,

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december 15-th. i'm sydnie kohara your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. caption colorado, l.l.c. and good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, the 15th of december. i'm sydnie kohara. >> and good morning to you, i'm juliette goodrich. time now is 5:30. well, don't look, that's the warning to drivers on the bay bridge this morning. sharon chin is on treasure island with a look at what you should not be looking at. don't look! >> reporter: well, now you can look at what we're looking at, juliette. let me show you. you can see that section of the tower that they are going to be putting is up actually lit up now. it's at the base of the current

tower. it's on the left. they are getting that ready, prepping it. it's going to be hoisted up into its position there in a very long painstaking process that begins today. once again, caltrans is asking drivers not to get distracted watching the work being done this week. crane also start lifting the third of five steel segments for the tower of the self anchored suspension span. crews have been getting ready since monday unloading four million pounds of steel that came from china. the work was originally scheduled for thursday, but then crews got ready a day earlier so all the work is going to start today. crews will be busy around the clock hoisting the newest tower section into the air bringing the tower three-quarters of the way through its final height of 525 feet. >> when we start lifting later on this week, there is a little bit of concern that we can have traffic slowdowns on the bridge when this work takes place. but motorists have been fantastic with the two other lifts. we haven't seen a real problem with it so we are hoping for the same thing. >> reporter: as it has in the

past caltrans is asking motorist to not get distracted by the work. drivers on the upper deck will be able to see it being done see the steel parts hoisted up on the tower. crews hope to finish the tower by christmas. caltrans predicts the $6.3 billion project will be done boy plate 2013. that is 24 years after the loma prieta earthquake. >> wow. >> reporter: and caltrans will be filling in us on the progress of this project at a news conference at 10:00 this morning. juliette? >> all right, sharon chin on treasure island. sharon, thank you. it's going to be cloudy and foggy today, but that rain is just lingering out there on the edges. let's go to tracy now with a look at our forecast. is it going to be wet today? or are we waiting for that? >> no, it will be wet today, sydnie, but the -- it won't be wet today, sydnie, but the rainfall isn't far away. temperatures average highs in the upper 50s this time of the year. today pretty much on par with that. 56 in san francisco. upper 50s san jose.

and the mid-50s in santa rosa and also in concord. we'll take a look at your seven- day forecast, those rain showers they will be here any minute. that's a look at your weather. for your traffic, here's liz. thanks, tracy. >> there may be slick surfaces out there. we are getting a lot of reports of accidents coming in. right now three right lanes are blocked in san jose southbound 101 before hellyer, fire crews are on scene, as well. we were told this is an injury crash. we are starting to see slowing now and caltrans has turned on the electronic warning signs in the area. so yeah, expect delays through that stretch. this accident is off to the shoulder southbound 680 approaching montague expressway and live look at 880 through oakland where things look good past the coliseum. back to you. >> thank you. an operation to crack down on robberies in berkeley nabs nine suspects. mark sayre is in berkeley to explain that one of the suspects may have some ties to a number of pedestrian attacks in the past month.

mark, good morning. reporter: berkeley police are not releasing the names or the photos of the nine people they arrested but they say that all nine were possibly involved in a series of robberies throughout the city. now, you may remember back in november, berkeley police put out the word about a series of robberies targeting pedestrians. in those cases an armed man would approach the pedestrianing and demand phones, wallets and other personal items before fleeing on foot. police say at least one of those people arrested in this sweep one of the nine was caught after a robbery leaving the north university avenue area. now, at this point, police are not saying for sure whether that one individual may have been responsible support all five of those pedestrian robberies. that's certainly something they are looking into at this point. nine people arrested here in berkeley, by berkeley police in a stepped-up effort by the police department, police saying they did crime analysis, they targeted specific areas, they put more people on the street to look into these crimes. they have arrested nine people and possibly have solved these

series of robberies against pedestrians. back to you. >> certainly good news for anxious citizens. >> indeed. >> thank you, mark sayre in berkeley. 5:35. this morning we're learning more about the gunman who opened fire at a school board meeting in florida. 56-year-old clay duke was there complaining about his wife losing her job at the panama city school district. most everyone ran out of the room when duke pulled out a gun including a reporter who left her camera on. >> i saw him come out, spray- paint a big circle with a line or v through it. it wasn't nice. then he said i have a motion for you and like pulled out his gun. >> before the shooting started, one school board member attacked duke with her purse. duke's shots didn't hit anyone. a security guard wounded him and then duke actually turned the gun on himself. state records show duke served time for aggravated stalking and other charges. he told the board his wife was fired from the district but didn't say what job she held. one person under arrest in

a deadly shooting that killed an innocent bystander at a sacramento strip mall. and this morning the hunt is still on for a second shooter. police say two men were inside a barbershop yesterday afternoon when one or possibly two other men came in and started shooting. the men in the barbershop were armed and returned fire. that gun battle then moved into a parking lot. and that's when a mother putting her 2-year-old son into an suv was caught in the crossfire and shot in the chest. she died. six others were wounded. a 14-year-old accused of raping a teenaged girl and stabbing her and her baby brother in vacaville will be tried as an adult. police satisfy he entered the home early sunday morning. they say alexander servants likely knew the victim's older brother. the girl and her brother were in critical condition but are expected to survive. half moon bay is looking to outsource its police force. city officials need to cut

spending by as much as $1.2 million. right now the police department takes up 40% of the budget. this news comes just months after san carlos decided to outsource its police services to san mateo. half moon bay could do the same as san mateo looks eager to make a bid. walnut creek's fire station 1 will have fewer firefighters on duty in 2011. contra costa county supervisors decided yesterday to remove one fire company from station one in downtown walnut creek. there are two companies there now. the "contra costa times" reports a fire department study found this move would have almost no effect on response times for most emergency calls. california's next governor says the state's fiscal crisis is worse than he thought. jerry brown had a budget meeting with about 200 school officials in southern california. and he warned them to have their seatbelts fastened when he comes out with his budget proposal next month. the school leaders urged brown

not to make any more cuts in education funding. and a compromise tax cut bill is expected to be approved by the u.s. senate today. the bill would extend bush-era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of the year and provide extended jobless benefits for the long term unemployed. the bill has bipartisan support in the senate which voted monday to send it to a final vote. the berkeley city council has tabled a vote on whether to call a soldier accused of revealing classified information a hero. the council took public comment on the symbolic resolution last night. private bradley man something accused of giving wikileaks a quarter million secret u.s. embassy cables. the u.s. government says he is a traitor and put american lives at risk. a member of the city's volunteer peace and justice commission wrote the resolution. >> whistle-blowers need to be respected and protected. >> nevertheless he's a traitor.

and he, uhm, went against his, uhm, whatever he signed to join the military. he violated his word. >> i would urge the council to vote no against this foolish resolution. the right to privacy is essential in our country and it's essential to diplomacy. >> need to to have information. if we don't want to go towards a closed fascist government. >> the down sill decided it -- council decided it wants to wait to see what happens at his trial. if convicted of all charges manning face 52 years in prison. the founder of wikileaks will stay in jail for at least another day. julian assange appeared in court yesterday. he was granted bail but swedish prosecutors challenged the decision keeping him locked up until thursday. meantime, celebrity supporters have been raising money for assange's $380,000 bail. filmmaker michael moore pledged $20,000. a bay area soldier was back

home just two months ago celebrating his 21st birthday. his family said he had misgivings about returning to the war front. he was one of six american soldiers killed sunday when insurgents attacked their unit with an i.e.d. the house of representatives will vote today on a new bill to repeal the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. house speaker nancy pelosi making that announcement on her twitter page. meantime, the nation's largest organization of gay and lesbian soldiers has filed a lawsuit in the u.s. district court in san francisco. they want the ban on gays serving openly in the military ruled unconstitutional. 5:40. coming up, think your pets are safe inside your home? the four-legged predators using doggie doors to get inside. plus, mcdonald's not happy about san francisco's ban on happy meals. how the golden arches is firing

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well, good morning. mostly cloudy conditions are expected with a few areas of fog out there especially inland. napa reporting a half mile visibility. some fog expected around the bay this morning and areas of fog along the coastline. temperatures for this morning heading out the door expected to be in the lower 50s to the lower 40s. here we go for the afternoon forecast. the best part. a mix of sun and clouds expected today with highs in the mid- to upper 50s. here's a look at our satellite as well as our radar. and we did have quite a bet of rainfall that moved into the bay area yesterday morning and also in the afternoon. now we are looking at clouds streaming through and that's going to be the drill today. a mix of sun and clouds, a nice

dry break before another storm system comes in. the sierra forecast partly cloudy today and tomorrow. snow and wind on tap for the sierra for friday as rainfall moves back in the bay area. take a look. today and tomorrow, both days relatively similar. no major changes going on there. nice dry break before friday moves in. low pressure system comes in keeping a different -- a smaller storm system moving into the bay area. and that will keep us with an ongoing chance of rainfall, saturday, sunday, monday and tuesday. that's a look at your weather. for your traffic, here's liz. thanks, tracy. for your traffic, here's liz. >> thank you, tracy. let's go out live to 880 in oakland. we're already seeing what looks like it could be significant delays. i want you to notice this bottleneck here as you approach high street past the coliseum.

accident on northbound 880 at 29th and all lanes were blocked and a traffic break in order to clear it. the right lane is still blocked so traffic is stacking up just north of the coliseum heading northbound 880. southbound 880 looks okay. we have more problems in the east bay near the dublin interchange westbound five five right before 680. we have an accident there involving a jeep on its side. we have been getting a couple calls to the kcbs phone force. traffic is stacking up in the area. you can see some of the slowing on some of our traffic sensors turning to yellow. lanes are still blocked in the south bay. we have been talking about this accident in san jose. southbound 101 before hellyer, this was an injury crash. for a while three right lanes were blocked. now just one lane is blocked and traffic is improved. it is going against the commute. so again, southbound 101 at hellyer things look better but

one lane is blocked off. at the bay bridge toll plaza things look great. no metering lights and no delays heading into san francisco. and bart is running on time. but they are phasing out the ez- rider cards beginning today so you have to switch over to a clipper card. back to you. >> thank you. in the headlines, more steel from china being lifted into place today on the new bay bridge suspension tower. the latest delivery will be installed by christmas raising the tower to about 300 feet. a warning for drivers, though, don't try to watch all this work behind the wheel. it's not safe and it could create delays not to mention get you into an accident. the feds releasing their report in the deadly san bruno explosion. at least one part of it doesn't match pg&e's record. the national transportation safety board's investigators found a seam on the pipe that exploded. the utility claimed that the pipe was seamless. the september 9 explosion killed eight people and damaged more than 50 homes.

and san jose is now california's biggest city to put a ban on plastic bags. the city council passed that ordinance 9-1. so starting in 2012, store customers will have to bring their own reusable bags or pay for paper. racoons are on a rampage in alameda. a woman and two dogs are among those hurt in more than half a dozen attacks since june. the "mercury news" reports the latest attack happened at a home on liberty avenue near high street. police say up to four racoons got into a home through the dog door and lashed out at a lab mix and a chihauhau dachshund mix. people have seen an increase of racoons over the last four or five years. >> we see them every night, sometimes on the driver way, on the front yard and they are getting more and more brave all the time. >> a woman says racoons approached her and bit her leg last month as she walked her

dog in washington park. the top man at mcdonald's is taking aim at san francisco. it's over the city's recent law that bans toys in kids meals that are high in fat and calories. mcdonald's ceo jim skinner tells the financial times the new rule, quote, really takes personal choice away from families who are more than capable of making their own decisions. skinner says, quote, food police blame mcdonald's for contributing to the obesity epidemic but city supervisors who passed the law say it's important to promote healthy eating habits for kids. >> there is nothing more important than the health of our children and this is a modest ordinance that will help create healthier options. the law prevents toys in meals that exceed 600 calories and lack fruits or vegetables. it goes into effect next december. time now 5:48. it's being called the holy grail of flirting. elizabeth, tracy, listen up.

what's been proven to be the number one pickup line. plus, a very daring robbery at one of the most popular casinos on the vegas strip. but the thief wasn't after money. how safe.. [ male announcer ] itchy dry scalp? get selsun blue for itchy dry scalp. strong itch-fighters target scalp itch while 5 moisturizers leave hair healthy. selsun blue.

and welcome back. time now 5:51. taking a live look at the bay bridge, the construction, it's supposed to rise by 300 feet by christmas. but sharon chin says they are putting in some new steel pieces and everyone -- the drivers across the bridge are advised not to look at it.

just be careful, don't look. keep your eyes on the road. numbers show teens are drinking less but they have picked up another illegal habit. how safe are certain dental fillings? here's manuel gallegus. >> reporter: an fda panel finishes hearing evidence today on whether mercury fillings are safe. the padgett is looking at health ris -- panel is looking at health risks. last year the fda ruled the fillings are safe but several consumers groups are challenge the decision. a new study shows the average 65-year-old has a 40% chance of surviving to age 85 but researchers say that doesn't mean they are healthier. the number of years that americans spend with serious disease has increased in the last few decades. and teens in the u.s. are drink less alcohol but they are smoking more marijuana. a new government study finds that while binge drinking months teens is down 2%, 6% are

using marijuana up 5% from last year. health officials say that increase is concerning because teens' brains are still developing. i'm manuel gallegus, cbs news new york. okay. how about this? you want an online date? try telling a girl that she has nice lips. >> seriously . the dating site -- [ indiscernible ] .com -- you know that one? >> no, i don't. >> you knew. >> claims that line is the holy grail of flirting. badu expected 200,000 online exchanges across 11 different countries. they tested out 12 opening lines but the lips won. >> however, the website says some countries have different preferences. brazilian, french, italian and american women are more moved by compliments about their clothes. >> hm. >> tracy, you look hot in that. >> that's the word, too, hot. >> yeah. that's the keyword. >> what's the best pickup line you have ever heard? >> best pickup line. i don't know if i can say that

on morning television. >> obviously didn't work, huh? >> well, i'm not saying it didn't work. but it was a good one. let's take a look at your forecast. you ladies trying to get me in trouble! mix of sun and clouds today, highs in the mid- to upper 50s. more sunshine thursday and rainfall friday, saturday, sunday monday and tuesday. another storm system moves into the bay area. mypix photo castro valley sunrise sent in by jim o'day. pretty nice. good job, jim. if you have a photo would you like to share, send it to us at mypix@cbs5.com. that's a look at your weather, for your traffic this morning here's liz. >> thank you, tracy. let's go towards pleasanton. we have several hot spots already developing. this one is as you approach the dublin interchange. westbound 580 an overturned jeep is blocking one lane of traffic. chp issued a traffic alert for this because they assumed that it's going to get backed up in the area and as you can see it

already is in those westbound lanes of 580. they hope to have all lanes cleared by 6:15. they hope to have all lanes clear. and again can sell that traffic traffic is stacking up on the altamont pass. 20 minutes from 580 to the dublin interchange. it is still slow on 880 through oakland, as well. this is another hotspot. northbound 880 before 29th we had an earlier accident. it is now completely clear from lanes. unfortunately, we're still seeing it pretty backed up from at least high street. so watch out for those delays north of the coliseum. one lane is still blocked in the south bay. southbound 101 before hellyer and we are seeing speeds under 15 miles per hour through that stretch. i had just talked about how december 15 was supposed to be one of the worst traffic days of the year. just people have holiday on the brain. travel on the brain. and weather not helping matter either. so be careful. mass transit is on time.

back to you. >> thank you. someone out there could berimp. the mega millions lotto drawing was last night and the estimated jackpot was $104 million. here are the numbers: well, it wasn't exactly like oceans 11 but almost. an armed thief made off with more than $1.5 million in casino chips from a las vegas casino. security video caught the bandit. he has a motorcycle helmet on. he is running through the bellagio early yesterday morning. police say he walked in with a gun, robbed a craps take and took off. he got away despite the fact that the camera was trained on him entire time. >> the industry has safeguards it place that neighboring -- i don't want to say not impossible but it makes it

extremely difficult and i don't want to compromise any of the security measures that they have in place but that could prove to be difficult. >> investigators think the same man pulled a similar heist last week at another vegas casino. this whole caper by the way took less than three minutes. >> where are the chips? did very a bag? or stuff them in -- >> wasn't too fast, either. so they were definitely not on the ball, security. 5:57. coming up in the next half hour, celebrities to the rescue? we'll tell you what they're doing to help free the founder of wikileaks. plus a new report on the san bruno pipeline explosion. the hidden weakness investigators uncovered. berkeley police arrest nine people in a series of robberies including several targeting pedestrians. i'll have the details. new work begins today on the new bay bridge tower. why caltrans doesn't want you to look. that's coming up. ,,,,,,,,

[ bell rings ] what are you doing, friending somebody? yeah. you got time for that?

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