everybody. then ♪ in the news this wednesday morning, the richmond city council votes to spend $1.5 million to keep a high school and two elementary schools open a year. a budget crisis caused school leaders to consider the closures. >> lawyers square off before california's supreme court to see if governor schwarzenegger is illegally forcing workers to take unpaid days off. >> notice how low the clouds are. they are dropping. you'll find some slick streets around and drizzle that may hang around. >> a developing hot spot in livermore. i'll have the details on that big rig accident plus the bay bridge toll plaza says no delays but you'll definitely need to use your wipers in san

francisco. >> you will indeed on this wednesday morning. >> and the santa clara city planning commission meets today to consider major zoning changes needed for the proposed 49ers stadium. so whether you're at the 49ers stadium or elsewhere close to the coast, you may need your windshield wipers this morning. that's to save myself after the last comment. 4:31 on this wednesday. thanks for joining us. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. a reprieve for three richmond schools. they'll stay open one extra year after the city council approved spending $1.5 million to keep them open. the vote came before midnight to save kennedy high school and two elementary schools through the 2011-2012 school year. the meeting was packed with worried parents and officials. they settled a suit with chevron for $113 million. but the council has a warning. >> they have to get their act

together. we can no longer have the city of richmond be atm every time they have a problem and they threaten us. >> the west contra costa school board president feared closing kennedy would be dangerous because gang members would be forced to mix together at remaining high schools. >> breaking news in san francisco pg&e says right now more than 6200 customers are without power mostly in the city's western edition and laurel heights neighborhoods. at least three transformers have blown in various parts of the city and crews are working to repair them. however, they don't know when the lights will be back on. we'll continue to bring you updates on the outage as we get them. in just a few hours, the state supreme court will meet in san francisco to consider whether governor schwarzenegger has the power to order state worker furlough days. three lawsuits were filed by about 114,000 workers after the governor ordered them to take unpaid days off in the first round of furloughs. the lawsuits claim the governor

lacks the authority to order furloughs for workers covered by union contracts. state law also sets the work week at 40 hours but the governor's office argues the constitution gives him the authority to manage the budget crisis. a lower court ruled in favor of the governor in all three cases. >> sunnyvale authorities are warning residents about a serial arsonist becoming more dangerous. they released a sketch of a man called a person of interest. lisa amin gulezian reports. >> looks pretty familiar. >> this sketch is now circulating throughout apartment complexes, duplexes and neighborhoods off sold san francisco road in sunnyvale. police are calling him a person of interest who may be tied to 15 arsons in the area. >> they're all occurring obviously at the same time. they're occurring in clusters, all in the same area. what's being set on fire is a combination of debris, dumpsters and a few vehicles. >> this was the most recent and

most serious. the arsonist set this truck on fire last week while someone was sleeping inside. firefighters managed to pull the owner out. >> with somebody in it. he needs to be stopped. >> residents in the densely populated community are worried. the fires are set in clusters, fife in may, a few more in june and nine on september 1st. >> there was a car that caught fire. and it burned two pine trees and two mattresses and a vehicle. >> we see a lot of cops coming around. >> four full-time investigators are assigned to the case. finding the arsonist before another fire is set is a priority. >> it's growing by intensity and severity and trying to put a stop to this before anybody does get hurt or killed. >> police say they are not ruling out the possibility that he could live in this very neighborhood. in sunnyvale, lisa amin

gulezian, abc 7 news. >> it's 4:34 now. the f.b.i. says investigators have found no explosives aboard a los angeles-bound ty airways flight in which a bomb threat was found scrawled on a bathroom mirror. it landed safely in l.a. just after 8:00 last night. the jet was taken to a remote area of the airport. authorities searched the plane, screened the luggage and interviewed all 200 people on board before releasing them. investigators say the bomb threat was written in poorly worded english and spotted on a bathroom mirror on the plane. also in los angeles, at least 22 people face charges following another night of protests after a deadly shooting involving police. police fired tear gas to break up a crowd of people throwing rocks at them and setting fires last night. the protests came despite assurances by police brass that sunday's fatal police shooting of a guatemala immigrant with a knife would be fully investigated. witnesses tell investigators the officers acted in self-defense

but demonstrators say he should have used nonthreatel force to subdue the man. >> the search continues for the body hav hercules man. police will return to the keller canyon landfill in pittsburg for the fifth day of tedious sifting through garbage looking for evidence. 15 volunteers searched yesterday without finding anything significant. they believe 35-year-old frederick sales was murdered with four other people by 38-year-old efren valdemoro. he was fatally shot during a high-speed chase. police think his body may have been put in a trash dumpster there. >> today the santa clara planning commission is expected to review and approve plans for the new 49ers stadium. the $937 million stadium was approved in june. it includes millions in taxpayer funds.

now the city must approve zoning changes and design plans. expected to be one of the league's most technologically advanced. business leaders were told about 3-d tv's. the a's are moving ahead with plans to build a new ballpark in san jose even though they lack league approval to move anywhere. a's owner said he hired a kansas city-based architecture to design a new home. oakland has proposed three riverfront stadium sites. fremont has also pitched a stadium at the former nummi auto plant site item a new ordinance in effect today. it bans any sound of 55 decibels and that's leaf blowers which can be much louder than that. the police have been equipped with noise meters to respond to complaints. violators can be fined up to

$500. >> bart will never run with basketball, right? >> right. >> so many reasons. almost 4:38. let's check with mike and get a look at the forecast. that drizzle along the coast that you were telling us about? >> oh, yeah. the higher elevations in the bay area, it is definitely there this morning. watch out. kind of a high factor. the humidity really high compared to where it was just 24 to 48 hours ago. notice the clouds have kept the temperatures up. most of us upper 50s to near 60. 56 san francisco, 53 los gatos for are the coolest spots. compared to 24 hours ago temperatures are actually a little warmer from 1 degree in san francisco, 8 santa rosa, 4 oakland, 5 menlo park. slightly cooler in antioch at 2 and los gatos lost 16 degrees. gives you the idea that the cooler air is there just waiting to descend into our neighborhoods and it will do that this afternoon with breezes and clouds. we'll see a lot who are clouds

and even drizzle along the coast during the afternoon hours and a little hanging around downtown san francisco. 63 richmond. we'll have upper -- mid to upper 60s throughout the bay and into the south bay. near 70 in the north bay and east bay valleys. accu-weather seven-day forecast. looks like we'll see some sunshine and slightly warmer weather tomorrow and about 10 degrees warmer by saturday. sounds like we're off to a rough start already. frances with your traffic. >> yeah, mike, watching this potential hot spot in livermore where big rig hit a center divide and apparently saying some of the tires are actually on top of the rail there. this is westbound 580 at airway. there's also been a small fuel leak, about 3 to 4 gallons so the left lane will be blocked they say until about 5:00 this morning. so hopefully they'll clear in the next 20 minutes. right now traffic is getting by okay but we're keeping an eye on drive times as well from 205 to 680, it's 18 minutes and then the ride on southbound 680 looking good through the sunol

grade but look out for the slick roads this morning. eric, kristen. >> frances, thanks a lot. it's 4:39. >> violent crime drops in a troubled peninsula community. still ahead what the police are crediting for the welcome turn. >> why those coveted three parking spots in some of san francisco's most crowded neighborhoods are about to become even tough irto find. >> and the heat governor schwarzenegger is taking for planning a trip to china you want some fiber one honey clusters? yeah. you must really care about him. what? no, no. you gave him fiber. no she didn't. this tastes way too good to be fiber. they're delicious crunchy clusters with sweet honey and half a day's worth of fiber. you care about my fiber? not really. i care about youfiber too. i have for while. ok, carl. why don't you care about her fiber? hey carl. [ male announcer ] fiber one. cardboard no. delicious yes. [ male announcer ] nature is unique... ...authentic...

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good morning. at 4:42 here's a live look at san francisco. this is from the embarcadero. you can see that drizzle and that could be what caused a blown transformer affecting the western edition heights neighborhood this morning. right now 4600 customers without power that's coming from pg&e's 4600. that's better than earlier this morning. they've restored power to about 1600 people. hopefully in about 20 minutes from now they hope to get

everybody back up but right now pg&e working on restoring power. just 4600 people in parts of san francisco. >> the san francisco municipal transportation agency has voted to add new parking meters covering more than 1300 parking spaces in ten neighborhoods. the chronicle reports officials will start planning the meters this fall in the most congested neighborhoods including fisherman's wharf, the mission, lower knob hill and at&t park. the new meters will accept debit cards, parking cards as well as coins. rates will be programmed depending on demand and time of day. >> in east palo alto, the police chief said targeted police enforcement and violence prevention programs have helped reduce the city's overall crime rate so far this year. our media partner, the san jose mercury news says homicides dropped 33% during the first eight months of this year compared to the same period last year. assaults with a firearm fell 51% and robberies went down 38%;

however, reported rapes and auto theft are higher. davis said the department is ramping up its efforts for the final four months of the year, a period which saw a spike incline the last two years. >> governor schwarzenegger is touring a santa clara company. marvel semiconductor wants to do business in china and will join the governor on his trade trip tip. but they're not happy the governor is leaving with the state's budget deadline and about to issue iou's again. the governor points out he can come back early if necessary. >> it's jobs, jobs, jobs. the economy. just because the legislature has failed to do their work, it doesn't mean my office, the governor's office should fail to do my work. >> you live in the modern times. and if the governor is there or here, we can engage in important conversations. >> critics say the governor should still be here to make sure lawmakers come to a budget

agreement so state services can continue. >> it's 4:44. neighbors don't want it and now apparently neither does the owner. still ahead on the abc 7 morning news, were the owner of a controversial san francisco gun shop says he is being forced to reopen. >> most americans aren't happy with the economy. the question is who they trust to fix it. that story's coming up. >> also the devastation with no end in sight. the latest on a raging wildfire destroying homes in colorado. >> parents, child booster seats are being put to the test an [ fele announcer ] why settle for plain bread when you can have pillsby grands! flaky layers biscuits? the warm, light delicate layers are like nothing else. add a layer of excitement to your next meal. ♪ rich fudge over a warm, chocolate brownie like nothing you've ever had before

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and 83 boston. let's take you to boston. that's the one airport out of our major ones having some flight arrival delays. you can sigh the storms over dallas and that's going to mean delays there. as that heads to the north, st. louis and kansas city may have delays later today. check out our flight tracker at abc7news.com. eric? >> mike, thank you very much. 4:48. >> developing news, oil giant b.p. just released an internal report about the massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico. it says multiple companies and work teams contributed to the spill that dumped millions of gallons of oil into the waters for months and destroyed wildlife. the 193 page report described an incident, an accident that arose from mechanical failures, human judgment and engineering design problems. b.p. took some of the blame for the april 20th explosion that killed 11 workers and started off the worst oil spill in u.s. history. the oil giant faces hundreds of

lawsuits and billions of dollars in liabilities. the san francisco planning commission meets today to determine if a gunshot owner can open his store in the city. andy kahashi closed the only gun shop after 50 years at the same location in the mission district. the city says he can't set up an office for his wholesale gun business because it's zoned only for retail. >> if i open shop, i want -- >> we would like to see something in the store front that supports the neighborhood, like dry cleaners, a coffee shop, those kinds of things. >> others say a gun store brings in the wrong element. police say most neighbors e-mailing stations are against having a gun shop. >> today the president heads to

ohio to talk about his latest plan to boost the economy. it's a mix of tax incentives and new spending but that's a tall order with only eight weeks until the midterm elections and his party's popularity in the polls falling. >> today in cleveland it's round two of a washington election year about the economy. president obama heads to the buckeye state to outline his new plans for a fix. >> this isn't about the next 60 days or the next 90 days. this is about how do we get our economy fully back on track. >> the announcement comes in the same city where two weeks ago house republican leader john boehner described his plan and called on his friends that conspire with his higher economic team. >> we tried 19 months as government as commune organizer. it hasn't worked. our fresh start needs to begin now. >> president obama's proposal will include billions of dollars of tax incentives. businesses could write off all

of their new investments and plans and equipment and a research tax credit would be permanently extended. that's on top of $50 billion of infrastructure spending. but they need the confidence of midterm election voters. >> president obama is doing a terrible job handling the economy. >> in an abc news poll 92% of the americans say the economy is in bad shape and the president made it worse. 32% say the republican proposal will make things better. >> we're seeing a revolt against the status quo and all fundamentally about the economy. >> today president obama will talk about keeping tax cuts in place. those cuts would expire at the end of year for those making more. emily schmidt, abc news, washington. >> a wildfire burning in colorado has destroyed 92 structures but not clear how many are homes. the 7100 acre fire which started

on monday is burning in the foot hills west of boulder. it isn't close to containment. officials say it will be at least two days before any of the 3,000 people forced out of their homes will be allowed to return. authorities are investigating reports that a fire started when a car ran into a propane tank. >> they would like to have the weather we're having. >> cool, dampness, drizzle in the air, that would be nice. but it's dry and hot. that's why they're having the problems. you can see the drizzle falling. the low visibility. they usually let us know about 6:00 there's flight arrival delays but i'm betting there's going to be arrival delays because of that low ceiling. you can check out our flight tracker at abc7news.com. let's talk some temperatures. with the cloud cover, it's actually warmer this morning in most neighborhoods with upper 50s to near 60. around the monterey bay same thing with upper 50s to near 60 degrees. even inland with thick clouds and drizzle in your neighborhoods also. a lot to talk about on our

highlights. the first one more clouds and cooling today. i think the drizzle will hang around the coast for the better part of the afternoon, especially as you head towards the monterey bay. drying, clearing from north to south tonight. won't be quite as wet tomorrow morning but it will be cooler and then warmer and drier and brighter for this weekend. we'll talk about today's temperatures and how cool. 10 to 15 degrees below average with mid to upper 60s under a partly sunny sky in the south bay. partly sunny on the peninsula, mid to upper 60s. cloudy with drizzle along the coast and mid to upper 50s. drizzle around downtown and south san francisco possible this afternoon, too, with temperatures around 60, 62 sausalito. upper 60s to low 70s with a little more sunshine in the north bay valleys. we'll call it partly cloudy but it's your coast, drizzle, clouds, mid to upper 50s. east bay shore partly sunny, temperatures mid to upper 60s. partly cloudy, a little breezy in the east bay valleys with the san ramon valley upper 60s

heading to the trivalley. brentwood the low 70s. the best chance to see organized rain this afternoon will be the monterey bay. the cool front will move through your neighborhoods at that time. you will have temperatures in the mid to upper 60s around bait and inland. for tonight you can see the clearing taking place and the cooler weather. santa rosa at 49, half moon bay at 49. watching a very sharp cold front. you can see the cloud cover right here and it is moving into the northern parts of our neighborhoods right now and is going to continue sliding south along the coast bringing us a breeze and the coolest day today. in fact, we'll have scattered showers dancing all around us to the north and to the east if you're heading to the sierra, watch out. rain there, snow level down to 8500 feet but most of the drizzle, widespread rain i should say will stay away from us with us just dealing with drizzle this afternoon. temperatures tomorrow when we see more sunshine, we'll start to jump about 4 degrees and jump about 6 degrees on friday. by the time we head to the end

of the weekend, we're nearly 10 degrees warmer in most neighborhoods with low to mid-80s inland, low to mid-70s around the bay, still 60 at the coast. here's frances with an update. >> mike, it sounds like it's getting a little worse in livermore because of this big rig incident. westbound 580 approaching airway. the left lane was supposed to be reopened around 5:00 but now they're saying they don't know exactly when they can resoap it. and i noticed that traffic sensors are actually picking up speeds a little slower than earlier, around 47 mph as you make your way through the area. so we'll be watching this for you. still looking good out at the altamont pass. check out this live shot of the san mateo bridge. pretty foggy out there. in fact, there's a lot of drizzle, especially in san francisco. you'll find some wet roads as you make your way across the golden gate bridge where we have another live shot for you. so just be extra careful this morning and take it easy as you head into work to avoid getting into an accident. you can always find out new accidents or what can slow you down for your route to work by

going to abc7news.com. it's under the bay area traffic link. kristen and. >> frances, thanks a lot. i know you'll be interested in this story and all the parents worried about safety. the insurance institute released test results for car booster seats for children. overall the results are good. there are more better-rated seats. now researchers tested the safety belt of 72 different booster seats. 21 were rated best bets and 7 were rated good bets. that's an increase over good ones in last year's results. one is the harmony secure comfort dell lux. >> you can see the lap belt lies flat across the upper thigh. the clip helps keep the shoulder belt in the middle of the shoulder. the belts are in good position to provide protection in a crash. >> they found eight of the booster seats do not meet their standards. for the complete list of best, good and not recommended, go to

our website abc7news.com under "see it on tv." >> 4:56 now. a rare show of force at an east bay courthouse. ahead on the morning news, the police shooting suspect who had to face more than just criminal charges. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in sunnyvale where there is an arsonist on the loose and his fires are getting bigger and more dangerous. investigators turning to you for help. that story coming up. >> and genetically altered salmon may be headed for your dinner plate. dinner plate. why some scientists how would i make school a beer place? field trips to the zoo! more basketballs. soccer balls. and a museum! [ growls ] more basketballs. soccer balls! more books. yeah. like just a ton of books. [ girl ] and boo about soft this. soft and slimy. [ female announcer ] now clip double box tops for education. from totino's pizza rolls and party pizzas.

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