>> fog is going to be a condition for you on your commute. we'll check that and some construction that has yet to be picked up coming up in a few minutes. >> the first time this week i've seen fog in the peninsula commute. we'll talk about that. thank you for joining us. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. a vote later this morning could seal the fate of toll takers on the golden gate bridge. the full board of directors will decide today whether to install an automated toll collection system. terry mcsweeney is live at the golden gate bridge. terry, this has been a very emotional topic. >> you're right. we're out here this morning and car pools up at the toll plaza, a couple women didn't know where exactly to go. they're asking the person inside the booth there for directions and he's giving them gladly. that's going to be going away if the vote goes as expected. takes a look who is going away 32 jobs that pay around $50,000 a year. no more directions from the people inside those pools starting next year. yesterday the finance committee voted 8-3 to go to all electronic toll lanes where pictures, taken of license plates and the bill sent to the registered owners of the vehicles. it would start february 2012 and toll takers would be gone by november of next year. there's still some time. some toll takers may work at district jobs like landscaping may have available. the electronic system costs about $3 million but it would save $16 million over the next ten years. the district in the red needs to save money. this is how they're thinking about doing it but the human touch may be going away completely by november of next year depending on today's vote. terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> terry, thanks a lot. pg&e says it can't find some crucial pipeline pressure records after fining erroneous documents. they are to come up with records by march 15th. pg&e's president has told congresswoman jackie speier that it can't find key manufacturing and installation documents. that's for about 30% of its pipelines in and around northern and central california cities. we'll have more in a live report at 5:00. last night in san francisco people protested outside a controversial fund-raiser celebrating the california public utilities commission's 100th anniversary. they say it's inappropriate that pg&e and other utilities paid as much as $20,000 per table. some of the money from last night's event will be used as seed money for the cpuc foundation, a nonprofit that will provide rewards, trips and educational services to puc employees. protestors believe it lacks oversight partly to blame for the explosion in san bruno. >> total conflict of interest. i mean, you think that the pacific gas and electric, southern california edison, et cetera, are giving this money because the dislike the employees? >> this is a recognition of our hundred years. it has nothing do with anything else. >> many consumer groups are happy with the puc's two new appointments. mike loiro is a former attorney and katherine sandball has an expertise in the telecommunications industry. >> a neighborhood all clear after being evacuated over an ammunition scare. experts were called in to check out four military grade mortars in the back of a pickup truck. she says she brought them home thinking they were just empty shells. >> it didn't cross my mind these might be live. just didn't. and then once i got to thinking about it, the little voice started with the, you know, you might want to have them double-checked. >> it took five hours for the experts to dismantle each mortar shell to determine they were in fact empty. >> more details about the night a los gatos woman shot the main suspect in her disappearance. san jose police released the 9-1-1 call from that violent night. jeannine harms disappeared in 2001. her brother killed himself after gunning down the only named suspect in harms' disappearance. >> san jose emergency what are you reporting? >> the 9-1-1 call from pete's coffee came in at 9:18 on the night of january 15th. we know now that wayne santos was confronting maurice nasma. he was convinced nasma was responsible for the murder of his sister. they needed to come immediately to escort the man out of the store. but just 15 seconds into the call, there was this. >> he has a gun. or a knife. >> the employee gives the dispatcher the address and confirms it's a gun. then you can hear her directing customers. >> go, go, go go go go! go! okay. and so this guy -- my god, he's got somebody. oh, my god, my god! >> the dispatcher prompts the caller to ankles questions about the suspect's description and information about the victim. police say the caller did an incredible job under very difficult circumstances. >> these are things that she was doing while under a tremendous amount of fear, stress and pressure. >> in one of the last exchanges on the call, you can hear the pete's employee trying to secure everyone's safety. >> lock the doors! >> we have units in the area. >> i don't want anybody getting hurt. so if you're in a safe place, i want you to stay there, all right. >> wayne santos had left that place and gone into the parking lot. shortly after police arrived they heard a gunshot. sanchez had shot and killed himself. evidence from the original case is still being analyzed to determine if indeed maurice nasma was behind the disappearance of jeannine harms, an allegation he had long denied. in san jose, abc 7 news. >> it's 4:37 now. san jose's city manage didn't go very far to pick a new police chief. acting police chief chris moore is her choice but city manager deborah fignise said she won't confirm the name out of the respect for the city council asked to approve her choice on a closed session on tuesday. >> i've been through many, many meetings. heard a lot of input and applied all that i've heard. i used my judgment and i know that i am bringing forward the best candidate for the city of san jose. >> moore became acting chief in october. several community activists say they support the choice. >> oakland's police chief anthony batts was a finalist for top cop job. chief batts is still trying to figure out what he's doing with his future. he says i continue to have concerns surrounding resources being provided. batts said the number of officers is expected to drop with more budget cuts looming. >> 4:38 now. time for a look at the forecast and for the first time this week, you saw it. >> how about you, did you see it again? >> i saw it from the time i stepped out my door till the caldeco caldecott tunnel. >> would have loved to have had that. i was worried the whole way in. it was one of the more intense drives this morning because of the fog. in fact, we'll start by talking about the fog and the visibility. it is lowest in the north bay valleys where we have less than a quarter mile visibility novato, quarter mile santa rosa and then you get that same visibility in fairfield and concord. notice around the reporting stations it's not nearly as thick in the bay but it is out there. just keep in mind. upper 30s inland valleys. santa rosa4141 redwood city but mid to upper bay shore. 50 in san francisco. break the day down. you can see the tulie fog hangin' around through 8:00. temperatures not moving. maybe a degree or two at the most. fog retreats by noon. mid to upper 50s around the bay shore and out to the coast. we'll be in the upper 50s to low 60s around san jose but notice the north bay, upper 50s to near 60 and the same thing in the east bay valleys because of the fog. temperatures here will be much cooler. if you think these temperatures are cooler than yesterday, you would be right by about 4 to 8 degrees and even cooler tomorrow with an increase in clouds, showers are possible tomorrow night. more likely on sunday and that also means some snow in the sierra. good morning, sue. how's traffic? >> traffic is okay but the fog as you mentioned, that continues to be an issue this morning, especially around the areas of construction. if you're driving in the danville or san ramon area, there's construction out there in lanes northbound 680 and southbound 680. you come up on this construction work in the fog pretty quickly. construction 92 southbound as well. fog advisory for venetian bridge, carquinez bridge and golden gate bay bridge. san mateo fairly clear. you can see the headlights heading westbound into foster -- i'm sorry, eastbound. taillights heading westbound into foster city. >> sounds like we gotta pull out that caltran slowing began, slow for the cones. >> while they're out there working in the fog? i don't really have infrared radar in my car. wish i did. >> you can pretend. >> 4:41. thanks, ma. a candidate once again. the former white house chief of staff ron emanuel is back in the running for a new job. >>@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ good morning, everyone. just about 4:44 on this friday morning, the abc 7 morning news. a live picture from our rooftop camera, the embarcadero. the bay bridge in the background all clear here but in parts of the bay area, it is the furtherest thing from clear with dense fog. spotty but it's out there. mike will tell you more about where it is coming up. >> former white house chief of staff ron emanuel will be able to run for mayor of chicago after all. yesterday the u.s. supreme court ruled in his favor. four days ago a lower court threw him off the ballot because he hadn't lived in the city for a full year. that ruling had no foundation in illinois law. that was because they're saying he hadn't lived in city for of a year because he moved to washington to work for the obama administration. >> lawmakers in hawaii's state legislature introduced a bill that would allow anyone to get a copy of president obama's birth records for $100. backers hope the measure will finally dispel skeptics who claim the president was born outside the country and is therefore ineligible to be president. >> michelle obama is taking her battle against childhood obesity to the military. she's speaking about it with robin roberts on "good morning america." >> it is not an overstatement to say that childhood obesity and our need for physical education and nutrition education is a national security issue. and that's one of the reasons we wanted to come on a -- sometimes when you say that as first lady or you say it in the courts of a speech in other issues it kind of gets lost in the conversation. >> mrs. obama says army commanders have told her new recruits are more prone to stress fractures because they are overweight and out of shape. you can see the full interview at 7:00 right here on abc 7 on "good morning america." >> coming up relief in south africa. the overnight announcement about the health of former president nelson mandela. >> i'm jenelle wang live in the news room. the government shut down internet and cellphone service to disrupt tens of thousands of demonstrators. why the u.s. is watching what happens. ring ring. progresso. i look great in my wedding dress with the help of your amazing light soups. now we're addingven bigger pieces of white meat chicken. oh, so when's the big da oh, we got married years ago. but the point is, i fit in it! well good for you! male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. soft! hard! 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[ male announcer ] old el paso. hard and soft tacos. ♪ feed your fiesta. . >> welcome back. it's 4:48. a look at temperatures across the country. the surge of warmth from 71 dallas, 63 chicago. freezing near minneapolis, chicago, the northeast. i have some other good news. it is quiet in all our major airports. a little snow shower around the great lakes. maybe delays there. if we have any develop over the weekend or anytime you're traveling, abc7news.com, that's our flight tracker. here's the news and kristen and eric. >> mike, thank you very much. it's almost 4:49. big news out of south africa this morning as former president nelson mandela is released from the hospital. south africa's surgeon general publicly announced his discharge from johannesburg hospital just before 3:00 this morning our time. there was a concern his condition might deteriorate after suffering what was reported to be a collapsed lung but now the civil rights icon was treated for an acute lung infection and continues getting hom home-based care. >> thousands clashing on the streets of cairo over a battle of leadership. >> today egypt is in lockdown. the government cut off all internet access across the country to try and stop demonstrators from organizing. facebook.com and twitter have been a keyway for protestors to get large groups together. cellphone text messages capabilities have also been shut down. still tens of thousands of demonstrators are gathering around the city clashing with police. these are the latest pictures from cairo that just came down. the protestors are trying to take down the president who has been in power for 30 years. the white house is closely watching the situation because egypt is one of the greatest allies in the middle east peace process and in the fight against terrorism. >> the government has to be careful by not resorting to violence and the people on the streets have to be careful not resorting to violence. >> i didn't with a to go to the street. the election, nothing worked. >> muhammad elbaradi joined demonstrators. the independent has tried to recreate himself. as for the president, he has not been seen since tuesday when clashes began. it could cause great instability in the of middle east. reporting live, jenelle wang. >> all right, thank you very much. it's 4:51. hundreds of volunteers fanned out across san francisco to conduct the latest count of the city's homeless population. cities that conduct such counts receive federal funding from the u.s. department of housing and urban development. san francisco gets about $18 million a year to support its homeless services. mayor ed lee gave a pep talk to volunteers before they headed out. >> as good as we have been we at the city want to do better and want to do more for our homeless population to get them off the streets as much as we can, provide the housing, provide the services, the best quality so they can feel comfortable they have choice. >> two years ago san francisco recorded about 6500 homeless people down from 8600 in 2002. >> this morning state water officials will conduct the second snow survey of the season near south lake tahoe. the snow pack gets measured for water content five times each season near echo summit. it provides one-third of water for homes, farm and industry. at this point the water content is about 79% of the seasonal average which runs through april 1st. last year at this time it was 55% of average. so better than last year but, you know, mike, i'm getting a little worried about that. >> really! >> really! >> every day did it change, did it change? the snow. and there is snow coming. about 3 to 5 inches at lake level and probably double that a little higher. >> you're so relieved. >> i am. nothing i can do about the icy conditions but i can tell you they're getting new snow that you'll be able to ski on this weekend. good morning to you. we've made it to friday! man, i'm tired. are you? i'm looking forward to the weekend. one of those weekends where you probably won't feel guilty for staying inside because the gray sky, the cool conditions and winter rains are returning. here clear skies downtown san francisco. that is not the case with the fog. it is all over the place this morning. not only in the central valley but also into our east bay valleys, north bay valleys and now starting to build along the bay shore. by the afternoon it will be partly cloudy, cooler today. remember we talked about today was the day we'd get back to average after nine days of record high temperatures. showers more likely saturday and especially on sunday. saturday will be the better day for outdoor activities. dry and brighter next week. so it's going to be a quick-hitter. low to mid-60s. just a touch above average. upper 50s to low 60s on the peninsula. los altos mid to upper 50s. low to mid-60s through the north bay valleys. richmond the cool spot. 59 on the east bay shore. everybody else in in the low 60s. the tulie fog even more stubborn today than yesterday. mid to upper 50s brentwood, fairfield. we'll squeeze out a 51 at walnut creek. low to mid-60s around the monterey bay. quite a change. talking about 10 to 15 degrees cooler. around the state, sacramento fog and 56. fog around fresno, 52. no snow today, tahoe. you can get up there, probably get up there tomorrow, also. it's sunday when they're going to get the bulk of their snow. tonight you see tulie fog, inland fog, bay fog, coastal fog. we all have fog because we have two different systems coming and converging on us. upper 30s inland and mid-40s around the bay. you see the first one weakening the high pressure. that means this high will weaken it enough that it will bring us cooler conditions to the coast and bay and when the second one moves in that brings us the rain. start about say 7:00 saturday night. if you have plans saturday even, light showers are possible but the bulk of the rain is going to fall saturday morning into the early afternoon hours. talking up to a quarter of an inch, maybe half an inch in the north bay mountains. once it passes, still cool monday and tuesday and warming trend groundhog day. >> we have a new accident in san jose. was hoping for friday light but let's take you to kurtner, 87 northbound. fog continues to be an issue this morning so let's check on the bridges. we've got fog in the venetian bridge, carquinez bridge, heavy fog on the golden gate bridge this morning. i had to use my windshield wipers coming in. let's go to the maze and take a look at that situation. heading to the bay bridge to pay your toll plaza. that doesn't look like very much like the bay but no issues there. toll plaza is now pretty light. as a matter of fact, you can see just a few cars coming through to pay your toll in san francisco. before you leave the house check all your traffic information, abc7news.com. click on bay area traffic. eric? >> how can you tell it's a maze or not. it could be bermuda for all we new. bringing more retail into bart station if details are worked out. a san francisco company called transmart will bring stores like produce, drugstores and computer kiosks into some 43 stations. chicago and boston have similar programs of that brought in $2 million a year to transit lines. transmart is going to conduct studies to see where to put the first stores. >> u.c. berkeley is ranked as one of the world's greenest universities according to researchers at the university of indonesia. berkeley came in number one edging out england's university of nottingham and boston's northeastern university on the index just released. the list considers each school's environmental policies on renewable energy and water usage among other things. u.c. berkeley is trying to reduce gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2014. >> 4:57 now. next at 5:00, divers prepare to resume searching a canal believed to be lived to a kidnapped four-year-old boy. >> toll takers at the golden gate bridge could soon be out of a job. >> a bay area3q there she is! hey, i got a leak! yoo hoo! your husband left the seat up again! oh, wait a minute! come on, now. come back! um, miss? 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