home burglaries in several san jose neighborhoods are skyrocketing. now, at the worst possible time, there is talk of getting rid of the police department's burglary unit. the department says it is just an idea but admits it is on the table. damien trujillo has been working on the story all day. >> reporter: janelle, eliminating that burglary unit would be the worst case scenario with the depleted patrol division needs more help answering 911 calls in san jose. right now, we are getting about four burglary calls per shift here in san jose, sometimes someone is home. >> this scene has been repeating itself over and over in san jose. a burglary in progress this morning and the family was home. >> she went and hid in the back bathroom and called 911 to report that someone was breaking in. she was pretty terrified. >> reporter: police caught the suspect but it is a story sergeant foster has heard the last month. today, we heard it from hiro whose whom was ransacked. >> they took all my i.d.s, a passport, green card, everything. a little angry but they can't do anything. they are frustrated, because so many things. we have to change all the bank accounts. >> reporter: they, the council rules committee asked for an update from police on burglary statistics. they got what could be called a rude awakening. in santa row, burglaries are up 85% in the first five months of this year, 73% in willow glen and 63% in the almaden valley. >> very depressed. >> reporter: handcuffed is how sergeant foster feels. police layoffs and resignations aren't helping. >> we are all a little bit frustrated. we all want to do police work. it is hard. >> reporter: do you think there is a correlation between the lay-offs and the increase in break-ins? >> i think there is a correlation that we have less police officers on the force today than ten years ago. this burglary problem has been increasing for years. >> reporter: sergeant foster says, he needs at least four more officers on his baeat. in a city mired in habit actual budget deficit, it might be a while until they get backup. >> reporter: i just heard from police brass, it turns out this might be exclusive to this burglary unit. other specialized units might see reductions in the future, for instance, the financial crimes unit which investigates credit card fraud and elder fraud. things are not looking good in the san jose police department. new at 5:00, san francisco police showed off a cache of weapons discovered in the car of a homeless man. they discovered this from a car belonging to robert johns. in june, they discovered he had a loaded 12-gauge shotgun and a 22-caliber rifle in his car. he was living in and near golden gate park. this he sent him for a mental health observation. last week, they tracked him down again after neighbors claimed he was harassing them. this time, they found a large stash of weapons listing the names of several national politicians. >> we are very happy we got all this weaponry off of the street. in light of what went on in colorado, there are a lot of people making that connection. >> johns said he was collecting the weapons and had no intention of harming anyone. he faces several charges including possession of a loaded firearm and pot. he is being held on a $100,000 bail. they were warned. the senior engineer says he told pg&e about problems with his gas-line piping system but supervisors did nothing about it. that was revealed in court papers today. the san bruno fire injured dozens and some 350 plavs are suing the utility company claiming pg&e showed continuing disregard for the safety of those living near the pipeline. pg&e will file its response to today's claims later this month tonight, martinez investigators are looking for the cause of an early morning fire. it destroyed a home. a downed power line made it harder than usual to battle this blaze. no one was injured in the fire. >>. >> several homemade bombs disrupted a quiet fairfield home. they found the remainder of two plastic bottles filled with explosives. witnesses said, all they heard was a boom. it sounded just like guns, a big barrel gun. >> it scares me. i have lived here 24 years. i would get up and walk in the dark with my dog. >> police say the devices were constructed with plastic bottles and filled with chemicals similar to a dry ice bomb. ere reported. the investigation into who planted the explosives is still ongoing. we take you back to the olympic games. a live look at the olympic stadium. tonight, there is a growing scandal which has cast a shadow over the game. eight players thrown out of competition. four reportedly, intentionally trying to lose. nbc's phil rogers joins us live with the latest on the controversy. intentionally trying to lose? >> reporter: jessica, this seems almost impossible. this involved three different nations. the allegation that the players intentionally lost their matches and the punishment was swift. scandal at the olympics. four doubles teams in badminton, two from south korea and one from china and indonesia disqualified after they were accused of throwing matches to receive more favorable placement in competition. >> a very clear message has been september to other athletes in other sports that we expect sporting behavior and proper competition. >> reporter: that was on display today at hampton court palace, the cycling time trial where the usa kristen armstrong won her second consecutive gold medal. great britain won its first in the women's rowing pair. prince william and harry were on hand to lead the national celebration where the u.s. women's quad rowers took a bronze. >> we came to win a medal and did our job. >> reporter: not faring as well, venus williams eliminated in straight sets in singles. she still has a shot at a record fourth gold medal when she pairs up with serena in doubles. the u.s. men's archers, silver medalists as a team were each eliminated in singles the morning after winning his record 19th medal, michael phelps moved forward. this is a day of jubilation in great britain. they are on the boards. god save the queen. there was bay area news in rowing here at the olympics today. the men's rowing team fell short by just .3 seconds. three members of the team have bay area ties. they all train in berkeley. germany, the gold, canada, the silver, great britain, the bronze and janelle and jessica, that was such a heart-breaker. .3 of a second. it is a very long race. it went right down to the wire. >> that is right down to the wire. thank you very much, phil. today, the so-called fab five are basking in the golden glow of london. the u.s. women's gymnastics team walked away with the top prize. this hasn't been done since 1996. they won gold with a commanding performance beating russia by five points. today, the newly crowned champions sat down with our own raj mathai. they say winning the gold medal hasn't sung in and they had a hard time going to bed. >> it was hard to sleep last night. all the girls stayed up late looking at twitter and all the messages people were sending us. once i fell asleep, i was really we woke up feeling very refreshed and happy that we are now olympic champions. >> it will hit us after we are done. yes, we are the champions. but it kind of takes a while for it to sink in. >> we are so proud of them and so is president obama. he called every member of the fab five to congratulate them. gabby douglas had this response. just talked to the president of the united states! wow, such an honor and amazing feeling. if you are wondering where you can watch your favorite olympic event, head to nbcbayarea.com. you can find the online listings, all on our website. still ahead, a nationwide medical crisis. the reason hospitals may soon begin canceling elective surgeries all across the country. plus, a hot sandwich turning into a hot topic. the surprising twist in the chick-fil-a fight over gay rights. >> radio malfunctions, questions as to why millions of dollars were spent on technology tools never used. the latest complaint against an embattled east bay police department. good evening. close to 100 here for parts of the bay area. walnut creek, 97. more began hill, 93. san jose, 91. hot in the south bay for thursday. details on some week end changes coming up. emily smith the oakland police department, the city has found that they squandered $2 million on technology that was defective or never used. the report details what the auditor calls gross mismanagement of technology. the city spent half a million dollars on a system to track gunfire and didn't use it. they spent more than $1 million on a patrol car video system that never worked. >> it is inex kcusable that you have $2 million wasted in taxpayer money when the city is in a public safety crisis. we are not effectively managing technology. >> the department acknowledges the problem and says it is in the process of hiring a technology expert. >> the presidential election is still three months away but today was set aside for people to vote with their stomachs. part of the ongoing chick-fil-a controversy. a long line stretched from the bay area's only open chick-fil-a franchise in fairfield. established in georgia in 1946, the restaurant chain has deep roots in the south and the southern baptist founder has drawn fire for opposing gay marriage prompting several mayors to withdraw the welcome matt. supporters use their lunch money to protest. >> the lord and god i serve says that marriage is between a man and a woman. god created man. he created a woman. >> a person can't even say what their feelings and beliefs are without being boycotted. that's wrong. >> i'm overwhelmed. i have fielded a lot of phone calls this week. people asking about appreciation day. i did not expect this. >> at lunch today, customers waited for up to 1 hour while the line wrapped around the parking lot. on friday, activists for same-sex marriage were urging supporters to get their partners outside chick-fil-a restaurant. today, democrats have lost a bid to increase taxes on high-income earners and people that inherit $1 million plus estates. the plan backed by president barack obama was blocked by the majority. president obama campaigned in ohio says he wants the tax cuts to expire only for those earning more than $200,000 a year. house republicans voted to continue the tax cuts for everyone. the environmental group greenpeace is praising facebook for doing something the company has never done before. they have long pressured the menlo park company to reveal details about the energy usage. they say the main source of energy is coal with 20%. renewable energy providing 23% of facebook power over the last year. it hopes to increase renewable energy it uses by 25% by the year 2015. in health matters, a critical crisis for the nation's blood supply. the american red cross says the blood supply is at a 15-year low. the agency fell 50,000 units short in june. the same is expected for july totals. they say after recent storms in the country have increased demand for blood. summer travels and extreme heat has kept donors away. they say if the trend continues, doctors may have to cancel elective surgeries nationwide until more blood products are made more available. >> an important day for millions of women the as of today, every ploy employer is required to provide free contraception to the female employees. health plans must also provide screenings for everything from stds to diabetes to domestic violence still quite hot out there. are we going to expect a cooldown at all, jeff? i know you want that cooldown. we are going to get it here for you this weekend. numbers are starting to go down with this marine layer and fog building up. a little morrow bust than we have seen for the past few days. that is dropping our temperatures to 63 in san francisco and 90 in concord and 82 in san jose with 85 in gilroy. a little more comfortable in the south bay. live to the sky camera network. the haze, the fog we showed you on the map. it is now rolling in throughout san francisco. we do expect patchy fog for tonight. we will also take you done to the south bay. a lot of blue sky here right now as conditions remain, the second warmest on our map in the south bay. let's get you to our weather graphics. what we are finding is the beginning signs of some changes in the alutian islands. we are going to see upper-level winds beginning to change up. that will allow cooler wind to ramp up for friday, saturday, and sunday. here is what it is going to do for the temperatures. we will see it stay mild at the coastline, 60s and 70s. hot inland with 80s and 90s. friday, we will get numbers a little cooler. by this weekend, i think you will notice more enjoyable weather. 52 in santa cruz. let's get you to the good. the daytime highs on thursday, they will be close to where we had today in the south bay, maybe a little warmer. 90, san jose. 96, morgan hill. low to mid-80s in palo maltoe. if you are out in the sun, it will feel like the upper 80s. another scorcher in livermore. a sizzler with 98. a slight wind from the bay should keep the valley at 88 and allam alameda at 75. slight chance for a shower on thursday. temperatures in the upper 60s. month are shower activity friday, saturday, and sunday, no big storms. did you know when it comes to volleyball, here, the usa has won five of the eight olympic gold medals since beach volleyball was introduced in 1996. here is the competitor to watch out for, saratoga zone, kerri walsh, her and misty may-treanor are going for what has never been done in volleyball before, three gold medal wins back to back. friday, low 90s. saturday and sunday, numbers start to cool on down. then, by next week, we will see numbers going back up to the low 90sme. don't forget to tune in tonight at 7:30. we will get you a look behind the scenes. >> exciting show. it is a fun show, super fun. >> a direct hit. what was behind the mid-air accident that opened a large hole in the side of a jet. an olympic seat of a different kind, sort of. london's mayor ut ping on his own show today. hits performance, more likely to get him a laugh than a medal. a close call for a united airlines plane forced to make an emergency landing after a bird punctured the nose of the plane. you can see the large hole there. the jet was leaving dallas when it collided with a large bird mid-air as it was over denver. none of the 151 people on board were hurt a little added protection for some of the bay area's bravest police officer thanks to record-breaking fundraising. dozens of canine officers received bullet-proof vests for their dogs. they raised a record $120,000 for the program that not only provides body armor for the animals but other safety features as well as trauma kits to treat the animals if they are wounded. >> londoñ's mayor left hanging around. the stunt that left him dangling over a crowd. hung out to dry. london's mayor found himself dangling 65 feet above a crowd. for the jump in the zip line, here it comes, hits a snag near the finish line and the mayor gets stuck. park workers eventually pulled him through the rest of the way across. >> it was wonderful. i thoroughly recommend it. i wouldn't have wanted to be that all afternoon. i think loads of people are going to enjoy it. >> trust me. he did get stuck. we didn't show it to you but at the did get stuck. unclear what caused it to get stuck. someone said, it is unlikely the mayor will be bringing home any gold medals in zip line any time soon. at least he has the flag. there he is. thanks so much. see you at 6:00. 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[ female announcer ] unlike sprays and dust rags, swiffer 360 dusters extender gets into hard to reach places so you can get unbelievable dust pick up in less time. i love that book! can you believe the twin did it? ♪ [ female announcer ] swiffer. great clean in less time. or your money back. ♪ on our broadcast tonight from london the epic drought across the u.s. has gotten so bad the government says half of the counties in america are now disaster areas. inside syria in the midst of the fighting with the rebels as they come under attack by the regime. also the fight over women's health and religious freedom as more of the health care law kicks in. and here at the olympics a new scandal as athletes get caught and get called out for playing to move. the mayor of london gets stuck over the crowd. nightly news from london begins now. this is "nbc nightly news" with brian williams reporting