the big game at the stadium a big mess. >> i got a poncho and probably a lot of underneath clothes so we stay warm. >> we need rain right, we're in california. we can always use rain. >> reporter: we just checked with chp, there's no major accidents here in i80 but there is slow traffic all along the corridor. you can probably expect heavy slow traffic from san francisco to the sierra. reporting live, john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. the wet weather started early this morning with some light showers at the west end of the richmond san rafael bridge. morning commuters had to contend with mist and muddles as they made their way to the toll booths. soutrly winds have been sweeping throughout the day but so far no wind alerts have been issued. in other parts of the bay, the wet weather started about 4:00 this morning and pretty much continued to fall on and off for most of the day. skiers, snow boarders and the business that rely on them to make the bottom line are all gearing up for a money making snow making weekend. >> reporter: here at blue canyon, the difference is that it's very cold here. this is west bound interstate 80. essentially what we have is wet highway because it's been raining here for about an hour. haven't had any ice or snow another this elevation at 5,000 feet. that is not the case up higher at the summit. and for those ski resorts that are eyeing a prethanksgiving opening, the timing of this storm could not be better. for much of the day it was an easy and dry drive up interstate 880 to find the snow, you needed to be near the sum many hit. at - - nearthee summit, where it's cold. >> it's snowing but it's so much fun. i'm loving it, it's awesome. >> reporter: this is borreal ski resort that's been open for a month thanks to manmade snow. but the real deal is just a few hours away. >> we're expecting four feet of snow to fall over the weekend. >> reporter: val lopez is from hayward learning the basics of snow boarding. >> it's my first day, it's hard. but you have to try right. >> reporter: if this weekend's storm is as good as expected -- >> if it really blows in, they're calling for three to four feet we're looking for next wednesday for opening day. >> reporter: back at borreal the snow boarders say they plan to split before the heavy snow drops this weekends. w e ekend. as driving will not be as easy as it was this morning. >> i recommend that people check the weather before they head up here. but if you can, get up here it's going to be well worth it. >> reporter: north star plans to open tomorrow. these times times and dates can change based on the result of the storm rolling in this weekend. at blue canyon, ken pritchett. our website ktvu.com has a link to a live camera on highway 80 at truckee. this is the picture. the chp is recommending the drivers not go to the mountains this weekend. if you are, be very careful because of the conditions and you might want to expect delays as well. we just showed you snow in the sierra and rain in the bay area. this is exactly what our chief meteorologist bill martin has been telling us to get ready for, and bill it's here. >> yes, it is. last night e showed you the computer model and rain. this is what's happening right now. you see showers throughout the bay area. they've been light most of the day. barely picking up in the rain gauges, just in the last hour has rain started to come down and petaluma we've got rain, concord we have rain. antioch, this is a low grade rain. especially down here down toward san jose. that's more of a drizzle event down there. as we go through the next hour or so, this area of showers right here out toward -- let me draw it in for you. this area right here is a little heavier. it's going to start to slide south. and the showers will pick up just a little bit. what is different about this weather system? listen it looks like a late december system. we had summer weather just a few weeks ago. we were leading with heat a few days ago. now we have a full fledged winter storm. what's significant is that it's cold. we'll see you back here in a few minutes. you can take a life look on what's happening around your neighborhood right now by going to ktvu.com. the wet weather created trouble for passengers at sfo. the weather created travel delays in some cases more than an hour and a half. this comes as the official start of the holiday travel is beginning. sfo officials expect 4% more travelers this year compared to last year. travel dates are more spread out this year due in part to the economy. >> my wife is teacher, all the schools are very trouble. she has three more furlough days in vacation, so that's why we're seeing more travelers early this year. >> travel is expected to be heavy and new controversial screenings are in place. a spokesman says there were no weather related delays today and they are looking forward to a smooth holiday season with a busy day predicted to be the sunday following thanksgiving when of course everyone is trying to return home. aaa is predicting an increase in holiday travel. let's look at emeryville, it is packed in both directions. remember we just saw john fowler out in the middle of this mess and it is raining hard on i80. let's call this more of a low grade rain or drizzle. roads here are fairing a lot better than they are in the east bay. now to 101 in san francisco, it's estimated that road travel over the upcoming thanksgiving holiday will increase this year by as much as 11%. a security scare created some tense moments at san francisco international airport today. late this afternoon someone became suspicious of a box in a cargo terminal. security shut down the terminal while the box was examined. it was found to contain nothing more than t-shirts and the investigation was called off. and today a school scare. a threat that warned of a shooting. >> reporter: the text started circulating around hogan high school passed from one student to another. it says that someone at the school was going to kill five people as part of a gang initiation. students say the text spread like wildfire. that it seemed believable and that had a major impact on attendance. >> in my class, there were no students only four in this class. it was scary, but you know we had to come. >> reporter: we learned this afternoon that a student showed the text to a teacher yesterday. administrators put their emergency plan into action alerting parents, calling on extra safety officers and alerting vallejo police. officers visited the campus and patrolled the streets around hogan high throughout the day. administrators say they had no choice but to take the threat seriously. >> any type of situation whether it be rumor or not we take seriously because you know it could impact students. >> reporter: parents who learned of the text say it's been a tense 24 hours. >> i had to tell my boss i had to go home because my daughters are involved in school lock downs right now, and i was worried. >> reporter: students who attended school today said the text may have it's origins in a fight earlier this week. >> it's like a gang thing. i think it stemmed from that. >> reporter: the school is now headed into fall break, students have the next week off. parents and administrators are hoping the tension will die down by the time students are back in class. we're live in vallejo, christien kafton. a rally has just wrapped up in which people demanded all charges be dropped against the dozens arrested during a protest the night mehserle was sentenced for manslaughter. 152 people were arrested november 5th the day mehserle was sentenced for shooting oscar grant. the group says people should be encouraged not punished for taking a stand. >> it seems that whenever people in oakland take to the streets and exercise their first amendment right, police seem to think that they have a green light to do whatever they want. >> the protest group calls mehserle's two year sentence a slap in the wrist. a memorial ceremony was held this morning for fallen police officer alex fagan. the flag draped coffin was taken into st. mary's cathedral. fagan's son was one of three officers that were involved in the fagita fight. >> he will be missed by his colleagues, his friends, loved one, he was a great chief. >> the 60-year-old fagan joined the department in 1973. he became chief for a short time in 2003. he collapsed last week in london from an apparent heart attack. on the opening day, president obama said nato has agreed to a plan for a new expanded missile agreement. tomorrow's meeting will focus on a strategy to end the mission in afghanistan. >> i look forward to meeting with our partners as we move toward a new phase. a transition to afghan responsibility that begins in 2011. with afghan forces to take the lead. a famous singer from the 60s is recovering tonight after falling out of a tree. plus -- >> other than that phone, i wouldn't be staying here right now. he's a sex offendser that was picked up in a sweep. why police officers are saying they're not leaving any stone unturned when it comes to parolees. and we're going to have rain in the area, they will impact your weekend. i'll have your specifics in a minute. diabetes testing? it's all the same. nothing changes. 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[ man call for a special offer and go to walgreens to learn more about diabetes. and get freestyle lite test strips today. the department of corrections today announced the completion of crack down playground. it was a sweep to pick up sex offenders. >> reporter: in this week long crack down, many sex offenders were taken in. many with parol violations. >> i thought everything was going to be all right. >> reporter: 140 police agents this week took on operation safe playgrounds. looking for and checking in on sex offenders. some like this man failed a drug test. >> you are in violation of parol for a dirty test for cocaine. that's why he's going to jail right now. >> reporter: what do you think about this positive drug test? >> i don't know. >> reporter: almost all parolees who we talked to say they didn't realize they did anything wrong. this man says he didn't know he couldn't have an internet capable phone. >> other than that phone, i would be staying here right now. i wouldn't be coming into custody. >> reporter: but this comes after harsh criticism of phillip garrido committed violations during probation. parol officials say there's a new focus and it's making a difference. >> where do you sleep? >> i think with the parol reform, the reforms we're implementing it's going to go a long way in not leaving those stones unturned. >> reporter: 285 offenders were taken into custody. one just of five road map crack downs to help reduce violations. a search is on the way for a hit and run driver. it happened at the eastbound 85 off ramp in wood side. officers say that a driver hit a bicyclists and took off. the buoyist was taken to the hospital -- the bicyclist was taken to the hospital to be treated. a car traveling westbound -- a witness told officers the driver was speeding when the car lost control and hit a pole. two men were thrown from the car. one was pronounced dead at the scene, the other died at the hospital. a fifth person was not hurt. singer john baez is recovering after falling while climbing down from her backyard tree house. she was taken to stanford hospital where she was treated and released with only minor injuries. back to the weather. maybe it was the christmas music but bill i could swear it was late december today, just everything going on. it feels it should be a month later. >> what's striking, a few days ago the lead story was the warmth, the heat record heat. now we're into a winter like system and we have rainfalling in the area. it's been light all day. i'm telling you, we've had very little rain, it's been a mist. what's occurred in the last hour is these bands of showers, it's moving into the area. i'll put it in motion for you, you can kind of see racing through and kind of, you know there's areas in the north bay that are picking up .25 an hour rate, still not very heavy. but this activity is going to last through there bay area weekend. let's go to the boards. we're looking at periods of rain. we're into a heavier period right now. it's going to back up in a few hours. the weekend will be wet. just know that. we've been talking about it all week. not much has changed. we're looking for clear skies as we go into the long range forecast. here's the system it's a cold system. this is december right here. if you sat me down and said what month is it, you didn't show me any dates or calendar, i would almost say january. both days on the weekends, snow in the mountains, snow just turning over or the rain is just turning over to snow in blue canyon as we speak. we have a saturday storm. this one looks to have the best shot for perhaps a thunderstorms. perhaps heavy rain. this is one system but impulses sliding through. saturday's impulse is going to have a little push to it. sundays, scattered showers. more like what we saw today. you saw how sunny today was. maybe four feet of snow. snow levels could dip below 2,000 feet as we get into sunday morning. is this a huge storm? no but it's interesting because we did have record heat just a few days ago and here we are, and it feels like christmas, you are right gasia. >> all right, thank you bill. we'll talk to you later in the newscast. european astronomers have announced the discovery of a new plant formed in the galaxy. none has been reported in other galaxies. sky watchers say the new planet and the sun it orbits was created in the milky way more than 6,000 years ago. students gathering one more time to send a message about the tuition hike in uc berkeley. how the weather may have played a role in this protest. my wife, i thought is playing tricks on me. >> it was a real 3-foot long snake. who it belongs to and what happened next. new at 6:00, our storm watch coverage continuesful we'll head back into the sierra where a winter storm watch went into effect. to improve cell phone reception verizon wants to put up two new antennas. the problem, residents. and also, they're barely teenagers but find out about the serious subject that they've just gotten a degree in that could save their lives. tonight at 6:00. >> this is an agenda for the university. today's weather may have kept folks away from a protest planned for this morning at uc berkeley. the few on hand were protesting this week's announcement of another fee hike for uc students. this time it's 8% which works outs to about $800. some say the uc system is making it harder for them to get a higher education. the california judge rejected toyota's attempt to get some of the lawsuits against it thrown out. two dozen car owners are suing toyota claiming a massive recall has caused their vehicles to lose their value. the u.s. district judge says those lawsuits can move forward. toyota is trying to get a judge to dismiss some cases for wrongful death. the new laws would give the food and drug administration the power to recall contaminated food and set stricter standards for producers to keep foods save. produce industry is creating an amendment for small area farms. >> this is creating a loophole. we don't think that's the right message to send consumers and we think we should have consistent regulations across the board. a coupjose, they got the surprise of their lives yesterday when they found a 3-foot long python in their driveway. i thought my wife again, she is playing tricks on me. david arkin was on his way to the hardware store. >> i was going around going around and it was curled. and it didn't fit in with that area. it stood out quite well. and it was a big surprise. >> turns out the snake is named picasso. he belonged to a woman renting a room in a neighbors house. the owner says the snake is no danger to anyone. she said picasso is no strong enough to constrict or hurt anyone. this is the second time picasso escapes. >> i just honestly felt as if i wasn't sure i could take in the step. that's the mother of micaela garrett, she's speaking out on this, the anniversary of her daughter's kidnapping. is the bay area coming back? a look at how the numbers stack up for students and other people looking for a job, next. mccayla might be out there some where. words tonight from a heartbroken mother who's daughter disappeared more than 20 years ago. it was 1988 when mckayla garrett was pulled into a car kicking and screaming. she would be 31 years old now, even though there's been no trace of her, her family hopes some day, some day there's going to be a miracle. >> if you go to hayward you get the feeling that some people will never give up looking for mckayla no matter what her age. about 30 people gathered in the parking lot where garrett was kidnapped 22 years old today. they tied ribbons to a tree and talked and cried. >> every year november gets closer ♪ and every year it gets a little bit colder. >> trying to sit through over 13,000 to find the man who abducted mckayla -- >> reporter: mckayla is constantly on people's minds. as difficult as this case is, neither police nor the community and certainly not mckayla's family has given up hope of finding or solving the case. >> mckayla represents anyone's daughter. it shows how going to a market close to her house. how vulnerable our children are. >> reporter: mckayla's mother says she's gone through tremendous ups and downs during the past decades. her hopes were raised after jaycee dugard was found only to face disappointment again. >> i know that hope is a good thing. but to have hope that's not fulfilled day after day after day, is the hardest thing you can go through. there were days last year they was not sure i could take another step. >> reporter: but sharon merch does continue to take steps and carry hope that some day there will be a big break in her daughter's case. the jury in the leavy trial submitted questions to the judge in its third day of deliberation. under one of the charges, jurors must find that leavy was assaulted by the defendant to attain a first degree murder conviction. google is looking to hire more than 2,000 workers around the globe as it continues to expand into new marks. this comes as the unemployment report is out, and it shows no change in the number of americans out of work. the data shows the state's unemployment rate has remained above 12% know for 15 months in a row. the national average is 9.6%. so what does all of this mean for soon to be graduates and do they have any reason to be optimistic about finding a job? robert honda tonight with our report. >> many seniors and graduate students are up bate about finding a job. this was a poll of 157 ceos who predicted a upswing in the economy. students here know it's getting better by word of mouth. there are many relieved students in the engineering department, some that graduated last year and were not getting called from companies. now that's changing. >> it was tough at that time, but now starting this may, june 2010 we've seen a lot of people getting calls. >> i feel that the choices are more. especially when the economy is picking up. and it is more people try to get more of their own jobs or career, it opens up more opportunities for everyone. >> reporter: google announced today it will hire 2,176 workers to expand operations. but the silican valley group, a coalition of hundreds of companies points out other large business plans to announce hiring soon. >> clean tech, finance services, our driving business have reported that they are feeling pretty bullish for 2010. >> reporter: new unemployment numbers reenforce that prediction. >> we were up 6,000 jobs in computer and products manufacturers, that offsets smaller losses in aerospace and food processing. >> reporter: some students say the improvement is getting. >> everything is blooming there as well. lots of opportunities, lots of companies hiring and it's looking good there as well. >> nice time to be job hunting? >> yeah, seriously, sure. >> reporter: and one more good sign for students or anyone seeking seasonal change. the edd says retail business is bouncing back with the holiday shopping season still to come. live in san jose, robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. there's word tonight that apple is getting ready to release the second generation i pad. industry analysts say a new model could be on the way and could include a camera to make calls. the new i pad could come out as early as february. stocks ended the week today with some modest gains. analysts say investors remain weary after china took more change to curb inflation. some fear that could slow down that country's growth. here is a look at closing numbers, the dow was up a little more than 22 points the nasdaq inched up almost four points. it's another victory for a san san francisco nursing student and it's supporters. what happened that improved his odds for calling american home. and now a major airport and a congressman want to get rid of the government's screeners all together. ocooer feoel cort eeit t totr r prepare to pay more if you use the clipper card to ride the salsalito ferry. the golden gate bridge district voted this morning on fair hikes that were approve -- on fare hikes that were approved by a committee yesterday. the ferry will go up to $4.58. the larkspur ferry will go up to $5.35. a student will get to stay in the u.s. for now thanks to senator feinstein of california. steve lee has been destained in arizona since -- detained in arizona since september. friends and family campaigned. senator feinstein stepped in asking authorities to wait till she introduced a bill today allowing him to stay in the united states temporarily. now a major airport and a congressman want to get rid of the tsa all together. an orlando airport wants to take advantage of a law that would allow them to replace the tsa with a private contractor. and one lawmakers says that he thinks it is time for change. >> now this personal intrusion with the private person pat downs is the straw that's going to break the camels back. >> reporter: santa clara county d.a says that he plans charge anyone who goes beyond the pat down process? patients currently taking propoxyphene are being asked to consult with doctors before they stop the medication. the cdc recommends taking antibiotics exactly as prescribed making sure to finish the course even if you feel better. don't ask your doctor for an antibiotic if you have a cold or flu because those are caused by viruses viruses. we showed you the computer model last night. it should start raining in the bay area right about now. that is the case. it's been drizzling all day. i'm going to have complete details of what you are going to get as we roll in into this bay area weekend. our storm watch coverage continues. we'll head back to the sierra. we'll have an update on the affect it's having up there. to increase reception, verizon is trying to place two towers but they are get oppositions from residents. he swore to protect the public and put criminals behind bars. now a former chp officer is spending time in prison for a murder for hire plot. how did this officer stay in the job for so long before being busted? >> reporter: this is ruben salgado when he was still a free man. he once enforced the law as a california highway patrol officer. a 12 year career that ended in disgrace with his conviction in a murder for hire plot. it was a case where the chp investigated one of its own. >> very rare, i've been with the department in 22 years and it's the first time i've heard of it. >> reporter: the chp would not talk about the specifics of the investigation but court records site that in may of this year, salgado bought meth from a woman who later became an informant. >> in this case it was taken care of very swiftly. and officer salgado is no a proper representation of members of our department. >> reporter: but it did not end there. that same informant told officers that he heard salgado was planning to take her out of the game as a witness in his trial. salgado was arrested again and was found guilty of solicitation of murder. his plea deal was three years many prison without parol. >> it was a reasonable offer, a low term offer in a situation where he could have potentially after a trial seen even as much as 14 or 15 years. >> reporter: while salgado wasn't arrested until june, the chp says it's investigation began back in february and salgado stayed on the job throughout the investigation. at least one chp officer told ktvu that salgado had been a known problem since day one. he was working for the new castle chp office which is just south of the foothills city of auburn. it was one of several stops in his relatively short chp career. salgado worked at five different chp offices in 12 years including san francisco. the chp has denied shuffling a problem officer from one office to another. salgado was fired in 2004 while stations in tahoe only reinstated after he sued siting discrimination. the chp said it could not comment because it is a personnel matter. salgado is kept away from the general population for his protection. ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. the state of california does not do random drug or alcohol testing of highway patrol officers. but the department tells ktvu that in an officer is showing symptoms of being under the influence of work they may be tested. since january of 2000, no officer has tested positive of drugs. a dozen have tested positive for alcohol and three have tested positive for prescription drug abuse. they have not fired any sworn officers for substance abuse in the past 11 years, but they have fired five civilian employees. this is a you tube video shows the swan named monday and her mother. her mother was stolen six months ago. on saturday morning, volunteer caretakers found monday dead with a broken neck. call animal care and control if you have any information or if you want to contribute to the reward fund. coming up next at 6:00. it was graduation day today for a group of sixth graders, what these kids learned could not only change the course of their lives it could also save their lives. now we go to the newsroom and julie haener has a look at some of the other stories we're working on. continues coverage on the storm that's hitting the bay area and more live coverage from the sierra where the storm could make it very difficult for people headed out this weekend. with a flip of the switch, -- why a young girl is saying, bye to you verizon. it's refreshing, i kept saying at 5:00, 6:00, 7:00 the rain will start. we've had sprinkles all day. but the radar is right on this and that's refreshing. we're seeing rain drops in san jose. most of this is light. the light radar, the darker greens are representing moderate to light rainfall. right now the rainfall accumulations in the north bay are still very, very low. this is a cold storm. there's not a lot of rain, or a lot of water to come out of this one yet. as we get into saturday that might change. here comes the cold air. it's filling in right over the top of us. we have live reporters up in blue canyon as you know. we have been watching light rain to turn. later we're going to go up to blue canyon and you're going to be seeing snow flakes on mike mibach's rain. sunday will be continued scattered showers. the weekends is wet. just count on that. cooling weather with temperatures in the low 50s. low snow levels. that makes mountain travel tough. we mentioned that the national weather service suggests that you try to avoid mountain travel this weekend. that makes sense. let's look at the latest computer model, here it is tonight. boom it's raining. light rain, it's missing out on the north bay but that's not bad. not bad for the models. here we go to sunday night late. see all the shower activity south of the area. here we're going to get to saturday afternoon, saturday morning. now watch what happens, saturday at 4:00 it's raining. watch what happens saturday night, this is saturday 8:00 p.m. this is saturday 9:00 p.m. that's the heaviest rain, okay. we come back at the 6:00 broadcast and we'll take you through sunday step by step and we'll look at that. saturday looks to be your wettest day on the week weekend. both days are wet. if we see a half inch of rain over three days with this we'll be doing okay in a place like freemont or redwood city. this is not a big rain producer. not a lot of accumulation. the mountain snow will be insignificant. >> so for those 70,000 going to the big game tomorrow? >> chilly, what time does it start? >> 12:30. >> there might be a window where it's not so heavy but it will be chilly and there will be sprinkles like there were earlier today. >> and you're not allowed to bring an umbrella in. so bring a -- >> pancho. out at midnight on a school night? no question about it. the bumper box office numbers from last night's harry potter premier coming up. there's a new display at the conservatory of flowers. it's called the garden rail way and it recreates the gardens that has made it a landmark. the tea garden and the still lake boat house. the exhibit runs through march 15. the latest harry potter is making fans very happy. harry potter and the deathly hollow is the biggest opening ever since the latest twilight film. fandanbo there's a lot more news just ahead for you. ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00 is coming up next. i'm paul which paul chamber, students and parents are taking on one of the biggest cell phone companies. i'll tell you why, coming up. we're on storm watch tonight as a winter like storm rolls into the area. how long it will last and which areas will be hardest hit. they know it's a uphill battle, but residents say they will not give up. why a -- why they say a new plan by verizon will put them at risk. good evening everyone i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. get ready for wet weather. we're on storm watch tonight and we have crews in the snow and in the rain. first we begin with ktvu's bill martin, he has a look at what's happening right now on the