of a characteristic you have not only a due process violation but an equal protection violation and ultimately that's the decision i like to see this court issue. >> reporter: today's hearing came after a federal judge ruled prop 8 the 2008 ballot measure that banned same sex marriage was unconstitutional. when voters approved the ban same sex weddings came to a halt even though 18,000 same sex couples were already legally married. >> discrimination hurts everyone and discrimination against gays and lesbians hurts everyone in this country. >> the constitutional question is not whether people are harmed but whether people made a rationale decision. >> reporter: the other major question facing the panel is whether the same sex marriage site has legal standing to appeal. more on that at 6:00. a ruling on today's hearing could be months away. the losing side is expected to appeal either to the full ninth circuit or the u.s. supreme court. reporting live in san francisco, rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. from rob let's go to paul chambers who has been gathering to reaction to today's proceedings. paul. >> reporter: we are here in the castro which is home to the gay movement and to many in the gay community. people living here say they believe gay same sex marriage is their right while other people on the opposite side the opposite. >> god has divorced you. >> reporter: for several hours today people for and against proposition 8 were outside the courthouse expressing their feelings about a highly controversial subject. >> this is probably the most important issue in my life certainly, making sure i have the right to marry when i fall in love. >> counterfeit marriages cheapen the real deal. marriage has always been between a man and woman. >> reporter: he and his fiance drove from san francisco to show their support. he says although proposition 8 is discriminatory he says other laws most people embrace are doing the exact same thing. >> you can't have polygamy, marriage with multiple people and we uphold that as discrimination and a valid law. >> reporter: with ample police officers at the ready, both sides were able to openly express their feelings about same sex marriage and for the most part the often lively debate between the protesters ended up in a yelling match. >> i am not a fake. get out of my face. >> reporter: this is just too far. as a christian, homosexual marriage is just -- it's taking it too far and i'll stand against it. >> our sacred scriptures do preach tolerance and acceptance for all people. that is why we are here to give an alternative voice to these other protesters. >> reporter: reverend rowland string fellow and other religious local leaders came out to stand up and show their support for same sex marriage. stringfellow says although protesters display signs with biblical scriptures, in his eyes those words were taken out of context. >> i don't believe that the bible verse dollars they are using to -- verses they are using to condemn and hate people speak that way. >> if a person wants to live that way, they have every right to do whatever they want to do and they will stand before god when they give an account. >> reporter: people on both sides say today is just a continuation of the fight. they both plan to continue for and against same sex marriage. paul chambers, ktvu channel 2 news. >> you can follow this unfolding legal story anytime by going to our website, ktvu.com, and clicking on the prop 8 tab. a stanislaus county judge sentenced three people who admitted to torturing a tracy teenager to prison terms as as long as 34 years. it comes two years after the boy, then 16, escaped his captors and stumbled into a health club almost naked with a chain shackled to his ankle. the judge sentenced karenramirez to 34 years, liao to 33 years and michael schumacher to 30 years. a fourth defendant faces life in prison after being found guilty by a jury. a mentally ill registered sex offender is accused of sexually assaulting a 2-year- old girl in a union city store last week made a court appearance this morning. 36-year-old eugene ramas did not enter a plea. is he said his -- they said his attorney requested a bail reduction and the plea hearing moved to wednesday. he was diagnosed as a secrets 47 nick after -- schizophrenic after pleading guilty to an attack on a 7-year-old back in 2003. more than an hour ago president obama announced a tax cut compromise. the deal will extend all bush era tax cuts for two years, extend jobless benefits and cut workers' social security taxes. the president asks for now -- says for now it's the right to do -- the right thing to do. >> the right thing to do for middle class, for business and for our economy. >> reporter: democrats wanted the cuts to expire for individuals making $200,000 a year and married couples making more than $250,000 a year. republicans wanted them extended for everyone. late today the president announced an agreement to extend expiring tax cuts for all americans, renew jobless benefits and grant a one-year reduction in social security taxes for millions. this agreement also includes tax breaks for businesses. it's a package that the president said would contribute to the economy's recovery from the worst recession in eight decades. >> i have no doubt that everyone will find something in this compromise that they don't like. in fact, there are things in here that i don't like, namely the extension of the tax cuts for the wealth yesterday americans -- wealthiest americans and the wealthiest estates. >> reporter: an early reaction from the left is less than enthusiastic. the president didn't mention it, top congressional democrats objected to the proposal earlier in the day on grounds that it was too generous to the wealthy. new information tonight shows more bay area residents plan to keep working and will put off retirement compared to other americans. a financial services company surveyed workers in 30 american metroplex -- metropolitan regions. san francisco, san jose, oakland area ranked 12th. more than 36% of bay area employees plan to postpone retirement compared to 26% nationwide. and 35% say they have given a lot of thought to where they will live after retiring more than half said they will stay right here in the bay area. stocks held steady and ended the day mixed. market analysts say stocks were held in check by worries over europe's debt crisis. the dow finished down nearly 20 points, while the nasdaq closed up three points. a benefit is set for tonight in san francisco to raise funds for the release of 2uc berkeley graduates in prison in iran. shane bauer and josh fatale were arrested near the iraq- iran border. it will include readings by daniel handler and girls in trucks author katie crouch, set to start at 7:30 tonight at the verde club on mariposa street. alameda county sheriff's investigators say a parolee in intensive care tonight. he is suffered -- he suffered a serious injury after crashing a stolen car into one police car and then another. it happened near grand and b street in hayward. the deputies began chasing the man after they figured out the honda civic he was in had been stolen from the castro valley bart station and that he slammed it into a sheriff's patrol car that dried to block him in a driveway. then a short distance away he crashed into a bart police car not involved in the chase. the 38-year-old bart officer in that car has minor injuries and was hospitalized overnight for observation. a massive fire ripped through a large vacant building in walnut creek today. flames engulfed the 9000 square foot structure on oak grove road and sent sparks billowing into the night's sky. the building once housed a restaurant but had been vacant for more than 20 years. once crews managed to put out the fire, they found evidence that someone had been inside recently. >> when i was inside the limited area i could go in, i saw a lot of graffiti, a lot of evidence of transient behavior, empty drink containers, trash, chip packets, things like that. >> fire officials do not know how this fire got started. no one was hurt but the fire destroyed the building which was valued at about $1 million. the death of a child in a crash devastates north bay city. police know who did it and they think they know how. more showers in the forecast. i'm going to show you which days are going to be wet this day and -- this week and which cities will be the wettest. it happened in an instant in front of a stunned witness. a north bay toddler crossing the street with her mother was hit and killed by a driver that we've learned may have been breaking the law right before the crash. ktvu john sasaki live in rona park with more. >> reporter: across the street is a growing memorial for a little girl who died just weeks shy of her third birthday. stuffed animals, angels and flowers are piling up here at sunrise park for young calee murray. calee and her mother were leaving sun rise park around dusk last evening. they were walking when a driver ran into them. another driver watched the whole thing. >> she watched the mom and daughter step off the curb and saw the impact and saw the two get thrown based on the impact. >> reporter: a picture of young calee sits among the flowers and one flier says her birthday was christmas day, 2007. the driver was a woman with an equally bright future, 18-year- old sonoma state freshman volleyball player caitlin dunaway. >> devastated with what has taken place. she was in complete pieces at the scene and has been in complete pieces since. >> reporter: as for how it happened, police believe that dunaway was using her cell phone at the time possibly texinging and -- texting and didn't see calee and her mother. she could face criminal charges. these three young people told me they are dunnaway's friends and now is an extremely difficult time. it's been a terrible time for friends and family of the murrays as well. >> my family is part of her family so i wanted to show my respect. i came last night for the vigil and it's just really sad and senseless. >> reporter: people stopped by the memorial all day and some complained that this intersection is dangerous. >> i think it's a very bad intersection, yeah. i do. there are kids all the time crossing here because of the park and there are people that live there and there are apartments there so it's a really bad interception -- intersection. >> reporter: across from a park is a day care center where managers have been calling for changes to the intersection for some time now. calee's mother, 40-year-old ling murray has been in a medically induced coma with major injuries and as if to illustrate this entire point, we just watched about 20 seconds ago that silver car over there just rear end the car in front of it. that just happened as we were standing here waiting to come back live. i'm john sasaki, ktvu channel 2 news. a u.s. airways flight from newark, new jersey to phoenix arizona was diverted to pittsburgh, pennsylvania this morning after a small dog got loose on board and bit two people. an airline spokesman says despite being told not to, the dog's owner let it out of a carrier that fit underneath a seat. the dog described as a 12-pound manchester terrier bit a passenger and a flight attendant before it was eventually corralled. the pilot decided to divert the flight as a precaution. the dog and its owner were removed, the bite victims were treated and the flight continued onto phoenix. the dog and its owner were eventually allowed to take a later flight. california's attorney general jerry brown today announced a deal settling a dispute between environmentalists and wind -- turbine owner. they will replace 2400 turbines with newer units that kill fewer birds, shut off all existing turbines by 2013 and pay 2 1/2 million dollars to be split between the state and east park regional district. weather blew across midwest and southern united states today. in chicago the wind chill pushed low temperatures to 13 below zero early this morning, highs were expected to top out at about 22 degrees fahrenheit. freezing temperatures were also forecast across the south and into central florida. some areas such as minnesota and west virginia braced for 12 to 14 inches of snow. here in the bay area, a lot of us gave our umbrellas a break today. here's our chief meteorologist bill martin to let us know if we should have them on stand by this week. >> yes. coming up on official winter and dealing with wet weather. wet this weekend especially yesterday. rainfall accumulations up to an inch and a half in the heaviest locations. roll through the next couple of days we are going to be okay and then something kind of tease up as we get into wednesday afternoon and thursday. so we go outside. just want to show you the rain is well north of the area up towards crescent city. throw in the satellite image here and we can take a peek and see where the clouds are, where the most cloud cover is well to the north. when i pull out a little bit you're going to see this area here. this is basically a frontal bound but the focus this way. behind it up in here, yeah, you can see that, this one is going to roll in and swing through the area as we get into wednesday and that means more rain in the forecast so when you look at the satellite, loop, you get a look like this as i put it in motion and you can see it streamlined. that's the jet stream just taking everything north. there's rain up in eureka and del norte county. wednesday the clouds increase and we question into -- get into showers around here. quite a -- kind of a wet pattern. snow up in the mountains. the amount of early snow at lake level and up on donner pass, i haven't seen it like this. i have been looking at weather patterns for 30 years and haven't seen that. dry pattern as we go into tomorrow. that's tuesday. wednesday and thursday the clouds come in and rain. and the showers will be numerous throughout t bay area and have impacts on your commutes. forecast tomorrow morning, it's been kind of mild because of the cloud cover and that's nice. we went through a very, very cold spell patch there a few weeks where it was 28, 29, 30 degrees every morning. we are a little warmer now because of the rain. the clouds, the moisture actually heat things up. when it rains, actually when condensation when you get a rain drop, it actually releases late heat into the atmosphere so when it starts to rain, typically the atmosphere warms. same with snow. snow actually gets condensation and begins to warm the atmosphere. dry pattern tomorrow, this high pressure barely hanging on and then look for partly cloudy skies. here's what i'm tracking out here and we pointed to it earlier. there's your showers wednesday and thursday and it's got energy with it so look for gusty winds as well, so boy it does feel like winter around here but i got to tell you we are getting rain in the places we need it and we are getting snow up in the mountains. when i come back i'm going to show you the latest commuter model. i'm going to dial in this wednesday, thursday event for you. roseville police are investigating a strange taste from friday night in which a worker at a boston market drive-through was badly burned when a customer at the drive- through window threw a container of hot span match at -- spinach at him. the teenage customer didn't say anything. there were three other teens in the car and that the incident might be similar to a prank in which people recorded video of themselves throwing food at fast food workers. a student scientist from palo alto high school won high honors and a $20,000 scholarship in washington, d.c. today. andrew lu is a national finalist in the simmons math, science and technology competition. he spent 600 hours on his project which compared data from organ transplants that worked and transplants that were rejected. >> if we can treat rejection, we can save organs that other people can use and also make sure the patients with organs can live longer. >> lu, who is a senior at henry gun high school in palo alto is also a winner of the intel excellence in computer science awards. we have learned late this afternoon that the health of elizabeth edwards, former wife of john edwards has taken a turn. we will have the latest on her condition. also the dramatic move the university of california is considering because of its current cash crunch. and the u.s. attorney general is speaking out tonight about the website wikileaks. what he says he plans to do, put it out of business. a university of california commission has come out with suggestions to control raising -- rising costs at uc campuses. it calls for cutting down on staff by creating online classes and issuing more third year degrees to transfer students. the report also recommends admitting more out-of-state students who pay higher fees than california residents. the report says if uc's finances get worse, the university should consider cutting enrollment, raising tuition, reducing financial aid and downsizing the workforce. elizabeth edwards, the estranged wife of former presidential candidate john edwards is said to be gravely ill tonight. edwards, who is 61 years old has been battling breast cancer for six years. her family issued a statement saying doctors told mrs. edwards that any further treatment would be unproductive and that she has just a few months left to live. a family friend said today that john edwards, the couple's three children and other relatives are at mrs. edwards' side in their chapel hill, north carolina home. today the u.s. attorney general condemned wikileaks and vowed to chase down those responsible and possibly charge them with espionage for leaking secret documents. >> we have a very serious active ongoing investigation that is criminal in nature. >> at a news conference, attorney general eric holder vowed to quote get to the bottom of the wikileaks scandal. he says his investigation is well underway and that the release of classified documents is more than just an embarrassment to the state department. >> national security of the united states has been put at risk. the lives of people who work for the american people has been put at risk. the american people themselves have been put at risk. >> meanwhile, wikileaks is facing some financial and operating challenges. officials in switzerland today shut down bank accounts belonging to wikileaks founder julian assange. postal authorities claim assange lied about being a swiss resident, a requirement for opening the account. in a posting today, wikileaks responded that the swiss fund contained $31,000 euros or 41,000 u.s. dollars, that was meant as a defense fund for the nonprofit website. internet giant google today launched its online electronic book service. it's called e-books and google says it will make millions of books available to readers. users can read the books on gadgets including ipads and iphones, sony's e-reader and on any computer browser compatible with java script. e-books will not be available on the amazon kindle. millions of books can be made possible again if it -- a key investor in borders bookstore says he wants to acquire barnes & noble. the investor owned 37% of borders. he filed paperwork for a $16 a share purchase of barnes & noble. it's almost 21% more than barnes & noble's closing price on friday. borders stock surged almost 30% closing at $1.39 a share. the governor declares a special emergency, fiscal emergency and calls the new ledge tour into -- legislature into special session but is anybody listening? what a federal government is threatening to do when it comes to pot farm plants in the city of oakland. lightning fast. lightning strong. verizon 4g lte. rule the air on the most advanced 4g network in the world. complete bay area news coverage continues. this is ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. >> extremely important we start with it right now, that's the fiscally responsible thing to do. >> no sugar coating here. the governor says the state is in dire financial straits and says there's only way to get out. the new state legislature was sworn into office today and governor arnold schwarzenegger immediately called a special session to tackle the state's $6 billion deficit. he's proposing some harsh remedies tonight and the question is will the lawmakers act. jim vargas live now in sacramento with more. jim. >> reporter: the short answer is probably not. even as goff goff was inside -- governor schwarzenegger was inside the state capitol here telling reporters he had called the special session of the new legislature, the assembly adjourned until january. the governor is proposing $6 billion in cuts, now another 3 billion for the next fiscal year, on the chopping block on food stamp, child care and welfare programs. the total elimination of cal works by next summer and eliminating the majority of money for county health mental services. >> we know there are no low hanging fruit. >> reporter: on this first day of the new legislature there were pledges to work together. >> the time has picked us, members, to help california through one of the most daunting chapters in its history. >> you cannot sustain the type of benefits and programs and the help that we would like to give to all california if we cannot get the private sector back into good shape. >> reporter: but behind the scenes, the feeling especially among democrats is to wait for jerry brown to take office next month. >> i voted against the initial budget because of those cuts to children and to education, to the poor people so it's more of the same, then i'm not interested. >> reporter: but every day lawmakers don't act, the governor says puts the state deeper in the hole and future cuts harsher. >> it is extremely important to start with it right now, that's the fiscally responsible thing to do. >> reporter: the governor can call the lawmakers back into session but with democrat governor elect jerry brown spending more time in sacramento these days, he was at the republican breakfast today, arnold schwarzenegger is looking more like a lame duck who not many people are paying attention to. live in sacramento, jim vargas, ktvu channel 2 news. the oakland police department is getting smaller fast. that's according to a report in today's "san francisco chronicle." it says in addition to 80 police officers being laid off, 21 have retired, 12 moved onto other departments, five have quit and one has been fired. dozens more are also undergoing background checks by other departments or are eligible to retire. as a result, some patrol beats are not being covered and investigative units are down to the bare minimum number of detectives. in oakland the baby was rushed to children's hospital shortly after 1:00 yesterday morning and later pronounced dead. the oakland tribune reports the arrested of the 26-year-old father on suspicious of child endiameter -- endangerment. hurricane katrina liz -- hector liz -- hercules police say a girl is making a rapid recovery in a hospital in oakland. the girl was not the intended target. the u.s. justice department has sent a stern warning to the city of oakland. the topic, large scale pot growing operations given the green light by the city council. ktvu's janine de la vega live in the newsroom with the story. >> reporter: the city of oakland is staying tight lipped about this latest development. it is unclear what the city's next move will be but local cannabis clubs and patients are monitoring it with great interest. >> what's the most i can get? >> right now you can get several ounces. >> reporter: inside the blue sky coffee shop it's business as usual as patients choose which type of marijuana to buy at the dispensary. those in the business of cultivating and selling medicinal marijuana say they are not surprised that federal officials appear to be honing in on oakland's plan to allow large scale marijuana farms. oakland city attorney john ruseo has confirmed that officials from the justice department have objections against the city's new ordinance. russo released a statement saying they have expressed their concerns that the path oakland is taking is in violation of the law. >> i think it's politics. i think the fact that the republicans just had a big sweep and, you know, in the election and maybe obama is trying to appease them or, you know, work with them. >> reporter: richard lee is founder of oakster dam university. he and a group of others in the industry plan on applying for a permit to run one of those large scale farms . he doesn't think the justice department should step in. >> state law is very vague and has been interpreted wildly for a number of years -- widely for a number of years so i don't think that's a good reason for them to stop it. >> reporter: under the city's plan, which takes effect in january, licensed recipients of the large farms would be taxed and regulated. they would be required to pay $211,000 in annual permit fees and pay a 5% business tax. federal officials think oakland's plan violates state law because it is treating pot farms as business entities for tax purposes. some oakland residents think the city should fight back against the federal government. >> i think it's -- oakland city government's responsibility to do what their constituents want regardless of what our federal government decides. >> it's happening and they can slow it down and maybe cause people to be less well regulated and not be able to pay taxes but they are not going to stop it. >> reporter: the city attorney's office will not say how it will respond to the obama administration because it is a legal matter. city officials are still trying to determine what their next course of action will be. live in the newsroom, janine de la vega, ktvu channel 2 news. firefighters in richmond responding to a house fire got a surprise today when they found an indoor marijuana farm up in flames. the fire broke out after noon today on 39th street and mcdonald avenue. when the fire crews went inside, the search -- to search for people, they discovered a marijuana growing operation. no one was inside the building. no one hurt. the cause of the fire still under investigation. wal-mart stores in the bay area are playing a video for customers. one that comes from the federal government. what the video asks customers to do and the u.s. supreme court says it will take the case at the center of it is wal- mart. the justices will decide. also find out which phone company has been named the worst when it comes to cell phone service. ñsxóxgñ readers of consumer reports have given at&t a thumbs down for cell phone service. the magazine surveyed 58,000 readers who rated at&t the lowest in customer satisfaction. more than half the survey responded who used at&t as a carrier opened some version of apple's iphone but reported being much less satisfied with their service than other carriers. the u.s. supreme court today announced it will hear an appeal in the wal-mart job discrimination case. it is the largest employment lawsuit in u.s. history involving claims wal-mart discriminated against women employees. the issue for the high court to decide is not the broad claim of gender bias, but if more than a half a million people can join a class action lawsuit. and wal-mart stores here in california today started playing a short video clip from the federal government asking customers to report anything suspicious. in this video homeland security chief janet napolitano urges shoppers to report any sort of criminal or suspicious behavior to police or wal-mart greeter. part of a program called if you see something, say something, a 30-second announcement is being shown in other stores and shopping centers across the nation. business executives attending a conference took time out today to build bicycles for children who don't already have a bike. a group of san francisco elementary students dropped by the workroom late this afternoon. organizers said this was going to be a unique experience for most of the children. [ no audio ] >> most of them have never ridden a bike in their life and, yeah, many of them are going to be pretty shocked that they are going to have this experience for the first time. >> the conference was sponsored by sales force.com and the bike bill was coordinated by the company which is headquartered in oakland. the federal government released new guidelines aimed at helping americans with food allergies. it created the diagnostic guidelines for doctors saying that as many as 5% of children and 4% of some adults suffer from some sort of food allergy. if you'd like to read the entire report, you can find a link to it on our website at ktvu.com. new research says there might be a link among children and teenagers who watch r rated movies and smoking. for two years researchers tracked 6500 subjects age 10 to 14 years old. they found that those whose parents allowed them to watch r rated movies were three times more likely to start smoking. the researchers said the difference could be due to behaviors such as smoking, being glamorized in those r rated movies. a new announcement, the equivalent of -- coming up the new shortfall and the possible solution. and i've got the new computer model loaded up and ready to go. it is going to show rain as we move into the next 36 hours. i'll have the details. new at 6:00, just as things were looking up for a crime lab, the whistleblower documents we have obtained that may explain it all. plus a sea lion rescued near an east bay school. in fact, this is her third rescue this year. what officials have now decided to do with the way ward mammal. and it's a popular holiday getaway for bay area residents. we are looking into what may be scaring tourists off this year. tonight at 6:00. say what you will about the grinch stealing a beloved holiday tradition in the south bay but san jose leaders say they are forced to take action and cut back on their spending in hopes of patching a multimillion-dollar budget deficit. ktvu's maureen naylor is live in san jose with more. >> reporter: it involves cutbacks of two traditional holiday things. tonight work underway to come up with ways to keep these three traditions going. sunday's holiday parade drew an estimated 100,000 spectators to downtown san jose. but the almost 30-year tradition is on the chopping block next year because the city says it can't shell out $200,000 for the event amid a record $118 million shortfall. >> i think it's a big risk. i don't think that we are going to have enough money to pay for it the way we paid for it this year. definitely we can't do it again like we did this year. it's too expensive. >> reporter: much of the funding for the holiday event comes from hotel tax revenue which is down. parade organizers are now searching for corporate sponsor to keep the tradition alive. >> all options are on the table. it really is, it's open, it's way just really go out now and find out if this is -- how important this event is. >> reporter: christmas in the park already has a nonprofit partner but the city has warned the association that next year it will have to raise an additional $200,000. >> we have come i think the last two or three years and it's a fun way to walk around and get in the christmas spirit. >> reporter: but this time this concord couple brought their two-week old daughter. >> that was one of the reasons we definitely wanted to come this year and bring her even though she won't remember. >> reporter: by the time she is old enough to remember, the event might look different. the board is considering ideas such as selling christmas trees or having more sponsored displays to increase the revenue without charging for the event. >> at least to be able to come and look around for free, but if there's vendors and things like that, i think that's totally fine. >> reporter: the christmas at the park association has put up these donation boxes but vendors here say all too often they go ignored. meetings on the cutbacks are planned for later this month. live in downtown san jose, maureen naylor, ktvu channel 2 news. san jose leaders are considering some changes to the living wage rules for workers at monetta san jose international airport. right now the minimum wage for those workers is $12.94 if the workers also receive health insurance. the pay is $14.19 without medical benefits. but airlines and businesses at the airport objected saying the city will have to make some changes if it wants to keep and attract new businesses to that location. san jose's airport has been harder hit than the two other bay area airports by the recession. president obama today harkened back to the 1950s space race to bolster america's confidence about the economy. the president compared the recession to the moment in 1957 when russia launched its sputnik satellite. it kicked our space program into high gear. >> 50 years later our generation's sputnik moment is back. this is our moment. if the recession has taught us anything it's that we cannot go back to an economy that's driven by too much spending, too much borrowing. >> the president said the u.s. economy is in danger of falling behind india and china and he said the u.s. must ramp up math and science education to become more competitive. fedex says it plans to raise its rates after the first of the year. the world's second largest delivery service is increasing its home delivery and ground rates by nearly 5% starting january 3rd. earlier this year it announced a similar rate increase for its express services, also starting on january 3rd. we have much more news coming up on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. our julie haener is in the newsroom now with a look at some of the other stories we are working on. coming up, a man faces a long list of new charges tonight. why the beleaguered san francisco crime lab is once again making headlines. what lab workers there are accused of doing. plus what experts are saying about the condition of a wandering sea lion and why it appears so dire. also governor schwarzenegger is leading office in style. find out who is footing the bill for his farewell party coming up at 6:00. see you then. >> thank you. parking for free at a broken meter could soon become a bit more complicated in san francisco because the city considering limiting the amount of time that cars can park at a broken meter to one hour. right now cars can be parked at a broken meter for two hours before the tickets are issued. the city's transit agency says it wants to move forward with the plan because it's introducing 5000 new high tech meters. some will allow motorists to stay in one spot for up to four hours at a time. i woke up in the middle of the night to strong winds but when i finally rolled out of bed not a bad day out there. chief meteorologist bill martin joining us with a forecast. >> yeah, the winds died down last night. the wind advisory went away and we got a dry day today. it was wet yesterday and windy. there's more rain coming and there's more wind coming so we will go outside. here's what we got right now. live stormtracker 2, see that arc? that's the high pressure ridge. that means we are fair for a little while but see these clouds in here? they are going to filter in overnight and into tomorrow. so partly cloudy, partly sunny, the clouds do one thing this time of year, they keep us warm at night. so forget the freezing temperatures. overnight lows will be in the mid-40s, low 40s, daytime highs tomorrow back into the low 60s. picking up a little bit of alley fog, that time of year so be prepared for it. we go to concord, 60 degrees is your daytime high in concord tomorrow for your tuesday, a nice day, dry day and as we get into wednesday, things start to deteriorate a little bit. so satellite loop shows those clouds right there moving in. here we are scattered clouds today. we are going partly cloudy tomorrow and then here comes tuesday or wednesday, thursday. this system, and you know, it's got a little cold air with it. snow levels getting down to 5800 feet and periods of rain wednesday through thursday with gusty winds so we are back into it again, very similar system to what we saw yesterday. so the computer model has been having a rough time forecasting these systems. last week this one had a rough time. let's see how it works out this week but as we get into tuesday evening, offshore, here we go, wednesday morning, maybe in time for the morning commute, wednesday afternoon maybe a little bit there, and there's another one up here on thursday, a little weaker system that will roll in here and bring scattered showers for your thursday as well. thursday morning commute wet as well. so your forecast highs tomorrow with that cloud cover, more of a westerly flow and more of a mid latitude alignment of clouds, we are going see temperatures warmer because i keep going back to two weeks ago. we are doing daytime highs in the upper 40s, remember when it was clear and sunny and cold. fremont 63. more rain in the forecast. five day. we are going to -- all week the next few days we will be watching it, the models will come together better. but right now showers likely on wednesday much that's your wet day for sure and then maybe wednesday night into thursday morning, maybe a few showers as well but a very productive winter -- not even winter yet but a very protective -- productive wet season so far and they will get another foot of snow, foot and a half in the mountains from this thing. >> how are the reservoirs doing? >> we are doing well. you grew up around here, we season seen this much snow -- we haven't seen this much snow in lake tahoe but you haven't seen this much snow early? >> a lot of people taking advantage of it. california bars and restaurants may soon be able to infuse some of the alcohol they serve. right now it is illegal for establishments to infuse alcohols to make a new flavor like fruit flavored vodka, for example. they are only allowed to mix individual drinks with fruits or vegetables as they are consumed. it is believed the bill being introduced by state senator mark leno will help some bars and restaurants generate more business. a remake of an animated classic has knocked harry potter out of the top at the box office. >> i know not who you are nor how i came to find you. >> the film is "tangled" and it's disney's animated version of the story rapunzel. "harry potter and the deathly hallows: part one" slipped down to second. "burlesque" and "unstoppable" tied for third with "love and other drugs" rounding out the top five. growing trend on campus and in cyber space. dozens of high school students speak up and -- speak out and stand up today to fight bullying. the ktvu channel 2 news stock report, brought to you by kaiser permanente. dozens of high school students from all over the bay area gathered in oakland today to find new ways to combat bullying. >> what you want to do is have an opportunity to find out whose in the room and what questions or comments you're bringing to us. how many of you have experienced some form of bullying or know someone who has experienced it? >> the antidefamation league traditionally has filed anti- semitism and more racism. today the adl held a youth summit to help students find new ways to protect themselves from bullying and cyber bullying. students said today they have been targeted on facebook and in high school halls. >> large school setting, private school setting, anywhere, it really is a problem. sometimes when you're bullied, i feel like you feel alone and no one is there to help you. >> i thought i would close my computer but even though, like online people will confront you at school too about it. >> kids, parents and teachers need to know how to respond to this. this is an unfortunate trend that is affecting everyone. >> at today's forum, students used role playing and other techniques to learn how to fight intimidation, bullying and hatred. the antidefamation league partnered with cal state east bay for today's youth summit. much more news just ahead. ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00 is next with a story about why so many people are skipping a trip south of the border this season. mexico is typically a hot spot for escaping these bay area days but that's not the case right now. plus. >> reporter: allegations of evidence tampering and security breaches. find out why this whistle blower document is bringing new scrutiny on san francisco's crime lab. for complete bay area news coverage, stay with ktvu channel 2 news and ktvu.com. news and weather available anytime you need it. legal wrangling over proposition 8 begins today in san francisco with a key hearing at the ninth circuit court of appeal. and new problems emerging for the san francisco crime lab after a whistleblower claims lab workers botched a dna test. complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. and good evening, everyone. i'm mike mibach. frank somerville has the night off. >> and i'm julie haener. the battle over proposition 8 hit a new legal level today as it moved before a federal appeals court in san francisco. that's where a three judge panel heard a challenged california's ban on same sex marriage. ktvu's rob roth joins us now from san francisco with details and reaction. >> reporter: the three judge panel here at the ninth circuit must decide two questions. is proposition 8 unconstitutional and do its supporters have the legal standing to fight for it in courts. >> do you believe that there's