First crew and 9 10 the first passengers. Reporter the same goes for other park facilities like muir woods. If a deal is signed tonight, expect the gates to open tomorrow. I think youll find this Park Management is extremely nimble, maybe a little farther from washington so maybe a little less impacted by some of the red tape but even though theres a furlough in their row they have been putting their time in and answering emails and voicemails so taxpayers are getting their moneys worth here. Reporter for for those of us who call the bay area home it means a once in a goverment shutdown opportunity. To do a Public Service announcement for locals who live in the area that maybe think alcatraz is too crowded or theres too many visitors this is a great opportunity obviously with no backlog because we have been shut down. Any port within the golden gate parks i would say within the next few days is the opportunity to enjoy them without less crowds. Last check, some of the tours that can sell out weeks in advance are now just 40 booked. Given the past couple of weeks, you have been hard pressed to find anyone who thinks our government is actually working. Unless as Ann Notarangelo found out, you talk to people in government who are working. Good afternoon. Reporter a typical day at state senator sonniers District Office is spent answering calls. This staff dominated by 20 somethings believes in customer service. Being able to just like put some stability back in someones life is certainly a good feeling. Reporter and with foreclosures and people not getting their unemployment checks, is one of the range of issues from disabillity to the dmv, these district staffers here from people who are at their lowest. They are quite desperate to be frank. They have got rents to pay. They have groceries to buy and they have to feed their families. They have nowhere to turn. Reporter they dont believe Government Works just takes place at the capital. It happens here in an Office Building in walnut creek. In fact, its probably a good idea to get as far away as you can from washington in sacramento. When i get depressed in sacramento, which is often, this is where i get inspired. This country needs more people like you who really make the people feel like you care about their problems. Thank you. Reporter each phone call that comes in has a case file and these staffers are expected to resolve the issue or explain why they couldnt. You get results because uv the contacts to call people. Reporter they know what many of us think. Government has forgotten the part about we the people. They havent. In part because unlike washington politicians, these staffers come face to face with their constituents. So where is your accountability . These people contacting us are showing up at events that the senator is putting on and going up and telling him, hey, you know, i had this experience with your office. Reporter four weeks now, we have highlighted government inaction while quietly local government has been taking care of real life problems. You cant just kind of brush it off. Its your future. Its your generation thats going to make the most change. Reporter the simple solution . We need these people in washington. But not now because they are needed right here. In walnut creek, Ann Notarangelo, kpix 5. The bay areas job market is at a fiveyear high. In fact, according to some analysts, we recovered nearly all the jobs lost during the recession. Over a 12month period ending in august, the bay area gained 62,000 jobs most of those in santa clara county. In 2015, payroll jobs are expected to increase 3. 3 . The tech sector is a big driving force behind those numbers. But despite the optimistic outlook, experts warn well see challenges from a shortage of skilled workers to not enough affordable housing. San joses mayor and four other california mayors have filed papers to place a pension reform measure on the 2014 ballot. It would allow governments to negotiate changes in future pension benefits for current and future employees. Opponents say it breaks a promise to public employees. Reed says its intended to help cities with skyrocketing retirement costs. The ac transit is on hold for now and buses will run tomorrow. Governor brown intervened appointing a panel to investigate the strike threat. The board has 7 days to report its findings to the governor. Ac transit cant strike during that time. Governor brown will then make the call whether to issue a 60 day coolingoff period. Both sides are done negotiating for the night. As for bart, both sides are still talking tonight. But so far no deal and no strike announcement. Thats good news. Kpix 5s phil matier tells us riders wont have to stay up all night waiting for the strike announcement tonight, will they, phil . Reporter no, they wont because both sides of the talks agree on one thing riders are not happy. Heres the story. Urban myth is that our contract is held up in union halls across the country as the gold standard. Reporter and indeed a close look at both the current and the proposed bart contracts reveal some interesting benefits. For example, under the current contract, bart workers pay 92 a month for Family Healthcare coverage. Bart wants to raise that to 132 a month with a 3 increase per year. But if workers decide not to take the bart plan and instead go on their spouses or partners plan, bart still gives you 100 and that would go up to 350 a month under barts offer. Then there are the paid holidays and sick time buy backs. Bart workers birthdays are paid holidays one of 13 they get each year plus their vacation. They also get 12 sick days a year. If you dont get sick, you can bank up to 250 unused sick days roughly 50 weeks worth and cash them out when you leigh. There are also a slew of smaller items like free parking for station agents and 125 a year to clean and maintain their uniforms. Free prescription safety glasses, even a paid half hour to go out and buy the glasses. Theres also a provision that allows maintenance workers to choose where they will work on a given day based on their seniority. Still, the two sides remain at odds over both pay and benefits. The last few days we have been trying to grind it out. Reporter one thing both sides agree on is that the public has had enough of the drama. Barts phones are ringing off the hook. Our emails submission forms are flooded with concerned riders and concerned people from the bay area frustrated that we cannot tell them before midnight at a reasonable hour if the trains are going to be running tomorrow. We are equally getting the same calls. We guarantee you a much earlier announcement today because of that because of that concern. No later than 10 00. Reporter the union rep came out and added this to the story a couple of minutes ago. With regard to our uniforms and another issue that came up on the news earlier this afternoon, we do not get a 100 allowance to do cleaning. Once again, this speaks to the districts bargaining in the press giving misinformation and mischaracterization and its very disconcerting. We are trying to get a contract resolved. Reporter and you can check out that contract. The current one at kpix. Com if you want to take a look it. Ken . So much of this is the Public Perception and after so many weeks these benefits, we dont begrudge the bart employees, they are good union people, they get what they deserve to do their jobs, but when you see the gold standard, its hard the guy sitting on bart is making sometimes some cases half of what the guy driving the train is making. Reporter its all part of the drama were going through and thats one of the reasons why we havent seen a strike this time. But hopefully we will see a deal. Lets hope so. Phil matier reporting live from oakland, thank you, phil. Well be monitoring the bart negotiations throughout the night updates right here and on kpix. Com. Other bay area headlines, a plane headed from san jose to honolulu was forced to make an Emergency Landing at the Oakland Airport this morning. The Alaska Airlines pilots thought they hit a bird after they took off from mineta. So as a precaution, they landed in oakland. An inspection showed and engine was damaged. Passengers were loaded on another plane and tonight they are in honolulu. Pg e crews spent a good part of the day fixing a gas leak in san bruno. It happened about 9 15 this morning. A crew in the area of san felipe damaged a pipe causing a leak. The line was capped around noon. No evacuations were ordered. Many customers were stuck without service for hours. Some people in Pleasant Hill woke up to a massive fire and explosion early this morning. Contra costa county fire Officials Say a house fire started in the garage and spread to cars in the driveway. They say it was caused by oily rags along the outside of the home that then spontaneously come bused. No one was hurt. New report cites Disturbing Trends in california prison investigations. The report by the state inspectorgeneral says it is taking too long to complete investigations into allegations of wrongdoing by prison employees and the investigations are not as thorough as they were before a federal judge stopped supervising the prisons two years ago. That report comes as the governor is trying to persuade federal judges that california prisons have improved to the point that they no longer need court oversight. A panel is forming to study what would happen if pot was legalized here in california. Chairing the panel is Lieutenant Governor gavin newsom. The focus will be to study legal and policy issues related to regulating and taxing marijuana. The aclu is expected to release details tomorrow including poll results showing growing support among voters to legalize marijuana. Coming up, how a Bay Area Community is rallying for the recovery of a beloved mail carrier suddenly hospitalized and in a coma. Its one giant leap for the tech giant. How the bay area is a step closer to seeing a huge campus that looks like a spaceship. Spectacular sunset alert. We have some midlevel clouds moving through that should really add some character to the sky when the sun goes down about 30 minutes. Weekend is not going to be as warm as what we had today. Find out how much cooler we going to get coming up. Its a damn good chance it could be canceled. Why it could be the end of a bay area tradition around for almost a century. ,,,,,,,, is now at prison boot camp. Today 25year old justin ixeira started s a Ucberkeley Law School graduate who beheaded an exotic bird in las vegas is now at a prison boot camp. Today, 25yearold Justin Teixeira started serving a six month sentence for killing a helmeted guinea fowl while drunk at the Flamingo Hotel a year ago. Two other students caught on Surveillance Video chasing the bird around with teixeira entered pleas to misdemeanor charges. A beloved mail carrier who gave service for a smile with 20 years is clinging to life in the hospital almost a month after being rearended in San Franciscos Western Addition neighborhood. Don ford reports. Reporter she was rearended by a driver going nearly 80 miles an hour last month. It injured her daughter, killed her son, and has left tina in Critical Condition ever since. Tina works here as a mail carrier at the sausalito post office. Her case, her satchel, thats where she left it. Reporter tinas workstation kept clean by her fellow postal carriers keeping it ready for when she returns trying to keep their emotions contained. Dorothy mccall says everyone here is family. I have known her since i have worked here for 15 years. And were all really upset about what happened to her. And im going to cry when i think of her. Shes loved by all and especially too by her customers. She has been on her route for several years and we get phone calls literally every day. Reporter not just phone calls, the woman who usually delivers the mail now is getting the mail. Get well cards are piling up at the sausalito office. On her route, folks have placed yellow ribbons on their mailboxes. Seems everyone knows tina chew. She was a great friend of ours. She would stop and talk to us. She knew our kids. We exchanged christmas presents. Just warm and funny and knew everybodys name, very low key, very mellow. Always happy. Reporter in this day and age, the personal touch means a lot to this neighborhood. Miss chews condition is still critical. But this entire neighborhood is pulling for her swift recovery. In sausalito, don ford, kpix 5. The d. A. Has yet to file charges against the driver, who rearended chew. Apples new spaceshiplike headquarters gets the green light for liftoff in cupertino. The city Council Voted unanimously last night to allow the circular shaped building near interstate 280. The design may look out of this world, but apple says its completely green. They are using solar and fuel cells to generate 70 of its power. Were going to build the best Office Building ever built in the world a place for the best team in the industry to innovate for decade to come. Apple says it hopes to start demolishing existing buildings on the site by the end of the year to make way for the 2. 8 millionsquarefoot campus. In Mountain View construction crews broke ground for a Samsung Electronics new research and development center. The new site near highway 101 and ellis street will house 385,000 square feet of office space. The environmentallyfriendly friendly project is expected to be ready by december 2014. A lot going on out there. Man. Nice weather, too, to be working all this construction. I have a question for you guys. Yes. What do van halen, in excess, and milli vanilli have to do with this forecast . Oh. Its rocking . Think about it. And what decade . 80s the 80s lets get to it. Rock out to your favorite 80s band. Look at these highs from today. Everybody in the 80s including San Francisco. 80 degrees, san rafael 81. San jose 82. Oakland youre one of the warmer spots today 83 degrees. Liz is still rocking out right now. Redwood city 84. And livermore 85 degrees. Welcome back to the 80s. Were leaving you. Going to the 70s and well talk about bellbottoms tomorrow. Kpix 5 highdef Doppler Radar is dry. Coming up up dry the right now. So far this year, in San Francisco, through today, we have had less than 4 of rain. We are chasing a record of the driest year ever which did happen back in 1976. Through october 16th that year, we had 5. 5 of rainfall. So right now, we are more than 1. 5 drier than the pace set by the driest year in San Francisco history. This is territory that we have never been in, in San Francisco, it has been that dry since the top of the year. A little bit of cloud cover moving through. You can see right here follow it back up with some rain and snow in montana all the way down into the bay area. The clouds outside right now working from north to south. The tail end of that, will we see rainfall . Absolutely not. But what it indicates is a return to a light onshore flow. So it wont be as warm tomorrow. Light flow coming in from the pacific out of the northwest dropping our temperatures down about 3 to 5 degrees but its all about this h. This huge ridge of High Pressure is not moving and as long as it doesnt move were not going to have a storm system within 500 miles of here. So we will stay dry and sunny for a while. Now, in the city today, you hit 80. Tomorrow, 71. Still above average but 9 degrees cooler because of that onshore flow. Concord will hit 81. San jose 79. So its cooler but its still really nice outside. Oakland 76. Napa youll hit 80. Mountain view tomorrow sunshine, 79 degrees. More sunshine friday. Will we keep it over the weekend . Yes. It will be sunny saturday and sunday. A little cooler upper 70s inland no 70s near the bay and next week im looking for change. Im looking for any reason to change this forecast from sunny and mild and im coming up blank. Thats okay. Theres about 3 or 4 different computer models saying nothing changing likely until halloween. Wow. I dont hear a lot of complaining. No. Because, you know, december is cooler. December well get the rainfall we hope. Right now, sunshine. Just embrace it. Still ahead, why a bay area tradition that honors our veterans and active duty military could be canceled for the first time in nearly 100 years. We need to give a little bit of leeway to people and give them a helping hand. In tonights jefferson awards, how a bay area woman gave up her own retirement to help Mental Health patients. ,,,,,,,, san joses vets parade. A veterans gay tradition in the bay area may be falling by the wayside. This could be the last year for a san jose vets parade. Len ramirez tells us funding and interest are dwindling. Len. Reporter thats right. One of the reasons why the vietnam war memorial was placed where it is, is that its right here on the parade route when the veterans come marching down santa clara street next month, they might glance over and be reminded of the ultimate sacrifice that was paid by others. But this year could be the final salute. It was only a year after the First World War that veterans began proudly marching through downtown san jose and they have been doing it on veterans day without missing a beat ever since. 1919, when it first happened in washington, d. C. And then right away, we jumped into it. Reporter as president of the Veterans Council of santa clara county, ernie has organized san joses veterans days parade for more than 40 years but this might be the citys last. Its a good chance it could be canceled. Reporter he says escalating Police Security costs and lack of interest from younger vets and the publ