there or how she died. david perry the spokesman for the family of a missing woman is still looking for answers. >> i'm sure that the people at sf general are working very hard to find out what happened, why it happened and to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> reporter: 57-year-old lynn spaulding was battling an infection when she checked into the hospital on september 19. two days later a nurse checked on her at 10:15 a.m. and she was fine. when the nurse checked back at 10:30, spaulding was gone. lynn reported feeling disoriented from her medications. hospital officials say they searched the medical center here. friends and neighbors posted flowers throughout the city, set up a facebook page, but never found her. perry says lynn's daughter got a call telling her the body was found but the coroner told her, his office still hasn't been able to determine the identity of the body. >> the message was we can't give you certainty right now. lynn's daughter is obviously, and i don't use this word lightly, traumatized. >> reporter: joe vazquez, kpix 5. >> the hospital says it's reviewing its policies for how they search for missing patients. furloughed federal food safety scientists are called back to work in light of the salmonella outbreak linked to chicken from california. the outbreak involves several strains of salmonella that are resistant to antibiotics. that's why the cdc says so many people have needed to be hospitalized. almost 300 people got sick after eating foster farms chicken. more than 40% of patients wound up in the hospital. usda has put out a public health alert but the chicken has not been recalled. it's day 9 of the federal government shutdown and there's still no major progress toward ending it. yesterday they approved a plan to keep paying federal workers who have remained on the job rather than have them wait for the shutdown to end. it now goes to the senate. the shutdown has closed a restaurant on federal land in san francisco. juliette goodrich explains what happened last night after the cliff house defied orders and reopened. >> reporter: just as the sun was setting along ocean beach, people inside the cliff house were taking in the views. but looming overhead, a dark cloud. >> closing our doors for the duration of the government shutdown. >> reporter: a federal order to shut down. >> when the government shut down happened, the cliff house went above and beyond to stay open. they were closed over a very busy weekend. they came up with an idea. re-open. >> our owner decided that it was worth a shot to get everyone back in the building. >> reporter: and so the kitchen was bustling again and business was booming. chef weber's special of the day -- >> i have oysters, i have fries. >> reporter: all was good until the government caught wind and ordered them to close. you think you're going to fly under the radar? >> we were hoping to but once we tried we didn't know. >> reporter: and so weddings, brunches, sunset dinners canceled and 170 cliff house employees unemployed. a first in chef weber's 37 years here. >> we've gone through fire, floods and everything. this never happened. >> reporter: until the government shutdown is over, long-time customers will have to wait to be seated. >> it's devastating. this is a big operation with so many employees. it's a tremendous financial loss to them. >> reporter: juliette goodrich, kpix 5. >> starting today, the restaurant plans to donate its food to charity so it doesn't go to waste. and the shutdown has prompted first lady michelle obama to cancel a trip to california this weekend. the trip was to include stops at some democratic fundraisers in the bay area. 4:34. happening today, president obama is expected to nominate federal reserve vice chair janet yellen to become the new chairman of the federal reserve. if approved, she would succeed ben bernanke who is leaving at the end of january. yellen would also become the first woman to be the head of the fed. yellen has some very strong bay area ties. she taught over at cal at uc- berkeley and was also the head of the federal reserve at san francisco. christin ayers now with more on what yellen might bring to the job. >> i think she is the single best qualified person in the end tire world for this job. >> reporter: in her early years as a professor at uc-berkeley's haas school of business in the 1980s, not even janet yellen's closest friends saw her taking the national stage. >> she is shy, smart, thoughtful. >> reporter: but professor andrew rose, who has worked alongside yellen for 28 years, says she burnished her credentials here over the decades. yellen's star has risen here at haas, from twice winning excellence in teaching awards to being named professor emeritus. her colleagues say she is more than ready to head the fed. yellen has been second in command to ben bernanke at the federal reserve since 2010 and now she could be the first woman at the top in its 100 year history. >> and i think a woman as head of the federal reserve a qualified woman would be a very positive thing for this administration. >> reporter: her colleagues at haas say it is likely that yellen would do what ben bernanke has, keep interest rates low and focus on growth and unemployment at a time when the economy continues to rebound. >> i that i that will help -- i think that will help the economy along a little faster and that's going to be good for all of us. >> reporter: in berkeley, christin ayers, kpix 5. the bart cooling-off period ends tomorrow at midnight. that means bart and the unions have today and tomorrow to reach an agreement. negotiators worked until 10:00 last night, still no deal. we don't know what's going on behind closed doors because of a gag order but the chief negotiator thomas hock gave us a little insight. >> things are moving. i would say they are not moving very fast. but, you know, just got to play it out. >> union leaders have stopped short of giving a 72-hour notice of a strike. they rallied for support at frank ogawa plaza in oakland yesterday. and we'll be following the bart talks down to the wire. just stay with kpix 5 and kpix.com for the very latest. and it could be interesting because the a's have a game thursday night. it might be hard to get home that night. >> they are trying to encourage people to carpool because they are not sure if they have enough car space as well because there's a concert at oracle. >> all they had to do was win last night. this all would have been over. >> i got sick watching that game. coco crisp never gives up, does he? he had an unbelievable day. as you head out the door, good morning, everybody, currently partly cloudy skies, numbers are banking from 44 degrees in napa to 53 degrees in mountain view. the winds are slight. we do have a chance of a raindrop or two. i want to emphasize raindrops. you can clearly see the area of low pressure spinning over the high sierra right now. it's a combination of rain and snow. could see a wayward raindrop. it will be sunny, the coolest day of the workweek from 60s at the beaches, 60s, 70s across the central bay to the mid-70s inland. we'll talk about the warmest day of the week coming up with our pinpoint forecast. it's "kcbs traffic" with elizabeth, good morning. >> good morning. we have a few more details about this traffic alert. we continue to follow it in the richmond-el cerrito area. it was a fatal accident. actually it started as a police chase, ended in a fatal crash. so the traffic alert is in effect for at least another hour. use the eastbound 580 on-ramp to access the freeway in the area. on ramp at westbound 80 at central avenue is closed. otherwise the roads are quiet heading into san francisco. over at the bay bridge no delays across the span. san mateo bridge light traffic only 13 minutes out of hayward between 880 and 101. and we're checking in with mass transit and so far bart is on time with more than 25 trains all good to go. that's your latest "kcbs traffic." a petaluma man is in custody on a million dollars bail after sheriff's depth test found live pipe bombs inside his home. 911 was called. family told the 30-year-old man was suicidal. sheriff's deputies convinced him to come out and found the explosives when they searched the house. two were detonated, two others taken away for examination. a san francisco law student is in legal trouble accused of hit-and-run and assault with a deadly weapon. megan zado and her friend left a club on lakeshore in oakland saturday night when they tried to stop a group of people spraying graffiti. the taggers began spraying her car. police say she took off and returned to run down the taggers. instead she hit an innocent bystander and took off. >> it was hectic outside. a gentleman was trying to cross the street and the lady with a mercedes hit him. >> james roda is hospitalized in critical condition with head injuries. zado was arrested and posted bail. 4:40. coming up your tax money wasted on a dummy that can blink and cry. why this $100,000 mannequin has never been useed. >> a san jose woman hit her child with a kitchen spoon. a judge ruled it was not abuse. coming up. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, control... was *not in the wrong when she spanked her d with a wooden spoon. kiet do explains a panel of judges says a san jose mom fed up with her out of control child was not in the wrong when she spanked her child with a wooden speed. kiet do wooden spoon. reporter: at her home in san jose ver ran can was at her wit's end. court documents said the girl decided she didn't have to do her school or homework repeatedly lied to both of us and started showing interest in gang culture. they tried grounding her foreweeks at a time even spanking her by hand but it didn't work. finally one day when the daughter didn't do her school work and came home late gonzalez decided to spank her fully clothed daughter with a wooden spoon half dozen times on her behind. the spoon left bruises. her school found out about it and called the county. the santa clara county department of social services reported it to the state department of justice's child abuse database. the case went to appeals court where a three-judge panel decided gonzalez did not intend to cause bruises and wrote we cannot say that the use of a wooden spoon to administer spanking necessarily exceeds the bounds of reasonable parental discipline. >> violence is the last resort of the incompetent. if we're not competent as parents, then we resort to violence. >> reporter: nick is a psychology dean at santa clara university and says spanking is a short-term solution. >> when parents spank their children, there's a sense it's out of love but what's happening really is you're pairing love with violence. if you pair love with violence, then what you're teaching your child is love and violence go together. >> reporter: parents we talked to had been spanked themselves but reaction was mixed. >> i'm a firm believer in spanking and think a lot of kids need and deserve it at times. but there need to be limits. >> there's no need for it anymore really in this day an age. that was something that was probably acceptable when, you know, "all in the family" was on. >> reporter: both the county and gonzalez had no comment. in san jose, kiet do, kpix 5. >> police believe they found the man who punched a safeway manager putting him in the icu. last month's attack at the san leandro store was caught on video. charlie johnson was arrested facing charges of assault with great bodily injury. the store manager is in the hospital in serious condition. 4:44. a little weather now. roberta is in with lawrence for a chilly day. >> between the clouds you can see that waxing crescent moon out there and you see venus just hanging very tight. it's beautiful. glorious sight. but again you have to look through some of the cloud cover out there. good morning, everyone. let's go ahead and give you an idea what you can anticipate as you're heading out on this wednesday. it's "hump day"! >> oh. >> "hump day"!! >> thank you very much. >> not bad. >> 50 degrees and low clouds along the coast. we have partly cloudy skies around the bay and inland. later this afternoon, here's what you can anticipate. it's going to be the coolest day of the week. 63 degrees around the beaches. upper 60s bayside to the mid- 70s slightly below average for this time of the year in interior sections of the bay area. an area of low pressure has taken an inside track nicking the east and south bays. cooler air mass is being drawn down from the system. what it is doing is producing a rain-snow mix around the greater lake tahoe area where we have a winter weather advisory in effect for the central and southern high sierra backing all the way to yosemite with up to five inches of snow down to 6,000 feet today. we're talking snow, wax up the rock skis. 60s beaches today. 70s peninsula. 70 degrees as good as it gets in morgan hill. winds northwest east bay. the closer to the water 60s, 70s. and 74 in petaluma. extended forecast, it only gets better each day after today's clouds clear. that's the pinpoint forecast. elizabeth with traffic. >> okay. thank you, roberta. and chp is calling this a severe traffic alert. it's in the richmond el cerrito area. it is a fatal accident all started with a police chase around 2:30 this morning ended up with one person being killed. the on-ramp remains shut down westbound 80 there by central avenue. they hope to re-open the on- ramp by 5:30. you can use eastbound 580 on- ramp to access the freeway in the area. we are told the main lines of the freeway are not really impacted. you can get through okay. it's only about an 18-minute drive time on westbound 80 from the carquinez bridge to the maze. live look at the golden gate bridge, hey, got some flashing lights out there doing some lane changes. you can see the crew guys out there now. they should be opening four southbound lanes to commuter traffic. we have some overnight roadwork still out there up and down the nimitz. typically as you head toward the embarcadero downtown oakland, specifically northbound but not impacting your drive time so far and should be picked up in the next 15 minutes. and westbound 580 still clear out of the altamont pass. that is your latest "kcbs traffic." back to you. >> thank you. the california department of veterans affairs spent $100,000 on a dummy. it's a life like mannequin that allen martin shows us has never been used. >> reporter: it looks and sounds real and that's the point. these are second year med students at uc-davis medical center. the patient is a plastic man. a high-tech high-priced mannequin breathes and cries and even has a heartbeat with computers and video monitors. instructors watch from a nearby room. they can set up emergencies to see how students react. >> why am i here? where am i? >> reporter: these mannequins can cost anywhere from $30,000 up to $250,000 for the most sophisticated model. >> a lot of folks with very well intentioned folks that have bought a simulator spent a fair amount of money and then have not done any kind of long- term strategic planning for support and those simulators end up in the closet gathering dust and don't really help anybody. >> reporter: case in points? the california department of veterans affairs. an insider is blowing the whistle on california's newest va home in west los angeles. [ dummy crying ] >> reporter: where they have what's known as a mannequin like this one purchased with your tax dollars in 2010. price tag? $120,000. but instead of being used to train medical workers, like at uc-davis, sources say the mannequin has been gathering dust in a room at the va home since is the manufacturer set it up. no one knows how to use it. >> you might as well flush the money down the toilet. it doesn't seem like anybody in sacramento cared. >> reporter: not only is governor brown refusing to talk about how they are spending money at cal vet, but cal vet officials are also keeping quiet. they would only release a statement saying, they will not speculate on the reasons for that purchase. and, we are reviewing its use. allen martin, kpix 5. >> the department of veterans affairs assured us they have plans to use the mannequin for training. we requested permission to record video of one of those training sessions but they never got back to us. new york police have arrested one of their own in connection with a brutal attack on an suv driver. investigators say the officer was part of a group of motorcyclists involved in last month's beating. another suspect craig wright seen here covering himself with a blanket was arraigned yesterday. investigators say wright was one of the men in the video pounding on the suv. police are looking for two other bikers considered persons of interest. a 9-year-old boy who flew from minnesota down to las vegas without a plane ticket has been in trouble before. his father says just last week the boy stole this delivery truck in his hometown of minneapolis and then took it on a joyride. he took out a number of cars two trees before crashing into a squad car. it was a day later that he got past security and boarded a delta airline flight. >> we thought he was at a friend's. >> that boy is in protective custody in las vegas. they have been asking for help for their son since he was five but couldn't get help. american consumers hungry for all things pumpkin. the growing trend for pumpkin flavored treats from candy to cocktails. >> google expected to offer new laptop for under 300 bucks. why it's being sold will less storage space than the competition coming up. ,, federal reserve... and wall street good morning. currently fog in the bay otherwise partly cloudy skies as you head out the door into the 50s. your pinpoint forecast is still straight ahead. >> and checking your east bay travel times right now, so far at not quite 5:00 everything is still in the clear including down the eastshore freeway. we are following a traffic alert in richmond. more trip. a professor in berkeley is in line to take over the federal reserve and wall street appears happy with that. details from gigi stone from cbsmoneywatch.com. >> reporter: the futures are pointing to a higher open on wall street today. stocks may get a boost from the nomination of janet yellen to head the reserve. as vice chair of the central bank she supported policies to keep interest rates low. analysts say her nomination could also ease concerns over the debt ceiling debate in washington. the dow slid another 160 yesterday. nasdaq down 75. expect to pay more to heat your home this winter. the government expects natural gas prices to surge 13%. the cost for homes heated with electricity will rise about 2%. there is one exception. heating oil should drop about 2% from last year's record- breaking prices. apple plans to hold an event october 22. that's sparking buzz that's going to update the ipad ahead of the holiday shopping season. apple's fifth generation ipad may be thinner, lighter with an improved camera. pumpkin flavor is taking over the american appetite. sales of pumpkin flavored offerings topped $290 million last year according to nielsen. the number of pumpkin options in the u.s. jumped nearly 19% last year. pumpkin flavor suddenly showing up in everything from m&ms to vodka to pop-tarts. that's your moneywatch. for the list business news, follow me on twitter. at the new york stock exchange, i'm gigi stone. google is offering an inexpensive new laptop. the new hp chrome book 11 is for sale now at $279. the battery lasts for six hours before it needs to be charged. >> earlier this year, a lot of us were surprised to learn that chrome books had about one quarter of the sub $300 laptop market. it was much larger than anybody had really expected. so in that case, they are very good for google. >> the new chrome book has relatively little storage because documents, photos and other files are supposed to be stored online. 4:56. just days away from another bart strike, negotiators will be back at it again this morning. we have an update on their progress. we are waiting for identification on a body that was found in a stairwell here at this hospital. could it be the body of a missing woman? that story up next. ,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,, a woman vanished from a bay area hospital over two weeks ago and now it looks like her body was there the whole time. >> i just don't have words for how many questions that raises for san francisco general. >> when the government shutdown happened, the cliff house went above and beyond it stay open. they were closed over a very busy weekend. they came up with an idea, re- open. >> all was good again until the government ordered them to close. >> i think she is the single best qualified person in the end tire world for this job. >> a bay area woman up for one of the most powerful jobs in the world. the head of the federal reserve. >> would you believe that this is still on store shelved? >> you're kidding me. >> tainted chickens sickened hundreds but no recall and this strain of salmonella is particularly hard to treat. from across the bay to around the world, the stories that matter on "kpix 5 news this morning. >> we can't make extortion routine as part of our democracy. >> captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com >> your realtime captioner is mrs. linda m. macdonald. good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, october 9. i'm michelle griego. >> hi, everyone. i'm frank mallicoat. it is nearly 5:00 now. this just in. a stanford professor has won the nobel prize in chemistry. michael levitt among three scientists awarded the prize this morning. together, they laid the foundation for computer models used to understand and predict chemical processes. royal swedish academy of science said their work made classical physical, work side by side with quantum physics. and it is 5:00 right now. we are following a traffic alert in the east bay. let's get over to elizabeth. >> thank you. a driver unfortunately died this morning a couple of hours ago after a short police chase. the driver of the car ended up flipping over off the freeway. the westbound 80 central avenue on-ramp remains shut down. still no estimated time when they are going to be able to open the on-ramp. in the meantime, this is not impacting freeway traffic much on westbound 80. you can see this is a live look at carlson. traffic gets by okay. the on-ramp is shut down. you can use eastbound 580 in the meantime to access the