kpix 5's betty yu says there could be lower prices but some are not convinced. >> reporter: safeway is hooking up with albertsons not because it wants to but because it has to. >> safeway is pushed in the middle. >> reporter: santa clara university retail expert [ non- english language ] says this $9 billion deal was inevitable. safeway faces growing competition from discount stores like walmart and upscale chains. >> what safeway is not the number one destination. it doesn't have a brand. it's that other store you go to, to kind of get what you didn't get anywhere else. >> reporter: albertsons' parent company says this consolidation will mean lower prices and better customer service. it doesn't expect to close any safeway stores. >> but there are going to be stores that are closed. i think there's going to be unfortunately jobs lost. >> reporter: and if that's the case, the traditional shopping center landscape could also change. >> safeway has been here a long time. i think a lot of people would be affected in the local neighborhood. >> reporter: it's too early to say whether this business owner should be nervous. some shoppers say if their go- to safeway disappears, they know they have plenty of options. >> i shop here to safeway because it's close to my house. if i had a choice. i would go someplace else. >> reporter: where would that be? >> walmart. >> reporter: betty yu, kpix 5. >> some other news about safeway. the grocery chain has agreed to pay more than $2 million to settle a lawsuit that it overcharged its customers. the meat recall linked to a petaluma slaughterhouse is now expanded to more than 60 regional and national retail chains. the usda says affected products have been sold in 35 states as well as guam and canadian authorities say recalls are under way in at least five province. here's a list of just a few of the retail chains that sold the affected products. rite aid, walmart, 7-eleven and safeway. rancho feeding corporation shut down last month after the recall of almost 9 million pounds of meat. investigators believe rancho sold meat that came from unhealthy cattle. so far there's no link to any human illnesses. we do have a list of the recalled products on our website at kpix.com. there's a link on the main page. 4:33 now. a north bay corner store busted for allegedly selling not just beer and wine but meth and cocaine. as andria borba reports, federal agents even ripped open some pinatas as they searched for the drugs. >> reporter: with a chain link and lock on the front door azteca market in san rafael will be closed for some time. you can see a store tossed by feds in the marin county major crimes task force. >> fbi and police and they come yesterday around 3, 4. yeah. i don't know what happened. >> reporter: agents were looking for drugs, specifically meth and cocaine. they looked everywhere including in pinatas and under the veggies. the store and three people alfredo lopez, alejandro miranda and miguel macias were under surveillance and unwittingly involved in undercover deals with agents for a year now. >> alfredo is cool, not messing around like that. it's a good store. so it's a possibility -- >> reporter: sources say the trio is connected to the [ non- english language ] cartel out of western mexico and that the store was a front for operations. >> i never did see anybody shopping there. i saw people hanging out at the register. but i have never -- i never actually saw anyone shopping. >> reporter: during searches that happened simultaneously in san rafael, daly city, san pablo and hercules, undercover agent say they collected three pounds of cocaine, 11 firearms and meth. >> that's my little shopping place to go get food. and the thing that just absolutely amazes me is they're like family. they have just been gentlemen. >> reporter: in san rafael, andria borba, kpix 5. >> the suspects were arraigned in federal court in san francisco this week. an injured bear cub is recovering after limping on to a ski slope near lake tahoe. the cub was found at heavenly on monday. he was taken to lake tahoe wildlife care center. he is being treated for wounds on his feet and shoulder. he was also underweight so they are trying to fatten him up. the center set up a webcam of the cub and say he is eating well, getting r & r and should be released in a couple of months. >> going to be okay, though. >> yeah. >> we hope. >> i need a little r & r. >> don't we all? nice weather for the weekend would help out. >> you are delivering. >> we are going to get it at least part of the weekend. we are going to see a lot of sunshine beginning today although we are starting out with a couple of patches of thick fog this morning so watch out for that especially near the coastline. otherwise, we got a lot of sun coming our way. sure those clouds look ominous as they approach the coastline. but you know what? high pressure is going to start to build in. that's going to cut off a lot of those clouds. i think maybe just a couple of high clouds cruising overhead. out the door we go. we're looking good. temperatures running in the 40s and the 50s now. by the afternoon, how about this? some sunshine, 60s and some 70s even warmer for tomorrow. but changes coming our way on sunday, liz. we'll have more on that. let's check the roads with elizabeth. well, for right now, we have been following this pretty dramatic high-speed chase that happened within the last hour or so. it all ended with a crash in oakland. a wrong-way driver took off from treasure island on the bay bridge heading eastbound in the westbound lanes. chp says speeds up to about 70 miles per hour. all clear by the way now at the bay bridge toll plaza. the driver crashed in the center divide on northbound 880 approaching the 980 interchange where there's still one lane block. we are just seeing some delays maybe approaching the broadway downtown exit. we have a camera near the oakland coliseum where things still look okay. that's your latest "kcbs traffic." michelle, frank, back to you guys. >> thank you. 4:37. president obama demanding russian forces withdraw from the ukraine's crimea region. crimea has scheduled a vote to break away and join russian now. the united states around european unions have responded by sanctioning moscow. president obama called the move a violation of international law. he called russian president vladimir putin and urged him to come up with a peaceful solution. russian deliberately sank a warship off the crimea coast. it is now blocking at least 7 ukranian naval ships. but some of the ukranian fleet may have escaped before russian sealed off the waters. the u.s. senate has vowed to pressure from the pentagon and killed a measure that would have changed the way the military handles sexual assault cases. more now from cbs news' susan mcginnis. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> reporter: a move in congress to combat a growing number of sexual assault cases in the military failed in the senate thursday. the bill which new york senator gillibrand has been trying to get through for a year fell short. >> none of us will walk away. we will not stop our efforts! >> reporter: last year more than 5,000 cases of sexual assault were reported in the military, a 60% jump from 2012. the gillibrand bill would have stripped unit commanders from deciding whether or not to prosecute cases because she believed that keeps victims from moving forward. but her opponents disagree. >> if you don't have the commanders as part of the solution, they are part of the problem. >> reporter: missouri senator claire mccaskill led the effort to filibuster the gillibrand bill. mccaskill has her own legislation which keeps prosecution within the chain of command but allows for more checks and balances. the gillibrand bill's defeat comes as a top army sex crimes prosecutor faces his own accusations. the army suspended lieutenant- colonel joseph morris and is investigating claims he groped a female army lawyer in 2011 during a legal conference about sexual assault. susan mcginnis, cbs news, washington. two men are in custody suspected of being the can't stop won't stop bandits. they are accused of holding up 20 small stores in san jose since december. surveillance video here from one of the stores shows one bandit firing a warning shot up into the ceiling. across the highway moving toward the apartment buildings now. >> and the arrests happened saturday after a police chase. the sjpd used thermal imaging to track the suspects down. investigators say one of the men was seen leaving the store popping into a getaway car. suspects are identified as jesus beltran escobar and angel rodriguez leone. during her state of the city address, oakland mayor jean quan promised more cops on the streets. >> over the time that i have been mayor, we have had four new police academies. they have been the most diverse in history. we are getting the highest graduation rates right now. >> last night she talked about the fight against crime and noted that california realtors named oakland as the top turnaround city in the state. this is the mayor's last state of the city address as she faces re-election this year. oaklanders are not happy with mayor quan. in a kpix 5/surveyusa poll we found only 24% approve of the job she is doing. just getting started on this friday. it's 4:40. a new clue that could help bay area investigators solve five murders from 40 years ago coming up. >> mystery and intrigue involving the creator of bitcoin. the media frenzy surrounding the man thought to be behind the virtual currency. right now in san jose -- y'e looking live at the scene oa house fire in the 29- hundr block of aetna way. it breaking news in san jose. you're looking live at the scene of a house fire. this is on the 2900 block of aetna way. it started just after 3:30 this morning in san jose. firefighters tell us part of the house has collapsed. a number of firefighters on hand. no word yet on any injuries. we'll bring you some new information as soon as we get it. the gypsy hill murders have gone unsolved for almost 40 years. but now there's some new evidence. kpix 5's joe vazquez reports the investigation will have officers asking new questions on the peninsula. >> reporter: read through the old browning clippings from the reno paper and you could piece together the story. 19-year-old college student michelle mitchell was driving her yellow volkswagen bug when it broke down. her body was later found in a nearby house her hands tied her throat slit. >> the crimes, the m.o. were all very similar. >> reporter: now the fbi is saying they have found new evidence that links the killedder in that unsolved reno murder case to five young female victims killed in the same time frame here in the bay area. they were all brunettes with their hair parted down the middle, all stabbed to death. they call them the gypsy hill murders after this area in pacific off gypsy hill road where one of the bodies was discovered. starting next week a team of police and federal agents will fan out across the peninsula and begin knocking on doors near all the murder scenes hoping this new information will shake loose old clues. >> potentially an individual that lived in this area that traveled to reno back and forth had business there, mentioned to you that he or she was going there, we're just trying to jog people's memories. >> reporter: in the case of the reno murder, there's now an interesting twist. a woman named cathy woods confessed and is now serving a life sentence. according to reno police, the dna that's now been connected to all six crimes is not hers. but investigators say that doesn't exonerate her. there is other evidence according to a prosecutor who worked the case back then, including a man's footprint. >> there's new evidence and there's old evidence and i was always of the opinion that there were two people involved. >> reporter: joe vazquez, kpix 5. it is 4:45 now. a southern california man claims it's not his fault that he lost a half million dollars at a las vegas casino. mark johnston is suing the downtown rand casino known as the lady luck. the suit claims the casino loaned johnston money and kept serving him drinks when he was clearly drunk at the time and that's against nevada law. johnston says he gambled for 17 hours straight, had at least 20 drinks during that time. >> i take full responsibility for getting intoxicated. now, to a blackout stage, not really. i believe them just keep bringing me drinks, i blame that on them. and them continuously letting me gamble and letting me drink, blame that on them. >> johnston wants his debt forgiven and is also seeking damages for his damaged reputation. right now no official comment from the casino and the nevada gaming commission is investigating. this would set quite a precedent. >> this is why i'm glad we all went to the casino together because you would have stopped me, right? >> yes, yes. we would have stopped you. >> and we did stop you. >> were you out of control! [ laughter ] >> i was winning, though. >> you guys were winning big. me? not so much. [ laughter ] hey, guys. around the bay area today, a lot of clouds this morning along the coastline. we are seeing some patchy dense fog and there's a lot of clouds off the coastline. looks a little scary but it's not going to be. high pressure is building in bringing with it more sunshine as we head throughout the day and the afternoon. it looks like a very nice day ahead with some mild temperatures showing up outside. just a little bit warmer. but then the possibility of a couple of raindrops as we head in toward sunday especially north. the golden gate bridge. but for now, that ridge building in will send most of the energy from this one so far streaming well to the north so a great friday and a great start to the weekend. after that, things begin to change a little bit. traveling today up to the snow looking good. 51 in lake tahoe. 59 yosemite. expect coming back you may have a little snow to worry about. all right, looking out over the next couple of days taking you through saturday just a couple of passing clouds on an off. looking nice, though. into sunday you begin to see rain coming further south so maybe a chance of rain north of the golden gate bridge on sunday afternoon. temperatures going to be in the 60s and low 70s in the south bay for today. east bay temperatures 60s and low 70s too. plenty of sunshine into the afternoon. about 64 in san francisco. and 65 in san leandro. next couple of days should be beautiful. maybe some mid-70s on saturday. cooling slightly with a slight chance of showers on sunday. and a chance of showers for everybody come monday. all right. let's check the roads with elizabeth. and everything looks okay right now if you are traveling through the livermore valley. there is one crash counter- commute in tracy eastbound 580 by the 205 interchange but in the commute direction. everything as you can see is "friday light" through the livermore valley. same thing at the bay bridge. we're not quite at 5:00 yet so they still have the left lanes blocked from the incline out to treasure island. but there was a wrong way chase earlier this morning and so there may still be some police activity blocking one lane. northbound 880 before the 980 interchange coming into the macarthur maze, we were seeing some slight delays through downtown because of it. here's a live look at the san mateo bridge where everything is still moving at the speed limit between san mateo, between hayward and foster city. and westbound 580 continues to move well even into the dublin- pleasanton area. that's a live look, you can see traffic no major fog or weather issues to slow you down. that's your latest "kcbs traffic." it is a fascinating story of secrecy and international intrigue. "newsweek" outed the creator of the mysterious virtual currency bitcoin. reporter dave bryan from our sister station in los angeles spoke with him. >> reporter: the man whom "newsweek" reports is the founder of bitcoin which is considered by many to be the high-tech currency of the future says "newsweek" got the story wrong. he is not the founder of bitcoin and in fact has nothing to do with bitcoin. >> i have nothing to do with bitcoin. i never worked for the company. i don't know any people there. i never had a contract there or anything like that. and i don't even -- i wasn't even aware of the product. >> reporter: do you think that your name became involved because you created sort of a code maybe or the concept? >> no. i never created a code. i never created a concept. i just believe that somebody -- it could have been designed this way to put my name in there [ non-english language ] is not that common name but it's not uncommon. >> reporter: in an interview outside his home in temple city he didn't deny in his engineering days he would have been capable of understanding the computer code necessary to build such a project even though it wasn't him. >> if i say yes, i could get in trouble. all right? so i say no. all right? i was an engineer before. but that was many years ago. the numbers that will drive the stock market today will come out in about 45 minutes. jill wagner from cbsmoneywatch has a preview. >> reporter: all eyes here on wall street are on the all important monthly jobs report due out this morning. economists expect the unemployment rate will stay at 6.6% predicting the economy added about 145,000 jobs in february. but those numbers could be dragged down by the harsh winter weather. on wall street, thursday the s&p 500 closed at another record high. the dow was up nearly 62 points. the nasdaq down 6. more drones could be coming to our skies. a federal judge has ruled that the faa does not have the authority to ban commercial use of drones. and that means people are allowed to fly small unmanned aerial devices in the united states. the faa says it will review the judge's decision. it could be good news for amazon, which said it was looking into using drones to deliver packages. and the winner is louisiana. a new report by film l.a. says the bayou state beats out hollywood as the top destination for the $7 billion movie industry. crews are heading there because the state offers a 30% tax credit on the production budget. canada and california are tied for second place followed closely by the united kingdom and then georgia in the fifth spot. and that's your cbsmoneywatch report. for more, follow me on twitter at #jillwagnercbs. at the new york stock exchange, i'm jill wagner. it is 4:51. coming up how one woman used a fortune cookie to win the lottery. when we come back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, a lot of clouds at the coastline but plenty of sunshine by the afternoon. these temperatures warming up nicely. how about upper 60s and low 70s into the south bay this afternoon? as high as 68 in campbell, 68 in san jose, 70 in gilroy. in the east bay, 60s and some low 70s. mostly sunny skies into brentwood and antioch. 68 in danville. 69 in walnut creek. and then in the north bay we'll find plenty of sunshine, just a couple of passing high clouds, 69 in clearlake. 68 in sonoma. and 67 degrees in novato into san francisco, sunshine and 64 degrees. here is a live look right now at the bay bridge toll plaza. it sounds like they just cleared that accident. it was involving a wrong-way driver northbound 880 approaching the 980 interchange. more traffic coming up. the men who beat giants fan bryan stow now face additional jail time over new weapons charges. investigators say when louie sanchez and marvin norwood were arrested for the beating they had several guns. last month they pleaded guilty for attacking stow three years ago in the parking lot of dodger stadium. that left stow permanently disabled. sanchez was sentenced to eight years in prison, norwood four. southern california mother whose son was killed two years ago is now grieving the loss of his memorial. a cross was placed by a roadside where her son was killed was removed yesterday. that came after a group representing atheists said it received two complaints about the cross that was on public land. >> isn't it enough that we already lost him and now we have to remove the cross? it was comforting to our family and to many other people. >> well, as soon as the cross was hauled away a man showed up planted more crosses in protest. the city of lake elsinore plans to dedicate a tree in the city park in honor of the victim. a fortune cookie turned a woman into a millionaire. that's all it takes, i guess, at least for this gal. 75-year-old emma duval of new york used the numbers she found inside a fortune cookie to pick the numbers on the powerball ticket. how about that? she matched five numbers without the powerball. good for $2 million. duval says she will invest most of her new fortune, quote, unquote, maybe use some of the money to visit her family in switzerland. maybe go buy some more chinese food. >> great. i'm going to have to try that. 4:56. the bay area man who survived a horrific skydiving accident has now filed a lawsuit. who he blames for his near death experience. we'll be right back. ,, and the first thing that came to mind is, "can i afford to go to the hospital?" now that i've got covered california, i know that if something happens to me that i'm covered. i'm in. [ female announcer ] everyone deserves health insurance. are you in? visit coveredca.com and get covered today. developing overnight fire forced a frightening escape from a second floor apartment in hayward. a 3-year-old was thrown from the window to a neighbor. >> i shop here because it's close to my house. >> if i had a choice i would go someplace else. >> safeway's being sold and merging with albertsons. albertsons' parent company claims this consolidation will mean lower prices and better customer service. >> these individuals are responsible for a great deal of loss in the bay area and throughout california in general. and that will come to an end. >> a high-tech task force busts one of the biggest id theft rings in the bay area. >> president obama has told russian president vladimir putin that russia violated ukraine sovereign every sovereignty. it happened during an hour long conversation thursday. the president is ordering travel bans and asset freezes against anyone who helped facilitate russia's invasion of ukraine. >> from across the bay to around the world, the stories that matter on "kpix 5 news this morning." captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com your realtime captioner is linda macdonald. good morning, i'm michelle griego. >> hi, everyone. i'm frank mallicoat. happy friday. >> we have breaking news right now in san jose. you're looking live at the scene of a house fire in the 2900 block of aetna way. two people were badly burned in this fire. it started at 3:30 this morning. firefighters said they were unable to escape initially and it started -- [ indiscernible ] just after 3:30. firefighters say that the house or part of the house has collapsed. no word yet on any injuries. we are going to bring you that information as soon as we get it. right now a little weather and traffic in what looks like a partially great weekend, right, lawrence? >> yeah. 50/50 weekend indeed as we are going to see a lot of sunshine coming our way and some spring- like temperatures starting today. out the door we go. couple of patches of fog a little thick out toward the coastline. a few high clouds drifting overhead. those clouds look ominous but high p