pipeline explosion. i'll tell you about the surprising and terrifying report that came out this morning in a live report. >> san francisco fire officials finally get their hands on maps showing where pg&e gas lines run into cities. they say it will take a week before they can determine if there's any reason for concern. >> also this morning a jury returns a guilty verdict in the charge of a man caused in the death of a san francisco police officer. the family wonders why it took four years to get justice. >> the warmest heat wave of the year is here today. we'll have a hot weekend thanks to this, the lack of clouds and a sea breeze. we'll talk about that and poor air quality as we head into next week. >> there's a major problem in vallejo. an overturned big rig blocking the columbus parkway off-ramp. but elsewhere traffic is friday light with this live shot of the bay bridge toll plaza. >> sounds good when she says it. friday! happy friday, everyone! it's 5 a.m.. thanks for joining us.

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. pg&e is investigating the intriguing and frightening possibility that microbes inside a gas pipe may have caused the deadly san bruno explosion two weeks ago. sounds incredulous but it's happened before. jenelle has details. >> yes, it has, kristen. ten years ago in the new mexico desert, the pipeline ruptured killing 12. investigators found pitting in the pipeline. the corroded area spread across 21 feet of the pipeline. 72% of the metal had been eaten away. the pipeline in new mexico was over 50 years old, 30 inches in diameter, the same as the one here in san bruno. the possible cause is called microbiological influence corrosion. the report came out in the san francisco chronicle this morning. basically microbes that thrive, go undetected in a tiny pool of stagnant water in a pipeline and

start eating away on the metal causing it to corrode. pg&e told state regulators last year there was ongoing concern about the potential for internal corrosion on the 46-mile pipeline runs from san francisco through san bruno down to milpitas. the sign of corrosion causing microbes had showed up on several tests along the line. a biologist said any pipe as old as the one in san bruno that killed seven people would likely have those microbes hiding inside it. the only way to check is send robots to clean the walls and check pitting and cracking but the problem is the pipelines are too narrow and too many bends to allow a device to run through the pipeline. some experts say it's unlikely microbes were the cause but corrosion on the outside of the pipeline. the national transportation safety board is looking at all these possibilities. the pipeline that exploded here is actually in washington d.c. at a lab. they're testing it for the

possible cause of this explosion that investigation is expected to take a year. reporting live in san bruno, i'm jenelle wang, abc 7 news. >> jenelle, thank you very much. a cleanup continues in san bruno today as crews return to remove the rubble of 37 destroyed homes for the second day. county officials hope they'll finish the job within a month and before the rainy season begins. this comes as san francisco's fire chief received a map details the route of gas transmission lines under her city yesterday. chief joanne hayes white has information right after the explosion that killed seven people in san bruno two weeks ago. >> some of the other pipelines that a lot of people have been talking about under where i live and so forth, most of those lines are distribution lines which are far less concern because they're at a much lower pressure. possibly 60 pounds or less. >> state regulators voted yesterday to create an independent fact-finding panel to examine what caused the explosion in san bruno. pg&e will pay for the

investigation. but it remains unclear if the ultimate stockholders or customers will have to cover the estimated $2 million cost of the probe. >> a memorial service will take place today for three generations of the same family who died in the gas explosion. 85-year-old levon bullis, her son 50-year-old gregory and her 17-year-old grandson william all perished in the inferno. the service will take place in the first presbyterian church of rollinggame. it's 5:04. a convicted murderer will return to court to find out if he'll spend the rest of his life in prison for the death of a san francisco police officer four years ago. the officer died while trying to stop a car chase. vic lee tells us more. >> came forward with a verdict based on the fact, based on the evidence. not just to protect the police officers but the citizens that

were also a victim of -- i call it street terror that night. >> prosecutor eric fleming told family members outside the courtroom. it's been four years since berko was killed. the defendant steven patrilli was 19 when he plowed his van into the patrol car. the fatal crash occurred the night of july 26, 2006, here at cambridge and fulton streets. patrilli was in a stolen van, led police on a high-speed car chase after committing a string of robberies. they wound their way from highway 280 through city streets. the impact of the crash flipped the police cruiser on to the sidewalk. (bagpipes) >> burkeo had been on the force five years at the time he was at the bayview police station. fellow officers were livid when they found out patrilli was out on bail when the murder

happened. >> i will find out why this piece of garbage was not incarcerated. >> dozens of officers packed the courtroom to show their support for their fallen comrade. patrilli broke down and cried softly after the verdict was read. officer berko's father spoke of forgiveness. >> patrilli, just human. make mistakes. >> vic lee, abc 7 news. >> time now 5:06. the trial of the two accused in the murder of oakland journalist chauncey bailey has been set for november 8th but it could be delayed. the one seen in the white suit is one of the two men indicted for the murders of bailey and two other victims. the attorney and the prosecutors are both asking for more time to review the case. he was working on a story about the financial troubles of a bakery headed by bay. >> a u.c. berkeley graduate hopes to meet with iran's

president today in new york and plead for the release of her fiancee and another friend accused of spying. sarah shourd spent 14 months in solitary confinement in a tehran prison before being released last week. iranian authorities rest assured her fiancee shane bauer and her friend josh fatal. they claim they were on a hike in northern iraq. she talked about her experience today on abc's "good morning america." >> we were hiking behind a tourist site and there was no indication of a border. so we had no intention of going to iran. a mistake was made. this whole thing has been a huge misunderstanding. >> she did say she did safer a few moments while in prison. a marriage proposal from becauser and a chocolate birthday cake. you can hear more from sarah later on "g.m.a." after this newscast on 7 a.m.

>> we're going to take a look at a hotter forecast for the weekend. >> mike, let's talk about it. >> let's talk about how temperatures will jump another 6 to 12 degrees today when they jumped about 6 to 13 yesterday. the high pressure moving in, the marine layer gone but the air is dry so it does cool significantly at night. 49 napa and santa rosa. 59 san francisco, 58 oakland all the way up to 57 concord, fremont and san jose. by noon total sunshine already in the upper 70s to low 80s around the bay into the south bay hitting some mid-80s in the north bay valleys and also in the east bay valleys and about 71 half moon bay. by 4:00, still 71 half moon bay with sunshine and low to mid-80s throughout the bay, mid to upper 80s in the south bay. same thing north bay valleys and upper 80s to low 90s in the east bay valleys. as far as what's going to happen over the weekend, it's just going to get hotter each and every day until the heat peaks monday near 100 inland, 90

around bait and near 80 at the coast. >> good morning. good morning, everyone. that for vallejo, people commuting through vallejo with this overturned big rig apparently is blocking the connector ramp from westbound 80 and eastbound 37 to columbus parkway in the sunshine underneath interstate 80. got an update from chp, they're saying it's at least another two hours for this closure. so for those folks trying to get to columbus parkway, they recommend continuing on westbound 80 turning around at redwood street and making your way through columbus parkway. again that in effect for at least the next couple hours. now, elsewhere the good news is we have friday light traffic. we'll show you a live shot of the san mateo bridge. traffic here is flowing well and no other accidents at this point to slow you down. eric, kristen. >> frances, thank you very much. it's 5:09. >> still ahead on the abc 7 morning news, the hearing that could end up with lindsay lohan being ordered back to jail.

>> the grassroots campaign underway in the bay area against prop 23. hundreds gather to oppose the proposition that would suspend the california global warming law. >> technology on the cutting edge. a bay area tech giant unlocks a microscopic mystery that could revolutionize data and energy storage. i've got power pain can't mess with. (announcer) new icy hot power gel. relief that's icy to dull pain, hot to relax it away. and no mess. don't mess around with pain.

you can see >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. welcome back. it's 5:13. lindsay lohan's next starring role could be back as a jail inmate. she's scheduled to appear in a beverly hills courtroom after admitting she failed a drug screening test. a judge let her out early from rehab after a strict treatment and monitoring program. lohan is under probation for being under the influence. for failing or missing a drug test she could go back to jail or rehab.

>> gubernatorial candidate meg whitman says she is against prop 23. it would suspend the implementation of the landmark greenhouse gas law until the state unemployment rate drops 5.5% for four consecutive quarters. the prop 23 campaign has held get out the vote parties all over the state. this one was held in palo alto last night. major oil companies are backing the proposition which aims to suspected the law ab-32. >> it needs to be suspended. that's where our campaign is coming from. >> about regulating emissions from large power sources. power sources of pollution like oil companies. it's not about affecting small businesses. >> democratic gubernatorial jerry brown praised whitman for finally making a decision to

oppose prop 23. >> researchers at ibm and san jose are finding what could dramatically change computing as we know it. here's karina rusk. >> ibm scientist andreas hinerick will tell you it takes a big machine to study small matters of great importance. this highly-refined scanning, tunnelling microscope allows them to study the behavior of a atoms. >> our mission to find out how we can do computation and data storage. >> part of a team that has developed a break-through technique. they just published their research in the journal science. they have the ability to see atoms spinning at incredible speeds. that has unlocked the mystery of how long information stays in a

single atom. >> after one nanosecond. so you cannot do much in one nanosecond. that's billionons of a second. an unimaginably small number. >> but this particular standing, tunnelling microscope can also move atoms. the researchers use a model to illustrate what happens when they manipulate the red iron atom. >> just chasing another atom that is not even magnetic close to it we change the data time. >> the implications of the ibm research range from an expo tension increase to a quantum leap in solar technology. >> in the end we can create tools and create prototypes that may eventually end up in product. >> in san jose, karina rusk, abc 7 news. >> 5:15. time to turn things over to mike. you are thinking hard about something. >> that! it's given me a headache.

(laughter) >> i'm glad there's a lot of smarter people in the world. >> i thought the headache was deciding what sunscreen to apply this weekend. >> or maybe too much sun. 5:17 this morning. good morning. the heat is here! you may have noticed a little jump in temperatures yesterday. today gets a little uncomfortable in some spots and definitely over the weekend you'll want to find some ways to keep cool. if you find some unique ways, send us some pictures. come on. we would love to see them. 5:17 as i mentioned. now we're looking from our roof cam back to the port of oakland. pretty clear this morning. temperatures are running all over the scale because it is calm. so our valleys are down into the 40s, especially the deep ones up in the north bay, santa rosa, napa, near half moon bay about 48. the hills around los gatos, the warm air is rising so you have 64 there. pretty much 50s for the rest of us. the monterey bay it's warmer than yesterday with low to mid-50s even into salinas and 47 into gilroy.

warmer than average weather today under a sunny sky and nearly calm condition. a little breeze here near the bodies of water but not like we would normally have. it will be clear and relatively cool tonight. another key to the forecast that during the overnight hours at least will get a chance to cool off and get a breeze through the house or apartment. the water, the 50s. high pressure starting to move to the east bringing us the calm conditions and eventually the offshore flow. with that strong ridge developing, we'll see the temperatures jump every day through about monday. for today mid to upper 80s down in the south bay with cupertino and santa clara at 86. los gatos we could get up around 90. on the peninsula low 80s. millbrae at 82. everybody else mid-80s with 84 redwood city, menlo park. as you head south to mountain view, low to mid-70s along the coast with plenty of sunshine south san francisco and sausalito upper 70s to low 80s. middle 80s around san rafael,

vallejo, petaluma and upper 80s and low 90s the north bay. low 70s at your beaches. low to mid-80s most of the east bay shore. castro valley 87. warmest weather valleys, low to mid-90s. morgan hill, gilroy, mid-80s. santa cruz, watsonville, salinas. all right. upper 50s to low 60s. that's relatively cool. give you a chance with these longer nights to drop the temperature in the house during the nighttime hours. all right. we're going to hit near 100 inland on monday. near 90 around the bay, near 80 at the coast or our hottest temperatures. the air quality of concern monday and tuesday but as the temperatures drop as cool air moves in wednesday and thursday the air quality should be better. have a great weekend. here's frances with an update. >> more information from the chp regarding this overturned big rig in vallejo. so the good news is they uprighted the big rig and it is still blocking the west

independent connector ramp as well as the west 80 and east 37 section ramp to the columbus parkway area. however, even though they've uprighted the big rig, they're saying that the big rig is carrying 100 pounds of sod and it's going to take them now at least three hours to clear this mess. so until 8:15 you're going to have to take the detour which they recommend as westbound 80 to redwood street and that's how you get around and get back to columbus parkway. also road work going on in san jose. some major connection ramps closed southbound 101 to southbound 880. that's blocked until about 7:00 as well as north 101 to northbound 680. that's only closed until about 6:00 this morning. but traffic is pretty light out there 'cause it's friday. but you can always find out if that changes by going to our website. abc7news.com is the place to go and you'll find it under the bay area traffic link.

eric, kristen. >> steven colbert. why his opinion called a mockery. >> sesame street pulls an elmo clip for being too racy of all things. coming up what some parents found objectionable. >> and the lucky east coast schools that facebook.com founder mark zuckerberg is friending today. @b@b@b@b@b@b@b

5:24. steven cobare will be testifying before congress about immigration during a hearing called protecting america's harvest. colbert will appear with farm worker's president rodriguez.

the representative is a member of the subcommittee on immigration and border security and she invited colbert to appear as an expert witness. colbert will talk about spending a day working in the fields following the ufw's take our jobs campaign in june. republicans say colbert's appearance will make a mockery out of the hearing. >> mark zuckerberg will appear on oprah and become a bay activist. donating $100 billion of his $7 billion fortune to the school system. the system has low test scores and graduation rates and taken over by the state for poor management. he has no connection to newark but met its mayor over the summer and they hit it off. you can watch oprah today at 4 p.m. here on abc 7. >> an appearance cut over cleavage. elmo on sesame street has been eliminated on an upcoming show

even before it aired. ♪ >> a kid-friendly version of her hit song hot and cold with a somewhat flustered elmo. they pulled it after it leaked on the web and said the outfit is too revealing for a kids show. they say the action was unwarranted. you can learn more about the controversy from sesame street's executive producer on "good morning america" which begins at 7 a.m. after this newscast. >> that would be the kid-friendly version because the lyrics of the original song, lots of racy stuff. >> racy dress, racy song. 5:26. >> the man charged with kidnapping dugard for 18 years. why proceedings could come to a halt. >> a frightening report what might have caused a dangerous and dead whether i pg&e explosion. i'll tell you about the

dangerous microbes coming up. >> also next at 5:30, what a new poll reveals about the race between barbara boxer and carly fiorina in the california u.s. senate race. >> check out temperatures in the upper mid-west, 60s minneapolis, 72 chicago. it is fall up there but still summer in d.c. at 96, phoenix 100 and 74 portland. right now no major problems at our airports but rains moving through the heartland.

the file on david harmer isn't pretty. a corporate lawyer for a credit card company fined millions, even deceiving seniors. an executive for predatory lenders, as harmer's bank got billions from the wall street bailout. david harmer -- helping corporations rip people off.

a record we can't afford. we need jerry mcnerney, small businessman, voting against congressional pay increases and refusing to take them, standing up for what's right. i'm jerry mcnerney, and i approved this message. ♪ i'm jenelle wang live in san bruno. a new possible cause in the pg&e pipeline explosion. i'll tell you about the startling report that came out this morning. >> also this morning a federal judge is expected to decide whether california can go ahead with its next scheduled execution.

a san quentin death row inmate is set to die by lethal injection in six days. >> a major break through in the state's budget stalemate. governor schwarzenegger and top legislative leaders say they've reached a deal on a framework for a spending plan. >> check how calm it is it morning. the bay waters almost a mirror to the bay bridge. notice the lack of clouds. warm weather on the way. the hottest stretch of weather all year and could bring poor air quality. i'll tell you why. >> a crash just came in for the peninsula. north 101 near hillsdale. more details on that and update on an overturned big rig in vallejo. so far still pretty quiet right now at the bay bridge toll plaza. >> 5:30 on this friday. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas. a new theory this morning what may have sparked that deadly explosion and gas fire in san bruno two weeks ago. scientists are trying to figure out if bacteria-induced corrosion played a role. jenelle wang is live in san bruno. jenelle, could the same

conditions exist elsewhere? >> uh-huh. it's called microbiologically influenced corrosion and it has happened elsewhere. ten years ago in the new mexico desert. the dangerous microbes are believed to be the cause of a gas transmission line explosion that killed 12 people including three young children. that transmission line was 50 years old and 30 inches in diameter. sound familiar? that's the same specs of the one here in san bruno that killed 7 people on september 9th, over 50 years old and 30 inches in diameter. the corrosion being a possible cause came out in the san francisco chronicle. it's microbes that could be dormant in a tiny pool of water. all of a sudden they spring to life and start eating away on the metal causing it to corrode. pg&e told regulators last year there was concern for the potential of internal corrosion along the 46-mile pipeline that

ran from san francisco down through san bruno and milpitas. the sign of corrosion-causing microbes has showed up in several tests. a biologist not associated with pg&e says a pipeline old as the one running under san bruno would have likely had microbes hiding inside and the only way to check is sending something in called a smart pig to detect cracking inside the walls and a cleaning pig which basically removes all the gunk along the walls of the pipeline. the problem is the pipeline is too narrow and too many dips and curves to send one of these robotic devices in the pipeline. another cause could be external corrosion. the national transportation safety board is in charge of this investigation. it's going to look at all the possibilities. that investigation is expected to take one year. in the meantime crews have returned here and they're in the middle of clearing out all the debris from this blast site. they started yesterday. they're expected to be here for the next three or four weeks. they're gonna hit about 34 to 37 homes in this area.

and after a month this whole area is gonna look like one big dirt lot so residents can start to rebuild. reporting live in san bruno, i'm jenelle wang, abc 7 news. >> jenelle, thank you. a federal judge is expected to decide today if california can proceed with the execution of a convicted murderer next wednesday. the same judge ordered california to stop executions in 2006 and demanded changes in the lethal injection process. death penalty opponents claim the state hasn't met those requirements. the state says they have followed a judge's ruling by building a new death chamber and has better trained staff. it wants to use the new facility at san quentin to execute albert brown on wednesday morning. brown was convicted of abducting, raping and killing a 15-year-old girl in 1980. the man accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard and holding her captive for 18 years is expected back in court this morning. the sacramento says phillip garridos attorney may announce her client is mentally incompetent to stand trial.

if the judge ordered mental evaluation he'll put an immediate stop to proceedings. both he and his wife nancy have pleaded not guilty. if found incompetent he will be sent to a state medical facility until he's competent to stand trial. >> california may be on the verge of breaking its budget stalemate. top legislative leaders have agreed on a budget framework. they say they'll try to hammer out the details over the weekend. they hope to announce a budget deal by monday and call lawmakers back to sacramento next week for hearings and a vote. >> what the framework actually means is it's been determined how much we will be spending in the coming year. how much we will be cutting in the coming year. what our levels of education funding will be and all the other details will be spelled out from there. >> republicans and democrats are split over whether to close the state's $19 billion deficit with tax increase or spending cuts. >> the state's budget stalemate is putting another $932 million

for transportation spending on hold. that could delay the start of several projects here in the bay area. our media partner, the san jose mercury news reports the california transportation commission is delaying more than $32 million in contracts that would add merging lanes between university avenue and marsh road on my 101 in san mateo county. also on hold more than $9 million for metering lights and chp pullout areas on 101 in san mateo county. also rebuilding the tully road 101 interchange in san jose. >> the latest california field poll shows incumbent barbara boxer widening her lead over challenger carly fiorina in the senate race. she is now ahead of the hewlett-packard ceo 47% to 41%. boxer's support remains the same as the last poll in july but fiorina slipped 3 percentage points. the number of voters undecided about the senate race increased to 12%.

it was at 9% in july. >> looks like we're about to get some july-type heat in late september. >> i think 47% of us say this is a good thing. the rest are undecided. >> okay. i guess we'll find out after how they thought about it. it's coming and you can't stop it, can't control it, can't contain it. that's dan patrick. our weather. i can say that because we have espn. well, disney. this morning concord 91. the big story. 91 concord today. 7 degrees warmer. san francisco the same, santa rosa 8 degrees warmer with san jose and fremont. 11 degrees warmer than yesterday. remember yesterday's temperatures jumped about 5 to 10 degrees also. still cool at 8:00, the dry air, the longer nights. upper 40s santa rosa, napa. the rest of us upper 50s. by noon upper 70s around the bay. low 80s in the south bay. mid-80s in the east bay and north bay valleys.

71 half moon bay at noon. same thing at 4:00. low it mid-80s throughout the bay. mid to upper 80s in the south bay and north bay valleys and lowto mid-90s 4:00 on a friday with sunshine in the east bay valleys. cool and beach weather or some way to keep yourself cool as temperatures peak by monday near 100 inland, 90 around the bay and 80s at the coast. a busy morning trafficwise. frances with another update. >> two hot spots i'm watching. one on the peninsula where a new accident is being reported north 101 at roleston. chp on its way right now and apparently it's in the left lane. a look at the traffic maps, it's still moving at 67 mph. we'll keep an eye on this to let you know things slowed down. and the other big trouble spot this morning is one we've been following since about 3:00. it's an overturned big rig blocking the columbus parkway off-ramp from westbound 80 and eastbound 37. that's going to be out there until at least 8:00 this morning.

chp is recommending that people continue on westbound 80, turn off at redwood street and get back on eastbound 80 to get around the closure for the morning commute. eric, kristen? >> frances, thank you. it's 5:38. >> still ahead, the rough water that could sink san francisco's chances for hosting the most prestigious boat race in the world. >> also no more nellie. the new leader the golden state war -- warriors are [ female announcer ] this is a strawberry pop tart. but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel. [ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat.

and these e the ones you'll love on a school night pillsbury ham and cheese crescents with just a few ingredients, you have an easy to make dinner. they're crescents for the other 364. try them tonight. our state is in a real mess. and i'm not going to give you any phony plans or snappy slogans that don't go anywhere. we have to make some tough decisions. we have to live within our means. we have got to take the power from the state capitol and move it down to the local level, closer to the people. and no new taxes, without voter approval. we have got to pull together not as republicans or as democrats but as californians first. at this stage in my life, i'm prepared to do exactly that.

but this is warm, fresh-baked strawberry toaster strudel. [ music ] see the difference? pillsbury toaster strudel, the one kids want to eat. than listening there'to our favorite songs. there's nothing we love more than listening to our favorite songs. but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizza rolls. but our favorite thing is eating totino's pizza rolls. ♪ we're the kids in america

♪ oh, oh, oh >> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >> welcome back. campus police are warning college students to be extra alert after an assault on a female student tuesday afternoon on the second floor of the campus garage. the victim was grabbed from behind and thrown against a wall. she shoved the man away and ran to her car. the school added extra security patrols. this is a police sketch for a man wanted for attacking a woman jogging sunday on a popular south san jose trail. the suspect tried to sexually assault her after pushing her into an aqueduct near snell road. the woman fought off the attack and escaped. if you have information call the sheriff's department or san jose police. >> america's cup organizers insist they'll be flexible with

san francisco even though the city is going to miss a critical deadline to submit a critical bid by the end of this month. the racing team owned by larry ellison will decide where the 2013 cup will take place. san francisco remains in the running along with valencia, spain, and an unnamed city in italy. the city and the team are still hammering out some details. the approval process could set sail next week if a proposal is submitted to the board of supervisors on tuesday. supporters claim the cup could pump a billion dollars into the local economy. >> don nelson is expected to step down from his post on monday one day before the team begins training camp. nelson became the nba's all time winning coach last season but the warriors have new owners and indicate they want to move in a new direction that doesn't include the 70-year-old nelson. his top assistant keith smart will take over as head coach.

>> it's 5:42 now. hewlett-packard giving its tablet pc away for free. but there's a catch. always a catch. the bloomberg business report straight ahead. >> the frightening mid air close call that almost caused a collision over a major u.s. city. >> a ruling coming today that could end the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. >> anded about guys on bikes in berkeley. police launc

you can see

welcome back. eureka a few clouds at 68 but sunshine at 75 and big sur. central valley, everybody reaching 90. fresno 92. head to the sierra, it's going to be absolutely sunny in tahoe, 75 today and 80 sunday. over 100 at yosemite with lows in the 40s at night. and we'll go to southern california where we'll have plenty of sunshine and temperatures that will run, well, in the low 90s around l.a. and around the upper 70s in san

diego. kristen, eric. >> thanks a lot, mike. time 5:46. >> the stories we're following. investigators are looking at a tiny bacteria called microbes as a possible cause of the deadly natural gas pipeline explosion in san bruno. microbes can grow in pools of water inside of gas mains and corrode the pipes from the inside. pg&e has acknowledged that tests showed a small amount of water inside of the same pipeline. >> the man accused of kidnapping jaycee dugard and holding her captive for 18 years in antioch is expected back in court this morning. phillip garrido's attorney may announce her client is mentally incompetent to stand trial. if the judge agrees to a mental evaluation, it could delay any trial for years. >> a federal judge is expected to rule today if california can resume executions at san quinnty as early as wednesday. the same judge blocked the state from carrying out executions four years ago and also ordered changes in the lethal injection procedure. the state insists it has met

those conditions. the latest on these stories at 6:00. >> the state of virginia has excused the first woman to face capital punishment in the u.s. in five years. 41-year-old theresa lewis died by lethal injection. she was convicted of enticing two men to shoot her son and husband while sleeping. she apologized before her execution. >> a ruling of a federal judge could throw out the "don't ask, don't tell" policy once and for all. the judge ruled it was unconstitutional two weeks ago and could issue an injunction on the ban on openly gay troops but the obama administration filed motions yesterday to block such an injunction. the white house says the legal filing follows government procedure and does not detract from the president's efforts for congress to throw out the "don't ask, don't tell."

>> the faa, a u.s. airway jet is the yellow line in this animation. the red line is a cargo plane that took off on a parallel runway almost the same time. the planes were in thick cloud cover and didn't see each other but came so close as you can see the u.s. airways pilot to hear the cargo plane passing him. >> off the left side. >> 1848, contact. possibly straight out. >> okay. we just had -- we heard them go by. >> the investigators say the planes were between just 50 and 100 feet apart. the faa says the air traffic controller incorrectly told the u.s. airways pilot to turn when he shouldn't have. berkeley police are cracking down on cyclists who ignore traffic rules. they issued 19 tickets in just two hours yesterday. most of the riders did not stop at a stop sign.

the police department's trying to reduce the number of injuries on the street. 129 cyclists have been injured in berkeley so far this year. >> hoping to educate bicyclist riding hazardously or recklessly. we want people to slow down at intersections, look both ways, be aware of their surroundings, other vehicles. >> the fines are between 35 and $200. four cyclists have been killed in berkeley the last 26 years. all four accidents the cyclist was at fault. >> looking at the weather ahead, i imagine a lot of cyclists this weekend. >> absolutely. people walking around, enjoying the sunshine. >> take plenty of water. >> absolutely. no problems. let's take a look and show you what's going on at 5:50 this morning. looking from ballmer peak back to san francisco. you can see all the way out to the ocean.

no marine layer clouds this morning. let's talk temperatures because of the calm conditions. 40s santa rosa, napa, half moon bay and the hills around los gatos 64. the rest of us be prepared for 50s as you step outside. monterey bay, 47 gilroy and 55 salinas. sunny today, warmer than average afternoon temperatures but clear and cool again tonight. weekend beaches in the 80s. ocean water 50. highs today above average, redwood city about 3. concord and san jose 7. san francisco 9 and oakland 11 degrees warmer than what we should be on this september 24th. the reason why? the high pressure, the clear sky this morning and the lack of a breeze that allows the heat to build to 6 to 12 degrees warmer than yesterday. so 70s along the shore. 80s around the bay and 90s in our inland valleys. but this is just the beginning. the heat will peak monday with 1 hundreds east bay valleys. near that north bay and south bay valleys with mid to upper 90s and 80s around the bay and

out to the coast. but also monday, could have poor air quality in the inland areas of the east bay and the santa clara valleys. until then we're going to be a-okay as far as the air quality goes. still pretty warm, 89 dublin. low to mid-90s the east bay valley. berkeley 82, mid to upper 80s the rest of the east bay shore. south bay we have mid to upper 80s with san jose at 87. possibly los gatos around 90. peninsula sunshine, low to mid-80s today with 84 menlo park and redwood city. pacifica, daly city to the sunset, downtown south san francisco, sausalito all flirting with 80 degrees. san rafael, vallejo will be along with petaluma the mid-80s. the rest of the north bay upper 80s to near 90 degrees. your beaches relatively calm and warm, low 70s. monterey, pacific grove. salinas low to mid-90s inland. tonight a few 60s out there.

antioch, concord, fremont, san jose, oakland. san francisco and san mateo. the rest of us mid-50s. accu-weather seven-day forecast. yeah, the heat is hot this weekend. well, that makes sense. the temperatures will be hot this weekend. duh! (laughter) >> i probably could have got away with that. everybody's half asleep right now. the coast we'll be near 80. hi, frances. is the traffic trafficy? >> traffic is trafficy. let me give you a little reference point. this is interstate 80 across your screen. it's in the tunnel beneath interstate 80. what it does, it has the west 80 off-ramp to columbus parkway blocked as well as the east 37 connector ramp to columbus parkway. this overturned big rig has been uprighted but they need a few more hours to clear the sod that has been spilled on the roadway. so it's going to be out there until about 8:15 this morning. if you need to head to columbus

parkway, chp recommends continuing on westbound 80 and then getting off at redwood city and then that will get you around that closure that you just saw a live picture of. now, also on the peninsula, an accident still blocking the left lane, this is north 101. chp is at the scene so hopefully this will be cleared shortly, still not causing slowing at this point, no major slowing anyway. you can find out if that changes by going to our website anytime. we update it 24/7. it's at abc7news.com and you'll find it under the bay area traffic link. >> 5:54. >> fannie mae offering cash to buy foreclosed homes across the country. >> here's jane king. >> if you're thinking of buying a foreclosed property, listen up. the mortgage lender fannie mae offering buyers across the country 3% of a purchase price back used for closing costs or to buy a home warranty. brokers also offered an extra

bonus. meantime texas now joining the states investigating practices at allied financial gmac mortgage unit. the office banning with iowa and florida looking into the foreclosure practices including whether its employees verified they had defaulted on loans. gmac practicing might have been faulty weeks before the foreclosure sales last friday. and investors today also tracking the housing market. we'll be getting a report on august new home sales about a half hour after the opening bell. we had a lower closure of stocks yesterday on concern about a jump in weekly unemployment claims. if you don't have an i-pad yet, here's an alternative. hewlett-packard giving away its tablet cp. a catch. you have to be able to buy a $400 photosmart printer that comes with it. if you're tired of getting blind

sided by high cellphone bills, rules would require mobile carriers alert customers before you use more minutes or send more text messages than your plan allows. i'm jane king with the bloomberg business report. >> it's 5:56 now. a computer room that experts think was designed to attack an iranny nuclear power station is causing international alarm. they believe it caused the facility to malfunction in june. the worm has since spread and infected about 45,000 industrial networks around the world. experts say the virus is so sophisticated it could only be created with the backing of a government. it can be transferred between machines by memory sticks. they need to give utility regulators authority to mandate protection. >> users say it's not very friendly on facebook.com for now. two days in a row the site crashed preventing hundreds of thousands from logging on. wednesday's crash was due to a

problem with third-party software and blamed yesterday's problem on an internal software flaw. they say the outages are not related. >> almost 5:57 now. just ahead at 6:00, the legal loophole that has the state paying hundreds of convicted violent offenders to work with some of california's most vulnerable residents. >> he's known for his mock conservative style but today he's offering real congressional testimony. testimony. the issue that it's great. i t anything that i want.

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