would it happen here? plus, hundreds rally and march, including in the bay area. and the con metro verbal new proposal from one lawmaker to close california's massive budget hole. good evening. it's thursday, jewel 29th. this is bay area news at 7:00. it's a shocking allegation, a u.s. senator says thousand of military graves at arlington national cemetery may be mismarked. we wanted to know if the problem extends to other military graveyards. we are live with news of a key difference. >> reporter: well, for many military families, just the idea of someone's remains being mishandled is disturbing and

what happened in arlington is raising questions about whether it could happen at other national cemeteries. stars and stripes fly over a feel of green. but today, a sha key of -- shadow of doubt was cast during a congressional hearing. at a cover serve tiff estimate, 4900 to 66,000 graves may be unmarked, improperly marked or mis. >> reporter: the hearing was held after a report last month revealed poor record keeping and a lack of oversite by the staff. today the former superintendent apologized. >> i accept full responsibility for the actions of my team. >> reporter: the issue has raised concern nationwide. >> i think it's disrespectful to the families that there are so many mistakes. >> reporter: the bay area has two national cemetery, one in san francisco and the golden

gate national cemetery. the cemeteries assist at that point in time directer says there is little chance of the same mix-up happening here. >> it won't happen here. the va has safeguards in place to insure that we do not make the mistakes that are alleged of the been made at arlington. >> reporter: he says it's run by the department of the army, where the majority of national cemeteries are managed by the veterans administration. the va uses a different tracking system than the army, there are paper records. >> type in a name. >> reporter: as well as computer systems to link each grave site with the proper person. >> we have both computer checks that prevents us from burying in the wrong grade as well as manual processes in place. >> reporter: the articlington issue was brought to light by an iraq veteran. as for the recordkeeping, an

army official said today they'll consider adopting the va system and they'll continue investigating why it took so long for this to come to light. report from you san francisco, ktvu, channel 2 news. the army released results of a 15-month study on soldier suicide. last year, the highest total ever. the deaths are partly blamed on a rise in risky behavior. and it raises concerns that commanders may be too focused on the wars in iraq and afghanistan to notice signs of mental issues. arizona's governor went to court today and appealed the federal judge's order blocking key elements of the controversial immigration law. the appeal asked that a temporary injunction be lift sod the full law could take

effect. as many as two dozen protesters were arrested outside the federal courthouse in phoenix. arizona's governor says she will appeal to the supreme court if necessary. rallies and demonstrations are taking -- demonstrations are taking place here in the bay area on both sides of the debate. a few hours later, another 100 people attended a prayer vigil. no one was arrested at either event. across the bay in san francisco, a couple hundred demonstrators are gathered right now at 24th and mission. their protest is focused on the secure communities program. it allows federal agents access to a state data base of fingerprints taken at jails making it easier to locate

undocumented immigrants. well, today's protest focused on people intent on overturning controversial law, public opinion remains evenly divided. thoughs that backed the crack down showed their support. >> secure our borders. >> reporter: with supporters of arizona's immigration law rallied in a demonstration sponsored by members of the tea party. they displayed signs mostly for the benefit of evening commuters. >> i want illegal immigration to stop. >> reporter: there are also many who quietly support it. >> every time you want to load her up, both go down. >> reporter: randy has owned his gun store for the past three years. he says he likes arizona's tough immigration law especially because the federal government isn't doing nearly enough to secure the border. >> the the federal government

will not step up, then arizona should be able to step up and protect their own voters. >> reporter: a recent poll show that the majority of americans favor the immigration law. >> being a minority myself, the immigration law, if you have to make it legal, then you have to make it legal for everybody. >> the border control can't control it and it's not working. we need other alternatives. >> reporter: many headlines have centered around angry calls to boycott arizona. but folks we spoke with say they don't consider themselves a silent majority. >> i think it's an underreported majority. >> reporter: many folks say they would like to see california pass an immigration law similar to arizona's. an update to a story we first told you about last night. two women accused of embezzling millions in a software company

made their first court appearance today. the two entered not guilty pleas during the arraignment. they are charged with grand theft and embezzlement. the pair worked for a company. the district attorney says they operated the scam for four years, cutting themselves at least $2.6 million in bonus checks. both were order on $1 million bail. new figures show fewer commuters are using the bay bridge during peak hours since tolls went up this movement traffic on the bridge is now lighter during the hours of 5:00 to 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. when tolls rise to $6. traffic picked up when tolls go down to $4 during off-peak hours. and they report changes they say the toll hike has caused a slight increase in ridership. the only rehabilitation center in oakland is evicted. officials with the urban wild

life center say they saved more than 500 animals each year. the center operates on rented property on the oakland hills. but now the owner wants it back. they say they would like to buy its own facility, but doesn't have the money. it's worried if it's forced to close, many wild animals will be euthanized or left to die many the wild. another person has died from whooping could have. it's reached epidemic levels in california. and this month has been especially bad. for man half of the 97 cases this year were reported in july alone. >> this affects the youngest children and puts them at highest risk. if you have a newborn or a by by in the household under one year of age, then, number one, they should be up to date on

shots, but every family member needs to be vaccinated, adults as well. >> the health department is reminding parents that children need a booster shot when they turn 11. just hours from now, dozens of firefighters stand to lose their jobs as the city struggles to close a budget gap. and that's not the only thing firefighters are upset about. they also want the mayor to change how they resolve labor contract disputes. >> reporter: it was a polite, but tense atmosphere as the mayor met with the firefighters union today since the city and union are battling over two budget issues. first the city manager and the union are at an inpass eight labor contract, millions of dollars apart. so 53 of the 720 firefighters are set to be laid off at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow. >> we know it's going to put the community at risk, property

at risk and firefighters at greater risk. >> every department had to take hits, police department, fire department, management, everybody took hits. >> reporter: the dispute seems likely to binding arbitration, a process that allows an outside mediator to make the final decision that. is scheduled to begin on november 1st, just a day before election day. >> the city has lost control over employee cost. the average cost for a firefighter and police officer is doubled in the last ten years. >> reporter: angry union officials say a charter change should follow months of public hearings. >> not, let's come up with an idea last-minute and somehow educate the citizen read through the newspaper and sound bites. it's not a safe way to do business. >> reporter: regardless, the timetables are all going to happen fast. the lay-offs begin tomorrow morning and the city will decide whether to put binding

arbitration before voters at next tuesday's counsel meeting. cooler weather and calmer winds are helping crews battling two major wildfires in southern california. the west fire has burned about 16,000 acres. the so-called bull fire to the north in the national forest has burned about 1200 acres. so far, the fires have destroyed 30 homes. firefighters farther south in los angeles are fighting three other brush fires that broke out today. coming up on bay area news at 7:00, california lawmakers return to sacramento on monday. and there's one new proposal on the table to close the budget. and ahead, the debate, why the owner of the photos maintain he bought a piece of california history. most of the bay area warmed up today. right now, we are still

tracking the fog towards san francisco, right around the bay. as far as the weekend, a few neighborhoods approaching ming what this droid does will change how you do movies. with blockbuster on demand, this does hit films on a 4.3-inch screen so big,

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work is move ago head tonight in the gulf of mexico to permanantly seal the broken bp oil well. bp says it hopes to start plugging the well this weekend with mud and cement so it can complete the operation by next week. a temporary cap has been keeping the oil from gushing out for the past two weeks. the coast guard says crews are not fining many new patches of crude in the gulf of mexico. the house ethics committee handed down a battery of charges against long-time democrat charles rangle.

it includes accepting gifts of more than $50 and failing to pay taxes on a beach house. the committee brought the charges after settlement talks failed. >> testified the chinese and north korea and as a result, i wrote a book having survived that and hadn't had a bad day since. today i have to reassess that statement. >> if he is found guilty, the house would have a range of punishment options from issuing a report to reprimand and even expulsion. home foreclosure rates are continuing to climb. more foreclosures were filed in the first half of this year than in the first half of last year and three-quarters of the areas. five california cities made the top 20 list for foreclosure

rates. modesto was third and riverside was fifth. in the bay area, the fairfield area was 9th. mortgage giant freddie mac says interest rates have hit a record low for the sixth week. the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage is 4.5%. the last time rates were this low was during the 1950s when most mortgage were for 20 or 25 years. state law makers returning from vacation on monday will face a stark reality. there's no budge and it no deal to resolve california's $19 billion budget short fall. but at least one proposal is now on the table. >> reporter: the hum over overheadlight, the chatter of tourists, they were essentially the only sounds heard today many the assembly chamber, the

members are on holiday. >> we are seven weeks past deadline and they have no bill, they have no plan. >> reporter: he says a budget deal is at least several weeks away. the only budget movement, the ticking of the so-called budget clock outside the governor's office. but talks are going on behind closed doors. >> we are talking about a tax cut for people across the income range. >> reporter: he says he has a plan to solve the $19 billion budget deficit without slashing education. he proposes to raise the income tax and increase the vehicle license fee. both of which can be deducted from federal taxes and cut the sales tax. >> what we would do is raise some of the taxes where taxpayers get a federal deduction. and lower the taxes, sales tax, where the taxpayers do not get a deduction. >> reporter: he says the end result is a tax decrease.

>> but depending more on income tax, we're going to look at more volatile system. we will have that discussion with him, but doesn't look like we can support. >> reporter: the income tax idea will go before lawmakers next week for debate. and without a budget, state workers face more furloughs and vendors face the prospect of getting paid with ious. the san francisco mayor signed the city's long awaited budget. the $6.5 billion spending plan imposes deep cuts and includes lay-offs and overtime reductions. the city was facing a $483 million short fall, the largest in the city's history. the mayor today thanked the city's public employee unions that gave up more than $420 million to help close the gap. >> every public employee that stepped to up the plate this year, this is a celebration of

their contribution and their leadership. they deserve it. >> the budget assumes about $140 million in state and federal funding that has not yet been secured. a panel of federal judges, at least nine lawsuits have been filed against google. over how it gathered information for street view feature in google maps. the company admitted in may it might have accidentally collected data. but google says it never used the data and hasn't broken any law. toyota announced it is recalling hundreds of thousands of vehicles due to steering problems. 373,000 models are among them. toyota says the problem is with the casting of the steering lock bar. also on the recall list is the

lexus ls 470. it is being recalled due tie problem with the steering shaft. for more on this and details on the troubled automakerrer's previous recalls, visibility sit our website. the grandson of the photographer tonight is disputing the glass plate photographs a man bought at a garage sale that. man says the photo prints are the work of the artist. but the grandson claims he comes back every few years and tries to sell the negatives as his work. >> i think he absolutely believes that they are orange. and like a dog with a bone is not going to give it up. >> an exclusive story aired last night and raised questions about the prints. but he arson there are expert who is back his claim, including the former cure rater

of the boston museum of fine arts. coming up on bay area news at 7:00, governor arnold schwarzenegger is in the bay area this weekend. the exclusive club he will be speaking at. and a slight warm-up today, but will it stick around for the weekend? [ dog i am beautiful...

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governor arnold schwarzenegger is set to speak tomorrow at the annual midsummer retreat. the 17-day event takes place in a wooded camp. the club has about 2,000 members and the gathering is said to include various rituals and discussions. the other speakers include the fox chairman and the former secretaries of state. turning to weather, a little bit of a warm-up, the warmest day all week. will it stick around? >> these are just minor changes. from the ocean inland spots approaching the 90-degree mark saturday and sunday. right now on the maps, still tracking quite a bit of fog. in fact, the fog hugging a good portion of the shoreline.

and patches moving into san francisco and right around the bay as well. as far as the cloud cover out there, still a factor for tonight. looking across the bay, mostly cloudy skies over san francisco bay and it's going to be a factor, especially around the coast, around the bay first thing tomorrow morning and a few patches inland. for tomorrow, the clouds pull back to the shoreline. the weekend forecast, a little bump in the numbers for saturday and sunday. not much change in the weather pattern, high pressure producing the temperatures inland, back up into the 38s for tomorrow. for the coast, once again, the other extreme with the fog many the upper 50s to around 60 degrees. the climate is breaking out for tomorrow with the inland fog playing sunshine around the bay. still a breeze for friday afternoon. winds from around 15 to 25 miles per hour. and the coast, some patchy fog, at least beginning to break up by mid to late afternoon. if you are traveling, you can see partly cloudy skies, a

beautiful week wednesday the readings in the upper 70s to around 80 degrees. and there's the heat at 106 degrees in palm springs. losangeles with fog in the morning and that will be part of the forecast as well. tomorrow morning, 50 to 55 degrees and the clouds back to the shoreline. upper 50s to low to mid-80s. fairfield at 86 degrees. around the bay, 69. oakland, mid-80s. san jose, 78. and san francisco, still patchy fog into the afternoon. a forecast high of 63. look ahead, the five-day forecast, minor changes for the weekend for saturday and sunday. cool things off by monday as we increase the fog once again into next week. >> yeah, like reruns. thank you. the comedian is reportedly leaving american idol after just one season as judge on the hit show. the insider says she won't return in january. american idol producers now have two vacant seats to fill.

she said she told producers the show didn't seem to be a good fit for her. and that is our report tonight. stay tuned for channel 2 news on channel 2. and tmz is next here on tv 36. until then, have a great night.

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