against that proposal. one council member says marijuana could generate $3 million to $5 million in revenue for the city in the next two years and that would go to the general fund, which would be available for everything, from police to libraries and even schools. opponents are worried that it does mean the end of mom and pop style pot producers. >> i don't have a financial stake in this ordinance, but i do have a stake in the way small farmers are treated in california and in this country. and i think that big ag is coming in and making a lot of rules, pushing out the small organic farmers. >> in order to take care of the so-called mom and pop growers. the city council has agreed to set up a permitting process for small and medium production plants as well. licenses would cost more than $250,000 each per year and growers would have to pay 8% of their gross sales to taxes. an arrest in san francisco caught on tape is raising

concerns this morning. someone posted this video on youtube. it shows police arresting a mother while her child sits in a stroller nearby. she appears to be drunk and is resisting. officers struggle to get her into the squad car, but before they do it, it appears one officer shoves her to the ground. police commission president joe marshall says while it's hard to watch, it's also dangerous to place blame based on a video shot from above. >> it's disturbing. you don't like to see that. of course, we don't know the circumstances of why. >> sfpd isn't telling us much of what happened. we know officers responding to a call sunday afternoon. the officer involved did write in his report he used force. he turned in his badge and gun while the department investigates. the man accused of shooting at chp officers on 580 should be in court later today to enter a plea and we have a better idea of who he may have targeted had police not stopped him. byron williams faces numerous

charges, including four counts of an attempted murder of a peace officer, that stemming from the shoot-out with the chp along 580 sunday morning. and police say williams planned to go to the tides organization, a group that promotes equality and environmental issues as well as the aclu in downtown san francisco. police said he planned to stay in the parking lot overnight sunday and then open fire on people as they arrived for work on monday. williams told investigators he wanted to, quote, start a revolution, and police says he has deep-rooted anti-government sentiment and anger towards left wing politicians. san francisco police are on the lookout for a female bank robber who may be taking down banks in other cities too. this woman was caught on camera robbing two san francisco banks, one on friday, one last month. and daly city police think she also hit a bank in their city just before noon monday. police say she's about 5'3" with curly brown hair and a shiny handgun. even more unusual in the daly city case, her getaway car was a

white paratransit vehicle with no license plates. city leaders are about to change the lightbulbs along san jose city streets and today people who live in the south bay can share their thoughts on that streetlight conversion plan. and nbc bay area's kris sanchez will have a report on that and talk about why those changes and what's involved. we'll have that from her a little bit later on. after late-night negotiations with mayor gavin newsom, san francisco city supervisored pass es passed a n. the $6 billion budget does include sharp cuts to most city departments, reduction in overtime, and layoffs of hundreds of city workers. target will hold a public meeting in san francisco tonight to talk about plans to open a new store there. we first brought you the story earlier this month. now, target wants to move into a shopping center at the corner of geary and masonic to fill a couple of vacant spots near usf. that's where tonight's meeting

will be tonight at 6:30. if that project is approved, the target would likely open in 2012. now to an update on that apartment building in pacifica that was teetering on a cliff. the building owner failed to submit a deadline to outline repairs to the apartment yesterday, but they don't plan to enforce the deadline because as long as the building stays empty, it poses no danger. the owner is having a tough time coming up with a way to finance the cliff repair. the most money ever. apple out of cupertino brought in more than $15 billion in just the last three months. we're not talking for the year. >> total revenue, yeah -- >> that's a lot of cash. >> it's interesting, though, we all think of apple as this young upstart. this little edgy company. in fact, it's the largest company in northern california except for chevron. it's just a huge company. apple says it sold a breathtaking 8 million iphones.

that's both the 3 and 4 models, 3 million ipads. now, on the conference call, ceo steve jobs was asked about the recent fall in apple's share price. he says he didn't care about people who lost, say, five bucks a share recently. he wants investors who are in it for the long haul. yahoo! meanwhile, said it continues to struggle in selling ads, continues to struggle. search profits were up, but revenues from ads they sell on search results were down. what you have here, brent and laura, is making more money on less revenue because of cuts. we've talked about this before. you can only take this so far. it is a way to grow the company by reducing the number of people you have, by reducing your costs, you can increase profit, but you can only go so far, as everyone company has seen. and that's what's going on at yahoo!. >> thanks a lot, scott. appreciate it. big numbers there. 30 people recovering this morning after a flight headed to carr hit severe turbulence. the united airlines boeing 777 took off from washington, d.c.,

yesterday afternoon. it was headed to l.a., but as it flew over kansas, the turbulence started so the pilot had to divert to denver. passengers talked about what it was like. >> the person behind me, he actually flew up and then he landed like kind of across the aisle on to somebody else's head. so he got a bruise on the chin. >> most of the people injured had bruises and some whiplash, even sprains. about 20 of them ended up going to the hospital. there is no obvious damage to the plane, but obviously they are going to inspect that. as we mentioned a short time ago, they're about ready to change the straight lightbulbs in san jose. there's a reason behind it and a reason why people are concerned. we want to check in with kris sanchez now and she has the details on what's going on. kris? >> reporter: good morning, brent. you might be able to see right behind me over this shoulder bright, white norms. but the yellow lights is what we

generally see around this neck of the woods, and it can make driving at night a little bit tricky. so tonight the city council -- or rather, the city -- a little problem there. the city's transportation department is going to finalize the recommendation they are going to make about the san jose city council about changing all the lights from the yellow light you see here to the white light you see on the other side, which could be more energy efficient and thereby more fund efficient as well. the city is really trying to get people involved, posting demonstrations of the different kinds of lightst they're talking about and getting people's opinions and also doing subjectivests as well. at the meeting tonight, the transportation department will fine-tune the pitch they will make to make the full switch throughout the city. and it is a switch that would not only cost the city no money, because the new lights would be paid for through federal stimulus dollars and grants, but would eventually also save the city about $110,000 a year.

okay. so we talked to the city transportation sustainability officer last night and she says that the reason these are so much more efficient is because the technology has come such a long way. they use a lot less energy, but also you can use less light in order to see the same distance, and that would be helpful for drivers like you and me, but also helpful for the city because it would save about $2 per lightbulb per day. eventually, 60,000 lights in the city of san jose would be replaced if this recommendation goes forward to the full city council, which they will get in september. we have some information for you. you can show up at the city council chambers at 7:00 tonight. that's where you can ask your questions and maybe take a look around at what they have found so far. in san jose, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> you can voice your concerns about the lights. also, tonight is your chance to weigh in on plans for california's high-speed rail. leaders will meet to talk about

the progress for san jose station location and a proposed route through san jose neighborhoods. the public meeting will be at the gardner community center on virginia street at 6:00 tonight. time now is just about 5:09. we do want to check the morning commute with mike and find out what's going on out there. >> good morning, both of you. we'll take you back to one of the spots i showed you earlier. notice now, all lanes are open. you can see the shine off some some vehicles on the side of the road. that construction zone, the lanes have cleared, but the trucks are still there and they may be moving north through the area. we'll follow this. rob, our photographer, has volunteered to travel north to make sure the construction is cleared up throughout the area. there may be construction further north around 880. here on the map is the area i just showed you with that live shot. e ni d, syearive andpe ezsds throughout the ezarea, no probl. the avt system, that is moving without delay throughout the south bay. great for commuters who are riding the rails instead of driving on the roads. >> no matter how fast or slow

they go, they'll get you there. might want to bundle up as you head out this morning. a little cool to start the day. >> absolutely. it certainly felt the chill this morning. even now you're going to feel it. but things are going to be warming up, just not a lot. a little drizzle outside, especially this morning. plenty 70s today. along the coast, we'll be in the 60s and even some low 80s, but it's that mid-july air. and if you're along the coast, there is going to be some surf. right now outside, 52 at san mateo. 53, san francisco, and san jose, we're in the mid-50ss at 55 degrees. looking ahead today, things will be warming up, just not very quickly. by 8:00 this morning, we're going to be in the higher 50s. by noon, we'll be getting to the 70s in some areas. mid-60s in most places out in oakland. if you're watching the as, it's going to be about 66 at lunchtime. at 4:00, things will be warming up a little bit more. we'll barely be breaking the 80s in some places. as we look ahead to the seven-day forecast, pretty nice because things will be warming

up from here. back to you guys. >> sounds good. thanks, ria. time now, 5:10. a final vote expected today to extend jobless benefits. we will tell you how one lawmaker could swing the vote. a new bill meant to keep you from getting in over your head with debt could be signed today. we'll tell you how the law will do that, coming up. and the oil leak could be stopped for good in two weeks. why engineers think they're getting really close now. that's coming up next. . come on in, and i'll give you a free quote. quote and compare in about 8 minutes. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

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welcome back, everybody. time now is 5:14. a live look outside, south bay san jose this morning, one of the many places where it might be a little cool to start your day, although we're not looking too bad as we get into the afternoon. we'll check your traffic and weather coming up in a bit. three months after the massive gulf coast oil spill, a solution may finally be in sight. this morning, five leaks discovered around bp's capped well are being described as small drips, and it appears the oil seepage found two miles from the site is from a different well and not of a concern. so with the cap working, bp is trying to call -- trying what they call a static kill. it would plug the top of the well until relief wells kill it from below. new this morning, dozens of people are hurt after 5.2 magnitude quake shakes southern

iran. the state television website says 11 aftershocks followed. 30% of buildings in four villages near the epicenter are damaged. millions of people out of work will soon get jobless benefits again. senate democrats finally broke through a republican filibuster. they will have a final vote today. now, they won with support from senator cart goodwin, the newest west virginia democrat. the senate failed to pass the extension three times in june. republicans arguing that the $33 billion measure would be paid for by offsetting cuts and other spending. nearly 270,000 californias could benefit from this new decision, according to the employment department and development department, but another 147,000 workers across the state have already exhausted their unemployment maximum, so they will not be helped by this extension. later this morning, president obama will sign the most sweeping overhaul of financial regulation since the great depression. senate democrats passed the bill last week, breaking another

republican filibuster. it comes nearly two years after wall street's failures knocked the economy into a deep recession. the reforms will tighten financial industry oversight and create a new consumer financial protection bureau. it's designed to make sure you know what you're getting into before you sign up for credit cards and loans and make sure you can afford your mortgage. republicans say the bill could put the recovery in jeopardy. >> 370 new regulations, it will be a massive bureaucracy. >> as soon as the bill is signed, democrats are expected to take up another contentious issues, the future of government-run giants, fannie mae and freddie mac. the average person on the street probably does not have any idea what the financial reform bill does. in fact, i would say probably a lot of lawmakers don't either. scott mcgrew joins us with a look at that. >> and that's okay. it really is. and here's why. many of congress can't say what the bill does, even though they're signing off on it. it's a regulatory bill.

what the bill is saying, it's setting goals for, say, the fdic, the s.e.c., the new consumer protection agency that you mentioned. it doesn't say how to enforce the goals. it says stop the crisis that we lived through from ever happening again, but it's up to the executive branch in the future to determine how to do that. how to make financial companies and banks and hedge funds more secure. this makes those financial industries crazy, because they simply don't know what to expect. wall street does no what to expect from apple. lots of money. the broader markets will respond to apple's news it made the most money it's ever made in company history. wells fargo and san francisco reporting its profits today as well. so we do expect a solid day on the nasdaq as it opens at 6:30 our time, at least in tech stocks. good news coming out of tech. >> we need something to drive the markets up. >> we need some apple stock.

it's 5:17. green may be the new red when it comes to nail polish. not so much the color, but rather its environmental safety. a new ordinance introduced in san francisco city calls for nontoxic nail salons. the salons would only use polishes free of toxins found in regular polishes like formaldehyde, a known carcinogen. the ordinance doesn't ban regular salons, just recognizes thenon-toxic salons. the giants could sleep the dodgers in l.a. tonight. it was a wild one at dodgers stadium. tim lincecum, cy young guy, watch his pitch, the ball goes straight up in the air. that's a ball. the giants were down 5-1, but rallied to within one run. and that's when an unusual call happens here. dodgers' acting manager, don mattingly had gone to the mound, then he had stepped off and on to the grass, but then he went

back to the mound again. that constitutes two visits. bochy had noticed that earlier, he alerted the umpire, they had to switch pitchers, so the giants go on to win it, 7-5. the as wrap up their series with the red sox this afternoon. they had some excitement of their own at the coliseum. extra innings and in the tent, kevin at the plate, two outs and he singles in derek barton, who scores. and that ends up being the game winner. the final score was red sox, 4, athletics, 5. so the as again the win. we told you about a bay area man trying to make an nba team. jeremy lin is on the verge of signing a two-year deal with the warriors. he got a lot of attention after he played in the nba summer leader. former raiders quarterback jamarcus russell is now dealing

with his issues. police say russell had codeine syrup, which is frequently used to make what's called the purple drank. police say he did not have a prescription. his lawyer says when the facts come out, russell will be exonerated. >> he is a tall guy. 5:19 right now. want to check in with mike with a look at your morning commute. >> take you out to the bay bridge, where we have reports of debris. a tire, maybe a big tire going across as you're heading toward treasure island. that upper deck will be affected. sounds like it's affecting your left two lanes. watching for bridge crews and any slowing or any traffic breaks they have to do. right now, none reported. your travel time coming off the carquinez bridge, still 18 minutes. an easy drive off of hercules, down around berkeley. the maze looking really nice. a live look, told you about the debris, but the light volume of traffic isn't causing any issues as far as coming over from the oakland side. the twinkling lights show you the moisture in the air. that may be a factor later on. right now, we clearly see the bridge. we clearly see the oakland side

from san francisco as well. so we will look at oakland there and we'll see how things are moving over past the coliseum. right now, very light volume, as you might imagine and a smooth drive along the nimitz freeway. no accidents reported all along the nimitz. that's great news later on today. 12:35, a midday game for the as as ria has told you. we'll watch for that and we've got to give the giants equal time. coming into san francisco, their city, a nice drive, pretty cool shot and pretty cool forecast. ria's got the details coming up in a moment we've also got goats this morning hanging out on a bi billboard.

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good wednesday morning to you. taking a live look outside, this time from the south bay this morning, overlooking san jose, a little bit of a cool start to the morning out there. maybe grab a jacket before you head out the door, if you're heading out early. want to check in with ria, she is in for rob this morning with a look at our forecast. >> yes. and layers are going to be key today because the temperatures will be going up. 52 in san mateo. 53, san francisco. mid-50s and 55 in san jose. when you look at the temperature differences from yesterday, just a couple of degrees warmer from yesterday, not much. in fact, we are a degree cooler at this time today than we were yesterday. the wind speeds aren't too bad. relatively calm out.

it's going to be pretty nice. things aren't going to be picking up as far as the sea breeze or the wind goes today. so it shouldn't be too, too bad. when we take a look at our air quality, pretty nice and good throughout the entire bay area, so it's not going to be bad at all around there. and when we take a look ahead at the temperatures today, we'll be warming up pretty slowly. 8:00 this morning, we'll be in the higher 50s and it's not going to be going up very much from there. by noon, we'll be in the high 60s. some areas, 68, redwood city. 66 in oakland, where people will be out watching the baseball game. 70 in san jose, and 4:00, well, those numbers will go up from there, but they're not going to go up very much. mid-70s, san jose, 76. redwood city, 72. san francisco is probably not going to get much warmer than 61. along the coast, we're low 60s, pretty much all day and all week. and in the mid-70s creeping their way up a couple of degrees every day. back to you guys. >> thanks a lot. several goats in virginia

have a growing fan base. they're hanging out on a billboard. check it out. the owner says they like to hang out on the ihop ad and you'll see him right where our logo is, we'll take that away, and you'll see in a second. there they are. they're getting a little shade. they apparently sign up on one side of the sign where there's a hill, although there is a 70-foot drop at some points, but they don't seem to mind. so many people have noticed the goat and watch them that they have set up a facebook fan page. now, the ihop owner says it doesn't get his goat. in fact, he offered the goats' owner a free stack of pancakes. stuck in a chain link fence in bakersfield. a ben and jerry's ice cream owner saw it and started feeding it a little bit of milk and ice cream and did call for help, but eventually the little fox rested up and got enough strength. they're trying to get him out. he pulled his own head out and

got away. maybe it was a good gig. maybe he was just doing that to get the ice cream and milk. >> he looked a little dehiydra e dehydrated. it's 5:26 now. a usad employee asked to resign after what appeared to be racist remarks made in a speech. but not so faz. the man accused of shooting at chp officers on 580 will be in court this morning and we'll tell you who police planned to gun down, coming up. seven preschools could close in the east bay. a live look outside at the golden gate bridge. a pretty clear shot across there. the traffic volume is picking up.

cop caught on etape. a mother is arrested while her child sits in a stroller nearby. now a san francisco police officer could be in trouble. the state's budget problems have trickled all the way down to preschoolers here in oakland who may lose their school. i'm christie smith and we'll tell you about the plan their parents have come up with to save it, coming up in a live report. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm brent cannon. those stories plus the latebreaking details in oakland's pot plant coming up in just a minute. but first, mike is here to help you plan your morning commute. >> speed sensors not showing too bad of a commute right now in the south bay. these close to the limit, but 101 around mckee, photographer rob just called from the area

and said it's starting to slow down. hopefully no one hits this. this is debris westbound 237 around that lawrence expressway. your left two lanes have also tires there. lawrence expressway also called the caribbean. ria's in, is it caribbean or caribbean? >> i would say the caribbean. but that's just me. well, folks, if you're heading outside, you're going to feel a little bit chilly. morning fog and clouds will be sticking around for a little while. in fact, there's even some drizzle out there. lots of moisture in the air. there will be some 70s today. 60s along the coastline. 70s and 80s inland. a whole different picture than the other day when we were in the high 90s inland. right now things are still pretty cool. we're in the low 50s in most areas. 53 in san francio. 55 here in san jose. and things will be warming up just a littlfrbit as the day goes on. just about where we were yesterday, 24 hours ago. so not too bad.

i'll have more on the weather coming up in a little bit. see you then. >> we'll look forward to that. thank you very much, ria. the start of a new school year is right around the corner, but cuts to the state's education budget may shut down several oakland preschools, leaving parents scrambling to find new ones for their children. nbc bay area's christie smith is live in oakland this morning with a plan parents are putting together to try to save the center. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. we're talking about 1,000 students here in oakland who rely on these child development centers. there are seven of them and the students are preschoolers, some are school age, and the problem, no surprise here, is funding, and the funding comes from the state. this actually operates under the school district here in oakland. but, again, we have a lot of students here scrambling for a place to go. here with me this morning is laurice brown, good morning. you are a parent but also working with oakland paired together. can you talk about what the problem is and what you guys hope to do about it? >> sure.

the state is in the main revised budget put early childhood education on the table for cuts. and as a result, the entire state including the oakland school district was forced to submit a budget to the county june 30th that included severe cuts to the early childhood education. >> reporter: so we're talking about seven locations. tonight, you guys have a meeting coming up. what are you proposing to keep the kids in school? >> we are proposing, oakland parents together, we are going to take over these sites to keep the doors open come august 2nd. and how we're going about doing that is with volunteers, staff who have been laid off already, along with oakland parents, staff will be manning these sites. >> reporter: there are seven facilities that i mentioned. mans nita, jefferson, golden gate, santa fe, piedmont avenue, and sequoia. there is going to be a meeting

tonight from 5:30 to 7:30 at the santa fe location on adeline street here in north oakland and that's where the parents will be talking about their alternate plans. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> thanks a lot, christie. new this morning, oakland is now a step closer to becoming the first city in the country to allow marijuana as a wholesale industry. after a seven-hour meeting that ended just after midnight, the city council voted 5-2 in favor of selling four production permits. the debate was heated. one city council member says the marijuana industry could generate $3 million to $5 million for the city in the next two years. and that money could go to the general fund and would pay for everything from police to libraries and schools. on thes a opponents are worried it means the end of mom and pop style producers. >> i don't have a financial stake in this ordinance, but i do have a stake in the way small farmers are treated in

california and in this country. and i think that big ag is coming in and making a lot of rules, pushing out the small organic farmers. >> in order to take care of the so-called mom and pop growers, the council agreed to set up a permitting process for small and medium protection plants. now, licenses would cost more than $200,000 each year and growers would have to pay 8% of their gross sales to taxes. an arrest in san francisco caught on tape is raising concerns this morning. someone posted this video on youtube. it shows police arresting a mother while her child sits in a stroller nearby. she appears to be drunk and is resisting. officers struggle to get her into the squad car, but before they do it, it appears, you'll see here shortly, that one officer actually shoves her to the ground. police commission president joe marshall says while it's hard to watch, it's also dangerous to place blame based on a video shot from above. the officer involved did write in his report he used force.

he has turned in his badge and gun while the department investigates. the man accused of shooting at chp officers on 580 should be in court today to enter a plea and we have a better idea of who he may have targeted had police not stopped him. byron williams faces numerous charges, including four counts of attempted murder of a peace officer stemming from that shoot-out with the chp along 580 early friday morning. and police say williams had planned to go with the tides organization, a group that promotes equality and environmental issues, and then on to the aclu in downtown san francisco. police said he planned to stay in the parking lot overnight sunday and open fire on people as they arrived for work on monday. >> we have learned through the course of our investigation, this is evidence that was collected at the scene and his statements, that on saturday night, he was going to san francisco to an organization called tides and the aclu for the sole purpose to kill people. >> williams told investigators he wanted to, quote, start a

revolution. he said that he had deep-seeded anti-government sentiments and some anger toward left-wing politicians. it's 5:36 right now. the city of san francisco has a new budget. after late-night negotiations with mayor gavin newsom, san francisco supervisors managed to close a deficit while restoring a number of health and human services, but the $6 million budget does include sharp cuts to most city departments, reduction in overtime, and layoffs of hundreds of city workers. meantime, a new twist in that argument over who owns facebook. there may be a written contract between founder mark zuckerberg and a man who says that he owns 80% of that site. scott's got the details. >> this is a weird story that just gets weirder and weirder. you'll recall this fella, he's from upstate new york state. he invested in the site, he says, that eventually became facebook. well in a courtroom yesterday, we found out, yeah, there is an actual contract between zuckerberg and the fella by the

name of paul seeingla that does appear to give seeingla majority ownership. facebook owners says they're not sure if the sergeant is really zuckerberg and there are huge questions why it took the man so long to claim he's part owner of a multibillion dollar website, but this case just got a whole lot more serious. this is the image search on google. google's made it better. you get so many more pictures in the result and you can sort by color too. yellow tulips and then watch this, orange tulips. google says its computers are now smart enough to figure out if you search for leopards, brent and laura, it can sort those leopards into different species of leopards based on what kind of spots they have. >> imagine the research kids can do now. we used to go to this thing called the high prayelibrary. >> thanks a lot, scott. appreciate it. 30 people are covering this

morning after a flight headed to california hit severe turbulence. the united airlines boeing 777 took off from washington, d.c., yesterday afternoon headed for l.a. but as it flew over kansas, the turbulence started and the pilot diverted to denver. most of the people who were hurt had bruises and whip lash and even sprains and about 20 ended up in the hospital. there's no obvious damage to the plane. however, they are inspecting it today and i have to say, if going to denver is your best alternative, it's one of the most turbulent airports. it must have been pretty rough. >> i agree. hopefully not rough on the roadways this morning. let's check in with mike. >> not turbulent at all. there's an issue to avoid if you want to avoid any turbulence, reports of some debris, more degr debris this time southbound 280. reports of a large chunk of metal. also reports of a tire.

watch for chp and clearing through the area, over the next few minutes. north bay 280, very smooth as well as 101. both 18 to 20 minutes for your drive into san francisco out of san mateo and south between the bridges, just seven minutes, you're at the limit there as well. coming down the peninsula, ria had told me, you'd used the windshield wipers once or twice, but the mist was enough. >> otherwise i wouldn't have been able to see out of the windshield. almost like a bit of rain. glad i got here. there's cloudy conditions, another day of clouds today. they will be burning off as the afternoon goes on. that's the good news. we're in the mid- to higher 50s at 8:00 this morning. only going up a couple of degrees, but most places will be in the 60s. the low 60s pretty much all day long, and by 4:00, we're going to be in the 70s in some areas inland, some 80s, not so many and nowhere near the 90s we were

at just a couple days ago. time now is 5:40. big news concerning bay area housing marks. where you can find some of the hottest spots. and take a look at this, a parasailing donkey. now some people could do some jail time for this stunt. and a usda employee could get her job back after she was fired following the release of a video. we'll explain that reversal, coming up next. s

new this morning, the head of the department of agriculture now says he will reconsider his decision to ask an employee to resign over racially charged remarks. shirley sherrod is the former director of world development in georgia. now, she says she was forced out monday after a video surfaced in which she says she did not give a white farmer as much help as she could have. sherrod says her remarks were taken out of context and the

story was really about racial reconciliation. she was trying to set things straight. early this morning, secretary tom vilsack said he will review and consider additional facts concerning sherrod's resignation. the farmer that sherrod was talking about in that tape is actually coming out in her defense. he says that she helped him save his farm. but now sherrod is saying that she's not sure that she would return to the agriculture department, even if she's invited back. nbc bay area's tracie potts live this morning from washington, d.c., with more on this developing story. tracie? >> yeah. this story, as you mentioned, has taken some twists and turns. the naacp initially came out and said she should be fired, they have since reversed course. the farmer is backing her. now the secretary of agriculture is saying, well, maybe we need to take another look at this. the white house initially said president obama was behind his decision. no word and we'll probably hear

more about that today. vilsack, the agriculture secretary now says, no, this was all my decision. a lot of twists and turns. and shirley sherrod now coming out on the air doing lots of interviews this morning, including one you'll see shortly on the west coast on the "today" show saying, i don't know if i want to go back there. i'm not sure if i'll be treated fairly. >> thanks a lot, tracie. now, the other big story that's coming out of d.c. this morning. of course, we're following the financial reform bill. what kind of changes can we expect now that this has been signed? >> reporter: yeah, it's finally going to be signed in just a couple of hours, and this is a big deal for consumers. there's going to be a new government agency, a bureau, a watchdog group here in washington, essentially to make sure that when you sign up for a loan, when you sign up for a new credit card, all of that fine print, all of those mounds of paper are clear, they're understandable, you know what you're getting into. also, a lot of mortgage loans will no longer have prepayment penalties, but you will have to prove that you can repay that

loan. so no more of those no-doc loans that got us into a lot of trouble a couple of years ago. and credit cards, a lot of colleges will no longer accept big payments on credit cards, so you'll have to deal with that. and merchants, many of them may require $10 minimums. so if you're going through the drive-through, going to get coffee, you may have to have cash with you. and finally, this is a big one for consumers, if you're denied credit, you'll get a free look at your credit score. before you could get the report, now you'll actually get the score. >> many changes and thanks for the update on both those issues today. 5:46 right now. former illinois governor rod blagojevich's trial is set to resume today and the big question is whether or not he will testify. the impeached governor's attorneys made a surprising move yesterday, announcing they may rest their case without calling a single witness, including blagojevich. he said for months he would speak directly to jurors. his attorney says a final decision will be announced

today. blagojevich is accused of trying to sell an appointment to president barack obama's old senate seat. it's 5:46 right now. you're watching nbc bay area news. >> we're going to check your traffic and weather coming up in about five more minutes. new this morning, a groundbreaking decision in oakland. late last night, the city council approved a plan that would make oakland the first city in california to allow industrial pot production. nbc bay area's christie smith this morning live in oakland with what this could mean for the once-underground plant. christie? >> reporter: good morning to you. for oakland, this means that medical marijuana is coming out of the shadows and going mainstream. this city council meeting went on for a long time, at least seven hours last night. but in the end, the oakland city council voted 5-2 in favor of allowing industrial marijuana production. at least four centers would be allowed in the city for the first year. the cost is about $200,000 for the permits per grower witgrowe

year. there had been some pushback by those who felt the smaller mom and pop growers would be pushed out of business. but according to one council woman we spoke with last night, they did make room in the plan to allow for small and medium growers to thrive. this is expected to create at least 1,000 jobs here in oakland and about $5 million to $8 million in tax revenue. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> all right. that's developing news we'll watch and see how this pans out. thanks, christie. white lights may soon get the green light in san jose, and that could mean easier nighttime and early morning driving for you. kris sanchez live with a recommendation that could change the way the city looks in the dark. >> reporter: good morning. if you've driven around san jose at all after dark, then you know the yellow lights you can see over one of my shoulders can make things a little bit difficult in terms of driving. sometimes i've slammed on brake

as i think i'm approaching a yellow light and it turns out not to be the stoplight, just a streetlight. the plan is to replace them with more efficient and brighter lights like the one you see over my other shoulder. they're bright white l.e.d. lights. the final recommendation for the plan will be presented at a community meeting tonight. the city has worked really hard in san jose to try to get people involved, hosting demonstrations of the different lights they have available and then getting their opinions about the switch. going from the yellow lights will not only cost the city no money, because the new lights would be paid for through federal stimulus dollars and grants, but eventually changing out those lights to the more efficient l.e.d.s will save about $110,000 a year. they are easier to see, they last longer, and they can be set at a dimmer setting and still allow plenty of light for folks to see. >> people like the white light, and that's supported by a lot of research. there's good reasons. you actually can see better at

night with white light. and also you can see farther or at least as far with the white light as you can with the current sources. >> reporter: now, the final community meeting regard the streetlights is tonight at 7:00 in san jose. then eventually the department of transportation for the city of san jose will present the full council their report and their recommendations. that will be coming up at the end of september, september 28th or so. a little piece of san jose trivia for you. the yellow lights when they first came in, they were considered state of the art and very, very energy efficient at the time. of course, a lot has changed in the last 30 years. so the l.e.d., it seems that's the way to go. in san jose, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. >> thanks so much, kris. a new york city police officer faces charges in connection with a hit-and-run with a bicyclist. we've been following this story for you. take a look at this video. it appears to show the officer hit a bicyclist with his car in

brooklyn last month. police say that the bicyclist had minor injuries, cuts to his face. the officer turned himself in yesterday and is now charged with assault, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident. he pleaded not guilty and claims that the cyclist fell off his bicycle after he was startled by the siren on the police car. now an nbc bay area exclusive. there's optimistic new information about the bay area real estate market. sales are picking up so fast we're now home to some of america's hottest housing spots. we're talking about homes selling over the asking price. 94703 in berkeley is the place where you'll pay most over asking price out of any zip code in america, according to zip realty. other bay area zip codes in the top ten include 496210 and 94610 in oakland. and 95211 in san jose where both the east valley and south neighborhoods are selling fast.

why? >> because it's affordable. you can purchase a very nice home here in 95122 for less than $500,000, something that was absolutely impossible to do three years ago. neighborhoods in atlanta, las vegas, and victorville round out the top ten. zip realty is releasing the entire survey later today so you can look up your zip code. scott mcgrew is here to rain on the parade. >> i'm always the pessimist. >> i think you're fairly optimistic. >> i don't dispute these positive numbers. anecdotally, they are very exciting. but while prices have indeed risen in places, economists are still worried about what realtors call inventory. this is the number of homes, old and new, that are on the market. and inventory is growing in the bay area market, which is a huge geographic region, inventory is up 16% in the last three months. so in other words, there is

demand, yeah, but there's also growing supply. are you familiar with zip cars? you sign up and you can take a zip car from a special parking lot pretty much anytime you need one. it's a green alternative to actually owning a car. now, the santa cruz sentinel says this morning the zip organization, brent and laura, is expanding its operation in santa cruz, so not just the university there, but further than that, they say one of the advantages of zip cars being part of it is you make decision as to whether go get that car or just walk. there are times that if you owned a car, you'd drive down to the corner market. if you don't, you would just walk. >> kind of interesting. well, some guys could go to jail for a stunt involving a parastunting donkey. we've got video of the men attaching the donkey to a parasail in the donkey. the donkey is in the air for more than half an hour. and when the donkey was eventually pulled from the water, it was in shock.

but it did survive. russian authorities just opened an animal cruelty case and they say they found those people responsible. if convicted, they face a $2,600 fine or two years in prison. >> because of this, they started a new video campaign, it's called, just say nyet. >> you made that one up yourself. >> that was an original opinion. time is 5:54. >> if you want to hear a pun, just say nyet as well. looking over westbound 580, we have some debris reported around north flynn. that's where the slowing starts as well. this is pretty typical for this time of year, but that's coming through livermore. down towards the sunol grade, a nice easy drive, other than that slowing we saw at flynn, sunol grade, the live shot shows you a nice easy drive. southbound coming around the bend and heading up over the

hill into the fremont side, you see a light volume of traffic including a couple of cars getting off at the truck scales. a nice drive through sunol right now. little gray skies. we saw that yesterday as well, and may see that again today. closer to the water, 880 coming past the oakland coliseum, traffic flows nicely in the northbound direction past the coliseum. there's a 12:35, midday game, so your lunchtime traffic might be an issue coming past the coliseum. but right now you're approaching work and the morning commute, things moving smoothly for 880 both directions, southbound. northbound with the toll plaza, starting to form in the cash lanes. this is the beginning of your thursday morning commute. >> beginning of making new friends out there. >> we want to check in with ria this morning. she is in for rob to take a look at our forecast. lots of folks noticing it is cooler today. >> oh, yeah. it's cool out there and plenty of clouds outside. another day of that, especially morning and evening.

also some drizzle as we go on into today, plenty of 70s, low 80s. along the coast, we'll be staying in the low 60s, but some pretty mild july air. right now we're still in the low 50s in most areas, 52, san mateo. 55 here in san jose. 58 in oakland. and we're not going to be warming up very much from there. our wind speeds are not very high, so the breezes aren't too bad. it's not really contributing to the cool numbers. that is just from the clouds. our air quality is quite good throughout the entire bay area, so nothing to worry about there. and as we look ahead in the day, 8:00 a.m., things will begin to warm up. 57 in los gatos as well as redwood city. 55 in san francisco. san jose looking at 58 degrees, and by noon, things will be bumping up a couple of degrees. 58, redwood city. 60, san jose. and by the time we reach 4:00, san francisco, pretty cool at 61 degrees. our seven-day forecast, well, the good news is, we're going up

a couple of degrees every day this week. the weekend should be great. >> thanks a lot. 5:56 right now. a drug that once gave thousands of breast cancer patients hope won't make it to pharmacy shelves. and full speed ahead. where you can voice your opinion on the high-speed rail plan today. one sweet slice. we've got more on apple's big earnings report and how they still want you to think they've got some growing up to do.

caring and sharing, caught in the cash crunch. why dozens of schools could close their doors in the east bay. the future is looking bright for a plan to save energy in the south bay and it could spell the end of those san jose streetlights. and in san jose, we're looking at the street and the lights, but this is 101 underneath the 680/280 interchange. a lot of folks hitting the road. we've got our eyes on