they are sad. they are emotional. the district says it has no choice. parents at santa fe elementary school spent the afternoon making posters aimed at saving their children's school. santa fe is one of five schools earmarked for closure. parents say they won't go down without a fight. >> we're down to 38,000 students. and this school district cannot, cannot maintain 101 schools. we just can't do it. the district says they have too many schools for the number of children it serves. >> we have no choice. we have to close the schools. we have to merge some of these schools. >> school board member says closing schools is not easy. especially when the school her children and grandchildren went to, marshall elementary, is on the chopping block. >> i have a 2-year-old grandson that we were really looking forward to him walking through this school. >> save my school! >> reporter: district officials say no matter what their decision, entire communities will be impacted. at santa fe, folks aren't ready to accept their likely fact. the possibility their school family will soon be ripped apart. >> it's an emotional thing. when a school closes, it's not just a building. you close the doors. >> and we are back here live as the children chant outside. inside the meeting is just getting under way. we understand that parents and teachers will have a chance to speak out at this meeting tonight. the meeting is expected to last till about midnight tonight. this school board says it will not make a final decision until late october. reporting live in oakland. i'm jodi hernandez, nbc bay area news. >> thank you, jodi. emotional in oakland. and now emotional in berkeley. cookies, cupcakes and controversy. the students were being politically incorrect on purpose. a group of young republicans were protesting senate bill 185. sb-185 would allow public universities to take race and gender into consideration during the admissions process. some students think this is racist. today they got plenty of support. >> i don't like making distinctions about people on the basis of race. but sometimes you have to do things that are wrong in order to correct that, which is even more wrong. >> they reduce the community and represent the communities to a cupcake. which is extremely racist. >> hundreds of mrnt students staged a silent protest in an attempt to demonstrate a strong statement could be made without causing backlash. see what the details are of sb-185. it's sitting on the governor's desk right now. we'll continue coverage tonight at 6:00. new at 5:00, b.a.r.t.'s police department faced tough questiong from lawmakers today. the oversight hearing was this morning in sacramento, looking into the training policy and procedures. the hearing stems for the 2009 fatal shoots of an unarmed man, oscar grant. ab officer was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for the killing and sentenced to two years in prison. bart's general manager and police chief were among those who testified today. he suggested officers be equipped with lapel cameras to be held responsible for all their actions. it's involving an officer and a potential suspect. we identify grant money to fully purchased for all our personnel. >> i believe there are good intentions, but we're dealing with a culture, an organization that needs to be changed from top to bottom. >> they acknowledge it inkroosed training and overall procedures but says the changes are moving too slowly. they shot and killed a knife wielding homeless man at the civic center station in strahan. today the oversite committee says additional training may be needed. and they called the board of directors negligent for not making changes quickly enough. he also said there needs to be more accountability. >> we now know what caused the death of a cancer patient at oakland's medical center. police say a nurse gave 66-year-old judith ming a nutritional subject through the wrong tube. instead of going to her stomach, it entered her blood string. they brought in 500 replacement nurses to replace the nurses on strike. sutter kept the replacement for five days, locking tout the regular nurses until today. the replacement nurse was fully certified. they say the mistake would not have happened had they been allowed to work. devoted family and friends of michelle le are gathering right now for a candle light vigil in her memory. le was just a few months away from graduating with a nursing degree. her body was found ten days ago after an intense four-month search led by her family members. a former friend of hers is charged with killing her. some long awaited for families of two alameda residents found murdered in their homes. prosecutors charged 56-year-old eugene prottsman with the two cold homicides. he's already in prison for serving life without parole for another homicide in 1987. they went unsolved for over a decade, although he was long a suspect. prosecutors confirm dna analysis was used to conclusively link him to both murders. in san jose the clock is ticking for medical marijuana advocates who want to overturn the pot law passed two weeks ago. today was the second reading of the law which caps the number of collectives at ten. requires on-site cultivation and restricts zoning. they must drop a referendum and collect 30,000 signatures, all due before october 27th. that's the date the law is scheduled to go into effect. >> al gore, one of the board of directors at apple already let the without of the bag. now apple is finally acknowledging it. the next gadget, most likely the iphone five will be unveiled next week. scott budman is here. and scott, the iphones are great. but how much money can people continue to be spend to upgrade? >> that's a good question. and it's about time for a phone upgrade, right? apple will gather at headquarters next tuesday morning for the latest unveiling. the company not specifically saying that it's an iphone, or are they giving any actual features away. it's safe to say if we see a new phone on the the fourth, you'll be table to buy it within a couple of weeks as apple ramps up into the holiday season. when a new iphone comes out, not just users who get excited. coming up at 6:00, the silicon valley start up that just launched and how they plan to make your iphone more social. back to you. >> we'll see you at 6:00. governor brown is getting snarky. he signed several bills but added a sly message to one of them. it was to central valley senator anthony canella and was attached to his bill enacting a 1% tax to olive trees. brown added, perhaps the author and his colleagues might apply the same revenue to ensure the health and viability of our schools? he was one of five republicans brown negotiated with to put a temporary tax increase on the ballot. brown never got the votes he needed. perhaps you're waiting for someone to come now, but believe it or not the bay area commute is getting better. not as much congestion. for the second year in a bro the bay area has not made the toch five list of most traffic congestion. we're number seven. the average bay area driver spends 50 hours a year stuck in traffic. that's below the national average of 74. who is tops on the list of the worst commute? washington, d.c. followed by chicago. l.a. at number three. we come right after baltimore. researchers at texas a&m says the economy has a lot to do with it. fewer jobs, fewer people, fewer cars on the roads. if move ahead calling more cries for women's rights around the world. a woman caught driving without permission learns her punishment. i'm marianne favro. how one bay area doctor is offering breast cancer patients a way to say good-bye to their radiation tattoos. and a big day for the 49ers. we got a preview of what it will be like inside the 49ers new stadium. it's pretty cool. >> and good afternoon. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. a big warming today. clear conditions here towards san francisco and some hot numbers. upper 80s to 90s here in the east bay. more on this hot weather plus even rain in a few minutes. and a four alarm fire is close to being put out in san francisco. it was burning for over an hour. firefighters still on the the scene trying to knock out this ent ctmplex.enenartmomt.pl cexs we'll have the latest update after the break. [ ] i los m tooth ther day, which would be great... if i was seven. i'm forty-six. and the tooth fairy doesn't come when you're forty-six. just lots of referrals and appointments and bills that costs tons. mall keep it... it adds character... right? [ male announcer ] we know life can be unpredictable. that's why we offer affordable health coverage and dental plans. blue shield. a quick update on breaking news that we've been following for one hour in san francisco in the low eer haight. it was a four-alarm fire. firefighters have now apparently contained the fire. there are hundreds of san francisco firefighters on this building. it's above a walgreens on the first floor, and then there's two apartments, two floors of apartments. so once again, it has been contained by san francisco fire department. it was first reported around 4:15, and it was raging for about 45 minutes, but around 5:00 here are some pictures now from 4:50 and 4:55 a lot of flames coming through the building. but around 5:00 the firefighters were able to contain this. >> and fire departmeno reports . we hear about it often. tattoos no longer wanted. but these relate to breast cancer treatments. >> tonight marianne favro shows us how one east bay doctor is helping breast cancer patients move on by zapping away their radiation tattoos. >> first i went through chemotherapy. then i had radiation. then reconstruction following all of that. so it was about a -- almost a two year process. >> doctors diagnosed wendy hoffmann with breast cancer when she was just 37. she's in remission now, but still has the tattoos on her chest and under her arms that oncologists gave her to help deliver radiation to precise areas. >> it's just one more reminder of everything that, you know, i've had to go through. >> now she has the option of having those marks removed. dr. michelle place in danville uses this laser to remove radiation tattoos for breast cancer patients. >> it's a simple laser treatment. the there's little discomfort associated with it. there's no down time from it. no recovery time. >> she says the entire process takes only a minute. each treatment costs $75. but next month under a new program called declare your freedom, breast cancer patients won't have to pay a cent. >> we're offering women a removal of the tattoo with no charge to the patient. >> wendy says she's still debating whether to remove her radiation tattoos. >> for me it's a little bit of a battle scar. >> but she can also see the benefits of kissing the tattoos good-bye for good. >> to feel more like your old self, i guess. one less thing on your body, one less scar to remind you of everything you've been through. >> reporter: in danville, marianne favro, nbc bay area news. san francisco could be headed for a legal showdown over a proposed law targeting pregnancy crisis centers that discourage women from getting abortions. the board of supervisors is considering a measure to prior pregnancy centers to disclose that they do not offer abortions or emergency contraception. or they will face a $500 fine. the law aims to protect pregnant women who go to these centers believing they provide these procedures only to find counseling against these options. representatives from the center say their advertisements are not misleading and the law would violate their free speech rights. a woman will be lashed ten times for driving without government permission. the sentence comes two days after the saudi king announced women would be given the right to vote. there's no formal law against women driving in saudi arabia. but conservative edicts have banned it. this verdict is the first of its kind in the country, and it comes after weekly protests by activists looking for change. while other women have been detained for driving, they've not been sentenced by a court. it's been more than two years since michael jackson died. today a tape of his weak voice gripped the courtroom. dr. conrad murray faces a charge of involuntary manslaughter, accused of giving michael jackson a fatal dose of propofol. the district attorney said that murray repeatedly acted with gross negligence while caring for the world famous entertainer. >> it was dr. murray's repeated incompetent and unskilled acts that led to mr. jackson's death. on june 25th, 2009. >> the defense is expected to argue that jackson was a hopeless addict who gave himself the final fatal dose of the powerful drug. the trial is expected to last five weeks. if murray is convicted he faces four years in prison. and you can watch the trial on our california nonstop channel. that's comcast 186. let's bring in meteorologist jeff ranieri. we're following the breaking news in san francisco. it appears that firefighters have contained the four-alarm fire. how is the the weather? >> earlier it was definitely hurting the firefighters. so it's real lucky that did get that containment so quickly. winds were at 15 to 25 miles per hour out of the northwest. very dry winds. also very low humidities as well that could have helped this fire to spread. but thankfully, of course, they got on that quickly and we'll bring you updates as needed throughout the show. 77 in san francisco right now. holding onto some heat. some marked warming today, anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees warmer with the winds beginning to shift. 82 in oakland. clear skies towards san francisco. and mainly fog free, which is helping these coastal areas and even right up against the peninsula to warm up quite a bit today. 86 in sunnyvale. 86 in napa. and hot spot in santa rosa with 90 degrees. tonight we'll see a repeat performance of fog-free conditions. plenty of 60s out there. so that will set us up for yet again hot weather for wednesday. so hot it is going to help to bring the air qualities the to unhealthy levels. we'll have more on that in a minute and also some rain coming in your seven-day forecast. right now it's high pressure that continues to grip here, a lot of the western u.s. that's helping to warm us up. and it will keep us warm to hot yet again for wednesday. with the hottest weather of the week expected for tomorrow. and as we head throughout thursday we'll start to see cooling at the the coastline and those numbers will go down. still quite a warm blast throughout september here. where is the worst air quality for tomorrow in the east bay with unhealthy levels expected there. everyone is under the spare the air alert as we head into the midweek forecast. 55 in san francisco. 59 in oakland. and back towards the east bay, plenty of mid-50s. as for tomorrow it's going to get hotter here in the south bay with plenty of low 90s. for morgan hill and gilroy to los gatos and san jose. 87 in redwood city. san francisco downtown will get in on some 80s tomorrow. 84 in oakland. 90 in na p pa and plenty of those upper 80s and low 90s for the north bay, including napa. morning time on the weather channel on cable. for tomorrow a spare the air alert and also some increased fire danger. still stays hot inland on thursday. gradual inland at the coastline. the chance of rainfall has now pushed to monday. the models are looking at more consistent rainfall by next monday and tuesday. now the weekend looks dry. we will have clouds in there. >> thank goodness. the san jose half marathon, the rock 'n' roll marathon is this sunday. >> which you're going to be taking a part in, right? >> which i will be there, but may not be taking part in. >> we'll be there at the the finish line cheering you on. >> if i make it. >> still ahead a warning that some people hwere hiding in ther homes. plus a first glimpse of what it will be like inside the new 49ers stadium. and nbc news week long focus on the state of our country's school and students. it continues at 6:00. chris sanchez takes us to a school inside the children's hospital on the ns'rtheyeee k ungthpiwip they're keeping up with their school work. just as important as battling disease. full speed ahead. the 49ers are starting to sell seats to their new stadium. they've created a mock stadium. the 7,000 square foot center is meant to show off the the state of the art features and new edge design to perspective suite, club seat and season ticketholders. so you can really check out where you're going to sit. a large stadium model and a nine-foot interactive touch map are a few displays you can see in santa clara. you can get an exact view from the seats. and getting to the stadium will be a lot easier than the candle stick. >> if you're coming down from the peninsula or san francisco, take the cal train down to mountain view station and literally be dropped 30 yards from the actual building. >> we're excited. the environmentally friendly stadium will power the luxury sweet tower with solar panels. the first preseason game is scheduled for august 2015. >> i saw my seat there. >> right there? >> yeah, i saw it. >> 45 yard line. >> exactly. >> just ahead, space junk cited. a live nbc chopper pictures in san francisco. good news in the lower haight. we were telling you about the the four-alarm fire on haight and fillmore. it's been contained by san francisco fire department. once again, it was burning for about an hour, but contained at around 5:00. >> well, scientists were glad to be wrong this past weekend. some feared space june frk a dead satellite may rain down on the pacific northwest, but they were happy to be off by several thousand miles. they say the death plunge of the 6-ton satellite landed at the bottom of the pacific ocean. but for fans of space debris, we'll repeat the drill in late october when a smaller german satellite is expected to fall to earth. >> i could have sworn i saw it drop in san mateo. >> you didn't get pictures? >> no, i didn't. >> thanks for joining us.