his union rep called len ramirez saying he wanted to explain himself. he explains why he left his colleagues high and dry. >> reporter: joseph le spent most of his time as it manager, but suddenly quit election day morning because he had enough of working 70 hour wreaks, but the last straw was getting blamed by his boss for problems setting up an early voting polling place on the weekend before election day. >> basically, it was so stressful, i blew my top and decided to resign the next day. >> reporter: there was speculation about unreturned county equipment including a laptop computer. >> i have no property of the county. >> reporter: he emerged as a central figure in the election due to the speculation of his abrupt departure. >> anything failed on election day was the program, for the program to work. the program needs to be awe then cateed and my account got deleted. >> reporter: he said he never meant to slow down the process and hasn't done anything wrong, but he said he is sorry he left his coworkers on one of the toughest workdays of the year.

reporting live in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >>> vallejo high school students were rushed out of class this morning after an explosion on campus. it happened in the photography lab. kpix 5's anne makovec says the explosion may be linked to the napa earthquake. >> reporter: from what we understand today was the first time since the quake that the gas had been turned on in that building and the two maintenance workers injured may have been trying to light the pilot light at the time of the explosion. >> we got reports that this building was unoccupied since the earthquake and they were taking measures to reoccupy this building so it could having to do with that work, still under investigation at this time. >> reporter: the explosion happened at about 8:20 this morning. there was no fire or smoke but a hot flash that burned the workers' skin and clothes, bowed interior walls and flipped desks. the damage was isolated to a building that hasn't been used since the napa quake, but the whole school was evacuated immediately. students gathering in the football field nearby. parents we sp

liz, back to you. >> thanks mark. >>> len ramirez is with the cortese campaign in san jose. now there are only a couple of thousand votes separating the candidates. this is very close. >> reporter: only about 1500 votes celebrate the two candidates so the word here the night is that this race is far from over. let me give you a picture of what is happening now. people are crowded around a laptop computer. people have been standing like this the last couple of hours waiting for results to come through from the registrar of voters office. we have had word of some problems that were delaying results coming out. hopefully, they are getting things fixed. we have 224 out of 445 precincts reporting. it is liccardo 51% to cortese 49%. so this race is very close. we spoke to candidate cortese just a few minutes ago. he hasn't lost hope at all. >> well, it is good movement. they just added 4,000 more votes and we shot up by 200. if that keeps happening t rest of the count, we will win the election. we have had a lot of confidence that we were winning the grass roots. >> reporter: stil

i have not encountered a problem that anyone can't handle. >> reporter: len ramirez, kpix5. >>> it was a little awkward when libby schaaf stood next to the woman whose job she is taking. >> yes, we need to hire more police, but we need hem to do better policing. we need to continue investing in successful intervention programs like cease fire. >> schaaf says she will focus on bringing stability to the city. she complimented jean quan and tried to grab her hand, but she missed the first time. they eventually had a joint handshake. quan said she is still oakland's mayor still january. >>> the city of antioch is seeing more violence than usual. this afternoon, a gunman killed a man outside of 24 hour fitness. the shooter was in a car and fired several shots. members of the victim's family showed up at the scene. his aunt said they have had seven people murdered in their family. >> educating these kids about guns and how cruel other people are out here. law enforcement needs to do better. >> the victim is 32 years old and from pittsburgh. police say the shooter drove away in a blue sedan.

i have not heard -- encountered any problem that anyone here can't handle. >> reporter: len ramirez, kpix 5. >> now on to the nation's capital. president obama will meet with 16 top ranking lawmakers to search for areas of common ground and compromise. yesterday the house speaker delivered a public warning to the president. don't use exec of it authority to pass comprehensive immigration reform. >> when you play with matches you take the risk of burning yourself. and he is going to burn himself if he continues to go down this path. >> there will be plenty of things to disagree about but if there's an opportunity to find common ground let's make sure our differences don't get in the way of making progress for americans. >> today's agenda includes unfinished business that congress must finish this year before the republicans take over in january. >>> happening today san antonio is upping the stakes in its bid to land the raiders. the city's mayor and other officials have come to oakland. they are supposed to make a pitch today to the raiders brass and they want the team to play at the

kpix 5's len ramirez joins us live outside a nearby church. now, len, as many as 50 people have taken shelter. >> reporter: well, this blast is still impacting several dozen families here in the walnut creek area. but this united mentalist church is serving as an evacuation center. it's just across the street from the apartment building. the red cross estimates as many as 50 people have been displaced. but neighbors are helping neighbors providing blankets for the evacuees, a neighborhood restaurant is donating meals. the red cross and church volunteers are helping people get through this even retrieving medicines. we spoke with one woman who had to be carried out of her apartment by police with just the clothes on her back. >> i'm thinking, where are we going? i don't have a coat. i'm freezing. it's raining. so god bless the people with the church. one lady gave me this to put around me and another lady pushed me here into the church and they have been so wonderful here. >> reporter: but there is still a lot of uncertainty. evacuees are waiti

in san jose, len ramirez, kpix5. >>> tsa screeners noticed some raw meat in checked luggage. then they looked a little closer. that beef was stuffed with cocaine and three vacuum sealed packages. they tracked the suit dais back to this guy. salvador zamays who is now under arrest. >>> san francisco admits it has a problem. a ficus problem, several of those trees split during last night's rain and the rain didn't even come down that hard. but, falling tree limbs damaged cars and even sent one guy to the hospital with a head injury. many of these trees are 40 to 50 years old. they are top heavy and probably not the best for an urban environment. >> you can take them out, but it will take a lot of resources to take them out as well. so we want to do this smartly, methodically. we want to make sure the urban forestry remains strong and expands in san francisco. >> maintaining the trees and keeping them regularly pruned does not guarantee that they won't fall over. >>> a big rig crash on 101 in san jose spilling dirt and fuel all over the freeway. the accident closed all southboun

reporting live in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >>> other bay area headlines. walnut creek is trying to improve pedestrian safety. the city showing off its new diagonal crosswalks. you can see those painted lines. they are designs to allow people to safely cut across an intersection. the new intersections are at olympic boulevard and south main street and olympic and locust streets. >>> holy cross church in san jose is no longer in danger of collapse. firefighters have left the area now that the threat is passed and the hot spots are put out. the new video today shows the church is still blocked off. the church was destroyed by fire on sunday. the cause is thought to be electrical. services will be held in a building next door. >>> he may be the poster boy for failed justice. the repeat offender now charged with a hit-and-run death of an east bay teenager. now one of his previous victims is speaking out asking what he was even doing on the streets. he has a history of elder and animal abuse and today faced a judge answering to murder charges. kpix 5's mark kell

in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >> len talked to the registrar of voters last night. she says if the secretary of state recommends a recount, there will be one. >>> san jose's police chief is catching some flak for accepting i free ticket to a 49ers game. chief larry esquivel went to a preseason game. but a member of the public complained that was a conflict of interest so esquivel and an assistant chief have repaid the 9ers for their tickets. >>> new reports shedding light on how an intruder made his way past several security checkpoints and got deep inside the white house. more now from craig boswell. >> reporter: the white house fence omar gonzalez jumped last september was about the biggest obstacle between him and the inside room of the executive mansion because a series of flaws in white house security allowed gonzalez to enter the front door and make his way deep inside. a homeland security report blames the incident on communication problems, muted alarms, unlocked doors and inadequate training of secret service officers. investigators found after gonzalez had

in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >>> imagine driving along in the rain and this happens. >> i can't imagine. this hail some of it the size of tennis balls poured down as super storms roared across the city of brisbane, australia, last night. wind gusts up to 87 miles an hour. tore through buildings and brought down power lines and flooded streets. >> it was like gunfire, it was sudden and rapid. but it was scary, large hailstones. >> the winds were incredible. >> it's very, very messy. >> to sum it up. [ laughter ] >> it's the worst storm to hit there since 1985. insurance claims have already topped $100 million. >> wow. unbelievable. >>> well, i don't think we're going to get anything like that. >> no. >> but we are going to get a little bit of rain -- actually quite a bit. >> it's going to be a lot of rainfall. not severe weather with the hail, the thunderstorms, the strong damaging winds. but we are going to be right up on the cusp of some flooding. i don't think we'll see that. we'll see a beneficial five-day period where it rains a lot. it will be cloudy where you are soon. sfo

so we are literally getting half of our entire vote count received on one day. >> that was len ramirez reporting. also too close to call tonight the democrat on democrat congressional race in district 17. right now incumbent mike honda leads challenger ro khanna by 4.5 points but thousands of vote by mail ballots are still being counted. >>> oakland voters elected a new mayor. the vote count showed libby schaaf as the clear winner. in the latest tabulation she beat rebecca kaplan 63 to 37%. >> oakland can't wait to start moving in another direction. a government that's more responsive to its people and delivers the basic service of safety. >> schaaf spent time thanking supporters and answering questions this afternoon. she says she ready to hit the ground running. today mayor quan said she inherits a city where crime is down, unemployment is down, and the economic renaissance is well under way. >>> after the election, a new day, a new dynamic in washington. the first time since president obama took office he will face a congress with republicans in control of both houses. >> to everyon

as len ramirez reports, it's all because there's so much competition for federal funding. >> reporter: just as bart to silicon valley is getting closer to reality there may be a big change in the number of stations in san jose and santa clara. bart silicon valley partner vta says greater competition for federal transportation dollars and lower-than-expected tax revenues may force them to cut two bart stations from the plan. proposed stations in alum rock and santa clara are on the chopping block after years of planning and community input neighbors in the areas feel betrayed. vta says nothing is definite but it needs to trim $1.3 billion from the project. future community meetings on the cuts are planned. in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >>> test pilot killed in friday's virgin galactic spacecraft explosion grew up right here in the bay area. 39-year-old michael alsbury was originally from scotts valley. he was married with two children. >>> meanwhile, in the mojave desert ntsb investigators have been collecting debris from the downed experimental spacecraft for four days now. invest

len ramirez shows us why one company says it's the best e they've ever made... new at. >>> the bay area's big areas are gunning for tech jobs. len ramirez says why one company says it's the best move they ever made new at 6:00. >> reporter: crowded sidewalks and bustling cafes, fast growing software companies and cool new retail stores it's not san francisco or palo alto but downtown san jose. it's in the middle of a renaissance of growth and energy. >> there's construction cranes, there's new housing being built. there's new residents moving in. just a lot more hustle and bustle. >> reporter: 90 high-tech companies are now located in the downtown core one of them "exactly." it makes software for companies like coca-cola. the ceo says the company was lured by the prices. >> when we first came to san jose it was because it was the best deal in town. when we came down here it was really unexpected surprise. >> reporter: he is talking about culture and entertainment options like downtown summer jazz fest. the company is now doubling down on office space relocating

kpix 5's len ramirez is outside the church where people are taking shelter tonight. len. >> i checked inside the evacuation center. there are a dozen families in there. they will have to wait until 8:00 tonight before officials will disclose whether or not they will be able to return home. the city red-tagged at least four of the apartments closest to the blast. that means people can't get back inside even to retrieve their belongings. and the red cross estimates as many as 50 people are displaced. >> two doors down across the street. >> reporter: leaders at this church sprang to action making their hall a makeshift evacuation center. >> came back opened the churched and said -- it was raining at the time and said please come down. stay out of the rain. >> reporter: neighbors helped neighbors providing blankets, the local restaurant donating meals and the red cross moved in to help. >> one lady, she gave me this to put around me and another lady pushed me into the church. they have been wonderful. >> reporter: one woman couldn't walk and had to be carried out by poli

kpix 5's len ramirez on a race that has been quite heated at times. len. >> reporter: it has been a tough race, ken. that's because this has been one of the most important recent elections in san jose history. two candidates are vying for the office of mayor. two very different approaches to how to solve one of -- or two of san jose's major issues. and that's public safety and its long-term financial health. both candidates have very different views on how to get there. consequently, this is shaping up to be a very close race. now, city councilman sam liccardo has bond council for the last -- has been on the council for the last eight years a big supporter of measure b backed by outgoing mayor chuck reed the pension reform issue. he also pushed for more economic development, transportation issues and ideas on the homeless problem. >>> we started this race 20 points behind. we have had a lot of momentum and are virtually tied and hopefully tonight we'll find out who is over the top. >> reporter: county supervisor dave cortese is a former san jose city

he talked exclusively to our len ramirez. len? >> reporter: well, ken, mr. joseph le apologized to his coworkers for abruptly walking out on election day morning. he said he quit because of the high stress level at the registrar of voters. joseph le spent 20 years at the registrar of voters most of them as i.t. manager but he suddenly quit on election day morning because he said he had had enough of working 70 hour weeks. >> job is stressful. >> reporter: the last straw he said was getting blamed by his boss for problems with an early voting place. >> i just blow my top and decided to resign the next day. >> reporter: the stress only got worse. there was speculation about unreturned county equipment including a laptop computer. >> i have no property of the county. and i didn't damage anything. >> reporter: he emerged as a central figure in the election due to the speculation in the public and media about the impact of his departure. >> any failure on the election day was the county disable my account for the program to work. [ indiscernible ] my account was

reporting live in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >> thank you. >>> one of the highest spending races in california could end with a major shift in the state assembly. phil matier is here with a look at that shake-up. >> reporter: in a loss that could strip the supermajority, catharine baker winning the seat. this race has come down to the wire. if the numbers stand now, baker is narrowly beating out democratic opponent tim sbranti leading 52-48%. baker was backed by a billionaire who spent more than 1.5 million to help elect her. >> that two-thirds supermajority is a good thing to break so there's more balance hopefully in sacramento. i stay focused on the issues that are key to everyone in the district. and by doing that, it was an opportunity for voters to decide based on the issues and candidates and not on partisan talking points. >> reporter: tim sbranti said, i have called catharine baker and wished her well moving forward but also noted there are thousands of ballots to be counted. and this just in rebecca kaplan concedessed to libby schaaf. -- conceded to libby schaaf. she is

in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >> republicans are launching their own assault against the president. they say they vow to reverse the immigration plan when they take control of congress in january. >>> it was 30 years in the planning and took four years to build. today bart celebrated the completion of its tram service between the coliseum station and oakland international airport. kpix 5's allen martin shows us why some say the $484 million cost was well worth it. >> reporter: you have heard of planes trains and automobiles. well, today bart said ditch the automobiles by cutting can the ribbon on its new people move ever connecting planes and trains. >> so what we call a plane to train and by having it connect in oklahoma, this is sfo and oakland airport are two of the few airports in the world with direct train connections so this puts us apart. >> reporter: the train she is talking about is amtrak's capitol corridor that goes south to san jose and east to sacramento. what makes that all possible is this new 3.2-mile tram that took four years and $484 million to build. it replays

kpix 5's len ramirez is in san jose. that's where the police department finds itself defending its new surveillance device. len. >> reporter: veronica, no doubt about it. police want to use the latest technology and a lot of people in the public want police to use it, as well. but at what point do police have to disclose what they have and when they have it? that's one of the topics under discussion here at city hall tonight. san jose police stand by their decision to be the first in the bay area to get a camera equipped remote-controlled drone just like this one. >> it is new technology. it's something that we realize that could be used to go ahead and save lives. >> reporter: but the department was forced to admit they had it and explain how they planned to use it. police bought the drone which can be used for near silent aerial surveillance in january without any public discussion. that will change tonight when police hold a special community meeting on the drone. >> we realize initially that we rolled out the uaf and

len ramirez, kpix 5. >> despite dwindling number of officers violent crime declined in san jose in the last year. police have put a lot of effort into -- into tackling gang crime. >>> shuttle drivers for facebook vote tomorrow on whether to unionize. drivers say they are being intimidate by facebook to say no. they rallied outside headquarters. drivers complain of long hours, low pay and believe a union will change that. >>> tonight of the berkeley city council will discuss the merit of warning labels about global warming. stickers on gas pumps would be the first of the kind in the country. city leaders cite the effects of carbon dioxide emissions on public health and the environment. san francisco is drafting a similar ordinance. city supervisors may vote on it in march. >>> cloudy skies tonight around the bay area. and much-needed rain is coming. chief meteorologist paul deanno is tracking it right now. paul? >> this is going to be a wet pattern. clouds all day long, it looks like it's going to pour outside. but we'll have to be patient because the rain really won't arrive until abou

in san jose, len ramirez, kpix 5. >> len talked to the registrar of voters last night. she says if the secretary of state recommends a recount, there will be one. >>> postal workers plan to protest in the bay area today and all across the country, as well. the issue is changes planned for early next year. the postal workers are hoping to block the scheduled closures of some 82 processing and distribution centers nationwide. word is that the postmaster general patrick donahue says he will retire on february 1 after leading the troubled agency for the last four years. >>> a new report further explains how an intruder jumped a fence and got inside the white house. a series of flaws in white house security allowed omar gonzalez to enter the front door in september. a homeland security report blames the incident on communication problems, muted alarms, unlocked doors and inadequate training of secret service office. the report also says one agent didn't hear the alert because he was on his personal cell phone. >>> i'm kiet do live in san jose to talk about how the bay area h

but as kpix 5's len ramirez reports, the registrar's head of information technology abruptly quit. the day before the election. >> reporter: he was a no show on election morning a key member of the staff. he supervises all the computers and, quote, all aspects of vote counting during an election according to the registrar of voters website. the key question is, what impact did his sudden absence have on the accuracy and the speed of the vote counting in the election? >> that has not affected us at all. >> reporter: the question has been raised that because this person was unhappy with the working conditions here, that he may have left behind some problems for people to fix. >> those may come to be seen. there is no problem that we can't handle. >> reporter: len ramirez, kpix 5. >>> it was awkward in oakland when the mayor-elect libby schaaf stood next to the woman whose job she took in tuesday's election. >> yes, we need to hire more police. but we need them to do better policing. we need to continue investing in successful intervention and prevention programs like cease- fire. >>

len ramirez on the >>> doctorsa at one bay area hospital -- doctors at one bay area hospital are raising patient temperatures to near lethal levels to try to save their lives. a new ground breaking treatment that is killing cancer. >> reporter: it was one month ago that doctors told darlene to go home, there was nothing more they could do for her. she did go home to houston with her husband and four kids but she did not stay there. she came to good samaritan hospital in san jose where she heard doctors are working on a promising new cancer therapy called whole body hypothermia. >> we are talking about a new treatment for ovarian cancer and others. >> reporter: the therapy raises the patient's temperatures. in this case to 107.6 degrees. high enough to kill cancer throughout the body. >> cancer cells are not normal. they don't repair themselves well. they are subject to being destroyed by methods that your cells can handle. >> the blood comes through and gets heated to the temperature that we prescribe. >> reporter: they built upon earlier hypothermia research and they developed a method

kpix 5's len ramirez learning new details on the missing manager and the internal investigation under way. len? >> reporter: well, veronica, at this point we need to make it very clear that there is no criminal investigation of mr. joseph lei here at the registrar of voters office but we have learned that the sheriff's office was alerted to a potential situation this week. at this point the sheriff's department is standing back but monitoring what is still a county personnel matter. when the registrar of voters head of i.t. abruptly quit on election morning he failed to turn in his county property including a badge, a cell phone and a computer hard drive. the sheriff's office says the registrar of voters alerted law enforcement on monday and while it's not a criminal probe it's being investigated by county counsel labor relations and the registrar of voters. neighbors haven't seen him for days. he has reportedly been in telephone contact with the registrar's office but hasn't made himself widely available. the sheriff's department gave me a no comment today when i asked about the pote

len ramirez says b.a.r.t.'s eyes may have been too big for its budge. >> reporter: just as b.a.r.t. to silicon valley is closer to reality there may be a big change-up in the number of stations in san jose and santa clara. b.a.r.t. silicon valley partner vta says greater competition for federal transportation dollars and lower than expected tax revenues may force them to cut two b.a.r.t. stations from the plan, proposed stations in allen rock and santa clara are on the chopping block. after years of planning and community input neighbors in the areas feel betrayed. bpa says nothing is definite, but it does need to trim $1 million from the project. >>> tonight we've learned the test pilot killed in friday's virgin galactic spacecraft explosion grew up in the bay area originally from scott's valley. michael alberry was married with two children. we have new information about the spacecraft's final moments. >> reporter: as investigators are continuing to collect evidence from the wreckage scattered over 5 miles of desert, they now know what happened in the seconds before the spacecraft

new at 6:00, kpix 5's len ramirez has been taking a look at the troubles with the vote count in santa clara county. it turns out, the i.t. head quit right when he was needed the most. len. >> reporter: that's right, ken. according to our sources, information systems manager joe lee was a no show. he supervisors all the counts at the registrar of voters and all aspects of vote counting during an election according to the registrar of voters website. now, according to our sources, mr. lei was unhappy and that is the reason for his sudden departure, unhappy with the working conditions and the long hours often associated with working elections. i have been told that workers have been going up to 22 hours straight in certain elections and he has been complaining about that for years. he is a career county employee. now, the registrar of voters says his sudden departure didn't affect the vote count this year. >> or i.t. manager last day working here on the county was monday november 3 and that has not affected us at all. none of our processes are the result of the vote counting and processi

tonight our len ramirez is just learning, now the secretary of state's office is getting involved. len? >> reporter: that's right, veronica. we have just learned that the registrar of voters here in santa clara county has sent a letter to the secretary of state's office asking for an official review of all their processes and election results. now, we're right in the middle of vote counting still including vote counting in a very close mayoral election with only a couple of thousand votes separating two candidates. the reason this is happening is because some of the results are called into question over the sudden and unexpected departure of the chief technology officer of the registrar of voters. top county officials say it was a surprise but not a shock to the system when the registrar of voters head of i.t. joe lei suddenly quit on election day. >> luckily, we have a system of checks and balances that does not rely upon one individual. so we have had a team able to participate and make sure that the election goes as scheduled and there's no problems. >> reporter: but sources tel

len ramirez, kpix. >>> the candidates for oakland mayor are making their push for vote. there is a ranked choice voting system, so anybody could win. they wasted no time taking on each other in their final showdown. >> i'm the only person up here that has worked in every neighborhood in the city. >> we have one city in oakland that has incredible opportunity. and another city where we have not invested very much at all. >> we need to go after violent crime. >> i am tired of people asking me whether or not i feel safe living in my city. >> liby said would you hire a doctor that didn't know how to operate. my question is would you continue to hire a doctor to do surgery when they failed in the past. >> the rank choice system allows voters to select up to three candidates in order of preference when marking their ballot. it is meant to eliminate the need for a runoff and how mayor quan got elected. >>> one candidate running for san jose mayor is doing all he can to drum up votes, today, he visited the jungle homeless camp. he says he will eliminate the homeless problem. >>

len ramirez, kpix. the mass will be held in the church hall adjacent to the church. >>> a parking garage sparked a fire that trapped and killed a driver. it happened in a garage across from santa clara superior court. the driver smashed into a pillar and another car and couldn't get out. investigators believe the driver may have suffered a medical emergency. several other cars were also damaged. >>> police in san mateo wants you to take a look at the man in this sketch. they said this man harassed a 19 year old man outside of the san mateo adult school. and tried to get him to leave with her. he's described as asian, medium built and short spiked car. he was driving a dark blue or black sedan. >>> the government is offering off bit coins seized from the silk road marketplace. it served as a drug bazaar. the virtually currency was seized last year, silk roads owner, ross was arrested. the cash of big coins are worth $19 million. the 6-hour auction will be held december 4th. >>> people -- those along the

thank you, len ramirez. >>> we learned that the secretary of state's office is not going to order a recount of santa clara county's ballots. however, the county will do a mandatory manual tally of 1% of its ballots. >>> a bay area deputy who once aspired to be sheriff is now facing criminal charges. he is accused in an elaborate jail smuggling operation. kpix 5's linda yee tells us how authorities say the scheme worked. >> reporter: it seems that the sheriff's department in san mateo county and the district attorney got wind of this alleged criminal operation about a year ago, when they put three veteran officers under inspection, they followed them around, they discovered they were operating this criminal operation inside the county jail serving up contraband to an inmate who was a street gang member. it's an alleged scheme that involved smuggling in cell phones and drugs into the san mateo county jail. the customers, an inmate who was a known gang member. the d.a. says the smugglers were sheriff's deputy juan lopez and jailers michael dell carlo and george ishmael all officers with the sa