The lines outside the San Jose Convention Center started forming Friday morning as people began to wait their turn to get free dental care.

Once a year, people without health insurance can get free dental work in San Jose thanks to an army of some 800 dentists, dental hygienists and dental assistants from across the state who give up their weekend in order to offer the free service. 

Some patients camped out overnight to make sure they got to see someone. One man said he hadn't seen a dentist in 13 years. 

By Friday night, the line was a block long as hundreds decided they would sleep on the streets in order to make sure they got the medical attention they needed.

Patients were seen on a first come first served basis for services ranging from basic exams and cleanings to fillings, root canals and extractions.

It's estimated that 30-percent of Californians don't have dental insurance.  That adds up to 11 million people. 

The first patients were seen at 5 a.m. Saturday.   The clinic is also open Sunday. 

The event is sponsored by the California Dental Association.

More than 2,000 people are expected to get help by the time the clinic closes on Sunday.  

A California Highway Patrol officer from Oakland working the Amgen Tour of California was seriously injured Saturday in Brentwood.

The officer was riding ahead of the pack of bicyclists just before 12:30 p.m. providing traffic control for the race when the crash occurred, according to CHP spokesman Jonathan Fransen. 

The CHP said he collided with a car on Marsh Creek Road, just east of Deer Valley Road.

The CHP said it appears the driver was making a u-turn when he or she collided with the motorcycle officer.

This happened at 12:30 p.m. The officer was life-flighted to John Muir Hospital with what was considered moderate-to-major injuries, according to the CHP.  

After being evaluated by doctors, his condition was improved. The officer is expected to recover and could be released as soon as tomorrow, Fransen said.

Investigators said Saturday that it was too early to tell if the driver will face charges. A photographer on the scene said that the motorcycle appeared to be totaled.

The Tour of California was on one of the final legs of a cross-state race. Cyclists were racing from Livermore to the top of Mount Diablo.

Hayward police said they located a missing three year old who went missing Friday night.

Police said the boy, Sonny Lee, was being watched by his grandfather. The grandfather said he woke up and discovered Sonny was missing.

This happened around 9 p.m. at a home on Orchard Avenue.

Police said it appeared Sonny either walked out or was taken out of the house.

In the end the boy was with his father, according to police. That man, John Lee, took the child without the family's knowledge, police said.

Police did not issue an Amber Alert and initially did not release a photo of either the child or the father.

The grandparents currently have court-ordered custody of Sonny. Police said John Lee may face criminal charges, but the important thing is that Sonny is safe.

If you have any information, please call Hayward Police Department at 510-293-7000.

Maybe you slipped something into your pocket before you paid, or you were caught – beer in hand – at 20 years old.

What happens if you’re caught and arrested? Will you be fired from your job? Spend time in jail?

That could depend on where you committed the crime.

For a man we’ll identify as “Mark,” it was the difference of just hundreds of feet. He was caught by security personnel at the Macy’s store at the Stanford Shopping Center when he was 19 years old, a college student at the time.

Mark said his friend knew the guy behind the cash register who was set to give them a “good deal.” He and his friend were getting ready to walk out with hundreds of dollars of merchandise, but they were just the first two to get caught that day. He described spending eight hours in a “back room” in the department store, questioned before Palo Alto police picked him and the five others up.

Mark added he had never experienced anything like it – the worst thing he’d done before was get a parking ticket.

“There was six of us in the squad cars to Palo Alto Police Department. Then they put us in a transport vehicle three-by-three, facing each other with a metal wall divider in the back,” Mark described. “If everything went down for what I was charged with, I could have been charged with double felony at the age of 19 for something stupid.”

But Mark wasn’t even charged. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office officially kicked off a new misdemeanor diversion program last July for petty theft, trespass, and vandalism charges. James Gibbons-Shapiro oversees the Misdemeanor Unit at the D.A.’s Office.

“If you have low or no criminal record, then we will offer you the opportunity before we file criminal charges to participate in diversion.” What that meant for Mark was completing 50 hours of community service and voluntarily attending two counseling classes. He said that made the difference for him – allowing him to pay back to the community and then move on with his life, nothing on his record. But he had been very close to a different outcome.

Stanford Shopping Center is in Palo Alto, which is part of Santa Clara County. Just hundreds of feet to the west was the San Francisquito Creek, and everything on the other side of that falls into San Mateo County where every single misdemeanor, even if it’s a first-time low-level and nonviolent offense, will be charged. “If someone has stolen something, like anything else they have to accept the consequences for their conduct if they’re caught,” said Steve Wagstaffe, San Mateo County District Attorney. “We do convict them for that. Something as simple as vandalism – we will prosecute.”

The punishment for the lowe-level misdemeanors include things like taking part in the Sheriff’s Work Program, which usually involves picking up trash on the side of the highway, being subject to police searches, and paying hefty fines. Conviction for this category of misdemeanors usually does not result in jail time, but even misdemeanors can stick around someone’s record for years. “We don’t want people to lose their jobs,” Wagstaffe explained. “We don’t want people to have their lives destroyed over a misdemeanor but we do want them to make amends for the criminal conduct.”

Paula Canny, a Redwood City-based defense attorney, showed NBC Bay Area a letter she penned to Wagstaffe last May asking him to consider adopting misdemeanor diversion programs in San Mateo County. “I’ve known Steve Wagstaffe for 30 years. He is a really good lawyer, but in this instance, he’s a dinosaur,” said Canny. “Every Bay Area county has a diversion program except San Mateo County and it’s unfair.”

Canny said diversion programs not only save counties and taxpayers money by cutting the number of misdemeanor cases running through the system, but more importantly, helps prevent recidivism. “The best way to ensure a person doesn’t come back into the system is to rehabilitate them, educate them,” said Canny.

One of the few counties in California that has tracked the recidivism success rate is Orange County.

The District Attorney’s office in 2011 found that 25-percent of those who decided to go the traditional route of getting charged instead of diversion committed a crime again, while the repeat offense rate was six-percent for those who completed the diversion program. Pacific Educational Services is the company that administers the diversion program in Orange County, along with 12 other California counties.

According to Walter Stockman, president of the company, 98 percent or 4,721 people enrolled in diversion in Orange County in 2012.

Of those, 94 percent completed the program which also resulted in more than 73,000 dollars in restitution. There are also certain misdemeanors that never qualify for diversion under California law, including driving under the influence and domestic violence.

As for those who don’t complete diversion programs, they are redirected back into the traditional process of getting charged.

For Wagstaffe, San Mateo has it right in holding everybody accountable for every level of a crime committed. “We have a warm fuzzy side to us, but it’s going to be in how we sentence people,” Wagstaffe said. He added that his county has earned the reputation of one of “law and order,” keeping would-be criminals away.

“Because they know we have a jail and our judges will use it. I don’t wish that crime anywhere, but if it keeps it out of San Mateo County, boy I think we’re doing our job.” Mark disagreed. He said without diversion, his life would have gone in the wrong direction. He wants others to also have a second chance after a stupid mistake.

“I can understand people should be held accountable for their actions definitely,” he admitted. “But I think people should be given a second chance to show society they’re not just a horrible person.”

The wait is over. The Powerball numbers are out. 

At 8 p.m., the winning numbers were chosen: 22, 10, 13, 14, 52 and Powerball 11.

The estimated $600 million ended up being just a little shy of the 600-mark. Lottery officials said late Saturday they estimate the jackpot at $590.5 million with an estimated cash value of $376,900,000.

California joined the Powerball club in December. This was the first mega-jackpot that allowed us to join in on the ticket buying frenzy. Tickets were sold wherever Super Lotto or Mega Million tickets were sold. Currently, 43 states participate in the Powerball Lottery.

Lottery officials say adding California to the mix has given the Powerball jackpot a quick growth spurt that helped lead to Saturday night's prize.

If no one wins tonight, the pot could go as high as $975 million, according to the Lottery.

For those looking to find an advantage, California Lottery officials listed their lucky retailers. The list included six Bay Area retailers that had a history of selling winning tickets stretching from Santa Cruz to Alameda.

One of those on the list is Kavanagh Liquors in Alameda. It reported long lines throughout the day Friday, with even longer lines Saturday.

Another lucky store was in Los Altos. It was also a very popular destination Saturday thanks to its lucky status with the California lottery.

JP Liquors had lines out the door at times.

Here's what customers and an employee had to say about the chances of a winner coming from Los Altos:

The largest jackpot ever was a $656 million Mega Millions prize won in March 2012. The prize was split three ways with winners in Illinois, Kansas and Maryland.

People in Nevada drove hours to cross the California state line in order to buy tickets. Those lines were blocks long Friday and were expected to get longer Saturday.

The photo to the right is the line at the Primm store in Nipton, California.  The store is very close to the Nevada border and many Nevadans make the trek.

NBC Bay Area reporter Sam Brock broke down the bad news to us.

He has a Reality Check on the odds we really have of winning the money. Odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are about 1 in 175 million.

His video below:

San Francisco police and other city departments are preparing for the 102nd Bay to Breakers race on Sunday with added security measures following the bombings at the Boston Marathon last month.

Backpacks or other bags larger than 8.5 inches by 11 inches by 4 inches will be banned from the 12K course, which spans from downtown San Francisco to Ocean Beach on the western end of the city.

Bomb technicians and canine units from the Police Department will be located along the course while police will also monitor cameras in real-time at the start and finish lines and at a hilly location along Hayes Street where crowds often gather for the race, police Chief Greg Suhr said.

A total of 17 law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are contributing resources to ensure the safety of runners and spectators, Suhr said.

The city's Department of Public Works has also been replacing regular trashcans along the course with transparent ones so authorities can make sure nothing suspicious has been placed inside, Suhr said. Organizers of Bay to Breakers, which is presented for the first time this year by the classified ads website Craigslist, are reimbursing all costs for law enforcement, Suhr said. Race director Angela Fang said, "We're going to have the same great event that this city loves."

Matt Stiker, chief marketing officer of the San Francisco Travel Association, called Bay to Breakers a great example of the quirkiness of San Francisco.

The race is famous for the zany costumes worn by its participants, as well as the occasional runner wearing nothing at all. Stiker said the race is "a pressure release valve" for hard-working San Franciscans and "this city blows off steam like no one else does."

One costumed contestant will be Tom Sweeney, who has been a doorman at the city's Sir Francis Drake Hotel for 37 years and is running Bay to Breakers for the 40th time. Sweeney has run the race for the past 15 years in his 40-pound beefeater outfit similar to the ones worn by guards at the Tower of London.

"It's not your everyday running outfit but I love the challenge," he said. Sweeney is a native of San Francisco's Sunset District and grew up with Suhr, even briefly dating the police chief's sister.

He said he is always cheered on by his friends and other supporters when he runs the race. "It's great, seeing all my friends," he said. "I look forward to this day every year."

Sweeney said he wasn't concerned about his safety in the wake of the Boston bombings, which killed three people and injured more than 200 others near the race's finish line in April.

"I think it will be the safest thing ever," he said. "Boston was unique but I think in San Francisco, everyone comes together. It should be a good year." 

Olympian Ryan Hall, who holds the fastest marathon time ever run by an American, will be participating in the Bay to Breakers for the first time this year.

Tesfaye Alemayehu, an Ethiopian who trains in Antioch and has three top-five finishes in the San Francisco race, is among other top competitors.

The race starts at 7 a.m. Sunday at Howard and Main streets and will affect San Francisco Municipal Railway bus lines along the course.

More than 25 Muni routes will be affected, including the F, N, 2, 5, 6, 8X, 9, 10, 12, 14, 14L, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33, 38, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, 71 and 108 lines.

The Great Highway parking lot closed at 6 a.m. Thursday in advance of the event, while dozens of other streets will be closed shortly before and during the race.

A list of street closures and other information about the event can be found online at www.baytobreakers.com.

Bay City News

The Coast Guard jumped into action Friday after a truck with a person inside plunged into the water at the Port of Oakland.

The report was made from Berth 30 in the 2800 block of Seventh Street just before 2 p.m. Firefighters and dive teams also responded to the scene.

From the NBC Bay Area helicopter, at least three scuba divers jumped into the narrow canal area about 2:15 p.m. and a large metal boom had been lowered into the water in the hopes of finding the vehicle, which appeared to be submerged.

Within an hour a body was retrieved from the truck Oakland this afternoon, police said. The person was pronounced dead at the scene.

The victim was a beloved longshoreman who had worked at the Port of Oakland for more than 50 years, according to a co-worker. The victim's name was not released.

The truck was apparently knocked into the water by some sort of  machinery and the man was underwater for more than 30 minutes before port divers could reach the vehicle and retrieve the body, Oakland fire Battalion Chief Coy Justice told Bay City News.

The truck was also recovered from the water, fire officials said.

"He's a very loved man, he's like a father to all of us," said Frank Gaskin, a business agent with International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 10.   

Gaskin said work will shut down at the port until Saturday in honor of the employee and while authorities investigate the incident.

A spokesman for the port said the financial implications of the shutdown would not be extreme because the crash happened late on a Friday and Saturday is not a busy day at the port.

The San Jose Police Department’s Bomb Unit detonated a grenade that a resident found in her garage Friday afternoon.

The woman called 911 just after 2 p.m.  She told dispatchers that she found a grenade on a work bence while she was cleaning her garage.

The home is on the 5300 block of Clovercrest Drive.

Police said when officers arrived they discovered the grenade still had the pin in it so they called in the bomb squad.

The Bomb Unit responded to the scene and the area around the residence was evacuated. Bomb technicians removed the grenade from the garage and utilized explosives to blow it in place outside of the residence.

There were no injuries as a result of this incident and the investigation into where the grenade came from is on-going, however it was not believed to have been planted in an attempt to cause harm.

Because the bomb squad blew it up, we don't know if it was actually a live bomb.

The woman said she did not know where the bomb had come from.

Leading up to the most recent elections this past fall, a small-time Dublin prosecutor in his early 30s, named Eric Swalwell made national headlines as he waged an aggressive battle to unseat a once-beloved 20-term member of Congress, Pete Stark.

Come Nov. 6, 2012, Swalwell was successful - the young upstart beat the outspoken and aging liberal Stark, who had overseen the Fremont area for 40 years from the Hill.

Fast forward to today and Congressman Swalwell is now making his way as a freshman member of Congress.

He feels he has finally landed.

“Well, 11 years ago I was just an intern on Capitol Hill,” said Swalwell, as he described how the tables have turned.

“For me, I still go to the elevators that say ‘Members Only’ and I look at them and wonder, ‘Am I allowed to get on that?’ – You kind of slap yourself and say, ‘Yeah, you’re here now, you belong.’”

While Swalwell long dreamed that he was going to be a professional soccer player when he grew up, that ended after he sustained an injury in college.

As he explains in an interview with Raj Mathai at the top of this article, Swalwell then turned his attention to politics.

He interned in Congress a decade ago. Now, he is a member of Congress at the age of 32, representing East Bay communities like Dublin, Fremont and Hayward.

The Powerball jackpot keeps climbing. Lottery officials say the big prize now sits at $600 million.

The $600 million prize is the largest in the multi-state game's history, beating out last November's $587.6 million jackpot.

No one won Wednesday's drawing, causing the jackpot to soar.

The thought of winning all that money may have you asking yourself: Can you put a price on happiness?

For some people, the idea of hauling in a $600 jackpot from the lottery would probably come pretty close to fitting the bill.

Yet despite the fact Powerball’s jackpot now sits at $600 million and counting, the mathematical reasoning goes that a $2 ticket for a shot at unthinkable wealth isn’t worth it.

"The breakeven point for an individual person buying a ticket is $287 million,” said Dan Ostrov, a professor of mathematics and computer science at Santa Clara University.

Ostrov used his considerable numerical prowess to calculate the expected return of a lottery ticket.

Specifically, he looked at the possible prize outcomes, and the probability of winning, to come up with the magic number.

For example, if a lotto player had a 1 percent chance of winning $200, the ‘breakeven’ point would be $2.

That’s because you would multiply the 1 percent probability (.01) by the $200 jackpot to get $2. In this case, the Powerball breakeven figure comes out to $287 million.

That’s a sum many people would wrap their arms around, but Ostrov says not when they’re throwing in a couple bucks for nearly impossible odds.

"If you take a deck of 52 cards, and you pull out just five random cards, the chance that you're going to have a royal flush in those first five cards is 270 times more likely than your chance of winning the jackpot at Powerball,” said Ostrov.

He offered a second example, as well. "If you take half the U.S. population, include yourself in that, and then select one person at random, the chance that you will be selected is higher than your chance of winning the jackpot at Powerball."

If a lotto player from California were to win the Powerball exclusively, he or she would collect the $600 million annuitized, or one lump sum of $282 million, according to the Powerball web site.

That’s because the lump sum is taxed at the federal level, though not at the state level in California.

While the present dollar value of $282 million does come close to matching Ostrov’s breaking point, it doesn’t quite get there.

Nonetheless, it’s still hard to imagine just about anyone passing up a chance to win the jackpot for a $2 investment.

Follow @nbcbayarea

There may be no meat to incite the masses to action, like bacon.

Burger restaurants, pizzerias, bars have all folded under the vocal opposition of neighbors. But it seems a San Francisco restaurant that specializes in bacon will live to oink another day.

The year-and-a-half-old Bacon Bacon in the Ashbury Heights neighborhood has been battling for its porky existence since some neighbors began complaining a while back about the bacon smell wafting their way.

“Depending on the wind patterns day to day, there were strong odors of bacon,” said attorney Ryan Patterson, who is representing a neighbor with sensory olfactory nerves. “This is a restaurant that specializes in bacon and is called Bacon Bacon -- and it did smell like bacon.”

MORE: SF Bacon Restaurant Must Close Due to Aroma Issue

With dishes like fried chicken wrapped in bacon, bacon scones and a bacon bouquet (five bacon strips wrapped in paper), it’s not incomprehensible there would be a bacon smell.

But the restaurant had other issues beside just the aroma – namely it didn’t have a permit.

“They have been operating without a permit since December 2011,” said Richard Lee of San Francisco’s Health Department. "We finally set a deadline when they need to get a permit.”

Under the city’s deadline, the restaurant was set to shut down on Friday at 3 p.m. Owner Jim Angelus said he offered to install a $35,000 air filtration system, but was afraid to commit to the work if the city was going to shut him down anyway.

The neighbor’s opposition stood in the way of a Planning Department permit, which stood in the way of a Health Department permit. Supporters signed petitions, and finally, came down Friday to pig out one last time, walking past a chalkboard sign out front that read “Save Our Bacon.”

“I want to stay here because I’m not going to let a couple neighbors ruin what’s a great neighborhood,” Angelus said. “I live in this neighborhood, too.”

But as Angelus’ four employees wondered if they’d have jobs next week, Angelus received a call Friday - just after lunch - from his neighbor and Patterson. As they negotiated over speakerphone, the contingent finally reached a verbal deal. Angelus agreed to put in the filtration system, and the neighbor would drop his complaint.

“My client has offered to contribute money to make this happen,” Patterson said. “I think everyone is really happy about it.”

The deal had yet to be put into writing, and still required approval from the Planning and Health Departments.

But as he hung up the phone, Angelus illuminated a cautious smile. Then he headed back to the restaurant’s kitchen – there were bacon burritos to be made.

More Local Stories:

• Restaurant Cleanliness: S. Bay Eateries Closer to Accountability
• Embarcadero's Dying Palm Trees Leave Big Bills
• Pot-Bellied Pig Stench Causes Neighborhood Ruckus

What price a blog software -- and network of bloggers around the world? For Yahoo, about $1 billion, according to reports.

Yahoo is considering acquiring at least a piece of Tumblr, several tech news sources reported this week. It's not clear if Yahoo is going for an investment or an outright buyout, according to AllThingsD and VentureBeat.

If it's the latter, Tumblr -- despite taking home about $13 million in revenue -- could be worth up to $1 billion thanks to new advertising efforts.

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has made acquiring startups -- or, as the blogs put it, acquiring "cool" -- a hallmark of her tenure in the corner office at Yahoo, the brand of which has taken a hit in recent years.

Tumblr's value may be in its future. Tumblr recently introduced a mobile ad platform, and Yahoo -- as well as everybody else -- is very interested in monetizing mobile.

Police arrested a Corte Madera man twice in eight hours on Thursday for attacking a paralyzed housemate, once with a box of macaroni and cheese.

John Jeffrey O'Connor, 46, rented part of his home to a 49-year old man paralyzed from the waist down. The pair got into an argument at about 4 a.m. Thursday, and O'Connor allegedly punched his wheelchair-using roommate in the mouth, the Marin Independent Journal reported.

Police responded to a call and saw swelling around the paralyzed man's mouth. They arrested O'Connor, who soon returned home on bail, when he phoned police and asked them to stand by while he evicted his tenant/roommate from the home.

The tenant planned to leave at 2 p.m., but that was not soon enough for O'Connor, who was arrested again when police responded to a call that he'd shoved a box of macaroni and cheese in the paralyzed man's face. Seeing a "damaged box... that appeared to support the allegations," O'Connor was arrested again -- this time on a felony charge.

Bail is set at $25,000, and the alleged victim "moved out of the residence as planned at 2 p.m.," the newspaper reported.

At this year's running of the Bay to Breakers -- presented by Craigslist, officially -- there will be a few more people in uniform amongst the costumed revelers and serious runners.

They're San Francisco police officers, who will be out in force along the race route and watching the start, finish and Hayes Street hill area via video cameras, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

The department's bomb technicians, canine units and other resources -- such as the police on horses and on Honda motorbikes -- will be watching to make sure the 100,000 people or more expected are all safe, according to SFPD Chief Greg Suhr.

"At this event, people want to see police officers in uniform," Suhr said. "And they will — lots of them."

Security is at the center of everyone's mind as San Francisco prepares to host Bay to Breakers just a little more than a month after the Boston Marathon bombings.

Large backpacks are banned from the race route, and rules that have been in place for years but perhaps loosely enforced -- such as bans on nudity and alcohol consumption -- will be enforced by SFPD, Suhr told reporters at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

Video cameras will record the crowd at the start and finish lines as well as at the Hayes Street Hill, where the salmon run upstream and where the crowd is at its thickest.

Meanwhile, police are still asking for the public's help in solving a year-old homicide at the 2012 Bay to Breakers.

Stephen Martin of Santa Clara, 30, died last year after he was suckerpunched in the head at Sharon Meadow, according to police.

He and a group of friends wearing troll wigs were partying with a group of people -- now suspects -- in 49ers jerseys.

Martin lost consciousness after one of the men in 49ers jerseys struck him. He hit his head on the ground and died in June 2012.
 

Whoa-oh, here lunch comes -- and it's a man-eater.

Lion meat is on the menu at Mokuntanya Yakitori Restaurant in Burlingame.

The meat is "reportedly as tough as the animal itself," according to SF Weekly, and the king of the jungle on a plate also fetches a pretty penny -- $70 for one skewer, or about five ounces of meat.

This is not new for Jason Li of the restaurant, who recently has also made peacock and swan available to diners.

Animal-rights activists are stomping mad over the leonine treat. Lions are a "threatened species," for  whom going extinct is a "risk," the newspaper reported.

There is about two weeks' worth of lion meat in the kitchen at the restaurant, but beware: Li says last year, he sold out in seven days.

One of the America’s most recognized, multi-city cycling events will roll - or zoom - through the South Bay beginning today.

This stage of the Amgen Tour is called "Stage 6" and the trial kicks off at 12:45 p.m. at IBM's Silicon Valley lab on Bailey Avene in San Jose. This stage will take 113 cyclists almost 20 miles, with a final climb up Metcalf Road to the Santa Clara County's Motorcycle Park. At this stage, 14 cyclists have been eliminated from the tour.

On Saturday, Stage 7 leaves Livermore for a 91-mile haul to Mt. Diablo, which has an elevation of more than 10,000 feet.

The tour finishes on Sunday - an 81-mile ride from San Francisco to Santa Rosa.

The 2013 Amgen Tour of California kicked off last weekend with a 103-mile road cycling race around Escondido; the first time the race started in Southern California.

This year, 16 of the world’s top professional cycling teams will compete in the eight-day event, which includes approximately750 miles of roadways across the Golden State.

Full a full schedule of the routes and cities, click here.

Over the years, the Amgen Tour of California has drawn millions of spectators around the state. Last year, more than 2 million people cheered on cyclists from the sidelines, according to the tour website.

There are special spots along each route for spectators to watch the cycling race. A spectator guide featuring tips for watching the race can be found here.

For more details, including maps, on the Amgen Tour of California, visit the event website.

NBC San Diego's Monica Garske and Brandi Powell contributed to this report.

Follow @nbcbayarea

The bacon smell smelled so much of bacon that now, the bacon must go.

A San Francisco bacon restaurant — called Bacon Bacon — must shut its doors after neighbors' complaints about the smell of bacon revealed a fatal permitting issue, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

Bacon Bacon, at 250A Frederick Street, will close its doors at the end of service Friday after its owner "failed" to negotiate with neighbors who took offense to the pork restaurant's smell.

MORE: Reprieve for SF Bacon Restaurant Facing Closure

The smell led to the revelation that the restaurant lacked "proper health permits" last summer.

The restaurant may be able to secure a permit but the first time a hearing can be held is July. So the restaurant must close.

Neighbors claimed that the "porcine aroma" was overpowering and that grease was illegally disposed of in the sewers.

Neighbors also say that they offered to buy the restaurant owner a new air filter — but he declined.

Owner Jim Angelus says he'll revive the restaurant's food truck — when he can find an approved kitchen location in which to prepare meals.

More Local Stories:

• Restaurant Cleanliness: S. Bay Eateries Closer to Accountability
• Embarcadero's Dying Palm Trees Leave Big Bills
• Pot-Bellied Pig Stench Causes Neighborhood Ruckus

The Alameda County Sheriff's Office is investigating an officer-involved shooting on westbound Interstate Highway 580 near Castro  Valley that occurred late Thursday night, deputies said.

An officer shot the driver of what was reported to a green Buick with stolen Honda plates near the Castro Valley  Boulevard onramp of Interstate 580, according to sheriff's deputies.

Deputies started following the car, which sped off. The driver was tackled to the ground by a sheriff's deputy, and a female passenger was caught. A third suspect got into the driver's seat of the Buick, authorities said, and tried to drive away with the deputy behind him.

Another deputy fired a shot, hitting the driver, authorities said. That driver is now recovering at the hospital.
 

Credit card skimmers were found inside two gas pumps in Walnut Creek, and now, police are warning drivers to keep tabs on their bank accounts.

An attendant at the Chevron on Ygnacio Valley Road and N. Main Street found the credit card skimmer Tuesday morning during a pump check.  Then, on Wednesday an attendant at the Valero on Ygnacio Valley Road and N. Broadway found a similar device inside a pump.

Walnut Creek Police Detective Mike Hurlbut says the skimmer can be installed fast and it stores credit and debit card information.

"It's a filter inserted between the card and the drive itself so the number was diverted into skimming device where it was saved," he said.

Hurlbut said drivers should take a good look at a pump before paying with plastic.

"Is the lock broken? Does the door swing wide open? Are there exposed wires does the door look busted?" he said.
 
Police don't know if there are other skimmers installed in other pumps around the Bay Area. They are urging drivers to keep tabs on their bank accounts while officers review hours of survelliance tape looking for the person who is opening gas pumps and installing skimmers.

Follow @nbcbayarea

A shooting as the Warriors game let out Thursday night left two fans dead - the driver of a Porsche was killed by bullets and the passenger was killed as he staggered out onto Interstate 880 in Oakland.

Now, police are turning to Warriors fans and nearby surveillance video from the O.co Coliseum for help in finding the killers. Oakland police spokeswoman Johnna Watson said Friday that the two men were leaving the arena about 10:35 p.m., when the shooting broke out.

• SLIDESHOW: Images from the scene

The victims were identified late Friday by the Alameda County coroner's bureau as Christopher Beardon, 30, of Pittsburg and Terrance Marks, 28, of Richmond. Authorities said that it appeared as though they were heading home to Contra Costa County.

The men were wearing Warriors clothing and had tickets to the playoff game on Thursday, which were found inside their 2010 Porsche Panamera, Watson said.

Police said it appears as though people in two cars were shooting at each other. The people in the second car have not been found. On Friday, witnesses told authorities the second car may have been a dark-colored SUV.

The driver was killed by the bullets, authorities said, and the passenger was killed when he was struck by an oncoming car - he had staggered out onto the highway after the bullets whizzed into the Porsche.

California Highway Patrol spokesman Sam Morgan said his officers were processing the highway at Jackson Street, looking for shell casings to collect more evidence. Oakland police will be handling the homicide investigation.

The freeway was shut down for hours, causing major traffic backups for people leaving the Golden State Warriors game, where the team lost, 94-82, to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6, ending their season. The highway was re-opened at 2:30 a.m. Friday.

The pair of killings brought Oakland's homicide numbers up to 37. Last year at this time, there were 46.

Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $20,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the killer. Anyone with information may call police at 510-238-3821 or a tip line at 510-773-2805.

More local stories: 

>> SF Restaurant Gets Reprieve Following Complaints of Bacon Smell

>> Palm Trees Dying Along San Francisco's Embarcadero

>> Restaurant Cleanliness: Silicon Valley Eateries One Step Closer to Accountability

>> 2013 Amgen Tour of California Hits South Bay

A woman driving up Highway 101 on her way to San Jose was arrested this week after a San Luis Obispo County sheriff's deputy and his K9 "Jack" say they found 13 pounds of meth floating in her gas tank.

Deputy Al Barger said he noticed a car making several abrupt lane changes Monday and when he ran the plate he found the car's registration was expired.

Barger said when he pulled the car over he found a 32-year-old driver and three children inside.

The driver, identified as Maria Guadalupe Garcia, had a prior criminal history of transporting drugs so Barger asked if he could search her vehicle.  Barger said Garcia consented to the search and had her three children leave the car.

Jack then took over and sniffed around.  Jack indicated he found something in the back seat.

Further investigation found a loose back seat, an exposed metal plate and several floating plastic bags in the gas tank.

The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's department said a total of 13 one-pound packages of methamphetamine were in the tank. The street value of the drugs is estimated at $228,000, according to investigators.

Garcia was arrested and booked for possession of a controlled substance for sale and transporting a controlled substance. She was also charged with three counts of child endangerment.

Garcia's bail is set at one million dollars. Her three children, ages 15,12 and 5 were turned over to Child Protective Services.

A San Leandro youth pastor was among dozens arrested during a massive prostitution sweep last week in Florida, who was in Orlando for a ministers conference.

Samuel Yoon, 45, who works at New Community Mission Church, a Southern Baptist church in San Mateo, was arrested May 8 as part of an undercover sting in Polk County, Fla.  In all, 92 people were arrested in a span of four days.

Yoon could not be reached for immediate comment, but a pastor at his predominantly Korean church told NBC Bay Area on Thursday that was was surprised at the allegations.

Yeong Kwon called Yoon a "good guy."

According to Kwon, Yoon has worked for six years at the church and oversees 40 youngsters.

Sheriff's deputies said Yoon responded to an ad posted by an undercover detective offering women for sale. Authorities say that he was looking to have sex with who he thought was a 14-year-old girl. He was in Orlando at the time, authorities said, to attend a youth ministry conference. He was arrested on charges of traveling to meet a minor, using a computer to solicit a felony, lewdness.

He has no prior criminal history, according to authorities.

Another key suspect in the prostitution was Mohammed Ahmed, originally from Illinois, who was on his honeymoon when he answered to an ad from an undercover detective posing as a prostitute, authorities said. When the 21-year-old man did not return to the hotel, his wife reported him missing, the sheriff's office said. His wife was later notified that he had been charged with prostitution and possession of marijuana.

Others arrested included 12 “pimps” who brought prostitutes to the undercover location, 39 prostitutes, 39 people who were willing to pay for sex from prostitutes and two others who went with suspects to the undercover location and were arrested on other charges, the sheriff’s office said.

The investigation took place from May 8 through May 11. Ahmed and Yoon were released from jail.

NBC Miami's  Maria Camila Bernal contributed to this report.

What you don’t know, can hurt you -- that’s what one Santa Clara County supervisor says about restaurant inspections. It comes three months after our Investigative Unit exposed a broken system that could affect your health. Thursday, the department that oversees restaurant inspections reported some progress towards change.   

• Original Report: Silicon Valley Restaurants: No Grades, No Accountability
  
• Follow-up: South Bay Supervisor Questions Restaurant Inspection System
  
• Follow-up: Bay Area Restaurants Skirt Inspection Posting Laws
• Follow-up: Board of Supervisors Orders Transparency for Silicon Valley Restaurants

Business is humming right along for the Peninsula’s preeminent rail service, Caltrain.

Ridership levels continue to rise to healthy, if not eye-popping numbers: A 38 percent increase since 2010, and 11 percent annual jumps each year for the last three.

Demand, in fact, has prompted the agency to look for ways to expand its capacity.

So with fare revenues flowing in at historic levels and ridership showing no signs of slowing down, it might come as a surprise that Caltrain is actually fretting how it will pay for its 2015 budget, with a projected shortfall of $17 to $19 million staring administrators in the face.

How to explain this apparent contradiction?

“Caltrain is one of the only transportation agencies in the Bay Area that lacks a dedicated funding source,” observed Jayme Ackemann, spokesperson for both Caltrain and its managing agency, the San Mateo County Transit District.

“The fare revenue covers about 60 percent of our budget, which is a significant amount,” said Ackemann. “But it doesn’t cover the entire budget. And that 40 percent hole, roughly, that we’re looking at is the part of our budget that’s difficult to fill every year.”

To this point, Caltrain says it’s basically been employing smoke and mirrors to keep up with demand and fund a full budget.

In a May 2 release, the agency cited “unprecedented revenue increases due to historic growth, savings from prior budget years and one-time-only stopgap funds” as the reasons why Caltrain can meet its obligations for fiscal year 2014. “Caltrain needs a dedicated funding source, but it depends on what the voters are comfortable with,” Ackemann said. A tax increase to generate money exclusively for Caltrain is one idea that’s been floated for solving the agency’s financial woes. But before tackling a solution, it’s worth highlighting the genesis of the problem.

The service is run by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, a group of three local transit agencies that was formed in 1987 and which ultimately took control of Caltrain in 1992, shouldering 100 percent of its operational and financial responsibilities.

The three entities- SamTrans, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and the City and County of San Francisco- contribute to Caltrain on a voluntary basis. When asked if there’s a mandate for a minimum contribution, Ackemann explained that not only is there not a mandate, but creating one might be quite difficult.

“To impose a minimum payment, each of the members of the Joint Powers Board would have to agree to that,” she said. “And it’s probably a difficult conversation to have because it’s arguing against your own self-interest to some degree.” When one of the Big 3 agencies shows an inability to maintain its funding level, it also likely drags down everybody else.

That’s because the Joint Powers Board members contribute based on a formula tethered to their activity levels.

An agency that has a higher volume of weekly Caltrain boardings would provide more money than one with a lower figure. So when one agency’s contribution rises or falls, generally so does the amount provided from the other two groups, keeping everything proportional. In this instance, SamTrans is struggling to fund its own core transportation services and could cut back.

“There isn’t any money left over [for Caltrain],” said Ackemann.

“SamTrans is operating with an annual deficit. We’ve been pulling money out of reserves just to continue to operate our bus and paratransit services.” Regarding a solution to Caltrain’s funding dilemma, NBC Bay Area spoke with one of the agency’s founders, Rod Diridon, Sr. “When we put together Caltrain back in the 1970’s and 1980’s, we put it together as a volunteer activity between the three counties,” said Diridon, who opined that much has changed since then. At the time of its inception, Caltrain was primarily shuffling commuters from Santa Clara County and the Peninsula into San Francisco.

With the burgeoning economic vitality and entrepreneurship in Silicon Valley, however, the patterns have changed to a nearly 50-50 split, said Diridon.

“If the Caltrain service went out of business, business would shut down on the Peninsula,” he asserted. While no one is implying that Caltrain will shut down any time soon, the feared service cuts and potential fare raises are what’s occupying the minds of riders and management.

Diridon says the while the agency still needs a regular, non-voluntary funding source, Caltrain will get a big boost when the tracks are electrified in 2019 as part of a voter-approved High Speed Rail package. “It will make the system much more efficient,” said Diridon. “They’re already negotiating for electrical rolling stock (cars and trains) that will get rid of this old diesel push-pull rolling stock.”

Diridon predicts the upgrade to an electric service would add more capacity by swapping faster, more efficient trains that cost less to operate with the current infrastructure, which in some cases has been around for decades.

But to bridge the gap until 2019 and beyond, Diridon insists Caltrain needs a permanent revenue source.

His suggestions are two-fold: Have the Joint Powers Board member agencies make more of a financial commitment, and/or implement a new tax with the approval of voters.

“I think if we told the public what it was going to buy and what the advantages are, they would approve it,” said Diridon. “We’re in a remarkable area in California where the people do really understand how transportation and the economy work,” he added.

The polling suggests otherwise, however, according to Ackemann.

When Caltrain studied the likelihood of passage for such a tax in each of the participating counties, it found that San Francisco would likely come just short of the two-thirds vote needed to pass the measure (60% approval), San Mateo would barely clear the threshold, and Santa Clara would come nowhere close to passage.

If it came down to more urgent measures, Ackemann says Caltrain would consider a tax in just one of the counties, “but what form that would take is a question mark.”

Caltrain may also lobby the state to provide a steady revenue stream through a portion of funds collected from California’s greenhouse gas emissions exchange.

Whatever the future course of action may be, the agency currently faces a fundamental problem with its operations: It has no permanent source of funding that even record ridership revenues can’t overcome.

When San Francisco’s quake-damaged Central Freeway met the wrath of the wrecking ball in the early nineties, it left a sprawling waterfront like a blank canvas. In the grand sprucing-up of the Embarcadero, the city lined the imposing roadway with more than 200 palm trees.

But now a disease is working its way through those trees, leaving many for dead and leaving San Francisco with a hefty replacement bill.

“The palm trees have something called Fusarium Wilt,” said S.F. Dept. Of Public Works spokeswoman Rachel Gordon. “Which is a highly contagious fungal disease that can ultimately kill the trees.”

The disease is a guaranteed death sentence. So far 26 of the Embarcadero’s 220 Canary Island palm trees are confirmed to have it.

Another 34 trees show symptoms of the disease. The city has replaced four of the trees with plans to replace another three before this summer’s America’s Cup Yacht Race. But like the trees themselves, the price tag is way up there.

“To replace these trees is about $35,000,” said Gordon. “That’s both to dig them up and to put in new palm trees.”

City arborists are trying and preserve the diseased trees as long as possible. Gordon said the disease is highly contagious and can even be spread to other Canary Island palm trees using the same saw blades used to prune them.

While the city is trying it’s best to preserve the trees, some think it should cull the diseased trees at a much quicker pace.

“It makes sense in our city to maintain our big trees,” said Doug Wildman of the Friends of the Urban Forest. “But again, you’re subjecting the ones that are healthy to this disease.” '

Wildman said the city should consider different palm trees as it moves forward with roadside development projects across the city. Already, Canary Island palm trees extend down upper Market Street.

“We can’t keep planting them,” said Wildman. “We need to look at different palms if we really want palms for those applications.”

Gordon said city tree crews are replacing the dying palm trees with Mexican Fan Palms which are less likely to be infected Fusarium Wilt.

The city faced controversy over the original decision to plant palm trees since they’re non-native. But in a city of transplants and immigrants, some said the sprawling foreigners, feel right at home. “They really have found a place on the waterfront,” said Gordon.

Apple loves all things new -- and that includes its stores.

The highly-profitable company has submitted plans for a new retail store in San Francisco's Union Square, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The new store will inhabit the space formerly occupied by the Levi's store at Post Street, a few blocks away from the current Stockton and Ellis streets location, which has been heavily impacted by Central Subway construction.

There's no word yet on when the store will make the move, but the new space will be "45 percent larger" and employ 50 more people than the 350 people currently at work at the Apple store.

Mayor Ed Lee, said to be "excited" by the move, will also enjoin the company to make the new building "green."

A former UC Berkeley master's student admitted to killing his girlfriend and her 6-year old son in a 2012 drunk-driving crash, according to reports.

Jose Lumbreras, 25, was celebrating his impending graduation from the storied institution on May 18, 2012,  with his girlfriend, Milanca Lopez, 22. He was getting a master's degree; she had just finished her bachelor's degree.

They were out drinking before they picked up Xavier, Lopez's son, from a baby-sitter. At the corner of California Street and Allston Way in Berkeley, Lumbreras drove the Cadillac the three were traveling in into a tree at 65 mph, according to the Oakland Tribune.

Milanca Lopez was killed instantly. Xavier Lopez was removed from life-support a week later.

Lumbreras had a blood-alcohol contents of 0.16 percent, two times the legal limit.

He spent two months in the hospital with serious injuries before he was arrested and brought to Santa Rita Jail.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and could face up to 12 years in prison.

A mountain lion wandered into downtown Santa Cruz Thursday morning, scaring residents and bringing a massive police presence to the waterway where it became surrounded by authorities and looky-loos.

By 2 p.m., crews were able to tranquilize it and take it away safely in a crate.

The live capture of the mountain lion capped off an exciting morning for Santa Cruz: After walking in populated areas, the big cat hopped into an aqueduct off Ocean Ave. The waterway is part of the San Lorenzo riverbed and leads to the Ocean.

Police had it surrounded by 9:30 a.m. They hunkered down and waited for a University of California Santa Cruz wildlife expert to assess the situation. The mountain lion was first spotted at about 7:30 a.m. behind a medical facility on Water Street.

Both the Santa Cruz Sentinel and a local television reporter on the scene said that animal experts shot the mountain lion with a tranquilizer gun around 12:30 p.m.

People on NBC Bay Area's Facebook page were urging officials not to kill the majestic beat.

KSBW reporter Phil Gomez took the photo at the top of this article. It shows the big cat trying to jump out of the aqueduct. It tried to free itself dozens of times, but could not jump the 15 to 20 foot needed to clear the concrete wall.

The wildlife experts said they would do whatever they can to keep the mountain lion alive and return it to the wild.

  Three all-terrain vehicles were lowered into the aqueduct as officers considered using them to guide the mountain lion to a place in the aqueduct where it could escape.

The animal will be evaluated before being released back into the wild.