Today's weather & top news

Today, not as cool. Cloudy. A chance of rain showers in the morning then a slight chance of rain showers in the afternoon. Highs in the mid-50s. West winds 10 to 20 mph with gusts to around 30 mph. Chance of showers 40 percent. Tonight, mostly cloudy. A slight chance of rain showers in the evening then a chance of rain showers and snow after midnight. Lows in the mid-30s. West winds 5 to 15 mph. Gusts up to 20 mph increasing to 30 mph after midnight. Chance of precipitation 30 percent. Friday, windy, colder. Mostly cloudy with a 20 percent chance

of rain and snow. Highs in the lower 40s. Northwest winds 25 to 35 mph with gusts to around 50 mph. ... FREMONT (AP) �” A Fremont task force is suggesting the city adopt some pieces of a failed proposal to ban renting to or hiring illegal immigrants, such as fining employers who don’t check their workers’ legal status. Members also suggest new ideas in a report presented to the city council Wednesday, including educating employers and others in the community to combat the problem. But it will be up to the council whether the recommendations go beyond mere suggestions. The task force formed in August. Its report incorporates some elements of a proposal defeated in July by the council during a tense public hearing that drew a crowd of more than 1,000. The ordinance would have banned renting to and hiring illegal immigrants within city limits. The task force supports requiring employers to use a federal Internet-based employment verification system, called E-Verify. The system is now used voluntarily by some businesses.

Employers could be fined or their business operations halted if they knowingly hired illegal immigrants, under the task force’s proposal The task force wants the city to educate employers about developing proper hiring procedures to comply with immigration laws. Employers, for example, need to understand how to use E-Verify and I-9 forms, which also are used to determine employment verification. Employers also need to know what to do when they have reasonable suspicion they’ve identified an illegal immigrant, according to the report. ... WASHINGTON (AP) �” Congressional Democrats are marshaling support for a rescue package to pump $25 billion in emergency loans to U.S. automakers in exchange for a government ownership stake in Detroit’s car companies. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, and Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., are developing legislation that would let the auto industry tap into the $700 billion Wall Street rescue money, approved by Congress last month, to fund their business operations. General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC are lobbying Congress to approve the aid, citing an economic downturn that has choked off auto sales, frozen credit and made them vulnerable. GM, the nation’s largest automaker, posted a $2.5 billion quarterly loss Friday and has predicted it could run out of cash by the end of the year without government help. “The reason why the autos are in this challenge is because of the meltdown in the financial market,” said Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm. “They were on a restructuring path �” yes, they were challenged �” but this has utterly kicked them in the gut and is strangling them because they can’t borrow money.”