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this is cbs news bay area afternoon edition with elizabeth cook. a deadly avalanche at a tahoe ski resort. the very latest on the rescue efforts at palisades. thank you for joining us this afternoon. we just got new details moments ago. here is the latest. the placer county sheriff has confirmed one man has died. he was a guest at the resort. another person was injured in sheriff's say those injuries are minor. placer county sheriff says all search and rescue operations have concluded. this is a look at the conditions on the mountain right now. you can see the snow

was falling every which way, sideways. there is poor visibility and it looks like people are being held behind barriers for their safety. the avalanche happened at palisades tahoe, south of i-80. both sides of the mountain will be closed all day today. this was the site of the 1960 olympics. the avalanche happened under the kt-22 lift which opened today for the first time this season. it is the lift for the black diamond runs. officials spent the weekend getting the slopes ready to open. >> we have ski patrol up there doing avalanche control assessment since sunday. the past few days they have been out there doing control work, evaluating hazard markings to get it prepared for today. >> a report at our sister station in sacramento spoke to a skier who was on the kt-22 at palisades when that avalanche happened. take a listen. >> she did say that the bus

she was waiting for was five minutes late. but had not had been five minutes late, she would have already been on the mountain, skiing down it. >> i saw it when i was going up the chair. as i came around, anybody that was off the chair, we got asked to help, start probing, start trying to find people. >> absolutely terrifying. take a look at this video from our crew heading up to palisades tahoe right now. these are the conditions drivers are facing on i-80. you can see the roads are extremely dangerous and blanketed in snow. our driver is taking it very slowly and that is a smart move. let's bring in first alert meteorologist darren peck. you can hear the wind as well. it is very stormy. >> as important as the weather conditions and the snowpack are to this story, the location of this avalanche is also a big part of it. let's come in for a close-up view. we have our

bearings looking at california. we are going to the tahoe basin. we have shown you where alpine and squaw sit, on the northwest side of tahoe, just in case you have never been there. that's get into a closer look at the valley. the terrain of this particular peak, kt-22, is legendary. you will see why. when we leave behind olympic village which sits down there, it is the first peak to the left . it has been called one of the most dramatic chairlifts in the world. it sits at 8000 feet high. this was the first day you could take that lift because the snow season has been so unusual. look at that peak. as we traverse around it, what i want to drive home is the steepest of that bowl. that is the view looking back down toward olympic village. this is the bowl within which that avalanche happened. in addition to the terrain, there was the setup. we had very weak storms come through up until two weeks ago. there was not a lot of

action. the snowpack had developed this very risky layer to it because it had time to melt and freeze and ice over and get very slick. there is an organization called the sierra avalanche center and they take it upon themselves to really go out and monitor this. there was a researcher out not far from this location just about three days ago. here is an up close view at the condition of the snowpack from his standpoint. >> what we are tracking right now is an upper faceted layer that you can see right here. we are going to see how reactive this comes with a new load on it. we are really watching what this one does. it is producing instability on snowpack test right now. >> he said an upper faceted layer which is the technical way that an avalanche scientist would say that is where the surface was . we have gone all

the time without significant snowpack and significant snowfall and the sierra, the top of the snowpack had been able to develop a fairly slick layer on it. that was the setup for this. it is a tricky situation up there. from reports on how this went, only one lockbox might be good because they were about five people who went missing from early reports i am hearing when the avalanche occurred. i will have more on the actual forecast in just a bit. >> those avalanches can come so fast and they are so powerful. thank you. there was a similar tragedy in the sierra back in 2020. one skier was killed and another was hurt and answer the avalanche at alpine meadows. of course, back in 1982, seven people died at an avalanche at alpine. documentary was made about it and i just spoke with one of the producers who lives in the area. >> we don't have a lot of snow but we do have a very weak layer down low. avalanches are hard to predict. it is a sad day for the community. our

community faces adversity very well and will all come together. as the dust settles, we will know more facts about what happens. we work tirelessly to try to make the mountain as safe as possible but the mountain is never safe. even just skiing, aside from avalanches, we have some collisions. there are more and more people coming through the mountain. i think people have this false sense of security when they are at a ski area. >> stay with us for the latest updates. we have a crew on our way to tahoe and will bring you any developments both on air and streaming on cbs news bay area. let's go to our other big news headlines today. family, friends, and law enforcement colleagues gathered in castro valley today for the memorial service of oakland police officer tuan le. our shawn

chitnis was there. >> it was an incredible show of support for officer tuan le here at 3 crosses church in castro valley. one final chance to say goodbye to a loved one, community member and fellow officer. the morning began with a procession that started in oakland and then made its way here to castro valley. we were able to watch as members of law enforcement and much of the oakland police department made their way off the freeway and into the church parking lot. opd officers got information, waiting for one of their own, standing silent in the cold as the rain poured on them for more than an hour. inside a memorial service that brought together leaders from around northern california, including attorney general rob bonta, spoke with -- oakland mayor sheng thao and others in the bay area. we heard from his family during the service this morning. >> i will miss him coming to the door at family gatherings i miss him at the table. i miss

his warmth and cheerfulness. rest easy. we will always love you. >> officer le graduated from the police academy in 2020, serving as a police officer before becoming a community resource officer. following up on a commitment he made early on in life , serving in the asian youth services committee in oakland chinatown. born in vietnam, he came to oakland in 2001. for more than a week now, we have heard from so many people about the work that he did to build a better relationship between the asian community and the police department. it was a reminder to some that it is important to have officers that reflect the people they serve. one message that we kept hearing for so many people today and over the past week is that officer le, only 36 years old but able to have such a huge impact on those that he served and those that loved him. today he was remembered as a devoted husband and son, someone who had a big smile and someone who was

always kind. >> as for his fellow police officers, they remembered officer le for his compassion and his ability to connect and work with the community he was entrusted to serve and protect. >> officer le personified what it was to exude compassion to the law enforcement family and the community he chose to serve. >> hundreds of law enforcement officers from across the bay area and the nation came out to remember officer le today. after the ceremony, they presented the family with the american flag that was draped over his coffin. you can see more from today's memorial and the latest on the suspects arrested in this case in connection with officer le's murder on our website, www.kpix.com and streaming on cbs news bay area. a new california law on

the way to try to make drinking at bars safer. what will soon be req the first time i tried to quit vaping, i told myself that it was like a mountain that i had to climb over and once i got to the other side, it would be clear, but i couldn't make it over.

what really got me to quit was my little sister. i saw her vaping so i was back in the mountain, but this time she was up there with me. it's weird what you can do for others that you won't do for yourself.

governor gavin newsom has just unveiled a $291 billion

state budget plan for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal year. the governor says this could close the state's budget deficit of nearly $38 billion. that budget is significantly smaller than the previous $68 billion budget , estimated by state officials last month. newsom wants to draw $18 billion from the total states reserves to cover some of the deficits that include $11 billion in the rainy day fund. he is proposing $8.5 billion in spending cuts. however, the governor says his budget will still preserve programs like education, public safety and addressing homelessness. assembly budget vice chair and republican representative paul released a statement about the proposed budget. he said the governor and democrats spending is the reason for billions of dollars of ongoing costs. he went on to say it is still too early for the rainy day fund. a new california law will require many bars to have testing kits available to pay

for those who suspect a drug may have been put in their drinks. the reporters spoke to a state lawmaker who is also a bar and restaurant owner who helped spearhead the bill. >> any california law aims to cut down on during this making. >> it feels good to get a bill across the finish line. we are making an impact. >> that is it. that is the only measure. >> a law requires bars and nightclubs that don't serve food to have drink testing kits available to customers who may want one. >> we believe that if somebody has a tester, somebody is trying to drug them may think twice about them. >> businesses will be required to post a notice that the test kits are available. >> ketamine, which is most commonly used in roof being has no taste. there is no sent. there is no color. they are

really tough to detect. very fortunately, they are easy to test. >> reporter: a sacramento-based organization provides support to victims of sexual assault, domestic violence. >> we want to do everything we can to keep people safe so that they don't fall prey to somebody who is looking to harm them. >> reporter: alcohol on its own can be dangerous too. >> i really caution people about the drinks in general. we see a tactic where somebody is giving somebody else lots and lots of drinks to get somebody drunk, not using any drugs at all or any substances. i would hate for people to think this is the only tool they need but i do think it could be a good thing for people who might be at risk and might be being exposed to somebody using some kind of a drug. >> reporter: a spokesperson says they are still working to figure out exactly how this model will be implemented as the law goes into effect july

1. >> we want this to be safe for everybody. >> reporter: they hope to expand the program to more kinds of establishments and then including college campuses. on the money watch, credit card debt is a big issue for a lot of people, especially after the holidays. nearly half of consumers say they carry a credit card balance from month to month according to a new survey from bank rate. that is up 10% from 2021. the average balance is more than $6000. jill schlesinger offers these three tips to wrangling that stubborn credit card debt. >> one really good way to approach it is to ask the credit card company for some help. if you don't ask, you don't get. >> what is interesting is when you ask for a lower rate, they will often give it to you. >> most people don't know that. >> if you have decent credit scores -- credit scores have

risen -- you may get a transfer to a zero balance card. remember, that can often be for a very specific period of time. you get a 0% transfer balance and it will pop right back up if you don't pay it off in time. i think that the last thing to remember when you are looking at your credit card bills is to automate as much as you can so you don't miss a payment and you don't add to it. >> when it comes to those buying out and pay later offers, jill warns they could encourage bad spending habits and there may be fees associated with them. let's get back to our first alert weather mag. we are keeping a close eye on the conditions in the sierra and back home. a winter storm warning is in effect. this is video from soda springs where the snow was coming in sideways. meanwhile, back here at home, we are tracking the latest round of showers as windy conditions are outside.

this video from the santa rosa fire department shows what can happen when dealing with those strong winds. trees can come toppling down. this one toppled onto some power lines. they estimate nearly 300 folks lost their power as a result of that one tree coming down. meteorologist darren peck is very busy. what is going on? a lot of weather to talk about today. >> we are not done with this one either. watch the time lapse from this afternoon. this is our vantage point from the top of the salesforce tower. rain moves in, moves out. pretty little rainbow there as well. we have a nice live picture there. let's go to first alert doppler. we are still in this. look at how much snow is falling in the sierra. this is the prime time for snow accumulation. from the morning through this evening. we have been tracking this for the last several days. from a more user

friendly standpoint, what we have really been communicating about this storm is it is not a good day to drive in the sierra. we are trying to keep as many people off the roads as we can. back here at home, the showers continue. if we put it into futurecast, they will continue. look at these really well organized lines . we will see another line come through. these will look just like it did in the time lapse. a wave of rain will come through and we may even get a rainbow and then another line will come through and it will go like that through the remainder of the evening and then things will clear out. still to go on top of what we have gotten, there was a little more rain to go. these systems come in and move quickly. rainfall accumulations are not huge but things get what regardless. that is the focus with the rain. we know there is a lot of snow to go. i am showing you the total from when this started last night, going through late tonight. we will have a foot and a half of snow

just on the pass. it will be heavier than that up on the resorts or on kt-22 where we are looking at where the avalanche happened today. in terms of the cold air, we will still see cold air funnel down our way. now the focus becomes tomorrow morning. i want to use the virtual map for a moment and focus on thursday morning. these are going to be cold numbers again. remember what it was like on monday when we stepped outside and the numbers were down into the low 30s and upper 20s in many places? that will happen again tomorrow. plan on frost for thursday morning. it will be cold out there once again thanks to that incursion of cold air coming our way. there is another chance of rain coming our way. we look at it on the big picture. this one will not be impressive. there is rain in the forecast on saturday. here is the important perspective. look at this system. there is

not a lot of rain here that will be able to hold together for us. it will be great rain for eureka. it will be really good snow for oregon and washington state. that is where this storm will do most of its damage but here at home it falls apart. we don't really get a significant amount of rain or snow from this one. if you look at the totals, see that big red bull's-eye for eureka? look at how the numbers really fall off when you get back here closer toward home. that is the next system we will keep you updated on as we get closer to it. it still ranks as a very misty looking tube on here for saturday but you don't really have a whole lot else that shows up when we take a look across the rest of the forecast. the 49ers are getting ready for the playoffs and so are the faithful. how everyone is looking forward to the home-field advantage.

a trumpet superstar is in san francisco. chris bodie plans to perform eight shows in the six nights now through january 14 at the sf jazz center. the vallejo symphony continues its celebration, performing an american in paris sunday at the everest theater. chicago is still the one musical with everything that makes broadway shake. it is hotter than ever. get your

[narrator] covered california is a free service from the state that's already helped millions of people like you get and pay for health insurance. with financial health to lower the cost of health coverage, you could get a quality health plan for less than $10 a month. every plan covers preventive care, doctor visits, emergency care, and more.

if you have questions, we're here to help every step of the way. covered california. this way to health insurance. enroll by january 31st at coveredca.com.

it is officially the nfl post season and we know the playoffs run through levi's stadium. vern glenn has a closer look at home-field advantage for the niners. >> this is the volkswagen red and gold report. >> the 49ers have come up one game short of reaching the super bowl in back-to-back seasons. why won't this year be different? >> there is no place like home. >> they will have home-field advantage this time. >> we've got this!

>> the 49ers have never lost a playoff game at levi's stadium. >> in this stadium, we can take on anybody. >> if they keep that streak going, they will earn a trip to las vegas. >> it is just the atmosphere of levi's stadium. it hits different. i am looking forward to that first game. >> to be able to play and perform in front of our own fan base and the faithful, it will be special for us. >> with the red and gold report, i'm vern glenn. >> you can't beat the passion of those niners fans. onto chase center. the warriors host the pelicans. while draymond green is not expected to play, he is back

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coming up tonight, meat san francisco godfather of roller skating who has been on a mission for 45 years. he is this week spay area jefferson award winner. you don't want to miss that story. the cbs evening news is next. local news continues on our ♪ ♪ >> norah: good evening. i'm norah o'donnell, and thank you for being with us on the "cbs evening news" on this wednesday night. we are following a number of ki