feet. looks more like the sierra than the bay area. there's snow on mount tamalpais, mount diablo and down at the saratoga gap. for more on the snow and rain conditions, let's check in with meteorologist lisa argen. >> good morning, everyone. we still have showers popping up around the bay area. notice the spotty nature of the activity. another weather system in the north bay heading towards inverness, novato, also towards san rafael. on the peninsula, burlingame, monetary ra looking at rain as well as woodside into redwood city and over on into the east bay. san leandro and castro valley, 680 and 880 getting wet. some of these showers will be coming down pretty heavy for a short time. a shower moving out of milpitas down on los gatos, watsonville and the santa cruz mountains is where we're looking at the heaviest activity. that will be the focus today. the cold air's in place.

we still could see a rain/snow mix in the higher elevations. i'll have a look at the rest of your weekend which looks a lot drier coming up. >> thanks, lisa. early this morning the republican controlled house passed legislation to cut $60 billion from hundreds of federal programs. >> i think you've done yourself proud this week. >> the vote was mostly among party lines and led by republican freshmen. the $1.2 trillion measure will keep the government running through september. there are sweeping spending cuts to school, housing and other domestic programs. but the measure protects oil and coal companies and farmers from new environmental regulations. the bill faces a tough battle with the senate which is still controlled by democrats. and president obama has threatened a veto. the deadline for congress to agree to some sort of funding measure is march 4th. after that as abc 7 political reporter mark matthews explains,

the government will shut down. >> it's not just that the republicans don't think had the president's 2012 budget cuts are enough. they want to start now. >> we are taking the first step intacteling our unsustainable debt and preserve our economic strength for future generations. >> jackie speier described it a bit differently. >> the silly, the dangerous, and the hypocritical. >> instead of passing a budget for 2011, congress has been passing temporary spending measures. the president says he will veto the republican cuts and that sets up a showdown. unless congress acts, money for government operations will run out in a little more than two weeks. the first government shutdown since president clinton and newton gingrich faced off in 1995. veteran house republicans are not eager to repeat says political analyst. >> they remembered they tried that strategy and it failed. and they realized that coming up

on 2012 they need the center voters. they don't want to lose the center voters. >> so republicans in the house are split. newcomers with ties to the tea party are pushing for the big cuts and threatening a showdown, but it's more show than anything else. >> preventing funds from being used for president obama teleprompter. right, we're gonna cut $3,000 from the budget. that's really gonna help us. >> our political analyst says republicans led by speaker of the house john boehner are already signalling that they will back away from a government shutdown. as the headlines hit, about which particular programs are going to be hurt and people see the pain it's gonna cause, it's going to be hard for them to be uncompromising. >> the house voted to cut an extra engine for a joint strike fighter, a engine the pentagon said it didn't need but one being built in the district of

john boehner. boehner sustained from the vote. >> wisconsin is expecting tens of thousands of people who rally today to protest the republican governor's attempt to cut union workers' pay, benefits and bargaining rights. >> they were broke. now we don't have anymore options. we can't do what the previous governor and legislative majorities did and that is wait for the federal government to bail us out because the federal government doesn't have any money either. democratic lawmakers delay action on the proposal. today conservatives including tea party members are expected to be bused in to counter protests. in the middle east reports this morning that anti-government protestors in bahrain at pearl square in the capital city forcing military troops and police to retreat. yemen riot police have shot and killed a protestors during a

tenth straight day of protests there inspired by uprising in egypt. as security forces opened fire and threw stones. thousands of people have moved through the capital chant being the fall of yemen's president that's ruled the company for 32 years. somali pirates have captured several americans, including a couple from southern california. the attack happened about 275 miles off the coast of the indian ocean. the pirates hijacked a yacht from a couple in marina delray. they had been on an around the world sailing trip for more than a year. a distress signal was sent a week ago. they're viewing options for a rescue. still to come this morning why california 8th graders are

>> closed captioning brought to you by mancini sleepworld. >> welcome back. more and more kids are encouraged to take algebra in 8th grade and not wait until high school. california watch, lee ann melendez takes you to one school where the 8th graders are ready. >> by the time students reach 8th grade in california, most of them should have the skills to tackle algebra. but one-third of those who took the test in 8th grade scored at below basic or far below basic levels. this according to a nonprofit that studies education issues. >> this report i think is really not that the kids shouldn't be

taking algebra in the 8th grade but that they need more preparation. >> for example, before tackling algebra, they should have mastered fractions and percentages. lewis freeberg is with our media partner, california watch, a nonprofit project for the center of investigative journalism. >> those kids shouldn't be pushed into the classes without either more preparation or support while they are taking that 8th grade math. but just to throw them into the deep end is setting them up for failure. >> presidio middle school in san francisco is part of the pilot program using i-pads and algebra applications designed by a boston publishing company. three classes study algebra using a text book but her 4th class uses the i-pad. >> along with this i-pad, it's not just a text book on there. there's supplementing videos, a graphing calculator on it, there's math games on it. >> at the ends of the year, they

will see if the students with the i-pads learned more algebra. let's look at things from a kid's perspective. the book? heavy. lots of pages. intimidating. the i-pad? light. the screen easy to read. not intimidating. >> when they're handed an i-pad, which everybody has heard about, they're only looking at the page that they're dealing with. they don't see the thousand pages. emotionally they believe i can learn this. >> only a few schools in fresno, riverside and long beach are also taking part in this program. abc 7 news. >> the kids are off from school this weekend for a three-day holiday weekend which is nice. we have our forecast. >> some of them off all next week, too. definitely a better time to go up to the mountains tomorrow. today still winter storm warnings the next couple hours.

back home wet pavement and cold temperatures. you can see the sky partly cloudy this morning. official sunrise 6:55. more rain in your saturday forecast. i'll detail that coming up. >> thanks, lisa. how all this rain and snow will help california for months to come. oprah: all new. the tv debut of celine dion's miracle twins! then -- six tiny treasures hit the jackpot-ola! wow! and -- today's your lucky day! [ male announcer ] when mike rowe heads home, his family knows what to expect. hun, mike's coming -- let's get crackin'. [ male announcer ] but what mike rowe doesn't know is that his parents have armed themselves with unquilted viva® towels. place looks great.

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welcome back, everyone. you're looking at a live picture of the camera on top of our roof along the embarcadero. you can see san francisco's financial district today, very beautiful. ohhh, there's some cloud cover. we've got scattered showers today so bundle up because it's also going to be chilly. 40s and low 50s. if you're driving here or up the sierra, please be careful. chains are required up there. well, all the rain and snow we've seen this week are having a huge impact on water supplies around the state. water managers say nearly every major california resevoir is holding more than it usually does this time of year. the center resevoir in los gatos is at 101% of capacity. locally we've added 1.5 billion gallons of water source in just

the last three days. lisa argen is here with more on our forecast. we needed that rain? >> definitely. we had pay six-week dry spell from january to february. now we're at or above normal. picked up 2 to 6 inches the past couple days here. as we head outside, lake tahoe, mid to upper 20s at truckee but here, of course, upper elevations. we're looking at the teens and a bit of a lull here but more snow to come for the next couple hours. and back home we have got scattered showers popping up all around the bay area. emeryville this morning cold and over in the berkeley hills you had some snow. the snow level has been around 1500 feet in some areas even lower than that. with a cold pocket of air trapped at the surface, we're seeing that rain/snow mix in some interesting places. live doppler 7 hd shows the pop-up nature of the showers and continue to slide into the north bay from novato, san rafael,

inverness along the coast here. watch out this morning, some of these will contain heavy downpours. redwood city around 101, you're getting wet. also in the east bay, a shower just moving out of san leandro and higher elevation snow. this is what it looks like in the higher peaks, anywhere from 2,000 feet up. in fact, some areas lower than that looking at some snow. but take a look at more rain along atascadero where you're going to see more showers, in fact dale long in the south bay just about. and also not as steady as yesterday but still the scattered showers will keep is pretty active from mountainview on south. right now 40 concord, 42 napa with a cold 38 santa rosa, 39 in the livermore valley and redwood city with 36 los gatos. the scattered showers today, the snow levels still continue to be

1500 feet to 2,000 feet. we'll ends all the shower activity later on today for a dry day tomorrow but we're going to start out cold. an upper level low from the north and west of us approaching the coast. as it interacts with that cold air, we're getting destabilization of the atmosphere once again. that just means more showers. as we go through our computer animation, you'll notice throughout the morning hours we've got the pop-up showers around the bay, 1:00 this afternoon from the peninsula on southward. the rain keeps on coming, especially around the santa cruz mountains. the rain/snow mix mount diablo but in the north bay things quiet down by later on this evening. and by the overnight hours, things are dry. the chinese new year's parade cold with a chance of rain. until 9:00, still looking at some snow, 2 to 4 inches at the lake level and the sierra novato. 53 oakland with scattered showers concentrating from about palo alto south today.

cold around the monterey bay with just low 50s here. and the look ahead. so the dry day tomorrow, not warming up much though. starting with some pretty good frost and freeze around the bay. president's day chance of rain and then you'll notice tuesday and wednesday partly cloudy but another cold system could bring, again, low snow levels thursday and friday. so still some rain out there for sure today. >> thank you so much, lisa. new york city warmed up a bit. i know they were in the teens last week and i heard they were in the 50s or 60s yesterday. live from new york city to tell us what's going on in new york city. >> no one deserved this more than we did. we can finally take off our winter coats and maybe walk outside without a jacket on. amazing what warm temperatures can do for someone's spirit but a lot coming on "g.m.a." this morning. wisconsin, more state workers flood the state house in protest

vowing not to level until the governor backs down on plans to slash their benefits. now the tea party on its way for a counterprotest. the latest live from madison. protests spread across the middle east but governments cracking down. allies are firing on its own people as they protest peacefully. a congresswoman makes an emotional speech on the house floor revealing she had an abortion. why she decided to speak out in this very personal setting. a new mysterious creature has been spotted in england. does this photograph prove he or she is real? we delve into all that and much more coming up on the show. >> we look forward to "good morning america" coming up in about 40 minutes. thank you very much. it's official, abc 7 sports director larry bieber has caught

justin bieber fever. the other big topic, one superstar's future. >> the nba all-star game is coming up tomorrow in l.a. but all these festivities will take a backseat to the melodrama. anthony has refused to sign the nothing get's contract. he wants to go back east. the nets and the knicks are both trying to acquire him in the trade. they agreed to a deal but everything really rests on mellow signing an exstrengths with new jersey. mello maybe there this weekend or maybe not. >> there wasn't no meeting set. i don't know where i came from as far as me supposed to be me. the nuggets haven't called me and said, you know, we're close to a deal in new jersey or anything like that. >> trade deadline is next week. former warrior's chris mullin

has been named one of 12 finalists for induction into the basketball hall of fame. won the last night's rookie sophomore challenge in l.a. check out john wall to blake griffin, the dunk king! he's actually going to compete in the dunk contest as well as playing the regular all-star game. james hart showing up and showing up angry for the sophomores. rookies leading. current nick, landry deals with the free ball. cousin has 33 points. john with 22 assists. wall named the mvp. rookies win it 148 to 140. the celebrity game unbelievable. welcome to the justin bieber show. i'm sitting next to bieber. first quarter bieber common with the crossover. kicks it out to a. c. green.

could have explaining to do back in the hood. bieber fever. the kid can shoot! it's unbelievable. never thought i'd say this. becoming a bieber believer. he was named the mvp and the fans voted even though his team lost 54-49. he can do no wrong. eli whiteside had an mri yesterday. he's got tenderness in his right elbow. closer brian wilson so the giants taking it kind of easy because of a sore back. full squad workouts. also in camp, the phenom. brandon bell the first baseman of the future. in arizona for the first full day of spring training. we'll have sports at 5 p.m. 6:00 and 11:00. we did a profile of bay area boxer donaris. he faces phantom weight champion. he raised some eyebrows because

one of the key members of his training camp victor conti. (screaming) >> donar has a surprising for 118 pounds. his strength and stamina have both increased since he started working with victor conti last year. he's often ringside. >> we've measured seven different parameters, called a memory belt. a whole bunch of other parameters we keep track of in terms of improvement in his fitness. >> many of danaro's friends say stay away from conti. he was in the middle of the scam and did serve jail time. >> you're signing yourself to the devil, you know. (laughter) >> i'm like, you know, i didn't want to preach that to anybody. >> i think they're very open. that's the great news for me, is that a lot of people i think

have been unable to find in their heart to forgive me for the mistakes i made in the past. >> he vows he left steroids in his past. toxic training simulates high oxygen breathing. >> anyone who doubts he's taking performance enhancing drugs. >> i have a needle, you check. >> college basketball, highlights 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. >> this isn't the high sierra. it's mount tam. lisa argen is tracking snow in the bay area. why pg&e is now reaching out to

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♪ ye ♪ look, they fit! oh my gosh, are those the jeans from last year? how'd you do it? simple stuff... eating right...whole grain. whole grain? [ female announcer ] people who eat more whole grain tend to have healthier body weights. multigrain cheerios has five whole grains and 110 lightly sweetened calories. more grains. less you! multigrain cheerios. ♪ welcome back, everyone. we wanna give you a look what's happening in some spots in terms of weather. this is a live look from the sierra. this is the caltran camera interstate 80. as you see, lots of snow on the roads. my producer tells me, heather, she says there's like lots of traffic up there until like 3:00 in the morning.

people trying to get up to tahoe last night driving all night. you see it's clear right now but it is treacherous. chains are required on interstate 80 from baxter to the novato state line and highway 50 from twin bridges to meyers. working around the clock trying to keep the roads clear. closer to home in marin county, there was steady snowfall around mount tam. started coming down at pay steady pace around 5:00. at the intersections of highways 9 and 35, a lot of parents brought their kids to play in the icy mix. they had snow fights and made small snowmen. over at the state park, caltran had to plow so the park could stay open. >> i wanna do a snow fight and make snowmans. >> we were coming because he told me there was snow and i was like, okay, let's go! >> we were coming up here and

there's a lot of rain. i didn't know if there was gonna be snow and kind of a pleasant surprise. >> caltran's trucks and teams are standing by around the bay area just in case there's more snow. they're also working to keep the rainwater off the roads. while other meteorologist lisa argen is tracking the snow and rain right now, let's check in with her. >> yeah, there's more of it. more showers rotating through the bay area starting in the north bay. from roano park to novato. showers swinging in up towards napa and by the delta. the peninsula, 280 and 101 down towards burlingame and san mateo through east bay and the san ramon valley getting wet. we've got snow mixed in here at the hills, the higher elevations and down towards los gatos. but look at the santa cruz mountains. this is where we're going to see most of the activity later on today. but throughout the morning hours and the midday hour, we're

looking at more cold rain headed our way. temperatures are just in the 30s right now. we'll see highs only in the 40s. definitely not out of the question to see more low level snow around here. but we're looking at a dry day tomorrow. details coming up. >> thank you so much, lisa. we have developing news in oakland. two separate early morning shootings left two people dead. the first happened 2:00 this morning on 62nd avenue on hilton street. police were called to a car that had its rear window shot out. two bodies were found in that car. no word on the victims' identities or possible suspects. the other shooting near the inn near the oakland airport. there are two victims there, at least one in critical condition. officers tried to lock down the hotel but apparently had trouble communicating with their portable police radios. radio problems have plagued oakland police during the past couple months. a bill to cut funds to planned

parenthood. jackie speier stunned the floor into silence when she told them about her own experience with a medically necessary abortion. >> i lost baby. but for you to stand on this floor and to suggest, as you have, that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought is preposterous. >> speier's comments after chris smith went into graphic detail on abortion on the house floor. >> the doctor goes in with forceps and this device and literally hacks that baby to death. planned parenthood itself says it takes 10 to 20 minutes to literally dismember that child. >> the procedure that you just

talked about was a procedure that i endured. >> speier said planned parentshood does not use any federal funding but instead for procedures like cancer screenings and birth control. she showed anger causing her to reveal her private tragedy. >> they've never gone through this, never endured this. how dare they speak with the venom and vitriol that they do about something that is so painful, so personal. >> the bill is not expected to survive the senate. the house went into recess just a few hours ago. lawmakers worked through the night and passed a spending plan full of sweeping cuts including an amendment with that planned parenthood cut. pg&e made a request to past employees. it asked them to search their homes for a missing pipeline record. it was from the gas expolice

station. as part of the investigation the federal government ordered pg&e to produce accurate records of its entire urban system. the utility has sent a letter to 42,000 former or retired employees asking them to look for any reports, charts, or drawings they may have. >> a massive undertaking of not just revealing all our records but making sure anyone else out there, inadvertently they may have records. we want to leave no stone unturned here. >> pg&e can't find about 30% of necessary records. >> thousands of bart riders spent about an hour going nowhere when the trans bay tube was closed during the height of last night's commute. people got stuck on both sides of the bay starting 5:40 p.m.. that's when a train operator saw pieces of metal on the tracks near the oakland entrance to the trans bay tube. they immediately turned off the power while crews worked to pinpoint the problem.

>> a piece of metal. not sure what it is. may have come from a train which is the assessment. >> i'm pregnant and cranky. that doesn't help. yeah, it was mass pandemonium in the embarcadero station. >> some stranded bart riders rode buses across the bridge while others endured the delay. trains started rolling 6:45 last night. bart is not sure where the metal came from. a new bart station opens this morning. trains will start running from the west dublin pleasanton station. yesterday they gathered for the grand opening located between interstate 580 between the castro valley and dublin pleasetant ton station. there are 12 uh-huh -- 1200 (vet) i love working with animals,

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welcome back, everyone, on this saturday morning. you're looking at a live picture from our hd camera on top of mount tam. look what you see, snow! and the beautiful bay in the background. if you don't want to head to the sierra because roads are actually treacherous, you may want to head to mount tam and build a mini snowman there. the new year parade tonight at 6 p.m.. there should be lots of road closures. heading to the city be careful and probably take public transportation because there will be lots of people in the city tonight. governor brown wants to get rid of key chains, coffee mugs and other freebies given away by

state agencies. the freebies aren't so free. it cost taxpayers $7.5 million between 2007 and last year. caltran spent the most money on giveaways, more than $5 million. the governor hasn't decided what to do with california's stockpile of promotional items but says he's open to suggestions. the weather is the big story. let's check with meteorologist lisa argen. >> lots of rain still out there this morning. low snow level, that incredible picture from mount tam. here's the sierra where we have another three hours until the storm warning expires. temperatures in truckee and tahoe in the low to mid-20s at the lower elevations. back home we're looking at more cold rain here. from emeryville look at the clouds out there. live doppler 7 hd shows the shower activity continuing to pop up all around the bay. in the north bay from roaner park towards novato and fairfax

eastward toward valley and napa you've got some showers. take a look here from daly city. burlingame, san mateo across the san mateo bridge. we've got wet weather over to the san ramon valley. and the most activity is further to the south from morgan hill to the santa cruz mountains. check out all the activity continuing to slide on through around santa cruz. and this is where we'll definitely see more wet weather today with heavy downpours. perhaps some hail embedded with the heavy downpours. look at the temperatures. 36 degrees fairfield. 39 fremont and mountain view at 42, the warm spot in san francisco. so we are looking at more scattered showers today. snow levels continue to be low with that cold air trapped sometimes down at the surface. and so you saw mount tam. let's continue to see some rain/snow mix there. the snow level 1500 to 2,000 feet but all ends later on

tonight for a sunny and dry day tomorrow. another weather system moving through. that continues to destabilize the atmosphere and that means more rain. here's our computer animation showing the pop-up showers with emphasis later on this afternoon will shift south from half moon bay to morgan hill, san jose and the santa cruz mountains. with the snow piling up here mount hamilton, a couple more inches but the activity should decrease north of san francisco by later on this evening. but for the chinese new year parade, there's still a chance of a shower and some cold temperatures. i talked about a couple more hours for the winter storm warnings. it's 2 to 4 more inches at lake level, 3 to 6 feet 7,000 feet and a chance to dry out and enjoy the snow later on today and tomorrow. but today back home only upper 40s to low 50s with a rainy afternoon. in fact, it's raining right now across the north and south bay, even the east bay. but the concentration later on

today will be in the south bay to the monterey bay, the santa cruz mountains only low 50s there. overnight tonight we dry out. it is going to be a cold start tomorrow, a dry day for sunday. the holiday chance of showers with more clouds and then a little break midweek. interesting will be the stimulate in the week that if it holds, it could bring snow levels maybe to sea level around here? >> no way! >> the cold air keeps coming. >> that would be neat. thanks, lisa. don't go away. "7 on your side" is next. >> what if the streets in your neighborhood is so confusing your mail can't be delivered. your mail can't be delivered. i'm

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>> welcome back, everyone. we love this shot so we just had to show it to you again. our hd camera on top of mount tam. the snow there covering the mountain top and the beautiful bay in the background. scattered showers today and possibly more snow in those higher elevations. you should head up on top of mount tam, highways 9 and 35. they've got snow up there. people making snowmen so enjoy the day and try to stay dry. have you ever had your mail delivered to the wrong address? or get someone else's mail in your box by mistake? it happens often in neighborhoods where streets have similar names. one spot in sunnyvale is a prime example. michael finney has one couple's frustrating story. >> julio is showing us the puzzling cross streets at his

house. green lake that way, lake fair the other way. it's the main reason he hasn't been getting his mail. >> technically we're supposed to be on lake fair but i don't know why it's considered -- it's very confusing. >> just one corner in a neighborhood full of streets named lake something. there's lake hayden, lakewood, lake knoll, silver lake, meadow lake, twin lake. and, by the way, there is no lake here. it seems right for lost visitors and misdirected mail, especially for julio and his wife viviona. their house sits on green lake drive right where it turns into lake fair drive. because of that their mail has been going where they don't live. >> come with driver's license and tax information. we started not getting that stuff, that's when it becomes really a big deal. >> here's why. their official address says the house is on lake fair drive. but it really sits over here on green lake drive.

a mail carrier looking for the house down here on lake fair won't find it. >> neither of these addresses exist. so there is no such address for green lake, nor is there an address for lake fair. they're sending our mail that way and when they go that way there is no house. >> it's returned to a mystery mail pile back at the post office. making payments late, missing documents, and brad credit reports. >> we would get calls saying how come you haven't paid your bill. it's kind of like we didn't get our bill in the mail. >> the couple tried to fix the problem by calling the post office. they put this sign on their mailbox saying their house is on both streets. mail still went missing. after two years of this, vivano had enough. >> she game michael finney a call. lakewood, lake haven. >> we took a problem to a postal service which agreed all those

lake streets were pretty confounding. >> apparently there was some confusion as far as the address and where the house is actually located. lake fair. >> a postmaster paid a visit, realized the address didn't match the house and contacted the city of sunnyvale. the city looked into it, too, telling us indeed there was a clerical error way back in 1957 when the house was built. official records mistakenly showed the address on lake fair drive. so right away the city changed it to green lake and waived the usually $167 change fee. mail carriers now carry a special knowledge: this house is officially on green lake drive. >> kind of nice after two years not getting resolved. >> it was good. >> we get our mail now. >> the service says even with all this confusing maze of streets all named lake, it has not received anymore complaints about misdirected mail.

by the way, no one could tell us why the lake names when there is no lake there. i'm michael finney, "7 on your side." >> the first ship recycling center on the west coast is open for business in vallejo. they staged a ribbon cutting ceremony for allied defense recycling. it will scrap old naval vest sales in half the time as the old center. they have 120 workers. the first ship to be dismantled will be the ss thurman moved from sassoon bay. expect crowds, great skiing and snow boarding. what you may not know is how much work goes on to make sure the conditions are as good as possible. dan ashley has more. >> late in the day as you're taking your last run down the slope, these modern day mountainmen are just getting to

work. this is the snow grooming team at heavenly, one of lake tahoe's biggest ski resorts. it takes 16 snow cats running all night to keep the slopes in top condition. >> a lot of veteran operators here, 250 years of combined experience on the crew. >> this year they want the same thing. >> everyone wants to run the beast. >> the beast is a brand new grooming machine, bigger and more efficient than ever before. in the world of snow cats, it's considered the sporty model. >> designed on the inside, an italian company, they do work for ferrari. >> the heavenly fleet includes two beasts. we rode along with keith and brian as they headed out to make their mark on the snow. >> you show up here, it's a blank canvas. people have been skiing it all day long. it's beat up. >> as people ski and snow board, they naturally push the snow to the edge of the runs and down

the hill. the groomer's job is spread it evenly back in the center. the beast has a front blade 22 feet wide compared to 7 feet on older models. it pushes the snow in place and the tiller on the back creates the smooth surface. >> you want it to be as flat as possible and, of course, have that seamless corduroy. >> the cats go up and down the slope again and again until it's perfect. >> this is the best job on the mountain. this is my office here. you can't beat the office view. i run around all night grooming and key all day long. a pride of ownership in your runs, the ones you do a lot. this is my baby here. >> earlier in the season brian spent two weeks scoping the snow to get this black diamond run open. heavy winds and weird angles still make it particularly tough to tame. the beast can make a big difference with both power and great visibility from the cab. >> even have a rear view camera that comes on in reverse.

>> at the top of the mountain, the temperature can drop below zero but inside the cab it stays toasty warm. this team works until midnight, then another crew until the lifts open in the morning. and then that perfect corduroy is all yours. >> the prodict you leave behind you is your signature. >> dan ashley, abc 7 news. >> i'm jealous of all the skiers up there this weekend. the heavenly team since this grooming technology is changing so quickly they replace a third of their fleet every year. well, they call him the klepto cat. next a literal cat burglar caught in the act of a peninsula

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as a parent you dot want to have to tell your kids "no" all the time. it's nice for me to be able to say "yes" to something th they want to eat. [ male announcer ] chex cereal. five flavors. gluten free. >> this next story has gone viral. media outlets around the world picked it up this week. the story of a cat burglar on the loose in a peninsula neighborhood and no one seems to be in much of a hurry to catch him. vic lee caught up with him in san mateo. >> meet dusty. when the sun goes down, it's time to hit the streets. dusty is a cat burglar. >> so she always steals stuff. >> neighbors like five-year-old ethan know him by his alias: klepto, the cat. >> well, he took my moms's swimming clothes. >> neighbors are on guard but

his victims don't file police reports. >> we haven't because we know where to go. >> i think those are for playing hockey. >> they go to jean chew and jim coleman's home. dusty belongs to them. in the past three years they figure he's stolen about 600 items and he's not choosey. he'll take anything that's not locked down. >> towels, gloves, shoes, socks. little toys, children's toys. >> this pair of shoes which he took in two trips and even people's personal items. >> we have some -- we had some black ones, too. >> he especially likes bathing suits drying outside. he stole kellie's bic kinney bottom. >> came back ten minutes later and took the top home. yeah, we know him very well. >> his m. o. is always the same. he leaves home at night and returns with his loot early

morning. they installed a camera. it caught his nightly forays for a week. his record take for one night is pretty amazing. >> how many? >> 11 different things. >> it's getting dark now. the question is which house will dusty hit? it's a purrrr-fect night for a heist. >> i love that story. final check of the forecast. >> oh, it's cold out there and it's wet. we've got more rain. take a look, live doppler 7 hd and more showers rotating through the bay area throughout the day today. a chance this evening for the chinese new year parade and then we'll dry out. but by the ends of the week still cold rain coming our way. >> thanks, lisa. and thanks so much for joining us. lisa and i will be back at 8 a.m.. ♪

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♪ how are you getting 100%? ♪ good morning, america. i'm bianna golodryga. >> and i'm dan harris. this is saturday, february 19th. and this morning, budget battles. we have breaking news from congress overnight. an extraordinary 4:30 in the morning vote, on massive and painful budget cuts. meanwhile, the standoff at the wisconsin state capitol is escalating, with the tea party moving in for a counterprotest. crackdown. a key u.s. ally in the middle

east opens fire on its own people, as they protest peacefully. and all of it is caught on video. the protesters are vowing the come back, as violence breaks out across the region. hijacked. four americans are being held hostage by somali pirates this morning. they were sailing through pirate-infested waters in the indian ocean when they were attacked. we're going to speak live with a family member anxiously awaiting for word back home. and mystery of the deep. forget loch ness. the mysterious creature spotted in a lake is bownessie. spotted in england. does this photograph prove it's real? the mystery continues. this was the eighth sighting in five years of this mysterious creature. >> are you a believer? >> i don't -- you know, part of me wants to be a believer. this couple was apparently having a romantic weekend.