>> glad it wasn't worse. >> time for a check on the forecast the warm-up is. coming up. first though, traffic information with leyla gulen. >> as we take you back to where amy hollyfield was located, you can see yellow and we have volume that has built in the eastbound direction if you are traveling up to hercules. when that dissipates the riding -- ride is going to be smooth. the morning commute will not be affected. 580 from tracy to dublin is 20 minutes. 101 southbound from san rafael to san francisco is not a problem but 17 minutes. to the bay bridge toll plaza it is looking wide open as you make the drive from emeryville to san francisco. now the forecast and mike nicco good morning.

good morning, everyone, we will talk about the stick story and the freezing temperatures, the hard freeze that is continuing in the north bay valley where we have temperatures in the 20's to low 30's so keep everything contained until 9:00 this morning the check out the beautiful picture from the exploritorium looking at the ferry building with downtown san francisco in the background and you will notice normal highs today and temperatures in the mid-50's to low 60's and it is our ninth winter "spare the air" do so do not burn wood l is a warmer forecast and cleaner air coming up in the forecast. >> more on the polluted air and record 5th straight "spare the air" day has been issued for dead and another could be on the way for tomorrow. no wood burning is allowed including fireplaces and fire pits and those manufactured fire logs. there are "spare the air" exemptions available if fin who only has a wood burning stove as

a heat source. >> advocates are protecting the homeless from another night of fridge it weather holding a prayer service in san jose last night for the four homeless men who died from exposure in santa clara county since the cold snap began. two of the machine died at a san jose encamp in the known as "judge el" the largest homeless catches in the country. in addition to the prayers volunteers handed out food and blankets. >> citrus growers are holding off packing fruit harvested on or after yesterday. inspections take place at 81 packing houses in the central valley. experts say it is too soon to know how much fruit was damaged but the worst appears to be over. >> stay on the cold snap with the abc7 news weather app with severe weather alerts and track done --. you can download it flow at

abc7news.com/app in the app store or on google lay. >> a 36-year-old antioch man is in instead this morning after hitting a police officer with the car and leading police on an hour-long high speed trace through several east bay cities. our reporter reports. >> the chase made several loops around antioch. >> it was unreal. though debt going around in a circle. first the copper and then the tires and the sparks were fly flying. >> each path, neighbors say, it seemed another tire was gone. >> headed up the street and the next time, he came by and then he stopped in front my house. >> the officers chased the suspect on foot but it was a dog

that brought him down. >> he started running and made it to the drive and the dog took him down. the police were all over him and there were cops everywhere. >> the suspect was treated at the scene and taken away in a ambulance. >> a suspected bank robber is in the hospital this morning after a high speed chase that ended in san rafael. a marin county sheriff shot him after the man crashed the car trying to evade police near the mall. we were over the scene moments after the crash yesterday. the chase began after a robbery at the bang of the west if novato and police believe the man could be the serial bank robber, the cotton ball bandit. this is video of the bandit. he got the name because of his hat he is wearing, police have been staking out local banks in an effort to cash bandit. >> the contract headache that will not go away, bart and the unions resume talks.

a federal mediator will help the two sides try to reach a final agreement. the dispute is over six weeks of paid family leave union members received in the contract deal that ended the strike. bart directors say the provision was left in as a mistake after both sides agreed to take it off the table. the bart board accepted the contract minus that part which resulted in the union filing a lawsuit. talks are scheduled for today and tonight. >> happening now on hill an all nighter in the senate forced by republicans angry over rules limiting their ability to fish and filibuster. katie marzullo is in the newsroom to explain the parliamentary procedures. katie? >> around-the-clock means happening right now although it is very early so to the senate floor we go, with senators in session and have been since yesterday. democrats are tieing to vote on presidential nominees and republicans are stalling the

nominees under the new rule. they can in longer filibuster indefinitely as the stat only needs majority vote to advance a nominee but the g.o.p. can debate for hours and prevent other business from take place. that is what you see there. so far just one of 11 nominees have been confirmed. after 1 a.m. the senate voted 51-44 to put a new judge on the circuit court. the actions are now not without circumstance. the majority leader will keep the senate through the weekend in session. and next week the senators consider the budget agreement with the house of representatives planning on bringing that budget to a vote today and if the senate is still stalling on the nominees, their budget vote could come up against the christmas holiday. >> thank you. people in south africa continue to pay their respects to former

south african president, nelson mandela, with thousands waiting in line before walking pass the cough pin where his body is lying in state. cuban president castro was among the mourners and nelson mandela's casket is brought to a military hospital each night. the body the leader will lie in state for the third and final day tomorrow and buried in the home village on sunday. >> new details the last half hour, the south african cabinet minister has admitted she made a mistake hiring this sign language interpreter accused of being a fake. he was an impotter and the woman on the left is real interpreter and you can see their gestures do not match. here he is next to president zuma. last year the deaf federation of south africa complained of him before, and the man said overfit he suffers from schizophrenia

and was hearing voices and began hallucinating the day of the memorial. >> how embarrassing. >> now, the forecast is getting warmer. >> absolutely. the afternoons are getting warm other but we will talk about what is going on when you step outside: it is freezing cold in napa and american canyon and petaluma, and guerneville all the temperatures are 30 or below and 38 in san rafael and mid-40's in mill valley and sausalito and up to bodega bay. this is where the freeze warning is but we have forecasty conditions if lafayette at 31, and san ramon at 32 and forward at 30 and cupertino at 30 and close to frosty around newark at 33 and san jose at 34 and alameda is 43 and 37 in half moon bay and right new in san francisco it is warmest at 45 degrees. next 12 hours, this morning, is our last freeze and as we head to noon we are looking at temperatures that are in the low-to-mid 50's with sunshine

and we could have a few high clouds late in the afternoon but we will hang out in the mid-to-upper 50's through 4:00 and milder this afternoon, mid-40's and possibly a few upper 40's. upper 50's to low 60's tomorrow with cleaner air mass coming in and hopefully the low-to-mid 60's on saturday and sunday. now, how is the morning commute? >> we have another problem on westbound 80 this time as you make the drive south of the hoffman split in albany, if you are traveling near fill man street you will find this, a big rig carrying a trailer which begame detached and now is blocking one lane. we are seeing delays in the eastbound direction but all the activity is westbound and it is not causing any slow downs there. as we such back up to the canceled sig-alert we have residual slowing making the approach along the westbound direction with spectator slowing, as well, and the rest of the drive is quiet.

how four is not affected and 28 minutes and you grab 80 west from the maze and northbound 85 to the san jose airport is under ten minutes and outside, here is the east bay, southbound side of walnut creek as you make the drive on 680 to the 24 junction, it is looking clear. >> trouble aboard the international space station a glitch that could force the crew to do an emergency spacewalk. >> a jeep crashes into a gas station and erupts in planes. heroes jumped into action. >> you think we have it bad here, the treacherous weather people in the central part of the nation are

covering santa rosa, berkeley, san jose, and all the bay area, this is abc7 news. good morning, at 4:42, the fcc will consider whether to allow

passenger toss make in-flight call on the cell phones. the issue is getting attention because the f.a.a. allows passengers to use tablets and. readers and music players. 60 percent of americans do not think phone calls should be allowed when planes are in the air. >> happening now, nasa is thinking about sending astronauts on a spacewalk to fix a crucial system that keeps the international space station crew and hardware cool. one of two cooling pitches was producing too much ammonia and engineers shut it down the cooling capability is cut in half so nasa is allowing the temperatures to rise in three of the station's modules and telling astronauts to stay out them. the six astronauts not in danger. nasa says that it is ready to order an emergency evacuation of the station if that becomes necessary. >> frightening crash as a texas gas station caught on camera. a driver lost control of her car and slammed and a van that careened into the gas pump and it burst into flames. two men ran over to the car to

free the driver who could not get out of the vehicle. they were able to on the back door and pull her out. despite the flames, the machine say they -- the men were not thinking of their safety the. >> i didn't have time to be scared. >> i thought it what explode. the fire was everywhere. >> it is not cheer why the driver lost control. her energize are not life threatening. >> arctic air is creating bone chilling temperatures across several states but with a week until the official start of winter, several states are bracing for the possibility of more snow. >> the dangerous freeze continues. bone chilling temperatures from the mid-atlantic across the northeast with millions waking up to the coldest air of season. >> here are the wind chills feels like minus 11 right new and 17 below in aberdeen. temperatures are up to 20 degrees below average. far go is one of many in the

single digits or below for a week and mount vernon, illinois, heating centers are back. school-age children in south dakota can usually handle the cold but the teach wees have been forced to cancel outdoor recess. >> the temperature of the wind chill is zero below, the children are staying inside. >> animals are coping, too the owner of this minnesota cattle farm is hoping the weather remain whats -- warms up. >> it can affect the quality of the meat. >> salvation army volunteers are still on duty because it is prime giving season and they still have a job. forecasters say another nasty winter storm will spread across the eastern part of the country with major cities seeing a picks freezeing rain and snow. >> it is all relative, right? >> i have relatives back there.

>> they are colder than you. >> cold there. we have had a touch it and now we starting to see it moderate. >> here is live doppler 7 hd showing the air still is relatively dry and not as dry as it has been. we are starting to see more moisture keep in but it will not lead to rain with a dry seven-day forecast. here is a look from the tower with the air hazy this morning. our first highlight is the 9th "spare the air" day, and milder temperatures today, and frost is possible inland but a hard freeze is unlikely and the extended shows record highs are possible. some areas could get near 70 later on next week. here is a look from the east bay hills you can see it is calm out there this morning and the area we are worried about having the worst air quality would be santa clara valley and all of us are under the "spare the air" day with no burning of wood. today, can you see a tumor 60's,

santa cruz, san jose, you 61 in morgan hill and oakland and everyone else is in the mid-to-upper 50's today with just a few high clouds coming in during the later part of the afternoon. it will be partly cloudy tonight and napa is at 32 one of the few spots to see frost and closed in santa rosa at 33 and 34 in concord and morgan hill and everyone else in the upper 30's the to low 40's until you get to san francisco at 44 degrees. here is what is happening, two areas of low pressure again, and next system sliding well to our north because it is staying up there, and we are going to have milder temperatures and we are going to see an offshore flow develop which will kick in the warmer temperatures. upper 50 and let 60's tomorrow and low-to-mid 60's on saturday and sunday and monday and tuesday and low 60's wednesday, so it is the sunday, monday, tuesday, timeframe where a few areas may get near 70 degrees

and throat records. have a great day. in the westbound direction, at north gasoline road, we have this big rig that is stalled in middle lanes. it is causing slowing right new and we have a slowing at grant at 28 miles per hour and then slow and go over the pass and to vasco road. when we go back to the drive through albany, we still have this big rig westbound at gilman street and we have delays and in the eastbound direction it is not a problem up to rich monday with an early sig-alert further to the north and that is cleared but go have residual delay and the activity is showing we have slowing there. so, be prepared for that. the drive time traffic 680 from walnut creek to dublin southbound 14 miles per hours and 101 southbound from santa

rosa through marin to san francisco is 51 minutes and through the santa cruz mountains highway 17 to los gatos is 23 minutes into san jose we go and 87 beyond the julian street off-ramp and the thank you can see a few headlights out there and hardly any tail lights headed in the southbound direction with headlights northbound are smooth. eric and kristen? >> leyla gulen, thanks. good samaritans have come to the rescue after $1,000 in gifts no needy children were stolen this week. this is surveillance video of the suspect breaking interest a car on monday morning. another car nearby was also broken into and gifts for six children at children's hospital were taken. police believe this is the suspect at a target store since the story first aired people have come forward stick in up the donations and donated so much the extra funds go to other programs at the hospital. >> still got christmas shopping?

what can you buy with an extra $7,000 this holiday season? that is how much you could win just for helping use fight hunger when you click "give where you live," we donate a dollar to the feeding america food banks for you and you will be entered to win $7,000 cash, thing of all good you can do with that. we will announce the winner december 19th so go to the abc7 news facebook page and help had us give where you live and spread the word so your friends can help, too. >> remembering the daughter they lost, coming up, a mom and dad make a heart stirring video honoring their little girl killed in the sandy hook school shooting. >> that kid inspires new acts of subsequent rosty, a giant donation to make-a-wish foundation. >> a man is caught on camera twerking but it is not the wild moves that get him in trouble with the police.

on the embarcadero, check out the bay lights installation on the bay bridge, a gorgeous shot and you know what you will think this is pretty, the fact that it is going do warm up, cold snap ending but not before another "spare the air" day today. we will check with mike nicco in a minute. as we near the one-year anniversary of the sandy hook shooting, a mother is sharing her personal loss in a personal way. >> employ -- my daughter loved morning. she loved making art. >> the mother of six-year-old emilie parker created this youtube video and shares memories and how the kindness of strangers and her faith lifted up her family to do good after their loss and help others. in all, 20 children and six adults were killed at the school

before the gunman took his own life. the video is called "sandy hook, evil did not win." >> this is an inspirational for the bay area make-a-wish foundation foundation. san francisco giant matt kane offered to donate $50,000 if make-a-wish foundation could raise the same amount with your help by 8:00 last night, the challenge was inspired by five-year-old miles scott, the patient known as batkid would won the hearts of people in the bay area and beyond last month. the fundraiser has again well over the goal and thanks to people jumping forward donating $51,000! a little more than that, so far, and no word when he will step up to the plate but he is going to. you can still donate. go to our website at abc7 news.com . usually he is on the other side of the plate the on the mound. >> great news. great news.

other good news if you are coming in through the ferry building, it is the warmest spot in san francisco. a beautiful picture from the exploritorium at 47 degrees as you come through. oakland and santa rosa are 61 and 58 degrees and everyone else is one to three degrees warmer than we were yesterday. if you are traveling the southern half of the central valley is under a hard freeze until 8:00 but there is no fog. we have mixed precipitation in the great vine but it will be much warmer by the time you get there upper 60's to low 70's and my 50's to low 60's through the central valley and high clouds and sunshine and 47 in tahoe. safe travel. >> we have more and more slow over the altamont pass, and i want you to know 33 bart trains are running on time but what is not run on time is 580 from tracy to dublin. check this out, westbound 580 at north flynn road is where we have the stalled big rig and it

is blocking a middle lane causing very heavy backup trying to make it over the pass. when you are beyond north flynn you are on the way and it is wide open, so, hopefully you can see the traffic dissipating. as we take you to albany we have this, a trailer, a big rig that last a trailer, blocking the number five lane so that is all the way over to the right-hand side but it is not causing any delays. we are seeing slowing coming arm from university as you make the approach to the maze and here is a look at san jose all the green means we with are running on top speed as you make it on 101 to 88, 85, no problems. here is the san mateo bridge coming away from hayward to foster city virtually empty. >> 4:5. new this morning, shocking surveillance of a shooting inside a las vegas strip casino, with a man killed and two others wounded. you may find the video disturbing. this happened in late october when 41-year-old argued with a security guard over a $30 cover

charge at a nightclub inside the night club. he pulls a gun, shoots and wounded a guard and another man. they survive. as he walks through the casino, nightclub patron kenneth brown jumps him but as extra security arrives another shot goes off killing brown. the d.a. is deciding whether to seek the death penalty against frazier. >> young woman in brooklyn got a surprise after getting home to find packages, monthing to her and her boyfriend ripped open outside their apartment building but the real surprise came next. the 27-year-old looked through the building surveillance video and found two suspects at the door she posted the surveillance video unnetted tube and says a suspect twerked an hour while holding the elevator as the other suspect rifled through the boxes and took what was inside and left the empty boxes. >> we continue to follow

breaking news in the east bay where a big rig catches fire and next at 5:00 a.m. the impact on early commuters. >> also, the bay area is waking up to another "spare the air" alert this morning and weapon talking about that, how people are dealing with the bad air and the health impact. >> the c.e.o. of a bay area start-up goes on a rant against the homeless. he is doing a big about outbreak in over a decade. s the biu before the first sneeze... help protect with a spray.

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live from the kgo-tv broadcast center this is abc7 news. >> good morning, thursday at 5:00. >> we had a sig-alert early this morning