the situation. >> reporter: now, we saw officers get out of an armored truck and puncture the tires of a green vehicle parked in front of the home. possibly to prevent the gunman from speeding off. the entire neighborhood, however, is surrounded by officers. residents are being told to stay inside and some homes are being evacuated. traffic in this area is backed up because of the police activity. motorists are urged to stay away. live in san jose, lillian kim, abc 7 news. family, friends and police officers packed a fairfield courtroom today all there for the sentencing of a murderer. henry smith had already can convicted in the 2011 killing of police officer james capoot. today he could have been facing the death penalty. abc 7 news reporter joins us from the courthouse. sergio? >> reporter: and he did not face the death penalty because of some difficulties with the jury during the sentencing phase of this trial.

one of the members of the jury got sick and another one was about to leave the county. so the district attorney's office worked with capoot family and they decided to go ahead and accept the sentence that was handed down today. this sentencing hearing has been a long time in coming. next week will be the four-year anniversary of officer jim capoot's murder. his family and fellow police officers came together for a moment of silence moments before heading into the courthouse. >> i'm thankful that all of you guys are here for jennifer and her three daughters. >> reporter: video cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, but in this series of pictures, you can see henry entering. he remained stoic during the reading of an angry statement from the family. it is disgusting that he lost his life. henry smith was sentenced to three life terms in prison for capoot's murder and the bank robbery he just committed.

the deputy d.a. said smith went to great lengths to plan the robbery that ended with the jet and ultimately with capoot's death. >> he bought a mask, it was a hollywood quality mask. it looked like something you'd see on "mission: impossible" or something. like the latex mask that you pull off. it was of an elderly white male. >> reporter: capoot chased smith after a witness flagged him down following the bank robbery. investigators say capoot was shot in the back three times as about pursuit ended. he was a decorated officer, former marine and active girls back coach at vallejo high school. in fairfield, sergio quintana, abc 7 news. attorneys traded dueling accusations in the opening statements of the murder and racketeering trial of raymond "shrimp boy" chow. they accused him of the murder of his rival allen leung to gain control of a group in chinatown.

chow's attorneys claim he's innocent and that the fbi agents entrapped him. >> battlelines have been drawn. and this case will be hotly disputed. and ultimately this becomes forensic fireworks. >> former state senator leland yee pred guilty to racketeering that led to chow being charged. a homeowner narrowly escaped injuries during this morning's stormy weather. look what a bolt of lightning did to a tree. there's the tree. the shock sent shards everywhere, some so big and sharp it could have impaled simone nguyen and her dog. >> i thought it was a bomb or something. and the minute it hit the tree, my tree, it goes really fast. the flare hit the tree, and i saw my tree, it flew up.

it did not fell down but it flew up on the sky. >> nguyen said she is shaken up, certainly understandable, as is her dog by the violent weather and the lightning strike. people heading to work at downtown san francisco got a soaking this morning. that's when the most intense rain passed over the city. meteorologist sandhya patel is tracking the storm right now on live doppler 7 hd. >> we're still seeing scattered showers, dan. let me show you live doppler 7 hd. i'll take you down to where you're getting a little bit wet right now. let's go to the peninsula and the south bay. on the peninsula around highway 280, we're seeing some pockets of moderate rain there. and as we take you up towards the north bay, we're also still seeing some returns just southwest of the glenellen area. we'll keep the showers in the forecast which is why we still have a flash flood watch for the burn areas of yolo, solano, lake

county, recent burn areas could see flash flooding. there are more showers developing just off the coastline and they're continuing to move in. as a matter of fact, i'm going to take you a little bit closer. mt. hamilton area, we are seeing strong returns just south of that area and, as i stop the radar here, you'll see what i'm talking about. we'll take a look at where exactly that is happening, and we're going to keep the possibility of the showers and maybe an isolated thunderstorm in the forecast at least until the sun sets. most areas receive anywhere from a quarter to a half inch of rain. we'll be adding to these rain totals through the next several hours. i'll let you know what's going to follow behind this cold storm coming right up. cheryl? >> sandhya, thank you so much. getting to yosemite today meaning driving through snow. these are pictures from highway 120 in the park. and here's what it looked like earlier today in the sierra.

good news. this is along interstate 80. the snow has been falling on and off all night and day. laura anthony joins us from the mountain resort along i-80. >> reporter: hi, cheryl. well, it is still coming down here and the lifts behind me are turning. it's not even veterans day, but it's thanks to this. white snow, the good stuff. the kind that we normally see in january not november. old or young, this is still fun. a family enjoying a snowball fight at cisco grove not far from donner summit where the snow has been falling steadily. how did that feel? >> cold. >> reporter: how's it look? >> beautiful. just gorgeous. we need it. yeah. >> reporter: the family drove up from rockland with cousins from arizona. now, they had to scrounge up some clothes for the trip.

>> it was worth all of the goodwill shopping to get awe the gear and come out here. >> reporter: the trip up interstate 80 was pretty easy for much of the day but the highway patrol warned conditions could change at any moment. and it goes beyond just keeping the chains handy. >> make sure that your tires are properly inflated, that you have adequate tread depth, that you have a lot of the fluids in your car, your antifreeze. >> reporter: at boreal ski area, not only is the natural stuff falling, it's cold enough to make snow, too. it's all good according to these guys. >> it's opening week and we got a pow day. >> so it's like superfun. >> incredible. one thing to say is el nina. el nino, baby. >> reporter: and this is a live

look here at boreal open for night skiing until 7:00 tonight. this area and mt. rose are both already open. let's show you the other tentative opening dates for the other ski areas up here in the tahoe area. heavenly, kirkwood and northstar all planning to open the weekend before thanksgiving. squaw valley the day before thanksgiving. and then sugar bowl and alpine planning to open by the second week in december. of course, all of this subject to change depending on the weather, but as you can see right now, looking pretty good. live near donner summit, laura anthony, abc 7 news. well, scary situation on the san mateo bridge this afternoon. an abc 7 news viewer sent this picture of a car fire. look at that. we're told the fire was put out. everyone got out okay. now, remember, when you see news where you live take a photo and video and share it using the #

abc7now. at abc7news.com. a house fire might have been caused by a furnace in the garage. it sent flames shooting up to the two units above. the only resident inside tried to stop the flames with a bucket of water before running out of the building. >> a viewer this weekend shared this picture of a huge plume of smoke at a fire at a tire store in san francisco. tire stores notoriously caroliyn tyler has the latest. >> reporter: the owner of the rolling stock auto and tire store says his building is a total loss. just before 8:00 yesterday morning the building in san francisco's mission district began to burn. you can see through the courtyard the flames just wall of flames.

this woman's apartment building was not damaged but the one right next to the auto store is now red tagged after flames, water and smoke got inside. more than two dozen people are displaced including oscar and his father who lived here for 41 years. >> one of the things we're worried about is will we be able to come back after it's all taken care of. >> reporter: under city law, they have a right to return at the same ranch, but often it takes so long before the building's fixed that tenants have moved on with their lives. supervisor david compost represents the mission district which has recently had several major residential fires. he's considering measures to possibly change repair requirements. >> if there's something that we can do to expedite that process because there are protections that are in place, but unless the property is actually repaired within a period of time, those protections become

meaningless to the people who have been displaced. >> reporter: this evening those who are displaced are receiving help from the red cross, food bank, salvation army and more. carolyn tyler, abc 7 news. and coming up, the 10 percenters. middle schoolers who want more. the demands they want, are they being met by a bay area university? plus -- [ horns honking n. [. >> that's the sound of frustration and determination. taxi drivers walked off the job in san jose. >> why you'll likely pay more for your bird this thanksgiving. and the olive branch offered to owners affected by dieselgate.

santa rosa, berkeley, san jose and all the bay area, this is abc 7 news. marching for change. middle school students staged a rally at uc berkeley to demand the university admit more hispanic and african-american students. they're concerned they may never get into college. lyanne melendez join us with the numbers. >> reporter: these students also came with some demands. they're asking cal to take the smartest students from every school in oakland and berkeley, admit 10% of them. they say that would increase the numbers here of latinos and african-americans but of course, the university's saying not likely because of proposition 209. >> we're demanding that every institution -- >> reporter: these oakland and berkeley public school students

came to cal today to shed light on the low number of hispanic and black students here. here's what we know. of the more than 27,000 undergraduate students at uc berkeley, 39% are asian, 26% white, latinos represent 14% and african-americans 3%. >> we've counted seven people in the last hour. >> reporter: stephanie garcia is a cal student who decided to support the students today. >> it's honestly really not fair when more than 50% of california's actual population is black and latino. >> reporter: black students at uc berkeley have tried to put pressure on the administration to increase their number. >> i know there's way more than 3% of smart black people around here that can get into berkeley. there's way more. >> reporter: it's definitely uncomfortable sitting in classroom where i'm literally the only black woman in a class. >> reporter: part of the problem is proposition 209 which banned

race-based admissions as well as outreach. uc berkeley recently came up with the african-american initiative to try to increase the numbers without going against prop 209. in the initiative is a $20 million scholarship for african-americans funded by private and nonprofit organizations. >> we can recruit and when they're offered at mission, they actually come here. >> reporter: some of these students hope they'll be the beneficiaries of that initiative. at uc berkeley, lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. a major headache today for people hoping to catch a cab at mineta san jose international airport. drivers are staging a one-day strike over a possible change in the ride sharing policy at the airport. they're upset because the city may eliminate its mandatory fingerprint requirement for ride share drivers replacing it with random curbside fingerprint checks. the strike cause passengers by

surprise. >> i just messaged my friend and he's on his way to work and hopefully he can swing by here and take us home then go to work. >> mineta san jose is the only bay area airport without ride sharing services like uber and lyft. >> if you spend time online, you probably don't want the big internet companies to track your every movement. you can select the do not track option. >> reporter: but does that really work? michael finney is here with the latest on the do not track issues. >> a lot of big fights. many do have an option that you ask businesses not to track your internet activity. but the do not track option is just a request and doesn't have the backing of regulation. today the federal communications commission refused to begin proceedings to force businesses to honor do not track requests. the fcc maintains its role is to regulate companies that provide internet service, not companies that are on the internet like facebook or google.

thanksgiving dinner will cost you a bit more this year. turkey prices are up 6%. after an outbreak of bird flu reduced the number of birds available for this year's dinner. experts say the increased cost of turkey could push more people to enjoy ham, pork prices are actually down to their lowest levels since 2009. volkswagen today moved to kiss and make up with others. vw is offering $500 visa gift cards and volkswagen credit to those owners. owners were angry because they paid extra for cars many times to be environmentally sensitive. federal regulators those cars spewed out up to 40 timeses the allowable pollutents. volkswagen now admits it set up the vehicles to create emissions testing -- or i should say cheat the emissions testing. moving on, the bay area food banks really need your help.

three-quarters of a million people go hungry every single month around here. >> the thanksgiving food drive is our way of helping this year's effort. >> spencer christian is live in san francisco at the sf marin food bank. >> dan and cheryl, i'm joined by tina gonzalez, the program manage here. we've been making the point that every $1 donated translates to $5 worth of food. with the food displayed on this table, explain how you can stretch that money out. >> what we have here is our typical weekly pantry food, a grain, protein, chicken or eggs, and 70% of our pantry is fresh produce. so this can help a family provide food for their breakfast, lunch and dinner as a staple monday through friday. >> that's absolutely amazing. every dollar goes a long, long way. we'll make that point by encouraging you to donate $10. you can text the word feed to 80077 for a $10 donation.

you know now how far that will go. dan and cheryl? >> spencer, thank you so much. rain is still moving through the bay area this evening. take a look at what sky 7 hd sent us just about 20 minutes ago. you can see the sheet of rain coming down in the los gatos area. >> sandhya patel is here with the accuweather forecast. >> that's a dramatic purr tur as you take a look at doppler hd. take you down to street level, santa cruz avenue around stanford and palo alto. moderate rain falling around the sunol area, so if your traveling take you through that spot, do expect wet roadways, slow going for the evening rush. chains are required heading up to the sierra on 50, 88 and 4. the snow is starting to wind down a bit but we'll continue to see it through the night. there's a mix of rain and snow falling just north of lake

county. cold enough storm that that's what we're seeing is that mixed precipitation. 1 to 4 inches expected about 3500 feet. winter wh advisory is up for parts of the interior mendocino county. in the sierra, winter storm warning till tomorrow. 4 to 8 inches above 4,000 feet. so far resorts are reporting a half a foot to 1 1/2 feet of snow. still a pretty dramatic skyline from our camera. temperatures all in the low to mid-50s. here's a beautiful view. we've been waiting for this. finally seeing some fresh powder from our lake tahoe camera. it is still snowing in tahoe, blue canyon and truckee. carry chains if you're heading out. and we are seeing some clearing from our south beach camera, although a lot of clouds remain here. we're keeping it chilly tomorrow morning.

sunny in the afternoon. it only gets colder with patchy frost. frost advisories will be issued for the inland valleys later on tonight for wednesday morning. here's the cold system that came through. we still have a few more showers that are trailing behind that low. so here's what it's going to look like when you're getting ready for dinner around 7:00 in the south bay could still see a few showers. 8:00 p.m. still looking at a couple of showers in the south bay. 10:00 p.m., cloud cover. things will wind down tomorrow morning when you get going. do not forget to bundle up. it is definitely going to be on the chilly side. santa rosa down to 37 degrees tomorrow morning. even colder with local frost wednesday morning. chilly night will remain with us until about sunday and monday when our next storm comes in. chilly in the morning. most of the rest of you low to mid-40s. some of the cloud cover will hold the temperatures up. but wait till you see what's coming as we head towards the wednesday morning time period.

could see some frost. you'll want to bring plants inside especially if they're particularly sensitive to frost. afternoon highs tomorrow, upper 50s to the low 60s. cool, mostly sunny. acue wh forecast, frosty cold wednesday morning. we'll keep that chill going thursday. but the temperatures in the afternoon will slowly come up and then our next chance of rain, if you have outdoor activities, sunday afternoon going into monday, cheryl and dan. >> thanks, sandhya, very much. coming up on the news at 5:00, the oakland raiders invite special visitors to practice. >> the

the oakland raiders spent part of the day honoring veterans for their sacrifice and service to our country. abc 7 news was at the raiders headquarters in alameda today. former players like charles woodson and quarterback derek carr greeted dozens of veterans

and their families. the vets showing their raider nation pride. look at the excitement on their faces but the players say it's the vets who are the real heroes. >> everyone thinks of us as heroes, but we just play a game. we play a game for a living and it just happens to be on tv. they're the real heroes, they're the once out there risking their lives, sacrificing. >> well said. the three organizations hosted today's event including the wounded warrior project. a new study finds that drinking one or two glasses of champagne a week can strengthen memory as well as prevent the onset of dementia and alzheimer's. researchers say a chemical compound in champagne actually improves communication between cells and encourages nerves that carry electrical signals in the brain to regenerate. >> interesting. well, one of the most unlikely stars seems to be shining the brightest on "dancing with the stars." >> in learning how to dance, something totally different than what i'm used to. >> after "dancing with the

stars" tonight, bindi irwin shares the inspiration behind her drive to win the coveted mirrorball trophy. barack obama's now a fully functioning social media president. hey, everybody. >> what he's saying in his firs

coming up tonight, making the impossible happen. michael finney brings you the amazing effort that helped napa quake victims receive items they thought was gone forever. >> the water conservation plan was all wet and trees did not have to die. >> that's coming up at 6:00 in half an hour. >> right now president obama is now on facebook. >> yeah, his first post gives you a tour of the white house. the south lawn. and encourages people to protect the environment. >> i want to make sure that the beauty of this particular

national park but also national parks all across the country and our planet are going to be there for malia, sasha and their kids and their grandkids for generations to come. and it won't all be serious stuff on facebook. the president promised some just for fun stuff, too. >> he's at facebook.com/potus. the page has 4,000 likes so far. and he just started trailing our abc 7 page by 250,000, but he'll move along quickly. probably had 40 people shooting that thing. >> we'll have to investigate that. that's going to do it for us. world news is tonight. i'm cheryl jennings. >> i'm dan ashley. for sandhya patel, michael finney and spencer christian who is out raising money to help feed those in need, we appreciate your time.

breaking news tonight. the racial tension and now the resignation. the college football team refusing to play. and this evening, the university president now forced out. the coach, speaking moments ago. the americans attacked tonight. the deadly scene. a gunman opening fire at a police training center. martha raddatz is standing by. the judge's move today, after a 6-year-old boy is shot and killed by part-time local marshals, allegedly taking aim at the boy's father in his suv. the medical headline breaking late today. your blood pressure. and the new number you're supposed to hit. researchers say it could prevent stroke, heart attack, even death. and the state of emergency declared late today. the massive sink hole. the earth caving in outside a packed restaurant. their cars, swallowed whole.