next at 5:00, the urgent demand in santa clara county. health officials are now begging residents to cancel christmas gatherings because of covid. plus, who should get the vaccine next? state officials are making potential life and death decisions now. a controversy over a housing development in solano county. ten years back and forth. why is this site sitting idle still? we have new word of unrest in an unsettling robbery. a couple who lost their life savings. we begin with a dire warning from santa clara county officials. good evening. i'm ama dietz. >> they are begging everyone there to cancel their plans that

go beyond their immediate households. they said the danger of covid-19 has now brought health care system to the brink. >> if we have a surge on top of a surge, we will definitely break. we are on track to have covid be the third leading cause of death of all causes in our county. one of the enormous, enormous challenges of covid is that it's silent. you can't see it. your loved one doesn't look dangerous. this is the time when we want to come together, we need to come together, but we cannot come together in person. if you have plans to travel, go home and cancel them. >> stern words. the county's health director says hospitals may soon need to ration care, even for people who don't have covid. >> and when hospitals are at that point where they are rationing care, where they are having to turn away people who desperately need their services,

it's no longer just about covid, it's about everybody. it's about people in the car accident. it's about people with a heart attack. this will affect all of us. every single family, every single individual in santa clara county will bear the brunt of our decisions over the next several days. the only way that we can give the gift of life to ourselves and our loved ones is to pick up your phones right now, cancel any gathering that you were anticipating with anyone who does not live with you. >> health officials laying out what's at stake very clearly today in the most stark and dramatic terms. santa clara county has recorded the most cases and the most deaths in the bay area throughout this pandemic. >> meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, there have been 39,000 new cases statewide. that's up from yesterday but down from the peak set on the 15th.

california set new records with hospitalized patients. more than 18,000 are currently hospitalized with 3,800 of those are in the icu. an advisory committee wrapped up a meeting to determine who will be next in line to get the covid-19 vaccine. we are joined so j.r. can tell us who will get priority. j.r.? >> reporter: the question we keep hearing is, am i next, and when can i get the vaccine? here's what's coming down from state officials working with the governor. here in california, the next 1-b tier will involve three main groups, and the goal is to get these folks vaccinated in january and february. first off, everyone 75 and over. then essential workers including education and child care workers. emergency services workers like fire, police and corrections officers, and finally food and ag workers which includes

grocery store employees. towards february, high-risk 65 to 74-year-olds. essential workers including transportation, critical manufacturing workers and facilities and service workers. doctors talked about the need to vaccinate the elderly immediately. >> the data is clearing showing. 75-plus, they are outlyers. they're 10 times, 20 times higher death rates, so they're obvious. there's less vaccine than people who need it. so we're just having to make very difficult decisions. >> now, those in state and local jails are included by late february, and those who have experienced homelessness. as for everyone else in the next tier, that is unlikely to start up before march. dan, ama, back to you. >> j.r., thanks very much. part of our effort to build a better bay area includes

focusing on the economy and housing crisis. in fairfield there are 300 homes that have been sitting empty for a decade now. a developer has a plan to renovate them and turn them into affordable housing units, so why are they hitting so many road blocks all this time? liz is here with the story. a lot of frustration. >> dan, this is a really fascinating story. these are homes that were initially built in the early '90s for air men and women working on travis air force base. in 2010, these families moved into homes on the base and these homes have been sitting empty. there is finally a plan to set them loose, but there is a lot of red tape. this property in fairfield seems like a gold mine. it has lots of space, a playground, basketball courts that's been sitting empty for nearly a decade. >> it's really crazy you've got

these assets sitting there, these homes sitting there not being utilized, and over the past decade the housing crisis in this part of california has just gotten worse and worse and worse. >> reporter: a property builder has committed to remodeling these. but advocates can't get the green light. they say it's at least in part because of their neighbor. >> this time the neighbor happens to be the u.s. air force. >> reporter: travis air force base controls the water for the area, and they're refusing to turn it on. >> the pipe that we need them to turn on that brings the water to georgetown, we built and gave to them back in 1989. >> reporter: this property is literally right next to travis air force base. in fact, those homes are on the base. it is just this fence that divides the two properties.

hunt says if security is an issue, they'll even pay to build and fortify a safer wall between the properties. but still no luck. we reached out to the city of fairfield. they are also not supporting the project. the city has raised concerns about the development being in a food desert and far from a school bus stop. they also point out the only access road to the development crosses a railroad freight line which could lead to inadequate public safety response times. >> how do we get to yes? >> reporter: assembly member george frasier is in support of the product. he says while those concerns are valid, the city could look for solutions to them. >> this is a gold mine wrapped up into one. it's a chance to put families into shelter. >> obviously the economic engine from the base is massive. the city, we think, just doesn't want to do anything to upset the base. >> reporter: right now housing advocates say they are stumped and simply frustrated by the red tape.

>> there are an estimated 150 homeless veterans in this county. i don't think i have to do the math to show how much of a dent 40 units for these families would make. >> it's a shame if we just abandon them and let them rot. they're good homes. that shouldn't happen to them. >> we did get a statement from travis air force base. it says in part the georgetown housing area lies within the city of fairfield, and the installation respects the day's autonomy to make the decision on how to permit and develop its own land. moreover, the department of defense does not routinely provide utility services, such as water, sewage or electricity, to private, off-base entities nor non-u.s. government affiliated ventures. dan? >> it's interesting the response from the base. they're saying there is no precedent for this. what does the developer say about that? >> they totally disagree and they've showed government

agreements with various entities, and we showed that they provide water to local schools in the area. it could be the base just doesn't want people living in this development. if so, the question is why. we still don't have an answer. >> liz, thank you. new at 5:00, an update on a story you saw only on 7 back in july. two arrests had been made in a string of home invasion burglaries including one in which a senior couple's couple' savings was stolen. they robbed the home in broad daylight. they had cash and heirlooms such as wedding jewelry stolen. police arrested two men for two home invasion robberies and a burglary in the same vicinity. both were apprehended in atlanta. they told dion lin that it couldn't have happened without the public's help. >> it takes the whole community

to keep the public safe. we need the eyes and ears and the information to make our work more effective. >> reporter: the zhong family says they're grateful these men are off the streets but they're still on guard. still ahead, major budget cuts for oakland. a critical meeting and why some say they're making up for the city's reckless spending. warning whole foods about some of its labels. how this construction scene is leading to a creek comeback no one has ever seen anything like covid. my best friend's father died of covid-19. then my father caught it. wearing a mask, washing your hands. you have the power to protect the ones you love.

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the city of oakland is facing deep budget cuts. most will be in public safety. 15 million to the oakland police department and 5 million to the oakland fire department. >> reporter: the city of oakland

says it could run out of money by june if it doesn't make cuts now. >> every day that we delay taking action means the cuts would have to be deeper later. >> reporter: oakland city administrator edward riskin says oakland faces a $30.4 million budget shortfall initiated by the pandemic, although it's lower than last year. >> it started last fiscal year and that trend has continued into this fiscal year. >> reporter: city council held an emergency discussion to defer payrolls for some of the highest paid employees. that's in addition to the 30 million cuts already proposed, which includes 15 million to the police department and 5 million to the fire department. during public comment, some argue that the city is scapegoating fire and police. jack unger is a local firefighter. he's threatening a lawsuit. >> we plan to fight in court and in the public about this

violation on our contract. >> by far the overwhelming cause of this crisis is unbudgeted police overspending. that one department went $32 million over budget. >> city capital respondent becky kaplan says the city has 30 million in cuts to decide in january, which would likely impact parks and senior services. >> and extra consultants that are being used at a cost of millions of dollars. >> they're sending aid till til end of june. >> i'm hoping that making these hard and decisive cuts right now that we can build a new budget that looks forward to an economic recovery starting july 1st. >> in oakland, abc7 news. in the past hour we got a statement from the oakland police department's interim

chief, suzanne oppenheimer. she says, although these cuts will have painful and unavoidable impacts to our proactive crime prevention, we are committed to using the resources and officers we do have to keep our community safe and will do our best to respond when you need us. the food and safety organization is cracking down on whole foods. michael is here with that and some other consumer news as well. michael? >> dan, a lot going on today. the fda has ordered the grocery chain to detail the steps it would take to address a pattern of product recalls. it says whole foods repeatedly failed to label foods including major foods in the bakery and deli sections. whole foods has 15 days to respond to the fda's request.

task rabbit is resetting customer passwords after finding suspicious activity on its network. the online marketplace has an an abundance many that's where they're matched against different web sites to access accounts. there is no sword which were actually compromised. joe biden will have to start with sketch on accoun accounts. this is a reversal from 2017

when the trump administration took over from the obama administration. some developing news, dublin police are investigating the mysterious death of a janitor at a middle school. two school january torz were reported missing this morning when they didn't return home from work. . they suffered from unknown medical issues. the man died and the woman was rushed to the hospital. they said they detected a chemical people were afraid i was contagious. i felt gross. it was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx. four years clear. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms,

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>> reporter: this is a site nearly eight years in the making, the chinook spawning in los gatos creek. it had been filling up with trash, part of it dumped. they worked to restore the creek so the salmon can lay their eggs as they have done possibly for 100 years. >> these fish are hearty and they will adapt. if we can make areas that they will come in and successfully spawn, we'll see the numbers kraes and that's our go increase. this is the south where you have chinook come into a major run. it's super exciting. >> a similar situation is in marin county where they've worked for ten years with federal and local agencies to

remove a dam. it should allow that to happen in this area soon. >> they want to go up as far as possible because that's where their eggs, and historically where the juveniles had the best chance of survival. >> in the south bay, however, trash, especially discarded plastic, is getting worse along the creeks. >> it gets into the mainstream of the gaudalupe, it goes into the bay, and subsequently it's reaching the pacific ocean. we have an environmental disaster that was ahead with all this trash. >> reporter: unless addressed, it could reverse these signs of progress. david louie, nbc 7 news. two different rain makers are actually heading our way. meteorologist sandy patel will be here for when they hit. a live look, though, george us.

dair gorgeous

coming up on abc7 news at

6:00, the i-team with an exclusive look at federal loans of calvary church. a gro a group of homeless people still waiting for their federal checks to be issued. and layoffs loom for one transit agency, but good news. they all got to keep their jobs. we'll explain what happened on nbc 7 news at 6:00. let it snow in san jose. that's right tfr, it was a very isolated storm. in fact, it covered just one yard. a family was convinced to turn their yard into a winter wonderland. if it stays cool enough, they could actually have a white christmas. turning to meteorologist sandy patel. >> sandy, i love that. >> i love it, too.

it's absolutely beautiful to do that. you have to make it work for your family and make it look and feel like a white christmas. you may see some snow over the highest peaks with a second storm coming in sunday night into monday, but not over christmas here locally. here's a live picture here, a stunning view. from our emeryville camera, you can see those clouds move in. temperatures are falling. from our santa cruz camera, clouds are gathering, as you can see there. mid-50s san jose, san francisco 57 in half moon bay. live doppler 7 is showing you a system to our southwest that's throwing those clouds in our direction. it will continue to move in our direction but it is not going to pass through the bay area, it's going to go south of us. it may squeak out a few sprinkles as we go through tomorrow. our camera showing a lovely view

of san francisco. possible sprinkles tomorrow, turning wet on christmas and snow could arrive this weekend. the doppler taking you through a time tomorrow afternoon. you'll notice a little green on the coastline at about 20k this afternoon. can't be ruled out. still a lot of cloud so the temperatures tomorrow morning, low 40s to the and then a level 1 storm on our storm impact scale coming in for christmas. early morning spotty showers will lead to widespread rain in the evening and over the dos and in the high and wide

then it moves through pretty fast. by early saturday morning, we're winding down and we do get a break before the next storm comes in. >> anywhere from about degrees. possibly up to 3 feet with the peaks with snow coming down. a few inches is not unheard of in the peaks, so be sure to use chains if you're going up. the rain arrives on christmas. that storm continues into early saturday before a colder storm gets here sunday night into monday, and then maybe another one around new year's eve. >> we need it all. thank you, sandhya.

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tonight, several developing stories as we come on the air. the holiday travel fears, as more than 80 million americans defy warnings to stay home. will christmas gatherings fuel another deadly surge in the new year? as the nation records more than 3,000 lives lost in 24 hours. and tonight, concerns about yet another new variant of the virus in the uk that may spread even more easily. new york city orders all travelers from the uk to quarantine or face stiff fines. and news tonight on the vaccine rollout. pfizer confirms a deal with the u.s. government for 100 million more doses by july. also new tonight, president trump threatening to veto the $900 billion bipartisan stimulus deal, demanding congress increase payments to americans. relief on hold, as millions of americans struggle through the pandemic. and late tonight,