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the world's most gold medal awarded tequila. . public health officials in california are testing for a new, possibly more contagious variant of the coronavirus. we'll ask a virologist about whether he think it's already here in the bay area. >> many businesses like this one are bracing for a decision out of washington about a second round of possible stimulus money. we'll show you when the rain returns. abc 7 news at 11:00 starts right now. i wouldn't be surprised if it's already here. >> a new variant of the coronavirus is spreading across the globe. health experts say it could already be in the bay area without us even knowing. i'm dion lim.

public health researchers are keeping a close eye on a coronavirus variant that has been spreading quickly through the uk. matt boon learned more about that variant tonight, and some experts think it's already in the u.s. >> reporter: the latest from the cdc is that that new variant still has not been detected in the u.s., although they admit it's possible it's already here. i spoke to one of the leading infectious disease doctors in the bay area who had even fewer doubts. >> i'll be shocked if it's not here, actually. it's been around for a while. >> reporter: he says the travel restrictions from the uk where the new coronavirus variant has been spreading are smart, but likely too late. >> it's just moving around where people travel to. >> reporter: while he says it's still not scientifically known if the strain is more contagious, it might be. >> it could have negative consequences, because it's going to grow like wildfire.

>> reporter: in california, the current epicenter, that may be the case. the department of health is awaiting testing to see if the variant has contributed to the recent surge. san francisco's public health department tells abc 7 they have not yet detected any cases of the new variant, but the doctor sa says the u.s. hasn't been testing for it much. >> we don't do a lot of specific variant testing as a routine basis in the u.s. mainly because we have so many numbers it's not something we've traditionally done. >> reporter: the good news is the variant doesn't appear to be more deadly or resistant to the two vaccines on the market. >> it takes years for some virus like covid to mutate appreciably so the vaccine won't work. >> reporter: and public health

officials say it could take a week before they have their results. >> we appreciate that report, thanks. wait and worry tonight were the fate of a covid-19 stimulus bill that needs the president's approval. he says he's holding out for more funding for unemployment benefits. the 2.3 trillion spending package includes funding for the federal government. if not approved, a shutdown would happen tuesday morning. 14 million americans lost their unemployment coverage today when a stimulus measure expired. the aid package includes funding for the paycheck protection program. we have the plight of an east bay strauntd desperate for help. >> part of the community for 27 years. are your the next six months will determine whether that tradition continues.

they're used to getting 250 orders per day. >> we're doing about half of that. >> reporter: no dining in due to the pandemic means a drop in sales. and at the same time, the cost of supplies are up, and he still has to pay rent and salaries. a lease for the employees that he has left. hellman got $25,000 from the first government stimulus package but says that money is gone. and despite the promise of a vaccine returning things to normal, the second ppp loan is even more crucial than the first. >> it's wintertime, one, and two, we're going into the new year not knowing what's going to happen. >> reporter: hellman knows other restaurants have closed blocks away from his, and he knows a loyal customer base isn't enough to keep the doors open. >> i don't want this place to close because they didn't get the help they need from the government. >> reporter: hellman has a six-month plan in place, but that plan is built on a second rund of stimulus money, which means he has a lot to consider

this week. >> if things don't turn around we have to make a decision. >> reporter: abc 7 news. california is still setting coronavirus records over the holiday weekend. the state saw its hospitalizations go up, edging closer to 19,000. there's been a new daily record every day since december 9th. and every day since december 3rd, the number of people in the icu has set a new high. today it topped 4,000. the total number of new cases is a little more than 30,000, well below the daily average for the past week. now the bay area also saw its icu capacity rise a little bit from yesterday. it was 9.8%. the southern california area and san joaquin valley regions are still at see zero, but that doe mean people will be turned away when they go to the hospital. northern california remains above the 15% threshold and is the only rooij without a stay at

home order. santa clara county is ramping up covid testing after the christmas holiday. abc 7 news was at the fairgrounds in san jose where hundreds of cars lined up for drive-through testing. 2200 new cases have been reported in the last 24 hours there. health officials fear cases will ramp up as more people get tested. testing here continues tomorrow. our ongoing commitment to help build a better bay area includes the race to vaccinate. nearly 2 million people in the u.s. have received a covid-19 vaccine, according to the centers for disease control's tracker. over 9.5 million doses have been distributed. truc trucks delivered the first pfizer vaccines to countries across europe today for a coordinated eu rollout.

some, including spain and france just began moments ago administering dose. slovakia began their first vaccines. shipments arrived in all 27 countries that make up the european union. do you have questions or concerns about the vaccine? we have a page dedicated to information about it and finding you answers. you can find it at abc 7.com/vaccine. developing news now, three people killed and three others injured after a man opened fire at an illinois bowling alley. it happened at don carter lanes in rockford, about 80 miles from chicago. rockford police say they arrested a 37-year-old man. they believe he is the only shooter. officers did not fire their weapons. police do believe it was a random attack. in the south bay, the search is on for a driver who hit and killed a man in the street and

drove away. it happend in the area of story and center roads. the investigation closed part of story road earlier tonight. to the weather, a dry situation out there tonight as we take a live look at the bay bridge. we will get rain this weekend. drew tuma has the latest on the timing of these showers. not a total washout, drew. >> no, not a total washout, in fact, our storm is about 24 hours away from us. you can see it though on live do doppler 7. the storm is off the coast. but you can see a few returns developing in the form of rain. and this storm will move into california late tomorrow night and bring us our next round of rain. southern california finally going to get beneficial rainfall this winter. let's take a look at the storm impact scale, a level one storm system and the highest total of the storm will come in the south bay. we will show you the storm as it

moves in and when it exits in the full accuweather forecast. we are seeing a post-christmas shopping rush in the bay area. find out what's motivating people to wait in line at stores. also. skiing was fun. so it was worth it. >> some tough traveling to tahoe, but people braved the slick roads anyway this

despite our stay-at-home order, shoppers were out on this day after christmas. cornell bernard found out what motivated people to get out and shop. >> i am surprised. i'm very surprised that there is

a line today. yeah. >> reporter: judy flores waited patiently in that line outside the louis vuitton store. she's making a post-christmas return. > it was a really nice bag, but it's a little bit too bag, so i'm looking for something smaller. >> reporter: there was a line of shoppers outside gucci. temperature checks required at the door. >> i didn't do a good job picking my girl's gift, i guess she didn't like it, so. >> reporter: most following health guidelines, limiting the number of people inside. not your typical crowd after christmas in union square. some people showed up because it's tradition. >> i've shopped the day after christmas for the last 40 jeeye, really sad that the stores are empty, worried about the people who work there, that they may get laid off. >> reporter: they were busy making returns and looking for sales. crowds of shoppers at local

malls, it's not what health officials want to see. >> my concern is if people gather together in places where they shop, especially indoors, we're going to see more transmission. it could really explode from there. >> reporter: with new cases spiking and icu bieds running low, the doctor fears another surge. >> may be too late to do something about this now, but we really hope that everyone will take every precaution they can right now. the last thing we need right now is another surgeon t on top of surge from thanksgiving. >> it can be avoided if we shop online and keep wearing those masks. these days, it's all about staying safe and healthy. cornell bernard, abc 7 news. >> some great advice. kwanzaa started today, and vice president-elect kamala harris shared a message of celebration on social media. she said her favorite of the

seven principles of kwanzaa is self-determination. >> it's about not letting anyone write our future for us, but instead going out and writing it for ourselves. >> harris went on to wish everyone a happy kwanzaa. she said she will be celebrating the holiday over zoom with her family. the seven-night holiday honors african-american tradition. parts of tahoe are expected to get more than a foot and a half of snow by the end of the weekend. the snow made driving and skiing in the area a bit tricky. >> thank god we made it. >> reporter: traveling from reno to the bay, happy to be off the highway and headed on home for the night. >> it was snow plus rain, you know. it was the combination. >> reporter: the winter weather posing problems on i-80. a highway hazard and traffic backed up for miles with low advice. >> and slow-moving cars.

some drivers wondering when the end was in sight. >> we'd been driving for like three hours, so we were safe and the skiing was fun, so it was worth it. >> reporter: and it wasn't just hard to see on i-80 but on the slopes too. >> the visibility was low, and it added to the experience. >> reporter: the briskin family skiing and snow boarding to celebrate their white christmas. >> with the shutdown and pandemic and all that, this was a great activity to spend together as a are your this cou >> reporter: this could be a new family tradition. >> go home to hot chocolate maybe. >> sounds pretty good. we should also point out, chain restrictions on 50 and 80 were lifted earlier today. that's what winter is all about, drew. very appropriate. hot chocolate, snow, good to watch, maybe not so much to drive through.

>> perfect timing. snow on christmas in the sierra, rain here locally. getting a break before more wet weather moves in late tomorrow night. live doppler seven showing you a dry picture and a gquiet pictur. a lot of you were marveling at the night sky and the ring around the moon. this picture taken by our own jr stone in the city. and the ring is caused by millions of ice crystals suspended way up in the atmosphere, in those thin, wispy cirrus clouds and ice crystals refract the moon's light in such a way that creates a perfect circle. it often happens when storms are approaching like the one we're tracking tomorrow. the next time we have a storm in the forecast and a nearly full moon look up in the sky and see if you see another ring around the moon. it's a common occurrence.

51 in the city. down to 42 in san ramon. overnight, partly cloudy skies. it's going to get chilly. a colder night tonight compared to last night. well into the 30s overnight, hitting the freezing mark in santa rosa. down to 39 in half moon bay, 46 in the city, 45 in oakland, 43 the low in san jose. live doppler 7 along with satellite, the next storm we're tracking is already gathering its energy, but this storm is really going to pack a punch in southern california. so we're going to get scraped by this storm, and that will actually cause the highest rainfall totals to occur in the south bay, kind of seeing like an upside down storm compared to what we went through yesterday. on the storm impact scale late tomorrow into monday, we'll track scattered showers. the highest totals will occur in the south bay, and it will be breezy at times. hour by hour we go. the daylight hours tomorrow were

drive. you see 6:00 p.m. the rain is still off the coast. late tomorrow night, probably this time tomorrow night we'll track the wet weather moving in along the peninsula first then wrapping around early monday morning into the north bay. we'll track scattered showers into the afternoon as well on monday. total rainfall, again, you can see as the storm is trajectory is to the south. the highest rain totals will likely occur along the peninsula and the north bay seeing very low totals out of the next storm system. so tomorrow, again, we're dry during the day. temperatures in the mid-50s to lower 60s. that rain will arrive late at night and staying through monday. here's the ak weather seven-day forecast. scattered showers on monday, by monday evening, the storm is out of here. we're dry midweek deion.

otherwise we'll welcome the new year with dry but pretty cloudy conditions friday and into saturday. did you get a chance to see that ring around the moon, deon? >> i always learn something science-y from you. it's ice crystals. >> ice crystals way up in the atmosphere causing it. >> drew, always a pleasure, thank you. just ahead, we check on a festive and tasty monolith in san francisco that brought joy

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take a look at these videos taken just one day apart. the mysterious gingerbread monolith that appeared has crumbled. this is what's left of the viral structure. just pieces of cookie on a knocked-over metal frame. city employees taped off the remnants. it's not clear what caused it to

break apart or how it started in the first place, but the rain and wind could have been a factor. coming up in sports, it's arguably the game of the year between the dolphins and raiders. and george kittle and the

it has been just over a year since 49ers' quarterback cj beathard's brother was stabbed in nashville. beathard making his first start since 2018, which was against josh rozen in arizona. he was his backup today.

that's crazy. connects with wilson jr. wilson jr., a big game. nice run on this play, 22 carries, 183 yards rushing, 204 all-purpose yards, wow. how about may actiplay action t, juice finds the end zone. kyler murray's pass batted down by the bro pro bowler, there'shs juice 20-12 49ers. they win it, 20-12. >> the guys is filming the vibe at locker room, at practice, guys going out there with nothing to lose, just really insbiering each other. >> we're not proud of our record. we'd love to be better, but that doesn't tell the story of who these guys are, what they've

been through all year and that they give everything they have every game day. >> i know those guys. they blocked their tails off today for me, and i could feel it. i could feel it, now just ready to watch it. >> raiders hosting the dolphins, derrick karr back in the lineup after an injury. this was crazy. karr, buys time, then finds nelson aguilar. great catch and a better run-after catch. look at these moves in and out of traffic. 22-16 raiders after the missed p.a.t. tagovail tagovailoa pulled. look at these moves. hut, 59 yards, down the sideline and into the end zone. dolphins go up 23-22. but wait, there's more. josh jacobs doesn't score a touchdown here and sets up what las vegas's saying is a game

winner. it's going to find a wide-open mack hollins but makes it even bigger after the raiders flagged for a face mask. and it is good. dolphins win 26-25. miami stays alive at ten and five. abc 7 sports sponsored by your local toyota dealers. investigators narrow their search for clues as they try to find out who was behind rv explosion in nas

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once again, good evening, i'm dion lim. in tonight's headlines, starting monday, the cdc is requiring a negative covid-19 test for travelers coming from the uk. it all comes as a new and possibly more contagious variant of the coronavirus rapidly spreads there. experts in the bay area say it couldler already be in the u.s. it hasn't been detected yet, but researchers are testing for it. president trump is refusing to sign a coronavirus relief bill. supplemental benefits expire today, and if the president continues to hold off, the government shuts down tuesday. a federal moratorium on

evictions also ends in less than a week. despite rising coronavirus cases, many bay area shoppers still went hunting for post-christmas sales and made gift returns. doctors warn indoor shopping can contribute to a surge in cases that is expected from the christmas holiday. developing news now, to that explosion in downtown nashville. investigators are searching properties associated with a potential suspect. abc news reporters explain how the blast has led to an increase in security across the nation. >> reporter: authorities reviewing surveillance video of a powerful explosion in downtown nashville on christmas morning. >> stay back till we figure out what's going on. >> reporter: the fbi is now in charge of the investigation and still working to identify the human remains found at the scene. our investigative team is turning over every stone to make sure we know as many details as possible to answer the question of who is responsible for this.

>> reporter: investigators say just after 1:00 a.m. this rv was seen parked outside the at&t building. officers responded to a call for shots fired. when they arrived they encountered the vehicle with the message -- >> if you can hear this message evacuate now. are your t . >> reporter: windows shattered, buildings damaged. residents asked to be patient. >> there's about 40 buildings impacted. >> reporter: it's unclear whether at&t was targeted. police around the country have been asked to increase patrol pl around at&t properties. police are searching property regarding anthony quinn warner.

>> the rv's been there for a while. it doesn't really move. it just stays there. this was something that looked suspicious that it wasn't there anymore. >> reporter: six police officers hailed as heroes after rushing in to evacuate the area. remarkably, only three people suffered minor injuries. >> even with more people spending the holidays oat home, air travel reached its highest since the early days of the pandemic. more people boarded planes on the day before christmas eve and 800,000 on christmas eve. those numbers are still down by comparison. air travel was dropped by almot 60% on christmas eve compared to last year. but experts say tomorrow will be another big day for air travel. a former 31-room motel will open next week in sonoma county as a new long-term shelter

the home luless. the sebastopol inn will be opened. between two complexes, they now can house 100 people. it is important to get these places up and running as quickly as possible given the big increase in covid-19 cases in the north bay. the new year will bring us a slew of new state laws. workplaces will be required to tell employees and customers if they've been exposed to covid-19 within 24 hours of learning of an incident. more workers will be eligible for family leave, companies with five or more employees must offer it. it used to be 50 or more. california law enforcement will be banned from wearing uniforms that include camouflage. lawmakers say it's to demilitarize police. a hollywood award ceremony

more than a month away is already creating controversy. the backlash over a film nomination. it involves a golden globe rule that some say is racist. and i'm meteorologist drew tuma tracking a chilly night tonight before rain

a new animated movie made its long-awaited debut on christmas. it has the first black lead character. we sat down with one of the stars, angela bassett. >> reporter: in "soul "sp", she plays a jazz musician. she considers hiring joe to be a

part of her quartet. she is clearly no-nonsense. >> so we're down to middle schoolteachers now. >> reporter: this character you play has attitude, and we know it from her first line. [ laughter ] >> dunne, dunne, dunne. >> she takes what she does very seriously. do you know how rough it was for her coming up in the jazz age, you know, as a, you know, a female sax player, no less and heading her own band. she does not suffer the foolishness. she gives no teeth to the fever. >> joe guard nu been? >> i been teaching. >> get a suit, good suit.

sound check's at >> reporter: joe gets the job but everything changes. he deals with a young soul voiced by tina fey. >> i'm sure your life was amazing, but earth sounds dumb. i float in mist. i do my do my do my do my d >> they got the minl dge o midgg yourself. >> my son says, i can't wait until "soul" comes out. >> reporter: new to disney plus on christmas day. >> "soul" debuted debuted debutd to controversy now over the

movie "minori." they are calling for rules to be changed. abc news reporter eva pilgrim takes a closer look. >> what a beautiful family. >> reporter: this morning, the golden globes under fire, many upset that the film "minori" about a korean immigrant family is up for consideration in the best foreign-language film category instead of best picture. >> there's been a lot of backlash about this, very prominent asian-american people are saying this isn't exactly fair, since it is an american film, written by an american and stars americans. it's not a foreign-language picture. >> reporter: while the golden globe's eligibility states that for any film to be in the foreign film category, 50% non-english dialog, many are saying this film could not be more american. an acclaimed actor tweeting it

is a beautiful story of an immigrant family trying to build from the ground up. what could be more american than that? >> i think what you're largely seeing is frustration. a lot of mainstream film makers are rebelling against what's appealing and commercial. a lot are seeing disparity on how we qualify what makes american. >> reporter: this isn't the first time they've been under fire for these types of rules. >> isn't it wrong to lie? >> reporter: many upset after last year when "farewell" was nominated in the foreign language film cat goefregory. lulu wong tweeting that it's a story about an immigrant family in america pursuing the american dream. we really need to change these antiquated rules that characterizes american as only english speaking. >> speaking of watching movies,

with the weather we're going to be having, drew, maybe it's good weather to watch netflix or whatever happens to be on tv. >> yeah, i think the best day for really to stay inside will be on monday. that's when we expect scattered showers throughout the day. tomorrow starts out pretty chilly. look at these overnight lows. we'll drop into the 30s in the north bay. tomorrow night into monday our storm moves in. on the storm impact scale it is a level one. light system we have with scattered showers, breeze ey at times. future weather. as we go hour by hour, we'll get you to 6:00 p.m. tomorrow evening. we're still dry. it's not until late tomorrow night likely this time tomorrow we'll track that wet weather moving onshore along the peninsula, in the south bay, and then those scattered showers will rotate into the north bay early in the morning on monday. even snow coming back to the sierra as well. and we're going to track those

scattered showers throughout the afternoon as well. tomorrow during the day, it is dry. mostly cloudy. mid-50s to lower 60s, and the accuweather forecast will show you rain at night tomorrow, scattered showers throughout the day on monday. dry weather tuesday and wednesday, and then on new year's eve, we'll track another chance of showers through the bay area. >> you know, it's almost funny. with the new year, we think of going outside with fireworks and congregating with people. >> exactly. here's chris now with a look at sports. >> coming up in sports, welcome back george kittle. plus splash after splash.

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. we all know stephen curry is one of, if not the greatest shooter of all time. he reminded us how amazing he is. the video of the day comes from chicago where steph curry made 105 shots in a row. his personal best before was 77 straight threes. steve kerr said the feat was absolutely insane and also filled us in on what happened on shot number 106. >> he choked. so he, he choked and just couldn't make the 106th one. i, i guess he just didn't have it in him. it's very disappointing. it's insane. it's insane. it's probably a world record. i don't know if the guinness book of world records still exists, that was one of my favorite books growing up.

if it still exists, that should go in the book. >> the warriors are 0-2 to start the season, and those games really haven't been close, blowout to brooklyn and milwaukee, but with a sped-up training camp and lots of new faces, trying to build chemistry continues to be a work from progress. next up, a game tomorrow in chicago. >> there's no worse feeling as a competitor, professional athlete, coach, and just to get completely waxed. this is going to be a while before we really build this identity that we need and figure out who we are. so i don't think we should have a ton of pressure on us, like the season's not on the line, but at the same time, we're pissed off and we want to do something about it. >> it's a learning experience. we're continuously growing. we've been placed with two tough tasks. we understand where we're at right now. there's a lot of improvement and growth that needs to be brought

with that. it's really been a blessing in disguise for us. back to football. earlier this week, george kittle said there was no doubt he was going to play, a chance to make the cardinals' life a little harder was plenty of incentive. kiltle led with four receptions and 92 receiving yards t came in a niners win. it also hurts the cardinals' chances of making the post season while making his childhood team, which george will explain shortly. >> it was good, and i think i only had ten plays at half. i was kind of able to let it rip the second half. like i said, it was fun to be out there. >> kittel, we knew getting a part of him, stressing him out would help a ton. but just what he was able to do statistically in the past game and always in the run game. it's, can't say enough about george. >> i will say this. i did grow up a bears fan. the fact that we helped the bears a little bit just makes me a little happier, but, da

>> da bears. >> it's good do hato have georg kittle back. liberty needs one play to waste clock. but joshua mack was pushed toward the end zone and fumbles. this game goes to overtime. it is blocked and liberty hands coastal carolina their first lost, 37-34. crazy. you saw this game right here on abc 7. ut, san antonio in the first responder bowl. ragin' cajuns score. 10-7 score. k kairun lacy. they finish at 10-1.0-1.0-1. lindi lending tree bowl. quad finds pinckney. you got cadareus thompson, what

a great play that was. georgia state wins it. abc 7 sports sponsored by your local toyota dealers. that's it for tonight. we leave you with a live picture outside at this gorgeous moon, that ring around it is actually ice crystals suspended high above in thin, wispy cirrusispys clouds. have a g