to your friends... your family... to your teachers. in that spirit of giving, chevy's proud to give our employee discount to everyone. the chevy price you pay, ...is what we pay. not a cent more. because giving, ...and giving back, is what the holidays are all about. use the chevy employee discount for everyone to get a total value of over eight thousand four hundred dollars on this silverado.

get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. . the covid variant has now turned up in california, why experts say the strain could be spreading faster. >> governor newsom is making a push to have schools open by february but some are skeptical after what they heard today. >> i'm tracking showers moving through tonight and more storms for the new year. we'll have all the details. abc 7 news at 11:00 starts right now. building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc 7 news. there is significant evidence that it does spread considerably faster. >> tonight california is confirming its first case of the new variant of covid, the one first seen in the uk. kooechbing, and that's happening while a second suspected case has been identified in colorado.

>> kate larson spoke to an expert who said the variant may be more vans misable. >> reporter: the covid variant has been detected in a man in his 30s who lives in san diego county. >> because there is no travel history we believe this is not an isolated case in san diego county. >> colorado health officials say one case and a suspected second case of the variant were found in national guard members deployed to a nursing home outside of denver. governor newsom host aid virtual conversation with dr. anthony fauci and discussed the variant. >> i don't think that the californians should feel that this is something odd. this is something that's expected. there's no indication at all that it increases the virulence. and by virulence, i mean the ability to make you sick or kill you. >> shannon bennic is the chief of science at cal academy. she explained why the variant may be spreading faster.

>> there are mutations for this variant in many parts of the whole spike protein, and some of them, the ones on the receptor binding domain, are likely to increase the stickiness. but the ones that are in the fusion domain might increase its efficiency to fuse with the host cell membrane and enter the host cell. >> reporter: the good news? >> for sars-cov-2 it's slower moving and the vaccine technologies we're applying here, the two mrna vaccines are more adjustable than the influenza vaccine. >> kate larson, abc 7 news. icu capacity has dipped fou had to 7.5% in the bay area. that's the lowest we've ever reported. the southern california and san joaquin valley regions are both at 0% capacity, no room.

the governor noted today that 0% does not mean we are actually out of beds completely. it means we are in a surge phase. >> governor newsom revealed a new plantae to reopen california schools. >> distance learning will still remain an option for parents and students. there's a lot of trepidation, we recognize that, a lot of anxiety about going back into the classroom. >> the plan includes $2 billion in funding. young students and students with special needs come back first. the plan calls for increased covid testing and school staff and students would be required to wear masks. j.r. stone spoke with school district leader who is have already reopened classrooms for in person learning to find out what's worked and what hasn't. >> it's 15 times more likely for you to get covid outside a school setting than inside a school setting. >> reporter: she say it is numbers show schools are safer than the community. she's proud that 95 schools in

her county are currently open for in-person learning. >> we have the data to show that with those components that in fact we do not see in-school transmugs. >> reporter: just six transmission cases among 44,000 kids and adults, in-person learning in marin. she says the time is now to open more schools. dawn austin agrees but believes the governor's $2 billion plan will set things back because of the restrictions and requirements, specifically with the governor's goal of testing all staff and students for covid. >> i think it's late in the game and with an uncomplete understanding of the lo justices involved with school districts becoming testing centers. >> reporter: palo alto has had 8 student positive cases and 17 adult ones with no transmissions on campuses. they test more than 200 staff every two weeks and have had to dedicate a whole team to it,

something that austin believes will be hard for many bugger districts. >> the most important thing that we could do in our state is open schools, and it seems to be, perhaps, the least prioritized. >> reporter: but something that we are all now talking about for the first time in weeks. >> the question isn't should we open the schools. the question is, what do you need to feel safe. >> reporter: j.r. stone, abc 7 news. california, once again sattered its record for covid deaths. 432 today. more than 25,000 californians have died from the virus to date. but progress is being made in vaccinations. more than 300,000 doses of the moderna and pfizer vaccines have been administered statewide so far. but federal and state health officials admit the number of covid-19 vaccinations is below what was initially promised. tens of millions of doses were promised to be delivered nationwide by the end of december, now. but those numbers have fallen

short, including here in california. dr. anthony fauci spoke with governor newsom today and says everyone is working through how to give the vaccine correctly and ensure it stays in line with the cold chain. >> as we get into january, the feeling is that we're going to gain momentum to be able to catch up. >> that's the hope. dr. fauci also suggests that april could be open season for most to receive the vaccine and that by early fall we could see some sense of normality return. a second covid vaccine has been granted emergency use authorization in the united kingdom. people there will begin getting the oxford astrazeneca fax on monday. it's not expected to get emergency use authorization from the food and drug administration until the spring. >> these are phase three trials where they're doing things differently so there's a lot of questions raised about this vaccine. those questions are going to need to be answered. >> the astrazeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to store than

pfizer's vaccine. meanwhile officials expect the johnson & johnson vaccine to get emergency use authorization from the fda as soon as february. >> the fight over more stimulus money to struggling americans appears to be far from over. abc news reporter in washington with more on when we could see a decision on that extra money. >> reporter: senate majority leader mitch mcconnell pushing ahead with a proposal full of president trump's latest demands, but the move likely to deail rail trump's call for $2,000. mcconnell filing new legislation binding the boosted direct payments to two unrelated matters democrats were calling poison pills. >> what we're seeing right now is leader mcconnell trying to kill the checks, the $2,000 checks. >> mcconnell's bill ensures a bill on the stimulus checks would also mean a decision on the commission to investigate

election fraud and repealing protections for social media companies, all trump demands. what's next unclear after the senate majority leader shot down two efforts by democrats to vote on direct payments alone, adding that a stand alone bill passed in the house for $2,000 stimulus checks is doomed in the senate. >> president trump suggested has no realistic path to quickly pass the senate. >> it's amazing to see the patience that some people have with other people's suffering. >> reporter: the president is also dialing up the pressure on his own party to get a deal done with the stimulus check, tweeting, unless republicans have a death wish, they must pass the $2,000 checks asap. fought abu bay, abc news, washington. if you want to know how much your stimulus check will be, we've created an interactive tool on our website. just go to abc7news.com and look for this payment calculator. fill out the details to find out how much money you'll get.

parts of the bay area are seeing showers tonight as we look live from our golden gate bridge camera, you can see the roadways are wet. let's check with abc 7 news meteorologist drew tuma. >> we do have a pretty wet evening across the bay evening. scattered showers across the region. we'll zoom in closer to the heart of the bay area from san rafael to richmond through oakland into the city and along the peninsula we are seeing light showers move through tonight. on the storm impact scale, overnight tonight we'll find those light showers on our level one storm we have. rainfall generally less than about .2 of an inch. as we welcome the new year, we're going to welcome a series of storms. we're going to have that in the accuweather 7-day forecast in a few minutes, guys. >> thank you, drew. still to come, forget the fireworks, the crowded ball room toasts this year. see how the bay area is going virtual for new year's eve. tired of back and forth by

the state, what a popular family attraction is saying about reopening. on "wheel of fortune" the letters o, i, and e came up and the contestant blurted out a name that wasn't right but warmed my heart. that story coming up. >> that's a great story. all that's ahead. first a look at what's coming up on jimmy kimmel live after abc 7 news. thanks dan and ama. watch this for your luf. >> what are you doing mr. sanford, good to see you? we're going to go out tonight, party down and come home and see you later. do you want to come with us?

new details.

children's ferryland in oakland will remain closed until the spring. the decision follows governor newsom's order that the stay-at-home order is likely to extend until january. in the meantime, fairyland will provide an online space for families and children to play. a lot of you watch "jeopardy" and "wheel of fortune" on abc 7. a few get to compete like an east bay woman did not too long ago. >> she slipped up when solving a moment. what happened next was a special moment for our david louie. >> wheel of fortune! >> it's the tv game show fans have been watching for 45 years. only a few get to compete and spin the famous wheel for cash, dream trips and maybe even a car. insurance agent jacqueline was one of those lucky ones. imagine the pressure as the letters come up and you're hard-pressed to come up with the correct answer. >> i will solve. >> okay.

go ahead. >> under pressure by queen and -- >> hm, looks like david, but what's the last name? >> david louie. >> what went through your mind at that point? >> i think at that point i was just under so much pressure, and i thought of you and abc 7 since i grew up watching you guys, and that's the first thing that came to my mind. so, that's what i said. and i instantly knew it was incorrect, but i figured i better say something than nothing. >> the correct answer of course is david bowie. >> well, i know who he is now. >> it turns out that wrong answer wasn't her undoing. >> i actually went to the bonus round and solved that puss and i won, so i redeemed myself after that. >> jacqueline won $45,000 in the bonus round, total winnings of $64,000 which is a good start for her daughter's college fund.

>> do you forgive me for popping into your mind when you gave that answer? >> 100%. >> david louie. >> abc 7 news. >> so fun. >> i just love that story. >> i do too. >> all right. there won't be any fireworks or big parties in the bay area tomorrow night. >> no, but some entertainment venues are getting creative with immersive parties. dragon center will continue its annual acrobats and circus acts. they hope proceeds from their new year's events will help provide an end-of-the-year economic boost. >> it just seemed to make sense that this year we kept growing it a little bit and went virtual. >> adapting, right? more relaxed vibe. the san francisco champagne society is offering bubbly delivered right to your door followed by a virtual tasting to bring in the new year. well, organizers in new york

city have begun preparing for the new year's eve ball drop in time's square. they did their first test today. of course no one is allowed to watch the ball drop in person because of the pandemic. >> we will not pack in a million plus people obviously but we will have the performances like we always do. we will have the stage built like we always have. and i think it's important that we do bring in fun and we do bring in this theme of celebration and this theme of moving forward and moving on from this year. >> and you can catch the ball drop virtually on "dick clark's new year's rockin 'eve" >> the ball will drop and the rain drops as well. >> we're tracking all the

showers on live doppler 7 right now. very late in nature. and they're slowly moving to the south. so, we'll press on in a little bit closer down to street level on live doppler 7 you can see berkeley, oakland, hopping over into the city, also daily city. we are seeing light showers right now. sliding a little bit further to the south, even along the peninsula from redwood city to san mateo and light sprinkle approaching milpitas at this hour. all associated with a cold front. you can see the front moving through northern california right now. it's not a very big storm, so the showers will not last all that long, just the next few hours. but this front, it is bringing a pretty active ocean current. so, we do have a high surf advisory now in effect until 3:00 a.m. friday morning. wave heights are increasing right now and we could see breakers up to 20 feet possible. it's also pretty warm night compared to last night thanks to the cloud cover overhead we're

23 degrees warmer right now than this time last night, 13 degrees warmer in half moon bay, 16 degrees warmer in fairfield. right now it's pretty mild out there, light showers. most cities either in the upper 40s if not the lower 50s right now. tonight we'll feel warmer than the past few nights because of the cloud cover and showers. overnight tonight most cities will gradually fall into the mid 40s for our starting temperatures tomorrow morning. so, on the storm impact scale, level one light system overnight tonight with the light showers getting wet and slick roads out there. future weather, hour by hour, next couple of hours, 1:00 we're still tracking the light hours. by sunrise tomorrow morning, all the showers are out of here. in fact tomorrow will wind up being a pretty sunny day to finish out 2020. so, on new year's eve here look at your highs on thursday. we'll have early morning cloud cover. it's a dry day during the

daylight hours so expect a lot of sunshine, upper 50s to lower 60s for the final day of the year. here's the accuweather 7 dow forecast. morning clouds, sun. new year's day begins dry but then the weekend begins a series of storms across the bay area. light showers over the weekend. monday looks pretty rainy but all eyes, dan and ama, are on next wednesday for a stronger storm which ranks a 2 on the storm impact scale for rain and bind throughout the 7-day forecast. >> good, we need it badly,

stwith the xfinity hello 2021 sales event. get powerful internet you can count on... ...and $250 back when you...

...add xfinity mobile with nationwide 5g on the most reliable network. keep in touch with family and friends. stream your favorites with ease. and take your devices to the next level. get xfinity internet and mobile together... ...and say hello to 2021 with $250 back, for a limited time only. this sale won't last, so click, call, or visit a store today! ♪ >> how beautiful is that? tonight san francisco hosted

it's 15th annual kwanzaa cell brags. partnered with the african diaspora and village project for the 5th day of kwanzaa. it included a poetry reading and dance. that's what you're watching here. the events run through friday. >> that sounded incredible. chris alvarez is here with sports. coming up in sports we have history in the nba tonight. plus chock this up to 2020, how a college football team's bowl

for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. ♪ usaa

sports on abc 7 is sponsored by your local toyota dealers. 49ers head coach kyle

shanahan has ruled quarterback jimmy garoppolo for sunday's regular season finale against seattle. he added if something changes through the week he could change his mind. kicker robbie gold has signed a renegotiation contract through 2022. he hold ace franchise record for field goal records. he also landed on the covid list. college basketball, st. mary's hosting san diego state. 12 in the first half, 16 overall. second half, here's tommy kooz si, nice bucket there. gails win 63-45. history in san antonio as becky hammond became the first woman to lead an nba team as an acting head coach. she took over for gregg popovich. she said obviously uts a big deal. the lakers did win the game though. the undefeated and 22nd ranked

san jose spartans take on the bowl tomorrow. due to covid restrictions the team has played home games in hawaii, las vegas and now they're practicing in arizona. coach brennan and his team continue to stay focused on the task at hand. >> there hasn't been a lot of time for reflection because we're not finished. we're still climbing a mountain. we played an excellent ball state team. we have two conference champions both from the group of five, both fighting their butts off for respect and national recognition. >> number 6 oklahoma from dallas, gators quarterback didn't look like a heisman finalist tonight. three interceptions in the first quarter. this one goes to the house. the sooners were roll third quarter, making every one miss. oklahoma 684 yards of total offense. boomer sooner, oklahoma wins 55-20.

wisconsin taking on wake forest and the duke's mayo bowl. finds mason stoke for the 14 yard touchdown. wisconsin wins. there's the quarterback having fun with the trophy until he drops it and broke it. that is so 2020. this

now more than ever it's important to keep yourself and your community safe. stay at home, and if you must go out, wear a mask. we'll get through this together. all right. that is it for tonight. thank you so much for watching. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. for drew tuma, chris alvarez, we

appreciate your time. >> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live!" tonight, keegan-michael key. isla fisher and music from ingrid andress. and now, jimmy kimmel! >> jimmy: hi, everyone. i'm jimmy, i'm the host of the show. thank you very much. thanks for watching, thanks for joining us. you know, the holidays can be a lonely time without being confined to your home. so it's important to know that you are not alone. and we are not alone in the universe. at least according to israel's former head of space security, who's claiming in a new book that alien beings from outer space have been in contact with the u.s. and israeli governments for years. haim eshed is a retired general and a well-respected professor in israel. or at least he was before he said this. [ laughter ] he claims these extraterrestrial beings come in peace.