and thank you for joining us, i'm dion lim. the omicron variant is fueling the latest surge in covid cases. in developing news, abc news reporter marcus moore has expert advice on how to handle the holidays. marcus: president biden will deliver a speech on tuesday to address the omicron variant as the country faces another unrelenting surge in covid cases. the u.s. now averaging more than 125,000 new cases every single day. at the end of october, the nation was averaging about half that, 64,000 new cases per day. demand for testing is on the rise. long lines outside testing centers across the country. >> as we go into the holiday season, testing is really important so that people can gather safely. marcus: the latest surge is being driven by the omicron variant which seems to be accelerating in its had spread across the country and is said to be the dominant variant in the u.s. >> it's shaping up to be a hard winter. we're going to see huge case numbers that will probably exceed the 250,000 a day that is already the record from a year ago last january.

marcus: health officials continue to stress the importance of getting vaccinated and if eligible, boosted. >> it is certainly much more of a crisis of the unvaccinated, but there are other tools besides vaccine and wearing a mask compliments the protection that you get from the vaccine and a boost. marcus: on friday, the t.s.a. says it screened 2.2 million travelers and more than 2 million on saturday. dr. fauci with some advice ahead of the holidays. >> do not do things like go to gatherings where there are people who you do not know what their vaccination status is. marcus: over the weekend, "saturday night live" filming with no audience, several broadway shows going dark, the radio city christmas spectacular cancelled for the rest of the season and the nba, the nfl, and nhl postponing games, the n.l. enacting new covid protocols and giving players until tomorrow to opt out of the rest of the season. marcus moore, abc news, los angeles.

dion: another covid cancellation to tell you about. the mark morris dance group performances this weekend at u.c. berkeley. an undisclosed number of performers tested positive. they announced the cancellation barely an hour before saturday night's performance. today's performance was also cancelled. cal performances say it will issue refunds. people in oakland would need to show proof of vaccination at restaurants and bars along with gyms and other indoor public places under a new ordinance. city council is expected to vote on the measure this tuesday. if passed, it would go into effect february 1. the ordinance would apply to anyone 12 and older. san francisco and contra costa county as well as the city of berkeley recently approved similar measures. a quick reminder, if you have questions about covid-19 vaccines, you can ask our vaccine team. head to abc7news.com/vaccine and click on that big blue box.

moving on now to the economy, something we focus on in our ongoing efforts to build a better bay area. today there is a push to get you to shop. abc 7 news reporter cornell barnard joins us now with how some neighborhoods are getting creative to attract shoppers and their dollars. hi, cornell. cornell: hi, dion. the homestretch of the 2021 holiday seasons, for small businesses, this weekend is make or break after the struggles of the ongoing pandemic. one neighborhood even throwing a party to attract shoppers. >> we are doing some last minute shopping. cornell: they are tackling their christmas list where many shoppers had the same idea. after all, where else can you get grinch and elf socks on the same block. >> we have the mothers to take care of and my daughter. cornell: this family's game plan, shop local. >> i'm big on not supporting the big chains, keeping the money in the local community. cornell: many small locally owned businesses have struggled during the pandemic.

builders bookstore owner says the community has come to their rescue. >> we can always use more business. that's the truth. this year, we really felt that people were out early. >> everything is designed by women. cornell: title nine is hoping for new holiday shoppers this week. >> many people are still saying this is the first time they have come out and shopped and it's been two years. so it's important for us to have a presence in the community. ♪ santa baby, so hurry down the chimney to me ♪ cornell: in san francisco, the merchants association taki thingso thxt levely hosting this winter wonderland block party, lip syncing drag queens, a sexy elf contest and a petty zoo for the kids, but small business owners and artists are the real stars. >> with the goal is to get them out of the house, off of amazon and shopping in their local neighborhoods. >> you see the children are here, locals are here, tourists

are here. >> the family from marin came to check things out and spend some cash. >> our economy are all of these small little businesses and they, you know, they employ people and that's the life of our economy, really. cornell: some businesses big and small are still dealing with supply chain issues. american express estimates spending locally keeping an average of 67 cents on the dollar in your local community. i'm cornell barnard, abc 7 news. dion: really makes a difference, cornell, thanks. to the south bay where a group of retail thieves attacked a store security officer last night in san jose. police say up to 15 people stormed the macy's at oak ridge mall. two officers tried to detain one of the suspects when some of the thieves came back and began beating the officer. police released this photo of the victim showing the injury. the group of thieves was able to get away, but police say they did recover $1,000 in merchandise. officers arrested a woman who they say was not involved in the theft but interfered while they tried to arrest one of the

suspects who managed to still get away. we are days away from winter and it definitely feels like it already outside as we take a live look. it does look like we need the rain gear for most of the holiday week. terry francona is joining us now with a little bit more on the timing and how long it will last. frances: enjoy the dry weather. one more day of it, rain arrives on tuesday. it's going to be wet, windy and it's going to be a very winterlike day on tuesday. here is a look at the satellite radar image and live doppler 7, the storm is headed our way, a chance of a spotty shower tomorrow throughout the day, but mostly dry, so if you need to do any errands, tomorrow is the day to do it. tuesday morning is when the heavier more moderate rain areas in darker green and yellow move to the north bay, spread through the bay area turning into showers on tuesday. you will want the wet weather gear handing through the weekend.

dion. dion: deadly violence at a music festival has claimed a rapper's life. details what led up to the stabbing at a concert in los angeles. lots of people in san francisco asking what was up with the late-night fireworks last night. we got some answers and be ready

dion: three people died in three crashes on by area freeways early this morning. one victim reportedly jumped in front of a tractor trailer just after 1:00 a.m. minutes later another crash was reported on highway 101 in san jose. the c.h.p. said the driver a honda accord hit the center median and got out of his car. he was then hit by another car and that driver kept going. three other cars hit the accord, but no one else was hurt. now about an hour later, the c.h.p. reported three vehicles crashed near dublin on interstate 580 under interstate 680. one car burst into flames and one person was killed. one person was seen being taken into custody. well, an effort is underway in the east bay to combat an increase in traffic deaths. fremont is giving away 100 traffic safety kits, you see one

of them right here, to members of the community. they include a reflective safety vest, flashlight, bicycle reflectors and a reflective backpack. fremont police has reported nine traffic deaths this year exceeding the average last year by 78%. most the incidents included reckless driving or unhoused people walking in roadways at night. new details now about a stabbing at a concert last night in los angeles. we now know the victim died and is identified as rapper drako the ruler. the rapper whose real name is darrell caldwell was stabbed at the once upon a time in l.a. concert at exposition park. it all happened during a fight backstage. >> he was playing and some, i don't know if it was a confrontation with another artist, but right after that, we seen the helicopter and that performance that we were waiting for never came out to perform, which would have been snoop dogg. dion: talk about scary.

dozens of artists had been scheduled to perform on the concert's three stages including al green, 50 cent and bay area native e-40. the concert ended early following the stabbing. no word yet of any arrests. all right, did you hear them? apparently lot of people in san san francisco. our abc 7 roof and cameras caught a fire workers display over san francisco bay at about 11:15, 11:30 or so last night. we took it live. warner media, the studio that owns the matrix franchise tweeted that the fireworks show was for the movie's premier last night at the castro theater. another fireworks show is scheduled in the same area tonight at 10:50 for the metallica concert at chase center. it's set to last about 10 minutes. east bay organizations are doing their part to spread holiday cheer. >> it's a great way for us to say thank you and every year it gets bigger and better. dion: all of these toys will be gifted to children in several bay area counties.

and taking a live look outside, we are in for a wet christmas week, even though it looks dry outside right now, meteorologist frances is coming up. chris: how they ran away to victory over the atlanta

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about rybelsus® today. dion: several organizations are doing their part to insure bay area kids have a happy holiday season. abc 7 news was in fremont today where every year festival of globe. federation of indo americans of northern california and fremont hindu temple hold a holiday toy and blanket drive. >> our temple has been doing it since 1983. every year it gets bigger and better. dion: this year the toys and blankets will be going to children in neighboring counties. a unique museum for the preservation and restoration of radio and broadcasting history held its radio day this weekend.

located in alameda, we were sent this video of the annual fundraiser held this year on the u.s.s. hornet in alameda, there was a live auction, holiday music and much more. probably a nice day to do it because in a few days, it's going to be much different. frances: very different with a storm level two heading our way arriving to the bay area on tuesday. get ready for that. here is a look at live doppler 7 and satellite radar image. the system is bringing some rain up towards oregon, it's bringing us increasing clouds tomorrow and then the wet weather tuesday morning. live pretty view looking from our camera towards the downtown san francisco area, it's really beautiful out right now, a lot of folks trying to get some holiday things done in san francisco and oakland, 48 degrees, morgan hill and half moon bay, mountain view is at 45 degrees, san jose at 49 and check out this pretty shot from emeryville looking across the bay where it's calm right now

and the traffic heading into san francisco. most temperatures in the mid 40s from nevada, napa, fairfield and concord. we're not going to change too much overnight with increasing clouds. we'll drop into the low 40s around the bay, maybe some mid 40s in san francisco, oakland 43, san jose 41. it will be cold in some of the valleys dropping into the 30s. more widespread 40s overnight instead of the 30s the last few nights. highs tomorrow will be on the cool side with quite a lot of cloud cover, low to mid 50s for everyone, 53 in san francisco. 54 in oakland. 58 in san jose. we could see a spotty shower dlout the day tomorrow, but it's mostly dry. enjoy it while you can. here is the forecast animation with a shower popping up throughout the day tomorrow. the bulk of the rainfall starts tuesday morning, hits the north bay first, the areas of yellow

show the more moderate rainfall and areas of darker green and then later on in the afternoon, it will still be dry actually in the south bay, but it will start to slide south toward san francisco and the peninsula and the south bay will get more rain in the late afternoon and evening. this will turn into showers on wednesday, it will be wet and windy for a couple days and then we expect anywhere from one to three inches because we've got wet weather all the way through the christmas weekend. so by sunday night, we could see over two inches in san francisco and even a little bit more through parts of the north bay and also in the higher elevations. in addition to this, we have a winter storm watch to and from the sierras is going to be tough driving, especially tuesday morning through sunday afternoon, snow and wind up to 10 feet of snow possible, so adjust your plans. you might not want to travel during that time. and here is the accuweather seven-day forecast. so tomorrow, cloudy and cool and then the first day of winter, it's going to feel like it, it's

going to be wet and windy, a storm level two out of five, this is a moderate storm will drop to a one on wednesday. so the strongest rainfall will be tuesday and thursday and then guess what, christmas eve, christmas and through the weekend and even beyond are looking wet at this point. announcer: now abc 7 sports with chris alvarez. chris: the 49ers are in control, their playoff destiny with a win over atlanta today, the 49ers would hold key tiebreakers overfilly, minnesota and atlanta as a handful of team fight for the five and six feats. john taylor, patrick willis honored today, great to see those guys back. the 49ers opening kickoff, he fumbles and the falcons recover, what a terrible start for san francisco. ensuing drive, fourth and goal and the falcons are going to go right away. matt ryan, broken up, huge stand by the defense and momentum to san francisco. late second quarter, we're tied

at 10-10, deebo samuel, seventh rushing ttd of the year, 17-1049ers at the break. he is a receiver, he does it all. so does this guy, george kittle, been an absolute beast since returning from the i.l. in early november. george fighting for more yards, he had six receptions, that is, 93 yards, nick bosa, how about him, my vote for defensive player of the year, his 15th sack, watch out for 97, matt ryan fumbles and fred warren recovers and that would set up this h. the defense leads to offense. jeff wilson jr. who missed the early part of the season due to injury looked good today, 110 yards and scored his first touchdown in nearly a year. how about your quarterback, jimmy garoppolo doing his thing, 235 yards through the air, a touchdown and importantly no turnovers. juwan jennings caps the scoring, niners win 31-13. they have won six of the last eight with a nice hold on the six seed in the a.f.c. standings. >> you take advantage when you

get the chance. guys realize that, more and week in and week out, it is bigger and bigger. thursday will be a big game, we keep a good mindset right now. >> we know what's at stake. we have a game on thursday, a short week. we lock in and continue to build off of this game and continue to play the ball we have been playing. >> we have a lot of players that can make a lot of really big plays. i believe in this offense and team that we can go out there and make plays. early in the season we turn the ball over way too much. we stopped doing that. it's given us a chance to win. chris: the nhl has postponed all games involving cross border travel until after christmas due to rising covid cases in the u.s. and canada. that means the sharks' next two games hosting vancouver tuesday, edmonton on thursday are postponed. the next scheduled game is december 27 against anaheim, 12 total nhl games are affected. 27 games have been postponed this season due to covid issues. the free throw curtain of distraction and santa claus, he can dance apartment.

the first loss yesterday, season high 20, keeping the dons in it late. three minutes to go, tied at 60-60. zane meeks, the triple is true and the dons take the lead. four seconds to go, dons up one, a.s.u. with a couple of chances to win the game and they miss both times. dons win 66-65. they're 11-1. tiger woods and his son charlie rocking the sunday reds in the father son p.n.c. championship. they made 11 birdies in a row to make a charge. a 12-year-old, everyone loves to see that. here is charlie on 17. that is not tiger, folks, that is his son. it looks like tiger. charlie will earn a fist bump from dad. how cool is that. team woods finishes with minus 22, the third lowest score in father son challenge history, but they finished second. john daly and john daly ii minus 25, they finish in first place, the lowest score in this tournament's history.

dion, how cool is it to see young charlie, 12 years old and he looks just like dad, he is going to grow up. his game is really, really good. dion: totally on point, a great coach. on first glance, who is this mini me, how appropriate. nice to see. chris, thanks. just ahead, a little girl's christmas wish has already come true. santa didn't just bring her a present. he is the present. the touching reunion just ahead. the classic hollywood story. we meet the hero, the all-new nissan frontier hero faces seemingly impossible challenge.

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dion: coming up tonight at abc 7 news at 11:00, a story only on 7. another braidsen robbery caught on camera. it's where though this one happened during the holiday season that may be the most shocking part of this crime. is a mad dash to get to grandma's house. travelers are running into long lines, so we'll have a check on the bay area's airports tonight on abc 7 news at 11:00. finally now. christmas came a little early for a girl in san diego county. santa recently visited 9-year-old penelope sandoval's class on her birthday. penelope's father decided to surprise her by dressing up as santa. he is in the navy and just returned after serving nearly a year in guam.

the moment simply precious. >> dad! i didn't expect that. >> happy birthday. >> thanks, dad! dion: how could you not smile. penelope's gift this year turned out to be a holiday memory she will cherish forever. always love to see those reunions. that's it for this edition of abc 7 news at 6:00. i'm dion lim for chris alvarez and frances dinglasan and - i'm norm. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, a couple miles at a time. - we've both been taking prevagen for a little more than 11 years now. after about 30 days of taking it, we noticed clarity that we didn't notice before. - it's still helping me. i still notice a difference.

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