>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc7 news. >> i know the state of california needs it. so that's where i'm at. i'm happy it's raining. it makes it feel like christmas. not too cold. it's wonderful. >> isn't that a great attitude? another wet day across the bay area but the rain cannot dampen holiday spirits. tonight we're on storm watch. and we're tracking the conditions as they strengthen. good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm dan ashley. ama: and i'm ama daetz. you're watching abc7 news live on mulga live and wherever you stream -- on hulu live and wherever you stream. you can see from our live camera at the golden gate bridge and as we look at live doppler seven. this is just the beginning. >> abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel is here with the details on that. >> consider this the lull or the

break before the heavier rain arrives. i want to show you live doppler 7 tonight. we are seeing some slick roadways but it's not everywhere. let's get you down to street level. gil roy heading into 101 there you will notice some light steady rain. very scattered in nature in the east bay around bonisha. 680 toward the fairfield and vacaville and a polite level one storm. weak atmospheric river feeding that moisture south of monterey. we will see some waves of scattered light showers becoming heavier at 3:00 a.m. in the north bay. potential for thunder. at 5:00 a.m. crossing the central bay and into the southern and eastern end of our viewing area. at 8:00 a.m. rainfall totals through tomorrow night will be about .6 inches in oakland to over an inch in the mountains. it is a one through this evening, it's going to become a two going into later on tonight. i'll be back with the hour-by-hour time line coming right up. >> thank you, and as the bay area braces for a series of wet holidays this year, all the rain is creating some good news for our drought situation.

abc7 news reporter is in petaluma and joins us live with the details. reporter: hey, yeah, it has been raining off and on all day here in sonoma county making driving pretty dangerous. and we just saw an accident here on petaluma boulevard in the last hour. one thick -- thing for sure the news has been great news for easing our epic drought. take a look what we saw earlier today. wet weather did not keep christmas tree shoppers away from the -- this christmas tree lot in petaluma. still a few trees to choose from. no holiday spirits dampened here for sure. and downtown petaluma umbrellas were up, shoppers were out. many folks say they are looking forward to a wet holiday. kind of the perfect gift. north bay reservoirs, happy, too. this was stafford lake in nevada last summer. water levels dangerously low. here's what it looks like today. dramatically higher. and check out nicasio reservoir looking bone dry last summer and what a difference now as seen

from drone seven. municipal waters at 77% of capacity compared to about 30% last summer. >> it's very welcome from where we were before the october rains to where we are now is -- it's a dramatic difference. >> i know the state of california needs it. so that's where i'm at. i'm happy it's raining. it makes it feel like christmas. not too cold. it's wonderful. reporter: now, marin water officials say make no mistake the drought is not over. but board members will be meeting in early january to reassess water restrictions and water penalties. for customers. meanwhile, back here in petaluma, it will be raining off and on throughout the weekend into next week. if you are hitting the road phillies be careful because roads will be kind of dangerous out there. cornell bernard, abc7 news. >> thank you, cornell.

and you can keep an eye on the weather including live doppler seven anytime. you'll find it on the abc7 bay area app available on roku, amazon fire, android tv and apple tv. >> more weather as we go along here and the coronavirus. today governor newsom was in oakland to talk about his next steps in the fight against the virus. as cases surge because of the omicron variant. as abc7 news reporter melanie woodrow explains, one part of the plan the governor is talking about is a booster mandate for health care workers. reporter: governor gavin newsom announcing today that being vaccinated is no longer enough with the new omicron variant. california health care workers will now need to be boosted with a third dose. >> two doses is great. the booster is a game changer. and that third dose is needed. and no group of workers understands that perhaps more than our frontline health care workers. and so i would just ask them to continue to lead by example as they have and thank them.

reporter: dr. peter chin hong is a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at ucsf. >> this announcement by governor newsom comes at no -- as no surprise. we've been long talking about having boosters for staff and health care workers. reporter: dr. chin hong says a couple of weeks and even a couple of days ago he would have said having two doses was considered fully vaccinated. but not anymore. >> a lot more breakthrough infections if you don't get a booster with omicron. reporter: he believes three doses will be the record standard soon much. >> the writing is on the wall. reporter: governor nephew says protecting frontline workers is critical. >> i think it's the wise move in this context that we need to make sure that we don't have staffing shortages. when you think about health care workers, it really, really relates to hospital capacity. because a hospital is not just a bed. it's the people taking care of the person who's there. reporter: dr. chin hong says it

doesn't take two weeks to get protection from the booster. >> it starts happening a few days after you get it. reporter: he does not anticipate a fourth dose will be needed. >> i think a lot of people will have breakthrough and i will make us more protected. reporter: melanie woodrow, abc7 news. >> california state university system will also require students, faculty and staff to get a booster shot. exemptions may be made on medical or religious grounds. c.s.u.'s new requirement calls for boosters to be received by february 28. or six months after an individual received the final dose of the original vaccination whichever is later. the policy applies to all 23c.s.u. campuses. >> and in addition to boosters, there are two other parts of governor newsom's plan to fight covid. one is to get the young of the californians tested right after the holidays before they return to school. >> we are ordering six million tests. no charge. and we're going to be sending knows out to our partners you'll up and down the state to allow for priority access for at least one to two tests before our kids

come back into school. >> the governor says keeping schools open is a top priority. he also encourages all californians to get tested right after the holidays to make sure everyone has access, all state-run testing centers are expanding their hours, too. that's part three of that plan the governor announced today. >> as demand for covid testing continues to rise, many administering tests are looking at ways to help meet that demand. abc7 news reporter zarek fuentes spent time at a santa clara countiing testing site and spoke with two bay area companies that say they are doing all they can to get people access. reporter: a stream of cars came through the janet clara county fair grounds all amp. those inside the cars looking to get p.c.r. tests. >> doing it for others. i'm not travel. i'm staying local. but i plan to see family and friends. so yeah. doing it for them. reporter: thousands more like genbar drove through the testing site and grateful she booked her appointment when she did.

>> available spots for today, tomorrow, it's all booked up. reporter: as counties work to keep up with the demand for testing, two local bay area companies say that they've partnered up to provide people another option. >> and summer, been testing for large organizations like schools and universities. and we have excess capacity right now and we wanted to offer testing to individuals to our local communities and so we partnered with kila. reporter: summer bioa company the abc7 vaccine team told you about earlier this year says that they have the capacity to process 30,000 tests in its menlo park lab. kyla another bay area company facilities mobile covid tests plus testing at clinics and homes. they say that this partnership can help people get their covid test results in 24 hours or less. >> hopefully it's just a really convenient way for people to either drive through or we can come to you or you can come to a clinic. we're trying to be as omni channel as boniol. summer biohelps to make this possible because if we had to operate lab and scale and everything else we wouldn't be able to do a good job on the

part we want to be the best at. reporter: at the county level santa clara says weather permitting they may be adjusting their hours to help meet demand. even with the new dominant variant and higher testing demand, genbar says vaccines and faster test results give her more hope than she had at the beginning of the epidemic. >> we aren't just up against it. we have somewhat of a chance. reporter: in san jose, zach fuentes, abc7 news. >> here are some the other covid headlines today. the f.d.a. cleared the use of pfizer's covid-19 pill today. it's the first drug that newly infected high risk patients can easily take at home to stay out of the hospital. the omicron variant has been confirmed in all 50 states. no surprise. it was bound to happen. the first case was detected november 30, remember, and in san francisco at u.c.s.f. and the national hockey league says it won't allow players to participate in the beijing winter olympics because of the surge of covid cases. the league has already postponed 50 regular season games. >> canceling fire coverage for thousands of high-end homeowners

in california. the news from a major insurance company and blah it means for affected -- and what it means for affected customers. >> developments in the shooting of a tv news guard last month what the oakland police chief hopes he will be able to tell the public about the case in the next few days. next few days. to be a thriver with metastatic breast cancer means asking for what we want. and need. and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. women are living longer than ever before with kisqali when taken with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine,

tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali.

ama: a crash involving several vehicles caused a huge backup on southbound 880 in fremont. one person died and several others were injured in the collision near stevenson boulevard. a black car and a white van appeared to hit head on. one of the cars had the rear side. kate: in from the impact. several bags of lug -- kate: in from the impact. several bags of luggage. no word whether slick roads were a factor in the crash. ama: -- dan: a major development in a death of a guard protecting a

news crew. two people were involved in the killing of kevin nishita. abc7 news reporter stephanie sierra spoke with oakland's police chief about this big break in the case. reporter: nearly a month after the murder of kevin nishita a tv news security guard who was shot while on assignment in oakland, police chief laronne armstrong says they have two suspects in custody and are closing in on a third. >> we feel strongly that we have identified a third suspect as well that we are seeking right now with the help of our law enforcement partners. reporter: chief armstrong confirmed one of the suspects arrested is the owner of the 2005 white acura recovered last week. believed to be used in the crime. the chief wouldn't identify either suspect but did confirm both were arrested on unrelated charges. >> the arrest that they were made were for other offenses that were already committed. warrants for their arrest. holds by others whether other departments as well. but the mom side charge is forthcoming. reporter: the chief says the help from the community was critical and added once all

three suspects are prosecuted, the d.a. will determine who will receive the roughly $32,000 reward. that's expected to happen soon. >> but in the next coming days, i feel confident that the district attorney will charge this case and we will be able to come before the public and say in a the three individuals responsible for the murder of kevin nishita have been charged with that crime. reporter: meantime the department says they have no reason to believe nishita's murder was anything more than a crime of opportunity. but expect more clarity once the third suspect is arrested. >> our version continues. and i think once we are able to apprehend the third suspect and we charge all three of these suspects with homicide, i think we'll have better understanding of all their roles and motives for actually committing the crime. reporter: in oakland, stephanie sierra, abc7 news. ama: a major insurance company canceling fire coverage in california. it's a move that impacts thousands of high-end

homeowners. sever object -- seven on your side michael finney is here with details. >> the department of insurance confirmed to 7 on your side that a.i.g. property casualty company is pulling out of california. no longer offering fire insurance here. a.i.g. plans to begin notifying its customers on january 31. and the insurance giants plans to have canceled nearly 9,500 high-end homeowners policies by april 20. once homeowners receive the notice, they will have a minimum of 75 days to find new coverage from another company or to purchase the last resort coverage offered by the state. seven on your side, a.i.g., contacted a.i.g. and said it would not have a comment. however, in an internal email, a.i.g.'s private client group c.e.o. kathleen zortman noted california has seen its most active wildfire season in decades with combined losses of $10 billion. the department of insurance says it is disappointed by a.i.g.'s

decision to no longer sell this type of insurance. the insurance department also tells us that farmers, allstate and triple-a have all pledged to increase coverage and at least limit non-renewals. ama. ama: michael, thank you so much. dan: we are just days away from christmas obviously. which means one of the toughest times of year to manage spending and debt. so suggestions from the experts on how to better handle the financial st

dan: people with college debt got an early christmas from the white house. president joe biden is extending a moratorium on student loan repayments by another 90 days. the current moratorium was set to expire on january 31 and has been extended to may 1. the decision affects 41 million borrowers. president biden has resisted calls to wipe out $50,000 in student loan debt outright through executive action. ama: 'tis the season of giving.

sharing. pulling out credit cards. consumer debt is on the rise as a result of gift buying and inflation. that tonal adds stress on top of anxiety over the pandemic. as we focus on the economy as part of building a better bay area, abc7 news reporter david louie looks at what consumers are doing to manage their debt. david: for many, this is the toughest time of year to manage spending. credit card debt usually spikes during the holidays. however, covid stress and inflation are also challenging consumers. the financial sight moneygee moneygeek.com hayes the typical californian has 50d,000 in credit card debt. 89% or nine out of every 10 consumers acknowledged that debt is a source of stress. yes, some consumers act like ostriches. especially with holiday shopping for pores or themselves. >> a way to feel good in the moment like i got this great new thing. i bought this great new thing and very excited. only to have to pay that later. david: to reduce the pain and

stress money geek says wise consumers take action. 40% say they pay down their credit card debt and 38% reduce household expenses while 30% tapped into savings or emergency funds. san jose state psychologist leslie tinson says the stress created by covid, inflation and debt can be eased by putting one self first. >> putting myself first is not an act of selfishness. this is an act of preservation so that i can be replenished and able to be present to support others. david: that means tempering the expectation that the season of sharing has to lead to increasing debt which can lead to even more stress. >> we are expectinged to spend and expected to buy. we're expected to share with others. and i think in the midst of the pandemic, we are not necessarily thinking about -- or we have come to learn that just quality time is enough. david: david louie, abc7 news. dan: good advice.

storm watch is under way across the bay area. this is from video from earlier today. on the left you can see the wet road conditions in san mateo and on the right, it was a similar scene in san francisco on howard street. ama: for details on the rain and what we can expect through the night, let's get to abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel. sandhya. sandhya: yeah. i hope that you get a chance to just stay inside later on tonight, ama and dan. because it is going to be pouring. overnight going into tomorrow morning. he want to show you a live picture from newtown rose where they are dealing -- mount rose where they are dealing with a beautiful view that looks more like winter. er in seeing a mix of rain and snow in the mountains right now as we check out what's in store. there's a winter weather advisory. until -- until 9:00 p.m. carry the chains up to 21 inches expected for the peaks. three to six inches above 6,500 feet. a wirt storm warning goes up tonight at 9:00 and runs until 4:00 p.m. sunday with multiple rounds of heavy snow, you're going to have major travel delays up to nine feet over the

peaks. so definitely hold off on travel after that. right now you can see in the sierra nevada, it's a rain-snow mix. and a -- locally you will notice that it's actually quiet. there are some slippery spots out there. a little bit of wet roadways around fairfield as we look across 80, heading into hillborn road as we widen out the picture here, rainfall totals, .44 inches in napa. san jose and the rain shadow picking up j.017 inches of rain. not bad for the system so far. the temperatures in the 40's, 50's for most of you. 60's around san jose. highs well below av average for this time of year and visibility is low. down to a mile at s.f.o. right now where we're not seeing any weather-related delays but look how bad it looks so you might experience knows shortly. spotty showers tonight, heavier rain tomorrow morning. colder storm for christmas weekend. and we do have a chance of snow for the peaks. sunday through tuesday. locally, overnight a moderate strength storm. a -- two on our impact scale and

heavy rain and a chance of thunder and gusty winds. as we time this out keep those umbrellas handy. scattered showers through the night and watch what happens as we go into 3:00 a.m. downpourness the north bay. that crosses central bay and south and east bay by 8:00 a.m. by noontime the rain swivels over to just spotty light showers. so if you're traveling tomorrow afternoon, evening, will be your better bet. rainfall estimates, right on through sunday, will be in the one to three inch category. some of the mountains picking up four to six inches of rain. rainfall will definitely be coming down tomorrow morning. so it's going to be a stormy commute. 40's, 50's or storm get away. afternoon highs will look like this. breezy, spotty showers, 50's, 60's for thursday and your accuweather seven day forecast a moderate strength storm tomorrow morning hach rain and wind. thunder chance and scattered showers for the afternoon. one on friday, christmas day. another storm. but santa will have no problems. you see that little window and then colder storms, temperatures

tanking. we are definitely going to be dealing with the possibility of some local snow. it might just be a white christmas. dan and ama. dan: that would be nice. ama: that's exciting. thanks, sandhya. dan: a winter storm moving through the sierra mountains. expect heavy rain and multiple feet of snow tonight through sunday. here's what it looks like right now on highway 50 at myers. rain and slick roads. a mountain travel is highly discouraged during the winter storm of course. starting tonight through sunday and probably not a great time to go. better road conditions are expected early next week. ama: secret santa changing the game at one food and toy giveaway in the east bay. the emotional reaction to the big

ama: a reminder that you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more with our new abc7 bay area app on apple tv, android tv, fire tv and roku. search abc7 bay area and download it. finally tonight, a special surprise for recipients at a holiday giveaway in the east bay that brought some people to tears. >> oh, my god. thank you so much. >> oh, my goodness. dan: so sweet. along with food and toys, there was also an envelope with $100 tucked into each bundle.

organizers of the 48th annual davis street holiday basket program say it's all thanks to an anonymous donor. >> an angel donor who gave us $100 and wanted us to turn into $100 bill so each family and senior will get a crisp $100 bill. >> it helps me just remember that there's so much good in the world. i mean, even know things may be challenging on a daily basis. there's just -- there is still -- the spirit of the holiday season is still here. ama: the giveaway continues tomorrow. organizers say the need is up this year. but they are hoping to help about 1,000 families. and so appreciated. dan: another reason this is such a wonderful time of year in so many ways. world news tonight with david muir is next. we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. ama: i'm ama daetz. for sandhya patel, michael finney, all of us here thanks so much for joining us tonight. we'll see you again at 6:00.

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tonight, breaking news from washington. the abc news exclusive. with america bracing for omicron, now the dominant variant here in the u.s., my one-on-one with president biden at the white house. tonight, so many of you asking, where are the test kits? we ask the president about the long lines across this country. americans waiting for hours. and those empty shelves at pharmacies. how soon will there be help? also, the major announcement from the fda tonight, authorizing the first covid pill in the u.s., the pfizer pill. we asked the president, how much has the government purchased? how soon before it's available for americans who need it? we also ask tonight about family gatherings this christmas. we also ask about boarding planes. should vaccines be required?