>> building a better bay area. this is abc7 news. >> this applies to every hospital up and down california. like i said, it is a nationwide issue that we have, that you care about other agencies throughout the country. dan: he's talking about a problem in terms of the shortage of ambulance shortages. officials say it is an issue that can be solved with the help of the community. ama: the shortfall is especially bad right now with the triple threat of covid, flu and rsv. dan: but the problem is being exacerbated by calls to 911 that are not real emergencies. >> a typical response to a 911 call includes police, fire, and a ambulance. there are times when an

ambulance is not available. >> there are a number of different circumstances in our jurisdiction that we have down to zero ambulances available to respond to lifesaving incidences. >> this fire caption in the contra costa county fire protection district says the shortage of ambulances is a problem faced across the country. contra costa county has roughly 30 ambulances to respond to their 911 calls. >> our ambulance services have been impacted by the pandemic, by the recent events going on, but also a large use of the ambulance service just for normal calls going to the hospital's. >> to reduce the strain on healthcare services, contra costa county health is urging residents to call 911 only in cases of a true emergency. in a statement they say several hospitals are reporting critically high level of patients occupying beds, with

more than 1200 inpatients reported throughout the county. hospital emergency departments are similarly impacted. >> you may have a minor cut. just because you want to go on an ambulance ride does not mean that will get you into the emergency room faster. >> the captain says some instances of an emergency could be chest pain, difficulty breathing, broken bones or getting burned. rideshare programs are offered throughout the county for those who don't have transportation. finally, consider urgent care instead of the e.r. >> we encourage everyone to utilize other resources such as an urgent care that is more apt to handle minor injuries and symptoms. >> abc7 news. ama: new details on the stockton serial killer case. the suspect is accused of

killing another person in oakland and april of 2021. wesley brownlee was charged yesterday in four additional murders, one of those was of the previously unknown oakland victim. he was shot to death six days after the murder of the first victim, also in oakland. brownlee was initially arrested in mid-october for three murders, now charged with a total of seven murders and the attempted murder of a woman who survived. he is expected back in court for arraignment next tuesday. dan: a woman is facing murder charges for killing a one-year-old and five-year-old child in the bayview district. she faces two counts of murder and several other charges. she was originally scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon. that hearing has been rescheduled. last friday the father of the two little girls called san francisco police when he got home and found the children unresponsive. both girls were pronounced dead. her arraignment is now scheduled

for this friday at 9:00 a.m. officials have not confirmed her relationship to the victims. ama: the man accused of attacking house speaker pelosi's husband with a hammer pled not guilty to state charges today. david depape faces multiple charges including attempted murder, burglary and assault with an attempt -- with a deadly weapon. depape waived his right for a speedy trial. he is scheduled to be back in february to set a trial date. he pleaded not guilty to charges last month and remains held without bail. dan: the chp took four people into custody after a freeway pursuit that ended in vallejo. a patrol car pinned the suspect's car against the center divider on 80 on highway 37. police say the chase started in

elk grove in sacramento because the car was reported stolen. that led to a chase that reached speeds of up to 100 miles an hour on 80. in vallejo, chp used spike strips to slow the car down. the driver and three passengers were taken out of the vehicle and into custody. at least one police vehicle was damaged and had to be towed. ama: the mass flight cancellations across the country and continued southwest airlines meltdown. despite slight improvements, nationwide more than 4000 flights were canceled today. more than 2500 of those were southwest flights. in the bay area, a total of 74 flights were canceled in minette of san jose. 23 in san francisco. dan: while we have heard plenty of nightmare travel stories from southwest customers, now we are hearing from employees as well. ground workers were southwest

say the airline made unreasonable demands on them during this meltdown. the president of the union spoke with members of congress. abc7 news reporter melanie woodrow has the story. melanie: as southwest tries to recover from what our calling a meltdown -- what some are calling a meltdown, employees are speaking out. >> when the weather started happening, we started having issues. melanie: the president of twu local 555 represents ground workers at southwest airlines. he says his workers were battling subzero temperatures and ice storms, many working 16 to 18 hour days. >> we are performing one of the most dangerous jobs out of any industry and that needs to be recognized. melanie: he says he pushed southwest to cycle employees in and out of the cold to prevent frostbite and compensate them with premium pay, requests that were ultimately honored, but he said not soon enough. >> it would have been better if it were done from the onset. melanie: with better planning he

said the meltdown could have been lessened or averted. >> all it took was one thing to tip the cart. melanie: southwest's ceo said this to employees. >> i am apologizing to them daily. we will be hearing more about our specific plans to make sure the challenges they faced will not be part of the future. >> he said all the right things that needed to be said, but i'm sure a lot of people would have rather it been a lot sooner. melanie: he shared his concerns with a call of members of congress today. a congressman on the aviation subcommittee says he was not on that call, but is working with the administration. >> what happened is completely unacceptable. there is a lot of regulatory oversight to hold people accountable. this should not have happened. melanie: bart believes southwest airlines will bounce back despite what happened. >> we will get through this. i encourage everyone to come back. melanie: abc7 news.

ama: now to the weather. happening tonight, our next round of rain is set to return. this is a live look outside. more details on the timing. let's get to abc7 news weather anchor spencer christian. spencer: a look at our satellite writer composite image. you can see the atmospheric river flowing towards the bay, bringing us a series of storm. the first one tonight is a level 1 storm on the exclusive abc7 storm impact scale. rainfall totals up to an inch. breezy at times with low visibility. 9:00 tonight, the rain starts to arrive just after midnight. a wet morning commute for sure. a brief break, then a second wave will be heavier than what we got earlier in the day. that will be followed by stronger storms on friday and saturday. i will give you a look at all of that and where we can expect a break in my accuweather 7-day

forecast a little later. dan: pope francis is asking for prayers for his predecessor pope benedict, saying he's very sick. in 2013, benedict became the first pope in nearly six centuries to step down as head of the conflict church. -- the catholic church. we spoke with bishop daly reflected on the day he met pope benedict. >> one of the bishops says he was the most receptive to questions, very hospitable. there was a human side of him, a kind side that you might not think existed because of his great intellect. dan: benedict is being closely monitored by doctors as his health deteriorates. pope benedict is 95 years old. ama: the cdc announces new mandatory negative covid test results before entering the u.s. from one country. we will tell you when the requirement goes into effect. dan: he was promised airline

vouchers worth $24,000 to give up his family seats, but he never received it. we will tell you

dan: the u.s. will begin requiring mandatory negative covid tests from travelers from china. the cdc announcement today comes in response to a recent surge of cases and lack of transparent data reported from china. the requirement goes into effect in january 5 for all passengers two years old and older. japan, india, taiwan and italy also imposed testing requirements for people traveling from china. ama: more airline trouble, this time with delta airlines. a family visiting the bay area say they were offered sizable vouchers to give up their seats on an overbooked flight. but as abc7 reporter stephanie sierra explains, the sweet deal

vanished. stephanie: this one is a consumer's nightmare. we have all been there. you are stuck on an overbooked flight and the airline offers up a voucher as long you will give up your seat. for this family, they did not get either. what's worse than getting your flight canceled around the holidays? >> i got the keys to ruined christmas. stephanie: this bay area man will tell you. >> i understand things happen, but don't dangle the carrot and pull it back. stephanie: the carrot in this scenario is an $8,000 delta voucher. he says delta airlines offered that the passengers willing to give up their seat on an overbooked flight from oakland to salt lake city wednesday. >> the lady was like, we are looking for -- i can't remember the number, but it was a substantial number of people to give up their seats. she was like, we are offering $8,000 a seat.

i have three seats. stephanie: his, his wife's and his daughter's. but the lucrative offer did not hold up. he says the copilot never showed up, so delta canceled the flight and the voucher. >> so you are not honoring the vouchers that you agreed to pay and now canceling the flight? i thought it was bad business personally. stephanie: we brought this to an attorney representing clients in the travel and tourism industry. >> do you see situations like this a lot? >> it is somewhat in usual for a voucher to be issued for a flight and then to have that flight subsequently canceled. stephanie: he says airlines are required to offer any amount of compensation to passengers before involuntarily pumping them off a flight. >> airlines get to set the rules for who gets bumped first. it could be based on the fare you paid. stephanie: if your flight is canceled, refunds are not always guaranteed. there has to be a reason that

meets the department of transportation standards. for example, a mistake made by the airline. which brings us back to reeves. he says delta was at fault in this scenario. while the airline offered to rebook him, he says the next available flight was two days later, so to avoid that he drove to catch a flight on another carrier. delta paid for his motel and rental car, but he said still not his light. >> if we are not getting the flight and voucher, why are you not getting the voucher? stephanie: we reached out to delta airlines tuesday morning for comment, but as of tonight have yet to hear back. as far as why reeves did not get the voucher, it is up to the airline. the department of transportation does not regulate the terms and conditions of airline offers. another reason we should always read the fine print. dan: no question about that. still ahead, we closer look at the southwest airlines meltdown and what can

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dan: let's go back to those airline delays that stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers. the problems started with weather delays, but southwest flights are still being canceled while others are flying as usual. ama: how do we stop this from happening again? for that we turn to 7 on your side's michael finney. michael: airline problems are not that unusual. last september flights were delayed en masse stacked up at airports. airlines were deregulated in 1978. until then, if your flight was delayed or canceled, your airline was required to get you out on the next available flight no matter the airline. passenger advocates s rule should be reinstated. >> we have a market

inefficiency. we have stranded passengers and unused seats on other airlines, so we should have a reciprocity rule that benefits the airlines that are the most efficient and the ones that keep their schedules, and it would penalize those who are less efficient. michael: if that rule was still in effect, or went back into effect, southwest would have been required to buy thousands of seats for its passengers. dan: walk us through how that would prevent this from happening again? michael: the idea is that if they would be forced to buy this many seats and it cost them that much money, rather than do that, airlines would not run so thin. they would have more staff, more seats available and they can get you out sooner. more skin in the game, absolutely. dan: interesting. thanks michael. ama: members of the house of representatives and their staff will no longer be able to use

tiktok on electronic devices managed by the house. the house's chief administrative officer says the app is considered "high risk due to a number of security issues." separately the government is expected to ban tiktok from all federal devices. that is part of legislation included in the $1.7 trillion government funding bill awaiting president biden's signature. dan: let's turn back to the weather forecast. a good bit more rain is coming. spencer: we have some great weather video to post on tiktok. [laughter] let's look at live doppler 7. the rain is just offshore. we are picking up some moisture in the atmosphere in the north bay, but no reports of rain hitting the ground. here is the view over san francisco, 52 degrees. oakland 52. low 50's at san jose and santa clara. the east bay hills camera showing clouds increasing. 52 at santa rosa and napa.

low 50's fairfield and livermore. one live view at the golden gate, where the clouds are getting lower and thicker. we have a series of storms coming our way tonight through saturday. it will be dry and mild for new year's day. more storms will arrive early next week. the exclusive abc7 storm impact scale is a level one. for tonight and tomorrow we expect periods of light to moderate showers. breezy at times with lower visibility. the forecast animation starting at 9:00 tonight. the rain will arrive around midnight. we will get wet weather through the morning. another wave coming in late tomorrow afternoon into the evening. we expect rain full totals to range from 0.4 to over one inch in the wettest locations.

overnight lows in the mid 40's. high temperatures generally in the mid 50's. the next storms will be gearing up to move in friday and saturday. 12:00 a.m. friday, friday's storm comes in with a bit more energy than tomorrow's. that is a level two. that is followed by another level two sunday. looks like the daytime saturday is going to be quite wet. we expect things to start drying off for new year's day. level 1 storm tomorrow. turning heavier in the afternoon. stronger storm, level 2 friday and saturday. new year's eve will be wet up until the hour the revelers go into the streets. new year's day, nice. a dry one. monday, tuesday and wednesday, level 1 storms coming in each of those days. six of the next seven days will

be wet. dan: wait, does this mean you will not be reveling? [laughter] spencer: i will be quietly reveling. i like to revel by myself. dan: the bay area commercial crab season officially opens saturday. today crabbers begin setting their traps. the season has been delayed more than a month to keep humpback whales from getting tangled in the gear as they migrate south. be warned, there may be limited supply because state officials ordered a 50% reduction in crab traps. ama: ahead, getting ready for new year's eve and the iconic ball drop in new york's times square.

dan: one more award for the trophy case of olympic swimmer katie ledecky. she has been named the associated press female athlete of the year. ledecky was selected by a panel of 40 sportswriters from outlets across the country. she turned in another stellar performance and the world championships and set a pair of world records in 2022. ledecky won the award once before in 2017. this time she beat out american track start sidney maclachlan and wnba basketball star aja wilson. ama: new year's eve means the final preparations are underway for the iconic crystal ball in new york's times square. the 12,000 pound ball will be seen by millions by the time it drops at the stroke of midnight. it features more than 2800 crystal triangle panels. this year crews are replacing

nearly 200 of them with the new waterford crystal design of a circle of overlapping parts, titled "gift of love." >> gift of love, friendship. i think love is so important, not only for our friends and loved ones, but for the whole world. ama: today marks good riddance day. that is when people gather in times square to celebrate a fresh start to the new year. they do that by destroying unpleasant memories of the past year. do not forget this new year's eve you can watch the ball drop and seee the festivities from times square here on abc7. dick clark's prime time new year's rock any of with ryan seacrest starts at 8:00 p.m.. there will be a special edition of abc7 news from 10:00 to 10:30. we go back to ryan seacrest with the countdown to midnight. dan: world news tonight with david muir is next. we appreciate your time. ama: for spencer christian and

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covered california, this way to health insurance. enroll by december 31st at coveredca.com. tonight, we're tracking several developing stories as we come on the air. news of former pope benedict and his declining health. and that mounting chaos for air travelers growing by the day. more cancellations tonight for southwest airlines. struggling to recover from that massive holiday storm. more than 13,000 flights canceled and counting. passengers sleeping in airports, scrambling to find a way home. luggage and bags piling up. the ceo apologizing for the travel nightmare, and vowing to make things right. tonight, the transportation secretary promising a full investigation. our alex perez in chicago. in storm-battered buffalo, the death toll still rising tonight. the national guard going door-to-door, checking on