seven news reporter tara campbell was there with the holiday spirit in the air. >> and just like that, the menorah is lit and hanukkah has begun. crowds gathering at san francisco's union square in celebration. >> it doesn't matter what race, religion or color you are, you could come and enjoy the celebration here in union square with us, and we welcome you with open arms. >> this is a sign of light in the world, and it's just amazing that everybody is coming here together to celebrate this holiday. >> and with the pandemic, less of a concern comes a renewed appreciation for coming together. >> i think, if anything, the last four years taught us the importance of being around other folks and engaging with other people, so it's nice. >> positas and the lightinsday, coinciding with christmas day, upping the celebratory spirit at union square. >> i was surprised. i mean, it's popping. it's alive. it's come back. >> for many, it's a family affair. and for some, a first

time, like three year old oliver here with his mom, dad and grandmother. >> what it look like? it's not too bad, actually. and it's not screaming away. >> a proud grandmother capturing the moment. >> it's a it's a treat. >> it's full of life. it spreads the joy. a lot of lights. and macy's is always beautiful. the decorations. so yeah. getting a little bit of the christmas spirit. >> the christmas spirit and the start of hanukkah all in one special night in one special spot. tara campbell, abc seven news. >> well, the giving spirit on full display today in san francisco's tenderloin neighborhood. saint anthony's says it served more than 1500 meals there with the help of 60 volunteers. one saint anthony's, anthony's employee who helped cook today, says the nonprofit enabled him to kick a longtime drug addiction. >> i love to give back to a place that once gave me so much. you know, i was on the other end, and i get so much support here and so much love. it's awesome. >> so nice of him to be involved

like this. kitchen staff prepared more than 1,000 pounds of lemon rosemary chicken, 900 pounds of potatoes and 1600 servings of homemade focaccia and cookies. sounds pretty good, doesn't it? well, volunteers showing some love to people getting a free christmas day meal at glide. about 4000 meals were handed out today. the menu included ham, turkey, potatoes, trimmings and a nice serving of pumpkin pie. to top it off, this is the 61st year that glide has offered free christmas meals at its tenderloin location. this is something glide does year round. of course. ready for this? in the past year, it has served more than 650,000 meals to people in need. truly incredible. well, some last minute christmas magic helped save a holiday meal program for homebound seniors. every year, the salvation army relies on volunteers to deliver meals to seniors who can't leave their homes. this year, they had 4400 meals to deliver. big job. but they were dozens of volunteers

short. and to make matters worse, thieves stole the batteries to three of their delivery trucks, if you can believe it. but a call for help was answered. volunteers stepped up and someone paid to replace those car batteries. >> this feels like a hallmark movie. it's a christmas miracle. people came through. we got the batteries. we we've got the volunteers. they came in. we know that when we put the word out to this community in the bay area, they just step up. >> the salvation army also dealt with another setback. gunshots shattered the front door of their bayview location. fortunately, no one was hurt and that damage has been repaired. employees at a restaurant in the east bay are helping build a better bay area this christmas. they spent the day away from their families to host a gift giveaway for kids and adults who otherwise may not have had anything under the tree this morning. abc seven news reporter lena howland explains that for many families, this act of kindness made all the difference. >> they say not all heroes wear capes, and not all santas wear

red suits. >> how many people in your group. >> in this case, he wears a green vest. >> this is so cool. >> johnny show just celebrated the 15th anniversary of his restaurant, rebel kitchen and libations in livermore. they survived through multiple shutdowns during the pandemic, and on christmas day, they're giving back to the same community that kept them afloat. >> there's a lot of people who christmas is really hard for. so this is our opportunity to maybe just give back a little bit, give them, you know, maybe 20 minutes of some christmas cheer. >> powered by community donations from schools, churches and customers, shell invited families in need for a gift giveaway. no signups, no proof of address, and no questions asked. >> i think it's kind of indicative of the times we're having right now. there's a lot of people having having tough times, not a lot under the tree. >> up until like three days ago, we didn't think we'd have a christmas for evangelina sanchez and her family. >> this made all the difference. >> it makes the kids happy. and it. you know, it just really it helps kind of liven spirits during dark times.

>> her mom, evelyn, says the family had fallen on tough times over the past few years. >> being homeless ourselves and being housed, you know, after six years, there's so many people that people look at them like, you know, like they're trash or whatever it is. so this restores everyone, i think gives them a little hope. you know, that little light. >> and the giveaway wasn't just for the kids. >> i got a corgi, but adults too. >> we think about our kids. kids come first and the fact that they said adults as well. so it's like, oh yeah, you feel like a kid again, you know? >> nakia parker is a single parent of three, but with inflation combined with life's unexpected curveballs, this was something that still made christmas possible. >> it's beautiful that people still care. and that's what we all need. someone to be able to reach out and help. and it's okay to reach out to get help. >> a tradition this santa hopes to continue to grow for years to come. >> honestly, i couldn't think of a better way to spend my christmas day. just to see the look on people's faces. >> merry christmas in livermore. lena howland, abc seven news.

>> well, that should make you smile, right? so sweet. all right. we're getting a bird's eye view of monday's damage to the santa cruz wharf. drone view. drone video shows the raggedy remains of the wharf's tip. pieces of the pier continue to wash up on beaches nearby. the state has not sought a federal disaster declaration. at least not yet. it's waiting for a damage assessment. preliminary estimates are at about $20 million, and there may be more trouble on the way. the storm off the coast is expected, expected to bring more high surf through the weekend. francis will have more on that as we continue here in a few minutes. and a warning if you bought organic eggs at costco. the food and drug administration has raised the recall of kirkland signature eggs to the highest level. that means it carries a significant risk of serious illness due to a potential salmonella contamination. the eggs have a use by date of january 5th. you can return the eggs to costco for a full refund. all right. as we

continue a lot more holiday coverage for you, including christmas mass held at historic notre dame notre dame cathedral for the first time in years. and you may remember the fire that heavily damaged the post office in boulder creek. today, there was a special delivery for one of the victims. plus a negative becomes a positive. how? today became the perfect opportunity to deliver some puppies to bay area

pope francis called for talks to end the ukraine war. francis was criticized by ukrainian officials earlier this year when he said the country should have the courage to negotiate an end to the war with russia. the 88 year old pontiff celebrated his 12th christmas as pope this year. pope francis, calling for an end to all conflicts in places including lebanon, mozambique, haiti, venezuela and nicaragua. another christmas tradition made a triumphant return this year. in paris, the notre dame cathedral celebrated its first mass on christmas day since that fire nearly destroyed it back in 2019. following the destruction, nearly $1 billion in donations poured in from around the world. notre dame, celebrated for masses on christmas eve. people were able to attend without a reservation. the cathedral reopened to the public on

december 7th, and everyone was so amazed and relieved to see it from once again back here at home. firefighters in the south bay who saved a boy from a burning home, were reunited with him as part of an annual holiday tradition for the santa clara county fire department. abc seven news reporter zach fuentes spoke with the young survivor and his mother about that special visit. >> thank you for saving me. saving me? >> justin houston and his mom, holly nelson, have a lot to be grateful for this holiday season. after this fire destroyed their home. it happened earlier this month. their home, set just above the brookdale post office in the santa cruz mountains. it happened while the family was asleep. some of them made it out quickly, but ralston was still inside. >> i was terrified, i didn't know what to do. >> holly and her fiance were frantic outside. her fiance busted a window trying to get ralston out, injuring himself in the process, each second agonizing. >> any mom's like worst fear is

something like that happening. like i never, ever experienced that. i don't ever, ever wish that for anybody, especially if you have kids. >> holly says it was a ben lomond firefighter who saved ralston's life. >> nick burgess is the firefighter that pulled him out and i just wanted to tell him, thank you so much. >> that gratitude extended to all local firefighters, including the santa clara county fire department, who delivered toys to ralston and other patients at santa clara valley medical center. youth patients who can't make it home for the holidays. >> the support that we got from the community and from from everyone, and now the firefighters is just overwhelming, so amazing. we're just so grateful for everything like christmas. >> ariel, the firefighters are just as thrilled by the special day. >> very heartwarming. you know, it's definitely a little emotional, but and we're just very excited that we can do this for these children today. >> ralston is still recovering from burns and smoke inhalation.

the family is without a home and will be staying in a local hotel. still, ralston and holly are grateful that the rest of their loved ones who escaped the fire are out of the hospital, and ralston is excited about joining them. >> i really feel like there was somebody watching over him that night in san jose. >> zach fuentes, abc seven news. >> what a nice moment today. the humane society of silicon valley borrowed a page from santa playbook and delivered some very special gifts on christmas day. gifts with big floppy ears. volunteers delivered real life puppies to several families. the. the special christmas day delivery comes as the milpitas animal shelter was forced to close after a fire damaged part of the building last week. the animals are being adopted right out of foster homes. >> connecting fosters directly with adopters so that the dogs go from one home to the other and never go back to the shelter. on top of that program, we also had our christmas day delivery special. >> rebuilding the animal shelter can take more than a year in the meantime. adoption fees are

waived at humane society silicon valley in an effort to find permanent homes for all of the animals that had to be evacuated. all right, take a look now at a holiday tradition that celebrates history. people reenacted george washington's 1776 christmas night river crossing of the delaware river from pennsylvania into new jersey. it was a pivotal moment, of course, in the revolutionary war. as you can see, they go all out full fig, right? full costumes. the reenactment just north of philadelphia, draws a big crowd every year. that's a neat tradition. makes you imagine how cold it must have been to cross the delaware back then. >> yeah. back then. and with that wardrobe, too? yeah. >> exactly. right. francis is back with our forecast. beautiful day around here, but a little chilly, a little chilly, and we got a nice break. >> perfect timing with christmas and the start of hanukkah for the break in the rainfall. but it already has returned to the north bay. here's a look at live doppler seven. and we already

had some light rain in ukiah, cloverdale, and in santa rosa, but it's still pretty from sutro tower. looking out toward san francisco, you can see the salesforce tower and city hall lit in blue for the start of hanukkah, and san francisco is currently 51. oakland 52, san jose is also 51, and we're seeing some upper 40s in hayward, redwood city, and half moon bay. and it's also looking gorgeous at the holiday lights on the embarcadero buildings in the north bay. it's a little bit cooler in petaluma and napa. 46 degrees for you there. santa rosa 48, fairfield livermore at 47, concord at 50 degrees. so here's how it plays out. we're going to see showers move into the north bay first during the overnight hours. and then we'll slide through during the morning hours thursday morning. what you'll notice by 8:00 mostly dry. we can't rule out some showers popping up throughout the day, but from thursday eight until 5 p.m, with most of us being dry, the rain will start to return to the north bay and

then the moderate rainfall moves through late thursday night into early friday morning. so temperatures and actually rainfall estimates generally less than a third of an inch. if you are at napa or south, we could see a little bit higher amounts in parts of the north bay, like santa rosa near 4/10 of an inch and ukiah 7/10 of an inch, and also some higher amounts in the north bay mountains. and then with this storm, the northwest swell also increases. as dan mentioned earlier, a high surf advisory, in effect starting at 10:00 tomorrow, continuing to 4 p.m. sunday so we could see waves up to 30ft. once again, not great news for the santa cruz wharf, and this does create hazardous swimming and surfing conditions. be careful at the beaches. of course, that also means snow in the sierra. so there's a winter weather advisory until noon. if you're driving tomorrow, be prepared for hazardous conditions. we could see up to

ten inches of snow above 6000ft. overnight lows will be in the 40s tonight, and then tomorrow's highs will be generally near 60 degrees. some upper 50s in san francisco and oakland and then mild in san jose at 63 degrees tomorrow. here's the accuweather seven day forecast. so for the start of kwanzaa, we'll have those little showers in the morning. they have already started rain in the evening, a wet and breezy start friday, but then a decent break on saturday. scattered showers, mainly in the north bay and then sunday more rain and then finally sunshine. drier weather. although it will be chilly for new year's eve, so definitely grab a jacket if you are heading out. >> all right. quite a pattern. yeah, thank

go fifth grader this christmas. her name is balwani and her drawing won the san francisco sheriff holiday card contest. her drawing featured a snow globe with the sheriff's logo and several san francisco landmarks. kids from schools all over the city took part in this contest. sheriff paul miyamoto visited iolani at her school last week to award her the winning prize. nice job. all right. today was certainly a christmas gift for sports fans. sports director larry beil is here. larry. >> dan. oh, man. we got a treat steph versus lebron. plus two nfl games trying to steal some nba thunder.

>> i love the nfl but christmas is our day. >> absolutely. but who would own the night. curry or james. this game went down to the

merry christmas, santa and the nba season filmmaker gave us steph versus lebron on christmas day. yes. who knows how many more of these we're going to get with two aging superstars. got to enjoy every single minute steph and lebron. big pre-game hug. they got super tight at the

olympics jonathan kuminga balling his way to the basket. get off me with authority. posterizing two lakers. that's going to be a problem jc with 14 points. high flier steph averaging only 15 points on christmas day. ready to play in this one though. on the drive. flips it up flips it in. never seen this before. draymond green the double arm lock. pulls down two. lakers is like a hulk hogan move. late fourth quarter lebron james for three. he had 31. lakers were up by eight. warriors down four 12 seconds left steph off balance from the corner. are you serious. are we going to get a christmas miracle at shefs. then with nine seconds left dubs down three steph gets free. he's way out. splash. he had 38. still needing a stop though austin reaves just blows by andrew wiggins with a second left. reaves a triple double 2410 and ten steph one last heave a prayer that won't go. lakers 115 113. the dubs have dropped 11 of the last 14.

>> yeah morale is down but it's not in the sense of the players not liking each other. we all love being around each other and being here, but we had a little meeting and talk today and we're at the point where it's this can go one way or this can go the other. and so we got to figure this thing out and we will 70 sixers and celtics. >> good luck there. joel embiid this is really strange. twisted his ankle and got tangled up in a rope during warm ups. the big man played anyway though and he had 27 points. tyrese maxey star of the game 33 points and 12 boards recovering with that almost lost dribble there 70 sixers win 118 114 spurs and knicks karl anthony towns come get some wemby pushed victor wembanyama out of the way. wemby went for 42 points on six threes, 18 boards and four blocks himself, but mickael bridges put his stamp on this game with 41 for the knicks, who win 117, 114. nfl action chiefs

and steelers boyfriend arriving patrick mahomes threw for 320 yards, three touchdowns, 12 yards here to travis kelce, who has the most td catches in chiefs history. netflix gave him some cool jackets and kc clinches the number one seed in clinches the number one seed in the afc 2910. sports i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms... ...with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling as fast as 2 weeks for some. and even at the 3-year mark, many people felt this relief. rinvoq can stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin; serious allergic reactions; gi tears; death; heart attack; and stroke occurred. cv event risk increases in age 50 plus

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live and on demand through the abc seven bay area connected tv app. it's available for apple tv, google tv, amazon fire tv and roku. download the app now and you can start streaming. all right, that is this edition of abc seven news on this 26th. so your keys are. >> stick around. round round round round. stick around. >> from abc news. this is world news now. >> so for as long as i can

remember, the nfl had thanksgiving. major league baseball had 4th of july. college football, new year's day and christmas. christmas day was reserved for the nba. but not not anymore. >> no. we've got to duke it out. some sports duking it out, and we're going to get to the nfl. we're going to get to the nba games. we're also going to get to what everybody is probably going to be doing today. not everybody, but many returning and exchanging gifts. so exciting, said nobody ever, because you have to sit and wait in those lines to do it. >> and by the way, helping the nfl kind of step on the nba's turf. some big stars like beyonce, who performed at a halftime show and teased ahead to something big in the works. we'll tell you about that coming up a little bit later in the show. but this morning, the day after christmas, we're going to have to begin with that terrifying scene overseas and the mystery that now surrounds it. >> a passenger plane flying hundreds of miles off course before crashing into the ground. at least 38 people were killed, but dozens also survived. >> investigators are now trying to piece together what happened.

a fiery plane crash in kazakhstan on christmas morning. an azerbaijan airliner with 67 people aboard flying precariously over the caspian sea, sharply losing altitude before going down incredibly. 29 people survived, including two children, some of them stumbling away from the split fuselage. others dragged from the charred wreckage at the crash site. at the hospital, survivors lay side by side in beds, not stability. this man in anguish. he hasn't seen his wife since the crash. she was sitting next to him on the plane. elsewhere, a flight attendant who survived video called his family, asking his loved ones to tell mom not to worry. authorities now investigating the moments before the crash. russian news agencies report the flight was headed to russia but was rerouted to kazakhstan due to fog. the flight path then shows the plane flying hundreds of miles off course, before turning in a figure eight and then crashing

to the ground. video from inside the cabin shows passengers staying calm even after oxygen masks dropped. russian authorities claim a bird strike took the plane down, leading to engine failure and an emergency landing attempt. bird strikes are not uncommon. back in 2009, birds flew into the engines of a u.s. airways flight piloted by sully sullenberger, who saved the plane by landing in the hudson river. and just this month, an american airlines flight from new york to charlotte was forced to make an emergency landing. after this bird strike took out two of the plane's engines. but in this case, aviation experts are skeptical that a bird strike is to blame, pointing out the tail of the plane was torn off and turned upside down. >> we have a mystery on a mystery here. we have a picture of what appears to be the tail section of the airplane with holes in it, holes that can't be explained by any regular problem. certainly not with hitting birds. >> experts have questioned whether russian air defenses connected to the war in ukraine may have played a role in the

crash. the plane's black boxes have been recovered. and here at home, it's a stormy day after christmas for large parts of the country. >> the most dramatic conditions being endured are across the west, from the high mountains to the coast. this morning, high surf alerts along parts of the west coast. waves expected to reach as high as 30ft. just days after this historic wharf collapsed in santa cruz. oh my god. swells battered the pier, 150ft of the walkway, plunging into the ocean. newly released drone video showing the extent of the damage. the wharf abruptly split. handrails dangling towards the ocean. a new storm system is fueling the high surf, dumping heavy rain from washington state down to northern california and up to three feet of snow from the cascades down to the sierra and east to the rocky mountains north of salt lake city. this avalanche buried a snowmobiler after carrying him 150 yards. thankfully, he had a locator

beacon and his brother found him and dug him out in time while in denver. snowfall disrupted drivers heading home from holiday celebrations. one interstate partially shut down due to the conditions. but there were festive tidings from new yorkers who celebrated their first white christmas in 15 years. >> our first one since 2009. we needed at least an inch of snow on the ground in central park. we got it. >> snowfall in parts of the northeast and midwest this week, leading to slippery roads along the busy i-95 corridor. a frightening scene in vermont when this suv skidded on ice, slamming into a vehicle being loaded onto a tow truck. one of the drivers suffered minor injuries. another big story today will be severe thunderstorms from dallas to houston and into louisiana, with damaging winds and potential hail. >> four people, all adults in new hampshire, have died of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning. their family reported them missing when they didn't

arrive at a christmas gathering. investigators are looking into the home's gas heating system as a possible cause of the exposure, and officials say the tragedy proves the importance of working carbon monoxide detectors in your home. >> all right, shifting gears to the nfl's two game christmas gift to fans, though, some would question if it was really a gift. depending on which which team you're rooting for. >> well, we'll start with the chiefs and their destruction of the steelers. patrick mahomes throwing three touchdowns, one to travis kelce. chiefs win 29 to 10 and clinch home field throughout the playoffs. this is something that patrick mahomes told his wife, brittany mahomes she's pregnant. i need to get this one seed so that i can be there for the baby. being born to get a bye week. if you get the top seed there. all right then it was the ravens flying high in houston lamar jackson with two touchdown passes. he also ran one into the end zone. the ravens beat the texans 31 to 2. a beat down. and don't worry we'll get to that halftime show. a lot of people saying it was

the show. we'll have that later in the skinny. but let's turn to the original holiday for sports. christmas day, belonging to the nba. >> yeah. the festivities ending in phoenix. kevin durant and bradley beal each had 27 as the suns beat denver 110 to 100. it's phoenix's first christmas win since 2009. >> in fairness, they don't play every christmas, so they don't play a lot of christmases. the phoenix suns there. but the best finish was down in oakland. golden state down three late to the lakers. and steph curry does what steph curry does. just drills it ties it. but with one second left la's austin reaves hits a game winner. and the lakers take it 115 to 113. the knicks, timberwolves and sixers were also christmas day winners. >> that lakers warriors game the end was just wow. it was a really, really good ending there and so much going on in the game between steph curry and lebron james. and then we've got anthony davis with his injury. he had to walk off after seven

minutes of playing. >> yeah a little bit there. he was banged up a couple of years ago. was healthy last year. we'll see how he does this year. coming up the wait goes on as the mega millions jackpot climbs over $1 billion. >> plus all your holiday movie options. if you're planning a personal escape later today. you're watching world set and these razor sharp chef's knives free from granite stone has your old set of pans lost their slick? does everything get baked on, burnt on, and stick? you know you need a new set. but the prices are so high it's obscene. well, say hello to granite stone, emerald green. a kitchen full of the most durable ultra nonstick cookware at the most affordable price anywhere. granite stone. emerald green is the fast, easy way to make your family five star cuisine that's delicious and lean. no oil or butter needed. granite stone. emerald green is constructed from a hard aluminum plate and coated three times with our durable, ultra nonstick granite

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