at that point in time that we need to see some commensurate support and reforms and changes as it relates to policing here in oakland in order to consider extending this state subsidized

uh- partnership. >> governor gavin newsom tonight taking aim at the oakland police departments pursuit policy, saying changes need to be made if the city wants to keep the state's chp support beyond january. the governor also discussed 11 new laws set to go into effect in just five days to crack down on retail thefts following at least four ram and rob type burglaries in the east bay. just this week, an all too common crime. good evening. thank you for joining us. i'm dan ashley. in fact, the most recent smash-and-grab burglary was this morning at the gamestop store in downtown san leandro, where thieves used a vehicle to ram into the store before taking off with all kinds of stuff. abc seven news reporter anser hassan has more on what's being done to tackle the problem at the city and state level. >> reporter the gamestop in downtown san leandro is now permanently closed, following what police are calling a ram and rob, where suspects used a car to ram into a store to rob it. it happened friday morning.

store management declined an interview, but say the suspects only made off with a few hundred dollars worth of merchandise. unlike what happened at its other san leandro location, this gamestop location was hit on christmas eve. management tells us the damage just to the front is estimated at $20,000. they say the suspects took off with upwards of 30 playstation fives valued at $450 each. >> i don't approve of it because then i have to go to another store and stuff everything be messed up. but that's just what it is. >> san leandro police say the suspects in the christmas eve incident were arrested. the police department was not available for an interview, but in a statement to abc seven news says, quote, we are concentrating patrol and investigative resources in order to reduce the number of occurrences and also to apprehend those responsible for these wantonly destructive crimes. this is the fourth ram and rob incident reported just this week in the east bay. this one happened on thursday at the lucky's grocery store in oakland, california. governor gavin newsom addressed the issue

at an event in oakland on friday, saying new legislation has been signed that will help law enforcement crack down on crimes beginning in the new year. >> those are included specifically as it relates to the package of bills that the legislature advanced and i signed in august, brick by brick in hayward, which sells legos, was hit twice on tuesday. >> mayor mark salinas says he's been in contact with city staff and police about the incident. >> one thing that we do know is that a lot of these concerted groups are coming from outside of the bay area. >> mayor salinas says there is a pattern in which stores selling specialized merchandise that are very popular, like legos or playstations, are being targeted. he says the city and property owners need to try new strategies to protect businesses, especially small mom and pop stores with metal roll up doors or with posts, you know, steel posts in the in the front of buildings to prevent cars from, you know, driving right into the building. mayor salinas says alameda county

cities are in talks with the county on how to collectively tackle these types of ram and robb incidents in the east bay. anser hassan abc seven news. >> now, governor newsom discussed those burglaries while in oakland this morning, where he also announced plans to extend the state's california highway patrol support for another month. but the help comes with some strings attached. and abc seven news reporter monica madden is was there today. and monica is here to talk about why the governor is focused on crime in oakland at this particular moment. >> well, dan, the chp surge was set to expire in four days. so that really increased the urgency. but the governor is extending it a month, and he wants the oakland police commission to change its pursuit policy. >> first, i'm here to sort of reinvigorate that sense of optimism and possibility back into oakland. but it starts foundationally with public safety. >> in oakland friday morning, governor gavin newsom announced california highway patrol officers will continue helping

oakland for now. >> we're at a point, an inflection point in terms of the state's support, calling on the city's police commission to allow opd to engage in car chases if they want continued help from the state in return. that partnership requires that local change and local support. >> current opd policy only allows officers to chase someone if the suspect committed a violent forceable crime or a crime with a firearm. >> someone that literally puts people's lives at risk. that occurs right in front of an officer in a vehicle that officer cannot. under this extreme pursuit policy here in oakland, pursue that suspect. this commitment from the state can't continue unless we see commensurate changes. >> chp increased its oakland presence in february, and oakland's police union says it's making a difference. >> this has been a huge impact. >> the governor says chp has quadrupled shifts in the east bay. reported homicides in oakland are down 35% from this

time last year. union president we nguyen recognizes there is a balance to strike when it comes to car chases and public safety, but believes current pursuit policy is hampering their toolkit. >> we have officers that are severely injured themselves or in vehicle pursuit, and also community members that we have seen that result in death, but also we also have to take consideration that not doing anything about it and let people do what they want is not the answer. >> some in city hall are planning to add pressure on the commission to. >> we haven't got any pushback. i think we have to talk individually with the commissioners and let them know the urgency and importance of this. >> now, we reached out to the oakland police commission for comment about the pursuit policy, but did not hear back. the governor also pointed to 11 new laws in 2025 that he says are going to crack down on property and retail crime across california. dan. all right. >> interesting. monica, thanks very much on this subject. governor newsom is also extending chp support to vallejo, where units have been supporting local police against crime. the chp will assist

vallejo police in upcoming patrol searches and operations there. but the governor is warning the city not to rely too much on the chp for security. it's not permanent. he is urging vallejo to contract with the solano county sheriff's office to provide additional police services, a tactic used by other cities dealing with police understaffing. district attorney brooke jenkins making the first petty theft charges today after the passage of prop 36. the 29 year old defendant was arraigned in court with two prior convictions. he's accused of stealing cough and cold medications and ice cream from a walgreens in noe valley. the value totaled about $460. >> and so now for those who are repeat offenders in our stores in san francisco and across the state of california, if they have prior convictions for misdemeanor theft and they continue to engage in that behavior, we can now charge them with a felony, which is what occurred in this most recent case that we filed today. >> the man pleaded not guilty

and will be back in court next month. prop 36 just went into effect on the 18th, and it's already being put to use in this arrest. and more to come. d.a. jenkins says it's sending a strong message that california cities will no longer tolerate this kind of crime. you can get detailed information about what crime is like where you live with our abc seven neighborhood safety tracker. it includes information and trends for oakland, san francisco and san jose. find it at abc seven news.com or on your abc seven bay area app as well. all right, let's focus for a few moments on the weather as we take a live look at the conditions. right now, we're still tracking the chance of some scattered showers, but it was nice to see the sun today. for details, let's go to abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel. sandhya. >> yeah, dan, it was a temporary break that we've been enjoying. let me show you right now a live view from santa cruz. camera where the surf is still pounding the coastline. so watch out. high surf advisory until 4 a.m. sunday. those breakers, 20 to

30ft means there is potential for dangerous swimming and surfing conditions. right now it's 18 footers at point arena. looking at live doppler seven, we do have rain up along the northern california coastline and some snow in the mountains up to our north. right here it is very quiet, but we do have a flood warning going for parts of sonoma, california. and that's because they're still seeing some minor flooding on those small streams. that's going until 10 p.m. tonight. look at the storm reports across the region. we had multiple storm reports with the downpours that we did have. there was some flooding, some wind damage, non thunderstorm wind damage that is. and as we take a look at the wider perspective, the snow in the sierra has quieted down. the rain here in the bay area. quiet for now but not for long as we go. hour by hour a couple of showers will begin to pop up around 10 p.m. tonight, and then tomorrow morning we have more showers coming in as we head into the afternoon as well. more widespread rain is on the way later on this weekend. i'll be back with that full timeline coming up. dan.

>> all right, sandhya, thanks very much. remember, you can follow along as the forecast evolves, as it always does with the abc seven bay area app. it gives you access to the same live doppler seven our weather team uses every day. we'll also send alerts to you with important updates to keep you up to speed. happening now a vigil is just getting underway for the openai whistleblower who died last month. it comes at a time of new uncertainty around the circumstances of his death. his parents have hired a private investigator to determine the cause of death for the 26 year old named suchir balaji. they don't believe their son would have died by suicide. the vigil is being held in milpitas. organizers say they're honoring balaji's bravery and raising awareness to corporate accountability in artificial intelligence. the oldest living survivor of the 1941 japanese attack on pearl harbor has died. warren upton of san jose was 105. he was also the last

remaining survivor of the uss utah. he passed away on wednesday at a hospital in los gatos after a bout with pneumonia. the utah, a battleship, was moored at port pearl harbor, of course, when japanese planes began bombing the hawaii naval base in the early hours of december 7th, 1941. the attack propelled the united states into world war two. coming up here, new developments on the supreme court's ruling on a potential tiktok ban. what president elect trump is now asking the high court to do. plus, the dispute between trump supporters that some say takes away american jobs and gives them to immigrants. our abc seven news insider phil matier weighs in when abc

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until after he takes office. he wants his administration to pursue a political resolution to the issue. the request comes as tiktok and the biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court. the company argues the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by january 19th. the biden administration says the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk. one aspect of the immigration debate is causing a very public rift among trump's supporters. it began after the president elect named a policy advisor who supports removing caps on h-1b visas for foreign skilled workers. maga supporter laura loomer tweeted, the h-1b program takes away jobs from american stem students. elon musk then came out in support of the visa program. abc seven news insider phil matier says this is a tricky balancing act for trump. >> he's not only in favor of these high tech visas, he's also talking about expanding them to where if someone completes from

outside the country, comes to america and completes a four year college program, they should automatically get a green card. that's bringing a competitive workforce into america that will be competing with native born americans for jobs. >> silicon valley companies rely on h-1b workers. google and meta each were approved for 5000 h-1b workers just this year. give you an idea of the need coming up. the mega millions jackpot is now more than $1 billion. we're going to show you the one east bay store considered especially lucky, where billionaire hopefuls lined up to buy tickets. and we have a quick programing note for you. the niners last home game of the season is right here on abc seven. it's a rematch of last year's nfc championship game at levi's. the lions and the 40 niners play on monday night football. coverage starts at 5:00 this coming monday, followed by after the game. tune in

cavill has resigned as team president. he held the position for the past eight years and was instrumental in the team's future move to las vegas. in a statement, cavill says he will stay in california to explore new opportunities. sandy dean, who has worked with owner john fisher for nearly 20 years, will serve as a's interim president. well, could you be the next lucky winner of the mega millions jackpot? it is now valued. are you ready for this? at more than $1.2 billion? abc seven news reporter suzanne fawn talked with some people, holding a ticket in one hand and having their fingers crossed on the other, hoping they'll win. >> this is the right number. >> big hopes and big dreams are bringing people to the box in san leandro. >> are you feeling lucky? >> i'm feeling lucky. you know, it only takes $2. >> i'm hoping to hit the big one, baby. >> and retired lines are long this friday afternoon. everyone hoping for a shot at a massive

mega millions jackpot. >> i think 1.22 billion. >> turned out of quick picks. mega. that's the winner right here, my man. >> no one won the grand prize in the christmas eve drawing. so now the estimated jackpot is $1.22 billion, one of the largest in the game's history. >> to win this one, gene wise couldn't wait to grab her mega millions tickets. >> she's no stranger to winning the lottery. she won $50 once, $100 another time, and $500 on a scratcher. but winning big in mega millions. >> i wouldn't know what to do with it, but it would be exciting to have. >> armando rosas has big plans. >> if he wins, i will pay all my mortgages. >> back in march, someone here won $100,000 because of a scratchers ticket. and just last month, someone won $700,000 because of mega millions. >> separate tickets, please. hey, how you doing, man? >> vicky singh has worked at the big box store for the past three

years. >> so yeah, that's a very popular store in bay area. we have regular customers. they come every single day to play. >> if there's a winner in friday night's draw, it will be the fifth largest jackpot in the game's history. it's the ninth largest u.s. jackpot in lottery history. some say a big win could make the world of difference. >> a lot of people want a happy new year, and this should do it. >> in san leandro, suzanne phan abc seven news. >> boy, it sure would be a happy new year with $1 billion. the drawing is at 8:00 tonight we'll post the winning numbers on our abc7 news app. download the app now and you'll get an alert sent right to your phone that you're a billionaire. good luck to you if you did buy a ticket. all right, let's get another look at the weather. taking a look live outside. meteorologist sandhya patel is back. sandhya. >> yeah, this is our sort of a lull in our action right now. let me show you a live picture of a gorgeous view from our mount tam cam. look at that. i mean, now that's what i call a beauty. a sunset is just stunning with all those high clouds. we are looking at live doppler seven with a lot of

cloud cover, but the rain is sort of to our north and taking a break from the bay area just briefly. all right, we do have another storm that is developing out over the pacific. it is certainly pushing all of the moisture and the energy into the pacific northwest and northern california, where they are seeing a rain snow mix. we will start up back up with the wet weather this weekend, and as a matter of fact, a high wind watch will be going up for the sierra. this is for tahoe. 1 a.m. to 8 p.m. sunday. southwesterly winds gusting to 65. ridge gusts to 150. that's damaging winds and travel may be difficult, so keep that in mind. rainfall from this last storm that came through last 24 hours over an inch in santa rosa, close to two inches. ben lowman, 6000/900 in san francisco. look at oakland 8/10 hayward over 9/10 of an inch san jose, livermore about a third and concord only picking up two hundredths of an inch of rain. temperatures right now 50s and 60s. a live view from okay. the clouds are stacked up. if you are going to fly out, it is

fiesta friday. travel forecast time 20% chance of a few showers tomorrow. mostly cloudy, 62 degrees going to cabo san lucas. sun shining 74. that sounds so good. mexico city 76 and mainly sunny san jose camera a lovely view through sunday morning. large breakers at the coast tomorrow. scattered showers and for your sunday it's going to be a soggy start with brief downpours, but it's not going to last all day. it's a level one. we're going to keep it at a one for today, primarily because of the isolated showers and the rough surf. but right on through sunday, it's a one. spotty showers through saturday, widespread rain, gusty winds sunday, and dangerous and rough surf is expected, so the winds on sunday will be ramping up in the morning, gusting close to 40 miles an hour, especially at the coastline as we go hour by hour tonight. if you do have plans. some spotty showers showing up 1030 this evening. tomorrow morning. very spotty. it's not a washout for the weekend, that's for sure. and then sunday. here's the most organized rain. 6:00 in the morning in the north bay and spreading at 8 a.m. you

will see some very wet roadways possible ponding on the roadways, so be careful. 11 a.m. scattered rainfall across the region and by 3 p.m. it's gone. on sunday, rainfall estimates across the region will range anywhere from just over an inch in the wetter locations of the north bay to a few hundredths in the south bay, places like san jose. your morning temperatures will look like this 40s 50s a lot of cloud cover, wet weather to the north, and then for the afternoon hours you'll see highs in the 50s and 60s. mostly cloudy with isolated showers. the 40 niners. last game playing the lions at kickoff. levi's stadium monday monday night right here on abc seven news. by the way it's going to be 53 degrees, clear and crisp. the sun goes down at 459. make sure you pack the layers because it gets chilly. mid 40s at fourth quarter. mainly clear conditions. the accuweather seven day forecast. it's a one for spotty showers tomorrow. sunday is a rainy start to the day with a level one and then

monday we'll go with some fog giving way to sun dry for new year's eve. dry for the start of the new year, and we'll keep that pattern going through most of the workweek. but i think by friday it starts to cloud up. and dan, there may be a few showers in the north bay, but right now models haven't come into complete agreement, so we'll keep it off for the time being. >> fighting as always. >> yes, but the important thing is new year's eve and new year's day are dry for all those party goers. >> that's true. thank you, sandy, very much. well, some sad news to pass along from the oakland zoo today. a beloved african elephant named donna passed away at the elephant sanctuary in tennessee. donna was born in 1980, in zimbabwe and arrived at the oakland zoo in 1990. two. of her companion elephants died in 2019 and 2023, respectively, and she moved to tennessee to be with three other elephants that were her age. that was about a year ago, a little over that she moved. donna loved coconut water and often carried around a tire that she brought with her from oakland. she will certainly

i'm reggie aqui. >> i'm lyanne melendez. >> i'm luz pena.

>> i'm tara campbell. >> i'm j.r. >> stone at abc seven news. >> we deliver local stories with real answers to help make our city better. >> a quick note about our new year's eve schedule programing here on abc seven for you. that should be terrific. at eight, it's dick clark's new year's rockin eve with ryan seacrest. then join us for a special edition of abc seven news at 10 p.m. i'll see you for that. then at 1030, we rejoin ryan seacrest to get to midnight. all right. here on abc seven tuesday, the 31st new year's eve. all right. just days away from the annual rose parade in pasadena. and thousands of volunteers are putting the final touches on more than a dozen floats. they're arranging flowers and dry materials to create those dazzling displays of color and pageantry. >> hundreds of varieties of florals and dry materials everything from seeds and beans, you know, lentils to exotic, gorgeous florals and also christmas trees, right? the holiday is over, so they use the

christmas trees as a base for the floats. >> this is the 136th tournament of roses parade includes just three types of entries floats, marching bands, and equestrian units. tennis legend billie jean king will serve as grand marshal, and this year's theme best day ever. how millennial is that? should be fun. all right, that is this edition of abc seven news here at five for sandhya patel. all of us, we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. world news tonight with david muir is next. see you back here again at six. bye for now. hey! watch it! it's from gillettelabs! this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face. game changa! while the flexdisc contours to it, so the five blades can virtually get every hair in one stroke, for the ultimate gillette shaving experience. the best a man can get is gillettelabs. what's up, you seem kinda sluggish today. things aren't really movin'. you could use some metamucil. metamucil's psyllium fibre helps keep your digestive system moving. so you can feel lighter and more energetic.

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ask your doctor about skyrizi, the #1 prescribed biologic in crohn's disease. americans bracing for a new wave of storms and the impact on the travel rush. the tsa considering security changes. late today, news that greg gumbel has passed away. first the winter weather. taking aim at more than 50