brent is on timeout. want to check in with rob with a look at the forecast. good morning. >> good morning. a couple of things that could slow down the drive. you are looking at one. you have patchy thick fog setting up this morning, but temperatures you are not going to need a winder coat. muggy conditions and 50s and 60s for highs. as you zoom in, rain to the north of the golden gate bridge and we will let you know how long it will stick around. checking what it already a tough morning commute. >> videos earlier and if you would like to use it, let me know. we have the deadly accident and the sigalert with the situation that changed over of the last 15 minutes. our photographer said they are loaded up where they were loading up one of the cars involved in the deadly accident approaching the 238 interchange. one lane was open and now two

lanes open. the coroner arrive and filed a report and left the scene. they have to clear the remaining cars from the roadway and our equipment. the photographer has been cleared. we should see the final two lanes of southbound 880 at washington reopening over the next 15 minutes. we are following this closely because it's a major commute spot starting to show the increase in volume. laura? >> busy morning. we will check back in a bit. 5:01 and new this morning, the deadline to get your input in on the city of oakland's plan to keep the a's in the east bay. the planning commission is taking feedback on what should be included in an environmental impact report for the project. the 39,000 seat ballpark will be built on victory square. it's along the lake merit channel and 880 near jack london square. public comments should be sent to peterson bullman in the

economic development agency. so far, money, traffic, architecture, terrorism and jobs have been the hot topics at the meeting. san jose unified district is considering drastic changes to make sure all states meet academic standards. a school board will viet a little school act and reinstate summer school and add back five days of class taken away through furloughs this year. all that would require slashing the district's education system by $3.5 million. this morning, a toddler is recovering in a bay area hospital after nearly drowning in a fountain in a hotel lobby. a mother frantically called 911 from the hyatt regency and upon

arrival, they found the 1 1/2-year-old hidden in a wall of water. the boy may have been trying to get close to a holiday display in which snow appears to fall into the lobby. >> it's really a graphic scene. when we got here, we were checking in and we could tell it was a small child and he was being wheeled away by paramedics. we didn't know what happened. >> the statement states the safety and security of guests is a top priority. the hotel is working with police to investigate the accident. the families of homicide victims feel alone despite having the support of family and friends. an east bay mother put together a support group for the families of homicide vehicles and they're holding a fund-raiser in oakland and that's where christie smith joins us live. >> good morning to you. this is a group that does

important work. if tragedy strikes, they know what to do and how to help families here in oakland. it's the khadafi foundation for nonviolence. they have support groups for survivors and provide things like grief counseling and even help with memorial planning and financial assistance. they are often among the first responders out to homicides and the foundation was started with marilyn washington harris as a tribute to her son who had graduateed from high school when he was killed in august of 2000 in her search for justice. the breakfast costs $25 to attend and to help raise money for the group's work. all proceeds will go to the khadafi foundation. it's being held at the home of chicken and waffles here at jack

london square. 444 embarcadero and starts at 7:30 this morning and runs to 9:30. they will have student athletes helping out as servers. they are from uc berkeley. live in oakland, christie smig today in the bay. >> thanks so much, christie. >>. >> we have information about a rash of robberies hitting places in berkeley where people love to go out for fun. the latest incident happened not far from the bart station at hurst and martin luther king. earlier incidents happened around the gourmet ghetto. robbers are using weapons and taking valuables from people on foot. the councilwoman is hosting so people can get informed. >> we have e-mail trees buzzing back and forth. i expect tomorrow people will have a lot of questions, but they want to know what the strategy is and want to be

participants and be there with the police to help. >> the meeting will take place at the lutheran church in the 17 human helped block of university avenue at 7:00 tonight. >> san jose police are putting the brakes on a policy expected to stop impounding cars when unlicensed drivers are pulled over for minor traffic violations. instead police are considering letting a licensed driver pick up the car on the spot, saving thousands of dollars in impound fees. the ban will last about a month. mountain lions are on the move. the number of sightings has more than doubled since last year. 35 mountain lion sightings have been reported kroogsz the coufr county. that's up from 14 last year. they were reported in wood side, emerald hills and areas that

overlap large open spaces. the house of representatives is giving the green act to the dream act, but faces a tough fight in the senate. they offer a path to legal citizens for hundreds of thousands of imgrants who came to the country before turning 16. that gives conditional green cards to undocumented immigrants if they graduate from high school, are enrolled in college or enlist in the military. >> for would be a waste if they graduateed from high school and are not able to pursue higher education because of their status. >> to reward people who broke the law is nonsense. it's immoral and wrong. >> in order for the bill to pass, it will need a filibuster-proof majority of at least 60 votes. 800,000 people would benefit from the law. >> prison officials scrambled on a search for the lethal drug

needed to carry out the first execution in five years. the government papers obtained by the aclu show they traded lethal injection drugs with arizona and tried to get them from well-stocked texas, but were snubbed. prison officials looked as far away as pakistan and london for the drug. the search failed when the planned execution was called off. we want to check the commute with mike. >> good morning. it's 5:08 and a sig ark letter has been canceled following the deadly accident as you approach washington avenue. all the activity cleared and a few cruisers on the scene on the southbound side, but lanes have cleared in time for the bulk of the morning commute, but over the last half hour as this sigalert was being cleared, we had a first disabled vehicle at a street. now i get updates from an accident report that sounds like

someone did hit the car on the side of the road. this is the second accident between oakland and the san mateo bridge. we have slick roads and this may play a factor in the morning commute as well. >> we're want to check in with rob to talk about that i hit a pocket when i came in with rain coming down. >> rain and patchy fog can slow you down. temperatures are downright balmy. 58 degrees in hayward and there is the fog i'm talking about. valleys into the delta and visibilities in a few spots down to about a quarter mile. in terms of widespread rain, berkeley to richmond up and down the north bay. you are seeing the rain and scattered showers rolling through parts of the south bay. keep the umbrella on stand by. not a chilly day, but it looks like today into tomorrow, another opportunity for showers and then we clear out for the weekend with patchy morning fog

saturday into sunday. laura? >> thanks, rob. new this morning, china's foreign policy official met with kim jung ilabout diffusing tensions on the korean peninsula. this was the first time the leader met with the china official after north korea shelled an island last month. the chinese foreign mib ministry said they reached a consensus and did not elaborate on what was said. china is calling on six country emergency talks including the u.s., japan, and russia. so far the u.s. is refusing to participate in the talks. this morning the american joint chairman admiral is in japan where he said that china must get serious about stopping the nuclear program. 5:10 and golden dreams for a golden bear. a cal swim coach is making historic waves. >> here in menlo park, how a

lone scientist armed with a cell phone picture helped end the bp oil spill. >> you heard of the atm skimming device. we have and will show it to you. we will tell you what to look out for. >> a live look at the south bay with a balmy start to the day. a look at the forecast and where and when you need to keep the umbrella handy. ! hi! welcome to progressive.com. come on in, and i'll give you a free quote. quote and compare in about 8 minutes. now, that's progressive. call or click today.

and succulent lobster dinner at sizzler for just $15.99. sizzler. thinking fresh. everyday.

we are seeing low cloud settling in to many parts of the bay area and when the clearing may happen. another round of hearings in houston looking into when caused the bp oil spill. it's not expected until next spring, but recently the commission outlined what went on behind the scenes as the bp and government try to stop million was gallons of oil from gushing

into the gulf. out of that came a hero. a man credited with saving the day turns out he is right here from the bay area. bob redell joins us from outside the geological survey in menlo park. >> good morning. who would have thought that the oil spill in the gulf would hinge on a cell phone picture and a scientist worked in an office in the building behind me on the usgs campus. a research hydrologist worked on the low pressure readings that indicated there might be a leak. they thought about removing the cap, but unfortunately he no access to the data. a colleague e-mailed him a cell phone picture of the monitor, displaying the readings and show that e-mail photo cannot be

shown without permission. the government needed an answer asap and he created a computer model based on the information from the cell phone picture. he double and triple checked the calculations and presented his results in a power point presentation and the rest of the team convincing them that they were fine to keep the cap on, putting an end to the 86-day long oil spill. >> being able to contribute to the effort of a national scope without the press attention was already be satisfying. the doctor said he felt a lot of pressure in the all nighter at that because the coffee maker was locked away and had no coins to get kedda.

he had an adrenaline rush to keep him going. >> that are is an amazing story. thank you, bob. >> when it comes to technology, seem like big brother is always watching. big brother may no longer be the case. >> for microsoft, they will include a do not track option. when you visit a website online, it can put cookies on your browser and that tracks where you went. say you went for a certain type of medication that, information could be shared with advertisers. the new feature will block the cookies like a do not call list that blocks telemarketers. it lets you make a list of companies thaw don't want to track you. ross, rachel, chandler, and joey fighting terrorism these

days. that's what one of the cables released by wikileaks said. it says one of the reruns of the shows or all the reruns run unsensored in saudi arabia for a reason. diplomats think american tv shows do more to keep young muslims from becoming jihadists than any other anti-terrorism effort just because the shows give them a view of america they haven't seen before. if you are hooked on twitter, you are most likely a young adult city dweller. a research study says some of the tidbits include that 65% of the registered users live outside of the u.s. 8% of online americans tweet. 72% of tweeters post personal life updates. 62% share tweets about work and

hobbies. 8% i think is fairly surprising. that's a big number as far as twitter goes. it had been sort of a niche thing. >> interesting. that's the category that you and i fall into, i suppose. >> a cal swim coach is making waves by being the first woman to head up the women's swim team. it has been less than 24 hours and she is counting down to the 2012 london games. a swimming coach at the university of california was an assistant coach at the beijing games and now she will head up the women's team at the next olympics. she will be the first woman to serf in a head coaching role for the olympic swim team. >> being named olympic coach is a huge honor. maybe some day it won't be as notewort noteworthy. >> the 2012 games is 595 daysa,

way. we are your official olympic station. nbc bay area for stories leading up to the 1220 games. the giants ownership could come a day earlier than expected. they are trying to get the giants to open the 2011 season. they want the game to be held at at&t park on thursday, march 31st instead of friday april 1st. the fate of the plan is in the hands of the player's union. the teams play one game in san francisco and then to l.a. for a four-game set. already anxious to see them. they are contenders as well. 5:20 and we want to check on a really serious accident this morning. >> that was in san leandro around washington. just before you get to 238, the sigalert of someone who hit the sand barrel and got out of their car and another car came along and killed the person. the investigation and the chp

incident report was going on. all lanes have clear and since that time we have seen traffic restored heading past 238 out of san leandro into hayward where a report turned into an accident. minor injuries at most as a result, but it is there as most folks start to move over towards the san mateo bridge itself. the construction zone looking all right and the flow is all right towards the peninsula, but it disappears. a fog advisory for the bay bridge. especially low in the north bay where there is drizzle as well. rob has the forecast in a moment. >> thank you very much, mike. we are used to santa packing toys, but in one county packing heat. the controversy is just ahead. [ male announcer ] how do you say...

welcome to the neighborhood. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you say... can you believe it's been 20 years since college? ♪ [ male announcer ] nothing says "you're special" like boursin, a creamy, crumbly blend of real cheese and savory herbs, boursin makes any moment more memorable. even if you're saying... my mother has the kids tonight. ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you say boursin?

>> welcome back. a view of san jose. look at the temperature. 58 to start off the morning and patches of fog around the bay area. you are finding it right here in san francisco. 55 degrees and northeast wind at 3. rain off to the west which we will show you in a moment. in oakland 57 and patchy fog around 880 as well.

you head down towards hayward. patchy fog and scattered shower in a few spots north of the golden gate this morning. highs 50s to low 60s and tomorrow one more opportunity for showers and we will start to dry out for the weekend ahead. let's take you into san francisco. we have fog and light rain. we had one pass to the north and laura was in that cell across to the north of morgan hill. lots of clouds over the bay area today, but despite the fact that we have mid- to upper 50s, not going to warm up a lot. aimed in over the bay area over the day. on and off showers through the

afternoon and we will see one more system into friday. for the weekend, the storm track will lift off to the north and start to dry out. with the recent rain could have patchy thick fog as we go through the weekend. today 62 in san jose and 50s across the north bay with mostly cloudy skies and hit and miss showers at times as we go through the morning and midday hours. for friday, one more system from there. the weekend looks dry. with the fog sticking around for the north and east bay valleys. >> 5:26 and a central valley christmas tree farm people coming from miles around. it's the cardboard kriss kringle packing heat. the cut out with a gun on his belt is causing the commotion in tracy's tree farm in turlock. >> i tried to get the image out

of my head and could not. santa is made for love, not carrying weapons. >> it's crazy to tell you the truth. we are trying to sell trees. >> it wasn't long before the santa cut out was taken down all together. the owner feels like he didn't do anything wrong. 5:27 and more zoom and less doom and gloom. the electric car charging stations that could be popping up near you. are myay c may be charged with treason. we will explain coming up.

>> a bay area billionaire is giving big bucks to charity. we will tell you who and how much. today in the bay. good morning. sbrept off this morning. we want to get started with a quick look at the forecast. good morning. a decent start in terms of the temperatures, but you have patchy fog and showers. let's take you hour by hour. mid- to upper 50s and mild temperatures for lunchtime. 4:00 and still showers out there. other thing is the fog. we will let you know how long you will need the umbrella as we head into the weekend. >> thanks so much. a plan is in the works for more

electric car charging stations popping up over san francisco amount of team will announce the plan today including park pond, the eighth parking in gm. the plan is to build convenient charminging stations for electric vehicle drivers in the bay area. the charging stations will be built at hotels and shopping malls. mark zuckerberg is adding his name to a list of big time philanthropist promising to give away at least half of the fortunes to the giving pledge. 57 billionaires have been joining the pledge and it doesn't collect money or tell them how to dish it out. it just gives a commitment to charities. the facebook cofounder also joined in the pledge. known for being controversial, the city is debating whether to honor an alleged wikileaks mole. breadly man suggest in military

jail, suspected of leaking thousands of documents to the website. there some in berkeley who believe man suggest a hero. the city justice commissioner drafted a resolution to honor the 23-year-old oak hemia native. the counsel is expected to vote tuesday on whether to make the honor official. it seems striange to say, but that's why christie smith outside chicken and waffles. >> it's starting to smell good in here. we moved inside and this is really unique. probably one of the groups that you hope that you don't have to hear from. in the event that tragedy does strike, they are really among the first to come on out and help you out and help pull things together. here with me is the founder, marilyn washington harris. good morning. this started with you and you

had a personal tragedy. your son was killed. >> correct. my son was killed back in 2000. it kind of started from there. we didn't know exactly what to do. we evolved over the last 10 years and going-over the crisis and responders are the second ones on the scene after the police to help a family. >> your first responders. what sorts of thing do people need. they had a tragedy within their family. what sorts of things do you do? >> the first thing is the presence of caring. when we respond, we go at clinics and water and look around and see what may be needed. we may bring them food and have chicken and waffles to send them meals over later, but those are the immediate things they need right then from and from there we move on to helping them seek

assistance if available to bury their loved one. also checking out insurance policies to see what they can obtain and what they wouldn't be able to obtain. >> thank you very much. we will be having a fund raiser and a breakfast at home of chicken and waffles. it starts at 7:30 this morning. we are at 444 embarcadero west right near jack london square. $25 a person. all proceeds go to the khadafi foundation. a good cause. it's this morning and starts at 7:30 and runs through 9:30. that's the latest reporting live in oakland, today in the bay. >> sounds like they help out a lot. this morning police in beverly hills say an ex-con acted alone in gunning down a hollywood publicist in a robbery gone wrong. police say ballistic tests linked the gun to the man who killed himself after a standoff with police.

investigators say the gun he used in the suicide is the same gun used to kill ronni chasen as she was driving home from a movie premier. he tried to rob her as she waited to make a left turn. we now know what's behind the medical condition that landed a queen in the hospital. aretha franklin's family told "people" magazine the singer is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. franklin said she was taking six months off under doctor's orders and what she called a successful surgical procedure. it's among the deadliest forms of the disease, but had been treated successfully with surgery. california company celebrating space travel. >> they are calling it mind blowingly awesome. the launch of the rocket on tuesday or wednesday that sent a capsule into orbit and brought

it safely to earth. now why you are seeing champagne i don't know, but it's the first time a company anywhere accomplished such a feat. it never brought them back. it's funded by one of several companies based in california. looking to privatize. the bbc reports a chinese company block a website in mainland china. why is not clear, but it could be because of a nobel prize. china blocked a number of sites in the past and you will recall the problems with google earlier this year. we have found out from of all things, wikileaks, that the chinese government started to block many of the websites like google because the chinese government officials found their own names on google and were embarrassed by what they saw.

>> interesting. >> wikileaks again. more businesses are leading the good times roll. the challenger, 68% of businesses plan to hold holiday parties, up 62% from 2009. caterers say companies are booking more and spending more on the parties. even so they say there is not the over the top emphasis on spending like in years gone by. we have an accident in the east bay called aing a s letter expected to last for 30 minutes or more. even though this is non-commute on the eastbound 80, the two left lanes are blocked. originally five cars on the side of the road and now 10 cars

reported on the side of the road with flat tires and that's a minor hit-and-run for the area. a lot of activity and slowing off of the commute through richmond. approaching the bay bridge and slow out of the tunnel with highway 13. that's unusual for this time of morning. early for that to start and slowing across the bay bridge and highway 1 through pacifica. 280 is slowing and probably fog-related as well. >> you feel it as well as it's balmy in the area. check in with rob for a look at the forecast. >> temperatures we are seeing a warm start. 58 degrees in san jose and hayward. as mike pointed out, the fog is thick. once visibility dropped to a half mile or les, that gets you to slam on the brakes. the same story around highway 4 as you go around antioch. rain across berkeley and vallejo

up towards napa. we are seeing pockets of rain not so much around san jose, but hit and miss sprinkles at times. light showers off to the north early this morning. you can see the clouds despite the fact that we start off warm. that will block out the sun, keeping the temperatures close to where they start the day. upper 50s to low 60s with scattered showers and shors should aim further to the north come tomorrow. mainly off for areas to the north. we will probably have patchy fog to deal with through the weekend. >> good to know. thank you very much. 5:39 and nothing like the joy of seeing a child open properties in the holidays. retailers are making sure the holidays are special for i cans with special needs. the sights and sounds can be overwhelming for kids with developmental problems. toys with a lot of lights and sounds can be overwhelming.

experts recommend play dough, mr. potato head to help kids with fine motor skills. >> other than the small pieces, get bigger pieces and pegs so the child can manipulate the pieces easier. >> get a game where there is no winner or loser, but an opportunity to have fun. >> a shaky ship is taking passengers on a ride that isn't in any brochure. the rescue in the antarctic just ahead. jim morrisson back from the grave? the pardon ahead. join the jaguar platinum celebration !

come celebrate exciting cars that are stunning to look at, exhilarating to drive and worry free to own.

celebrate this holiday season with the gift of platinum. jaguar platinum coverage: five years or 50,000 miles of complimentary scheduled maintenance, and no cost replacement of wear and tear items. visit your bay area jaguar dealer during the platinum celebration for a $599 lease offer on the 2011 xf.

welcome back, everyone. a live look outside from the south bay. it is cooler there, but other parts of the bay area seeing patches of fog. be careful if you are hitting the roads. the ntsb has a reminder before you hit the road with your kid this is holiday season. it wants you to buckle up the kids. live to show us the best way to keep the kids safe. good morning, tracy. >> i know you want to check this out because we want to know how we keep our kids safe. the ntsb is taking a look and when you are driving, are they designed correctly and how can we increase their use? these are the things that people from nonprofit organizations, the government scholars and industry groups will look at

today. in california, the law is if your child is under 5 years old or 60 pound or less, they must be restrained and they must be in the rear seat. we are drawing attention to the meeting. they are talking about car seats and restraints like boosters aboard planes. the faa recommends it, but don't require it. for 30 years, the ntsb suggested that this should be required. parents can't hold on to their kid when is you have the 2 year ols and under lap children. in the case of turbulence or an accident. in 1999 american flight to dallas skidded off the runway and 11 adults died. the 2-year-old in the child restraint survived the accident. what to do? the ntsb said buy a ticket for your child and get them a seat. it's more expensive, but safer. use a car seat or a booster and check it during the flight. when there is turbulence in

landing and take off to make sure your child is safe. laura? >> thank you very much. so important to note. you can ride with me when i bring the triplets. 5:44 and waves are battering a shaky cruise ship carrying 160 passengers and crew through freezing antarctic waters. we want to show you pictures. it's running without one of the massive engines. look at it. it hit rough waters in the region. it's being escorted to argentiae by the navy. the cruise vessel has been out for nine days. the silver lining in the very cloudy trip is that everyone on board the ship is expected to be okay. american-based cruise line is located in bend, oregon. they med a lot of drama there.

senior australian politicians are insisting the sports minster is not a spy for the u.s. wikileaks cables revealed it was a protected source for the united states. the memos said he met with the diplomats repeatedly during attempts to overthrow the country's former leader. he reportedly kept u.s. officials up to date on the inner workings of australia's government and the ruling labor party. it appears that the controversy is escalating into a cyber war. hackers loyal to the founder are reportedly attacking the website's visa and mastercard as well as pay pal and a swiss bank. the four organizations all stopped processing after the united states criticized the website's release. the company websites were inaccessible to online customers for parts of the yesterday. while you were busy shopping for the present, criminals are searching for a new victim.

shoppers should take special care to protect themselves from identity theft. they will be at a free seminar today. >> that's right. it's put on by the company life lock. she brought things along. these are the skimmers everyone is talking b. show these to me. you were mentioning that the bad guys can put that in his apron and skim away. >> we're are seeing increased identity theft. we have that is blue tooth that can be automatic. i will take a credit. you pay for your meal and it's five minutes before, you are not thinking anything of it. when i'm on the way to the register, all i have to do is a swipe. this gets the magnetic information off of your card. now i upload the information to my computer and put it on any

form of white plastic. an old key card or gift card. >> right back on the card. >> let's see you see charges on your credit card or debit card. you may have been a victim of a skimming scam. >> this could have been on an atm. they put over the top of the atms and i don't know that that happened. >> that are i put it on the top of atms and gas station pumps. you are getting the service, but they have your magnetic stripe information and your credit card number. >> you are going to talk to law enforcement about this. you have a conference not for the average person, but sheriff's deputies and investigators. >> right. the sheriff's office, life lock, and the fbi are hosting a one-day identity theft summit. techniques and identity theft is

not new, but it's the techniques and technology. identity thieves are so savvy. getting up to date with what's happening. it's great for law enforcement. >> if they say we need to be there, is there a website? >> fbi lida.org. >> always something they can learn about identity theft. >> i guess i have to pay with cash. 5:49 and another round of hearings looking into what caused the oil spill that is not expected until next spring. recently a study from the presidential commission outlined what went on behind the scenes as bp and the government tried to stop million was gallons of oil from gushing into the gulf. out of that came a hero. a man credited with saving the day and he's from the bay area.

bob redell joins us from outside the u.s. geological survey with more. good morning, bob. >> reporter: good morning, laura. what would have thought the turning point in the bp oil spill would hinge on a cell phone picture and a lone scientist who works in an office in this building behind me in the usgs campus in menlo park. he served on the science team trying to stop the spill. in mid-july there appeared to be a problem with a cap placed on the blown out well. low pressure indicated there might be a leak. the government was thinking about removing the cap and they wanted the doctor's opinion first. unfortunately he had no access to the data in the computers in houston. a colleague e-mailed him a cell phone picture of the monitor displaying the readings. he can't show it without

permission from the oil company. this was 6:00 at night and the government needed an answer asap. he created a model based on the cell phone picture. he double and triple checked his calculations and the next morning he presented the results in a power point presentation to the energy secretary and the rest of the team convincing them the pressure readings were fine to keep the cap on. especially essentially putting an end to the oil spill. >> being able to contribute to an effort of national scope without the press tension was already very satisfying. >> interesting tidbit. he deals with water which is measured in the metric system. oil pressure, oil flow is measured with different units. he had a convert from those units to the metrics and using

the metric system. all along he had in the back of his mind an incident that happened 10 years ago. you may recall a mars explorer crashed because one team was operating in the english system and the other in the metric system. hence the reason why that mars rover crashed. he didn't want something similar happening here. one reason why he stayed up doubling and triple checking to make sure he had it right. obviously he d. live here in menlo park. >> 5:52 and students in louisiana likely won't be learning about the creationism debate in public schools. they rejected calls to include references over evolution and religious concepts like creationism or intelligent design in biology books. the school board is expected to prove the text books.

critics say they don't explain many scientific challenges to evolution and the books are not scientifically up to date. >> american sign language enrollment is up in colleges across the country. it's the fourth most popular language according to a new report. sign language professors say the rise could reflect a growing acceptance of sign language to meet foreign language requirements as well as usefulness as a job credential. >> hitting the gym for weight training may help breast cancer patients with a painful side effect. many suffer from a debilitating condition that causes swelling of the limbs. they progressed and slashed the risk by 35%. that was cut by as much as 70% in women who had five or more lymph nodes removed in surgery.

another predictor of health is your grades in high school. researchers followed 10,000 high school seniors and found the higher a person's class rank was, the lower the probability the person had a decline in health as they neared retirement. they are working to figure out why performance affects health outcomes. >> good morning. we will take you to the roadways where we have a sigalert. let me show where you that is. we see slowing eastbound, but also westbound with a distraction. at one time 10 cars on the side of the road. there may be less now, but 10 cars with flat tires and it was because of one other tire in the roadway. sounds like they hit the car.

our photographer is seeing if there is anything else to report, but that is opposite the commute so it will be a surprise for the folks. heading to the bay bridge, a 19-minute drive off of the bridge towards the berkeley curve. no metering lights, but they look as the approach and you can barely see the overcrossing. fog here for the bay bridge for the chp as well. >> the accident up there by richmond too. we have fog there and rain flying across the richmond area towards berkeley and oakland. misty skies and light rain around concord and walnut creek. the north bay seeing the rain and a good cell on napa. light to moderate rain and look at the south bay with scattered showers over the santa cruz mountains over redwood city and foster. we have clouds and showers at times and the temperatures

despite the fact that we start off in the upper 50s, going to see a mild afternoon. highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. tomorrow most of the showers head off towards the north as we transition to a dry, but foggy morning forecast moving into the weekend. >> this is something fun for tonight. an nbc community joining the likes of rudolph the red nosed reindeer. they are telling their stories in clay. >> what are did you say we were? >> animated. >> i don't understand what he's saying. >> i never understand any of you. >> you don't see it, i notice it this morning. >> how cool is that? the cast is looking for the true means of christmas. they recorded the line back in september. it was a pain staking task. they were able to record the equivalent of only about 50 seconds of footage per day for an episode that runs 22 minutes. >> i'm excited to see how it's putting to and we had to sing a lot in the episode.

>> everybody sings pretty well with the exception of joel. >> i don't remember the rest. >> you can see the episode at 8:00 p.m. here on nbc bay area. >> we should have a claymation newscast. today in the bay continues at 6:00. doctors say they are seeing more cases of what mummyhel mummy thumbs. what it is and how doctors treat it. [ female announcer ] safeway talks hostess gifts. you know what i want for the holidays? do tell. true love. true love is a myth. [ gasps ] you're a myth! excuse me? [ female announcer ] it's the thought that counts. and the gift. safeway. ingredients for life.

when you don't have to cook, you have time for other things. yeah, like what? i don't know. fishing. fishing?! i, uh, i said wishing. [ female announcer ] when we do the cooking, you do the enjoying. safeway. ingredients for life. an unlikely fund-raiser to help victims of violence in the city of oakland. how you can help in a live report. >> a big warning about robberies in berkeley. see what's happening tonight, coming up. >>