no problems for 17 getting into the south bay. the east bay update for the location, southbound 680 at gary road, the new location for the accident located at main street. it should be in the center divide. no major injury and it is car westbound on 580 through livermore, that cleared as well. just a 14-minute drive and a lighter volume of traffic and still we will have 580 with that slowing. back to you. >> okay. thank you, mike. new this morning, a terror plot discovered in the united kingdom. british police arrested 12 men in raids in three cities. the suspects are being questioned and not saying what the alleged plot was or the target. however police say the men had to be arrested to ensure public safety. the arrest followed a large scale planned operation using officers from several cities. we will update the story as more information comes into the newsroom. a search is under way for a

tourist who may have crashed into the russian river. the sonoma county sheriff's office said the woman disappeared while driving to santa rosa saturday night. they left the rivers end restaurant and inn about 10:00 saturday night following a group of friends in a car. minutes later they arrived at the intersection of highway 1 and 116, but did not see them following. sheriffs investigators were searching and they were afraid they went off the road and down a 20-foot bank. the victims of the san bruno pipeline explosion could be asked to identify in washington. there will likely be hearing on the disaster. they had a packed downhaul meeting. homeowners were looking for an answer as they rebuild following the december 9th explosion. the investigation is still months from being completed.

pg&e promised they are monitoring the line that ruptured. >> the findings will be critical to pg&e and the city of san bruno, california, and likely the entire nation. we will ultimately have to determine what tools are injury and what inspections are necessary to ensure this never happens again. >> when the floor was open for questions, homeowners took aim at the irs. there were concerns about whether the money received from pg&e is taxable. the irs said there a lot of variables, but congresswoman jackie spear was not satisfied. she called on the irs commissioner to come personally to address the concerns. now pg&e is under scrutiny. it was revealed last week the utility was unaware the pipeline that ruptured had a weld on the sign. the federal regulations require the kind of wells to be inspected when they occur on pipelines in densely populated

areas. people in mexico cleaning up after a massive oil pipeline explosion there. cars, homes and trees were incinerated in the blast. at least 28 people were killed. many of them children. more than 100 homes were damage and 5,000 residents were affected. police in mexico think the blast followed by four additional explosions was caused by thieves trying to steal crude oil. >> per a man held in prison for 20 years for a crime he did not commit will be in court today. maurice caldwell will find out if he can walk free or be retried for a 1990 murder. they overturn his sentence after new evidence revealed who the real killer is. he's a man who left the bay area after caldwell was arrested. the man was arrested two years later for killing a cabdriver. if he is not retried for the murder, he could be released

today. christmas of course is next weekend. that means there is all kinds of holiday cheer in the mail. today in the bay's chris sanchez is live at the u.s. postal service processing center in san jose where it's going to be a very busy day. >> reporter: this is the busiest day of the year for the postal service and this processing center is no exception. we have gus ruiz here. i couldn't believe it when i heard you. 8 million pieces of mail just today. >> 800 million nationwide. normally we have 560 million. it goes to show you how busy today will be. >> no one is impressed we are here. they are busy as bees working like santa's elves. serious business getting this stuff in the mail on time. >> i'm sorry? >> it's serious business getting it there on time. >> very serious when you are only talking about a week left and people are scurrying to come

to the post office after spending the day packing and labeling it and checking their list and checking it twice and coming to the post office today. >> you think you will have a good line at most of the postal service locations or the post offices around town? >> that's correct. we are set up where we have been doing it for 235 years and we know what to expect. >> today is the deadline if you want to send out christmas cards or letters. tomorrow is the deadline if you are shipping a package. >> that's correct. you can ship express mail as late as the 22nd and we do deliver like santa claus on christmas day. >> we will try to get you more information about shipping and getting packages ready for the mail and have that for you in about a half hour. in san jose, today in the bay. >> thank you, chris. the cost of travel this holiday season is getting more and more expensive. a new survey shows the price of regular gas has risen 8 cents a

gallon in two weeks. san francisco has the highest recorded price per gallon in the country. it is $3.35 for a gallon of regular this morning. in san jose, the cost is 3.29. in oakland the cost is $3.28. the price of gas is expected to continue to rise through the new year. we are monitoring a situation in the transbay tube this morning. electrical problems forced bart to shut down power yesterday to one of two sets of tracks. bart ended up running one train through the tunnel at a time and that created a lot of delays. today in the bay's mike inouye is keeping anye on the issue. what's the latest? >> the trains are getting on to the tracks and so far 37 trains is about the normal volume nning on time. no delays reporteg through the tubeor but we are extratu sensitive. we reported late in the morning commute that there was a problem at the station.

friday through monday with a couple of big problems. on the roads, cleared up with a typical blitz on 580 and 24 near the interchange. typical for the morning, but the east bay is looking nice. highway 4 will see the slowing over 5:30 and monitoring an accident. a single car accident and 580 with no problems out of livermore. a transbay connector and a live look out there, westbound an easy drive and light volume here through the end of the year. spotty conditions and many folks are taking vacation days. these folks are going to work as well. they met with an easy commute so far. back to you. >> thank you very much, mike. a wild weekend of weather around the world and up and down california. take a look at the video from australia. snow this time of year doesn't seem strange to us, but down under it is very odd. that's because it is summer

there. temperatures chilly enough to create snow. this is what it looked like in the victoria's mountains where up to four inches fell. australia is experiencing lightning storms and torrential rain in the west. closer to home in southern california, heavy rains caused a lot of flooding and mudslides. this is what it looked like in the hollywood hills yesterday where barricades were put up to stop rocks and mud from damaging homes. rain is falling in some parts of los angeles county this morning. several inches have already fallen. the storm is expected to move on sometime tonight. in the tone of oceano south of pismo beach, people needed boats to get to their neighbors' homes. a duck pond overflowed. sandbag diagnosis little to keep the water out of homes, driving a lot of people out completely. as for the sierra, they're getting a sloft snow. a series of storms expected to

hit this week. as much as 15 feet of new snow will thereby by the end of the week. it's not great ski weather. the wind was so strong that ski resorts had to shut down many lifts at lower elevations. flash flooding and mudslides are hazards as well. chains are required on i 80 and highway 50. in the santa cruz mountains, downed trees caused trouble for drivers this weekend. one tree fell across highway 9 and landed on a video store. on highway 17, there was low visibility and a lot of brake lights. we go out with rob. >> numbers in the santa cruz mountains are impressive. totals from friday through the weekend. 10 inches of rain in spots and still coming down this morning. most of the bay area seeing about an inch or less except for san francisco and san mateo

towards oakland. two to three inches of rain and more continues to fly this morning. you can see here in the santa cruz mountains approaching san jose from the south. out to the east bay and not a lot happening as you head west to oakland. relatively dry where we see the most action over the last half hour. rolling on through into marin and sonoma counties. the cool air aloft will give us the thundershowers and way offshore, we have the pineapple express from hawaii. it's like having the specific ocean garden hose at time this is weekend. we will see more rain off and on with a few sunny breaks and a chance of a thundershower as well. one more round of heavy rain and a break for thursday afternoon into friday afternoon. marla? >> thank you very much, rob. time now is 5:10. coming up, how a couple bay area football teams fared in the attempt to become state

champions. 2010, the world's gone wild. what this year is going to be best remembered as. >> when you head out to the holiday parties, the calorie count will most likely be in the back of your mind. we have tips you want to remember when ordering your drinks. >> now a live look from the san jose cam. still dark of course. it is only 5:11. we'll check traffic and weather and the latest stories coming up. for itchy dry skin. try cortizone 10 intensive healing. the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal.

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we're talking huge. they dig it up, put it in the natural history museum and we get to name it. sethasauraus. really. your points from chase sapphire preferred are worth 25% more on travel? means better vacations. that's incredible. believe it...with chase sapphire preferred your points are worth 25% more on travel when booked through ultimate rewards. >> welcome back at 5:14 amount of live picture from the santa cruz mountains and the rain is coming down sideways. traffic is moving okay. still light out there. new information about an american woman killed in israel. we are learning the woman's name is actually christine logan. logan was 40 years ole. her friend reported her missing on saturday after the two of them were attacked in a forest 12 miles from jerusalem.

the attackers were arab. south korea launched fighter jets to deter north korean attacks in military drills. the south ran drills across the island that the north shelled earlier last month. four people died in the attack. you are looking at people who live on the island who took shelter during today's drills. north korea consider considers the waters around the island the territory. they threaten to retaliate for any new drills. experts say 2010 was a disaster literally. earthquake, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons and blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people. the earthquake in haiti last january killed 200,000 people alone. that makes 2010 the deadliest year in more than a generation. more people were killed by

natural disasters that were killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined. in washington people leading the charge to freeze salaries are asked to look in the mirror. congressional republicans increased their own office's payroll substantially. eric kantor boosted his office's payroll by 81% since coming to congress in 2001. congressional payroll costs climbed at a far faster pace than either the government or the private sectors. they would save $28 billion over the next five years. more than one third of the newly elected governors are paying for inaugural celebrations thanks to money from wealthy individuals and companies. states are dealing with shortfalls and high unemployment, they include lavish dinner and gala balls where donors get access to top state officials. the watch dog groups question

the practice and the companies have real business interests within the states. >> jerry brown plans on receiving private investment for his inaugural celebration, although the event will not be over the top. when brown was elected governor, he a low key dinner at a chinese restaurant in los angeles will the 72-year-old will take office in january 3rd, but festivities can take place before that date. if you are looking to read electronically this holiday, you have options. we have tips to help you decide. there four main choices. amazon's kindle, barnes and noble's nook, samsung's galaxy and apple's ipad. each has pros and cons. the kindle stores lots of content and it's lightweight, but has no video element. the nook has a video player, but it's heavier. the galaxy tab is more expensive, but comes with wireless internet and a camera. the ipad is big and bulky, but

has great storage space and a nice screen. holiday buffets are full of food that make you feel full. the last thing you need is a holiday beverage to add to the problem. today in the bay's erica edwards looks at the healingiest ways to drink this holiday season. >> this is the mistletoe martini. >> no matter how the shake it, stir it or pour it. the party requires the perfect holiday drink. >> go diva chocolate and cream demengt. >> if you are trying to stay health conscious and be responsible, there a few tips. pick a drink and stick with it so you don't over do it. >> if you are picking a different flavor each time, you will probably drink more. >> lisa is a clinical dietician

in the case medical center in cleveland. this is not her office by the way. if you want to indulge in a mint chongilate martini, go for it. try to stay away from the christmas cookies. >> for you drink a glass of regular eggnog, realize that you are pretty much having your dessert. >> a glass of eggnog can have as much as 500 calories. there lighter options including soy nothing. if you like mixers, choose diet sodas. fruit juices are another option. >> i like champagne with diet cranberry juice. >> we will finish it off with an orange twist. >> not sure if it counts as a serving of fruit, but it can't hurt. >> of course do not forget red wine which has been shown to have heart healthy benefits. a couple bay area football teams are waking upstate champions this morning. de la salle beating the underdog

status and crushing orange counto saturday night. they were the fourth ranked team, but de la salle didn't care and they won 48-8 and took home the state championship. palo alto high also coming up with a big upset. they completed their undefeated season friday night. shocking centennial high of coroan a. the vikings win 15-13. now they can say they are the division one state champs this morning. congratulations to both teams. time now is 5:20 on this monday morning. we will check in with mike. >> good morning. a shout out to pali and walnut creek. little michael barton is 6 feet and 200 pounds. i am related to him. a little pound on the head. we are looking at walnut creek. we still have the accident clearing from the freeway and out of lanes on the shoulder. no problems right now through

the interchange. 24 through lafayette and orinda. moving nicely as well. a 14-minute drive, but eastbound shows a little slowing at livermore and out towards tracy. we will follow that. it's just there appearing there as well as sunol. unusual for southbound 101 at 680. this blip will have slowing for 17 over the santa cruz summit. there is rain and rob has a look at the thunder with the forecast in a bit. >> i like it. holiday spirit with a tech twist. the viral video that is getting a lot of attention this holiday season. the story is coming up.

welcome back. we still have rain showing up. look at the time lapse and not only the rain, but thundershowers. looking out fors mount diablo and the southern end of napa and sonoma county. around san jose, highway 87 south of downtown. a good downpour from the south across the east bay hills. it's pretty quiet where the noise is happening with the

thunder right there around napa. that cell continues to head out towards vacaville and fairfield. you can see the trend and the showers we have. hit and miss areas of rain and the cool air aloft swings through the bay area and a chance of isolated thunder in the mix as well. rain especially across the santa cruz mountains and hit and miss areas of rain until the next main event arrives late tuesday into wednesday. probably another two to three inches of rain. towards wednesday morning and afternoon, this hints at a brief drying trend that shows up thursday into friday. a look at the totals between now and the middle of the week. we will add two to three inches and probably an inch or less around most of the bay areas. mainly the first half of the week. highs in the mid 50s and isolated thunder especially for areas around napa county. a slight risk of thunder for the rest of the bay area. snow continues to fly around and stays close to 5,000 feet.

the seven-day forecast looks soggy off and on through wednesday. we should catch a break thursday into friday and more raindrops in as we move through the weekend. >> just in time for christmas. >> a georgia church is putting a modern twist on the christmas carol. i think that sounds cool. they are using ipads and iphone to make music. they thought it would be fun to play music with nothing more than aps. they posted it on the internet and it was a viral sensation. >> a lady on the third row pulled her ipad out and turned on a lighter application and started waveing it back and forth. from that moment on, we knew this is going to work. >> the viral video received close to 1.5 million hits on you tube. the church hopes the video will help people enjoy the season a

little bit more. time now is 5 time 26. now that don't ask don't tell has been repealed. you don't get to see this often. a fuel lunar a clips. how you may be able to see it. g. the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal.

it's not too well done? nope. but it is a job well done. what are you reading, sweetie? her diary. when you're done, i'd love some feedback. sure. your mom and i read that thing cover-to-cover. loved it.

thanks. would you mind if i cut the lawn this weekend? only if you let me talk to your mother on the phone for hours on end. done. [ male announcer ] u-verse brings peace to the family. at&t u-verse lets you record four shows at once from any room and play them back on any tv. now get up to $300 back in promotion cards. at&t. rethink possible. rain, rain, and more rain. find out if it clears up in time for your christmas travel. >> i'm chris sanchez. by now you know that the don't

ask don't tell ban on gays serving openly in the military was overturned. really what's next? we will talk about that coming up on today in the bay. good morning, everyone. >> it is 5:30 now and we are in for brend and laura. this is today in the bay. you may be noticing the change of scenery around us. this is our temporary home while the new state-of-the-art news set is assembled a few feet away. we will be in the new digs in a couple of weeks and we are excited. >> should be fun. let's get started with rob. he didn't have to change anything. >> in the spirit of the valley, we moved into the garage here. >> pretty much. >> guess what. you have rain as you head out. rain and isolated thunder in the mix. an interesting day today.

we will be in and out of the raindrops and seeing sun at times and have to deal with thundershowers. look at that already. a very busy morning and rain moving in and off towards the north bay right now. out towards nap a. that's a nasty cell off to the east of napa. >> rob, we will deal with that and wet roading continue. maybe an easier drive. some people taking christmas break earlier. we see the volume looking about standard. sheen on the roadways and as you talk about slick roadways, the north bay and the far south getting the rain, but we have been hit overnight. the travel times for westbound 80 approaching off of the carquinas bridge with an 18-minute drive. no slowing through oakland by either of those, but we will follow. we should see the pattern with a lighter volume starting to break up earlier today. >> 5:31 and we're following breaking news out of newark. a terminal at one of the

nation's biggest airports shut down because of a suspicious package. these are live pictures. newark airport security said a piece of baggage at terminal attested positive for explosi s explosives. an american airlines spokesperson said the package was found at a security check point. that's where american airlines flights are based in newark. the closure is just a precaution. we will bring you more information as it comes in. >> big changes to the u.s. military over the don't ask don't tell policy. the senate voted over the welcome to repeal it, but how will that change be implemented? today in the east bay's chris sanchez has a look at whapd what happens next. >> good morning to you. we watch this happen this weekend. what does this mean for gay service members who are serving openly and breaking the law or

serving without being able to be clear about their sexual orientation. there were crowds are cheering people when the repeal was passed. 17 years ago is when it went into effect. now what is going to happen n t next? there will be no impact on combat readiness. we could see gay discharge cases dropped immediately, but the long-term solution has to do with education. talking about what it means for service members mt. military and what it means for the commanding officers as well. folk who is have been discharged may be able to reenlist and now that the repeal was passed as well. we could see some of that. a year long study by the pentagon shows that 23 of service members didn't think that changing the law would have much impact, however that is on the ground level and we will have to wait and see what happens at the upper levels as

well. in san jose, chris sanchez, today in the bay. >> certainly an interesting moment in american history. thank you. three separate shootings left two men dead and two injuried in oakland. the first happened saturday night about 11:00 near the corper of seminary and 17th streets. police say one man was found dead in the streets and a second victim was rushed to the hospital. the next happened a few hours later at 2:00 a.m. near the intersection of 90th and international boulevard. that victim is in the hospital with critical injuries. they found a man dead from gunshot wounds around 3:30 in the morning south of highland hospital. >> there all kinds of ethnicities in the east bay, but the groups tend to stay separated. on average whites in the east bay live in majority white neighborhoods. they increased in numbers, but they are also clustered in their own ethnic enclaves.

the study said african-americans have seen a drastic change in diversity in their neighborhoods back in 1980. the typical african-american family lived in a neighborhood that was 56% black. the same neighborhood now is 28% black. folks in oakland will be able to get a free flu shot as part of a program between walgreens and the department of health and human services. the community partners and 15 cities throughout the u.s. will pass out vouchers for the shots. in oakland they can be exchanged for one free flu shot at any walgreen's pharmacy. they are meant to increase rates in black and hispanic communities. a great story with a company sharing wealth with those in need. old navy's flag ship store on market street will open at 9:00 this morning for a private shopping spree for more than 200 kids from the family services program. each kid will receive a gift

card valued at $100 thanks to the gap and volunteer shoppers will help them make their fashion selections. with a little help, the 49ers are in the playoff help. st. louis and seattle both lost yesterday giving the niners just a sliver of hope. san francisco must win the last two games and seattle must win one for san francisco to advance in the playoffs. the niners play on sunday and close things out on january 2nd against arizona. the raiders hanging in the playoff hunt. they beat the broncos in yesterday's game. the raiders still trail kansas city and san diego in the afc west. they will need to win their final two games and get help in order to make the playoffs, however statistically they are still in it. the raiders play at home against the colts this sunday. a former cal bear, the hero of sunday football especially in

philly. jackson is capping off a great come back by the eagles tied at 31 with the giants. jackson returns the punt for a touchdown as time runs out. eagles win in regulation, 38-31. the eagles pulled off one of the biggest come backs in nfl history, scoring 28 points in about seven minutes. . 5:37 and we have a traffic update for the airport. we told you about the breaking news in the newark airport. things are getting back to normal. we just heard that the suspicious package we reported was determined to be a computer monitor emitting a low level of radiation. that's typical for a device of that sort. we have done reports about that. things are getting back to normal. the bomb squad left the premises. newark international airport is getting towards normal operations after the package was a computer monitor.

closer to home, highway 4 is typical for the slowing. had been highway 4 not so bad as we see. we talk about a vacation week for a lot of folks. just in the 50s towards horizon and no problems in walnut creek. an accident at geary has cleared and speeds close to the limit throughout the area towards the maze. no major issues either. a light volume out of the caldecott and 18 minutes off of the carquinas bridge and the san mateo bridge looks nice and smooth as well. slick roadways because of overnight rains. keep that in mind. >> let's check in with rob with lots of puddling left. or maybe we won't check in with rob. if you see a break in the clouds, clouds and the total eclipse of the moon tonight. >> for hasn't happened in almost three years. the moon should turn red. the total eclipse occur whts moon passes through the earth's

shad oechlt it will begin to fall at about 9:30 with the full eclipse before midnight. the bay area astronomy lovers can catch the show at the space and science center in oakland. it will be streamed on line again assuming a clear sky. i jumped the gun on you and a clear sky? >> i'm glad is t lasts for a couple of hours. maybe in that time we will get a few breaks in the clouds. a busy morning out to the north. they have been tracking thundershowers. south bay with rain drifting. light to moderate rain and it's quiet from the east bay to san francisco and oakland, but napa up towards sonoma and we have been seeing the thundershowers over napa weakening as it approaches vacaville from the west. the feet of snow continue to come down here. one week totals. it's not out of the question. 20 feet of snow between now and next weekend. can see tropical plumes across

central california today. in and out of the raindrops at times and i few sunny breaks with highs only in the mid 50s. a cool afternoon and temperatures cold enough for snow near 5,000 feet. around the grapevine closer to 7,000 feet. rain should let up by wednesday afternoon. there comes a break for the travel plans and more rain spills in as we head towards saturday afternoon. back to you. >> thank you much. 5:40 and california making a list they would rather not be on. worst places to retire. why we were spared the top spot. >> is the water you drink hazardous to your health? that looks at carcinogens in water and puts a bay area city in the top five most dangerous. plus, santa getting ready for christmas. we will bring you a special message, coming up.

>> per it's 5:42 and you are looking at the summit of highway 17. it's going to be slick out there. you have to go to work today, take time. we will check in with mike and rob in a minute. in washington the rush is on. congress prevented tax hikes and allowed gays in the military. now they are looking to ratify the treata president obama signed with russia last spring. live in washington with what we can expect this week. good morning. >> good morning. the president already delayed his hawaii vacation to try to get it done this week. democrats and republicans want to get out by thursday. for christmas, the bottom line is they have to get the treaty

ratified. at least democrats hope they will. they will reduce warheads here and in russia by 700 and create a monitoring system for the warheads that were signed months ago. they are working on this and vice president biden and top democrats believe they have the 67 votes it takes to get it ratified. that's a lot more than the 58 democrats they have in the senate here. republicans, some of them have substantive issues and concerns about this. number one, whether or not the verification system will work and whether language in the treaty would prevent us from developing missile defense. also they are concerned about it being rush and trying to get it debate and voted on. they want to extend it. tomorrow we have a vote that will decide whether or not they can actually move forward with this, ending the debate and coming to a final decision in the next few days.

marla? >> i will take it from here. lawmakers hope they will pass a retooled bill with medical care for emergency responders. they will propose changes to win over republican support for the passage. they are working on a less expensive bill that would pay for itself through fees on foreign goods and services. thousands of firefighters, police, and other rescue and clean up workers have respiratory problems because of working at the world trade center and attacks. the republicans blocked the bill from passing the first time around. 5:45. >> we are in for brent and laura this morning. we will get to traffic and weather if a few minutes. first this morning disturbing information on the results af i new study on u.s. drinking water. a u.s. environmental group found chromium, a probably carcinogen

in the drinking water of 35 cities, including san jose. of those, 25 had levels that surpassed the goal proposed here in california. the federal government is looking into setting a limit for chromium in tap water. you may recall it was made famous by the film erin brockvich. this is the first nationwide analysis measuring the chemical in u.s. water systems to go public. the markets open in less than an hour. we are looking at what's happening there and korea. nicole is at cnbc world headquarters. good morning. futures turned positive as investors appear to have shrunk to the latest tensions between north and south korea. we have a lot of data on housing, manufacturing, unemployment and the consumer. we have a final report on third quarter gdp and markets will be watching that. markets are closed by wait on

christmas eve. in anticipation of christmas, it has been a green holiday season for online retailers. industry tracker said nearly $27.5 billion has been spent on the web so far. more than $5.1 billion was spent last week. green monday, free shipping friday all included, topping $900 million. santa's elves will be working harder at your post office. today is traditionally the busiest day of the year for the postal service. cars and packages that they prepped over the weekend. officials expect 800 million pieces of mail will be handled, 40% more than the average daily volume. that's the latest from cnbc. we are looking at this driving towards the business

place. westbound 580 moving nice. a 15-minute drive and the volume is starting to play a factor through the area, but not a major issue because of the lighter volume. 680 towards the 101 interchange, but they show slowing in both directions. that's a little bit typical, but light for the rest of the south bay. not showing major problems for the northbound direction. that is the direction through the south bay. we have a look at the upper deck as well. things are moving smoothly. no metering lights yet, but chp issued a travel advisory that is lifted and we have wet roads. >> wind and sideways rain at times. san jose seeing a little bit of rain towards mount hamilton in parts of the south bay. the east bay hills are not too bad in terms of the weather, but the north bay, a lot of you will be waking up to the flashes of lightning towards napa.

intense cells earlier that head off to the north and east. the temperatures mostly mid 50s. it will be an interesting afternoon. sunshine and probably scattered rain at times. still the risk of a thundershower as well. a busy day and the heaviest rain will be focused in on central california much like we saw over the weekend. for the seven-day forecast, one of the things we see is heavy rain for the coaal mountains tuesday night into wednesday. we will catch a break thursday and friday. travel plans look okay, but the rain will drop back in as we head to christmas day into sunday morning as well. back to you. >> thank you, rob. why you can't see it now, it is the sun that is actually keeping california off the top spot when it come it is to worst places to retire. according to top retirement.com, california is the second worst state to retire in behind just illinois. the site said the weather is the only thing the golden state has

going for it. the budget issues and high taxes are working against us. rounding out the top five, new york, rhode island and new jersey. weather is making holiday travel tough. snow causes havoc and freezing temperatures causing chaos on the road as well. heathrow which is europe's busiest is only letting a limited number of flights in and out. hundreds of passengers of camped in the terminal. the travel industry said delays and cancelations will most likely continue through the week. >> the pope is looking for answers about what allowed for the widespread sexual abuse of children by priests. he made the remarks in his traditional christmas speech in st. peters square. revelations of abuse this year reached an unimaginal dimension and the church must better train priests and how to help victims

heal. >> floyd landis drawing negative attention to his spoerchlt landis used a hidden wire and a camera as part of a federal probe on doping and cycling. this according to the "new york daily news." the 35-year-old cyclist used the secret devices this year in a meeting with the owner of one of america's top cycling teams and caught images of what appear to be human growth hormone containers in the meeting. landis was stripped of his tour de france title in 2006 for doping. >> in the middle of flu season, there almost one million kids without access to a local doctor. the majority are practicing in cities. in some rural areas, there is only one doctor for more than 3,000 children. sometimes no doctor at all. this after the petia trigz workforce grew by 50% between 1996 and 2006. researchers say more needs to be

done to encourage medical students to work in remote areas. pa. >> breast-feeding could make boys smarter. a study shows boys who were breast-fed for at least a half year did better in math, reading, and spelling. the experiment followed 1,000 children from when their mothers were 18 weeks pregnant until they reached the age of 10. researchers from western australia also believed there may be nutriens in breast milk that helped the brain develop. >> advertisers have a new audience to target. sunday night football is the third highest rated prime time show for women ages 18 to 49. for the record, the top rated show is dancing with the stars and second is "grey's anatomy." one expert said he thinks story lines are attracting women to games. overall ratings for nfl games

have been huge in the past year. they represent 18 of 20 telecasts in the year and they are eight of the top 10. pittsburgh schools are going green to save money. the school district is installing solar panels in the schools and the change is expected to save more than $28 million during the 30-year lifespan of the panels. they are using 18 $1/2 million from measure l to put the panels at 14 schools and offices. foothill elementary has panels. the others will receive theirs over two years. a marsh land will be an unlikely classroom for kids. they approved $300,000 for a permanent classroom. right now a trailer currently houses the city's clean water education program. it will house mostly third grader who is take water quality samples and learn to identify

plant species and keep invent y inventories of insects. the classroom should be up and ready for students next year. >> odds are you get at least one present you just didn't want. here are tips on what to do next. make sure to have a picture id and a receipt and be aware, some stores are now charging restock fees and often times the item can't be returned if you have taken it out of the box. if your gift giver is not present, think before you open. it sounds like a dopey thing, don't open the box, but what i tell people, before you open that box for that expensive product, think about it. if it's something you really want. >> online retailers have similar return policies. hold on to your receipt as proof of purchase. >> santa claus is taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to the media. he stopped by the outpost in the

arctic circle to talk about how he is getting ready for the big day. santa said most of the kids around the world have been good this year. he offered this special message. >> merry christmas. [speaking foreign language] merry christmas. our own bob redell is packing his bags this morning. he will hop on a plane in a few hours and head up to the north pole to check out santa's workshop. what an assignment. we will check in with him live to see how the build up to the big day is going. an oakland group with more than 35 years of singing experience together, close to major bragging rights. they are among the finalists of the nbc show the sing off. at stake is a sony recording contract and $100,000.

you can help them win. we talked about them before. jerry law and the talk of the town. not just in a name. they are the oldest group with young fans. andrew lockwood is the head custodian in alameda. we talked with him about the competition. >> it's very rewarding. all of the kids are so talented. we will hang in there and it's a great, great opportunity and it's a great thing for us to preserve the art of a cappella. >> you can watch the season finale at 8:00 here on nbc bay area. >> good luck to them. >> disney's reboot of tron led the way at the box office over the weekend. >> what am i supposed to do? >> survive.

>> tron legacy brought in about $43.5 million on its debut weekend. the movie picks up a story line begun in 1982's tron, a movie that disappointed at the box office and garnered a devoted following. second place went to a newcomer, yogi bear. it earned about $17 million. rounding out the top three was the cranicles of narnia, the voyage of the drawn treader with $12.5 million. >> more news in a minute.

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>> new this morning, people living in san bruno may get a call for a hearing in washington about the pipeline explosion. in san jose, postal workers are busy as santa's elves on what could be the busiest days for the post office of the year. >> the bill t