don't tell is waiting for the president's signature, but there a lot of questions about the end of that policy. winter hours away as we look at highway 17 and the summit. this is today in the bay. >> good morning. i'm scott. >> i'm marla and brent and laura are off today. >> this is a temporary home and a new state-of-the-art set being assembled a few feet away. we will be in a few digs for a how many of weeks. this is pieces of the old set. >> not bad. >> this part has the change. let's show you what we have going on. you may find rain and seeing that in the mountains with the

live pictures from highway 17. we have isolated thunder and highs in the 50s. sure enough, the commute over the mountains right now. it looks very so long down towards santa cruz this morning. >> thank you very much, rob. now we are going to check the morning commute. mike has a look. >> you are a few feet away and you won't tell me where. someone reported up on to the freeway on the fremont street off-ramp. not a wise decision. a lighter volume of traffic. you may see a bridge crew or the pd. it doesn't sound like they will run a traffic break and the drive is moving smoothly. approaching out of the east bay after highway 24, the freeway with an 18-minute drive. that's your approach from the east bay. there is a live look at the toll

plaza. no major delays and slick roadways to the north bay, but the bridge approach is nice as well. easy drive through san rafael down to the bridge for 101 here down the peninsula. a lighter volume and still have the slow downs. back to you. >> 6:02 and the victims of the san bruno explosion may soon tell their stories to congress. there will likely be a hearing about the disaster. the possibility of a hearing was revealed in a packed downhaul meeting. they rebuild following the deadly explosion. residents were told they were months away from being completed. they are still monitoring the line that ruptured. >> the findings will be critical and the city of san bruno, california, and likely the entire nation. we will have to determine what cools are necessary to make sure

it never happens again. >> homeowners took aim at the irs. there were concerns about the money and whether it's taxable. they said there a lot of variables. the congresswoman not satisfied. she called on the commissioner to come to san bruno to address the concerns. people in mexico cleaning up after a massive oil pipeline explosion over the weekend. cars, homes, and trees incinerated in the blast. 28 people kill and many were children. 100 homes damage and 5 hundred thousand residents affected. they think the blast followed by four additional explosions was caused by thieves trying to steal crude oil. >> a man held if prison for 20 years for a crime he did not commit will be in court today. maurice caldwell will find out if he will be allowed to walk free or be retried for a 1990 murder.

a judge overturned caldwell's sentence last week after new evidence revealed the real killer. it turns out the killer is a man who ended up leaving the bay area after caldwell was arrested. the man was arrested two years later for killing a cabdriver. if caldwell is not retried for the murder, he could be released today. a search is under way for a tourist who may have crash herd car into the russian river. the sonoma county sheriff said the woman disappeared while driving to santa rosa saturday night. she left the rivers end restaurant and inn following a group of friends who were in another car. minutes later they arrived at the intersection of highway 1 and 116 and didn't see bin following them anymore. sheriffs investigators are searching the river. they are afraid she and her car went off a road and down a 20-foot embankment. >> if you haven't received

christmas cards, that i may be on the way today. chris sanchez is live in sni at one of the busiest places in town this morning. good morning. >> good morning to you. i'm at the u.s. postal service processing center on lundy drive. if you have driven by, you know it's a busy place even on a normal day. this is the middle of a lull of course. it is going to be one of the busiest days of the year. we have gus who will tell us exactly how many pieces of mail they are going to go through today. >> nationally it will be about 800 million pieces of mail. an increase from the normal day of 560 million. just right here alone, about 4.5 million pieces of mail will pass through. >> now your folks are busy right now, but this is the normal delivery they are doing for this time of year. you expect to get super busy when people come to drauf off their mail. >> this was processed over the

evening. it's going out for morning delivery. people will queue up as soon as the post offices open around the city and the country around 8:30. >> today is the last day to get your christmas card there is on time. >> for first class, it's a triage. december 20 for cards and letters and tuesday the 21st for priority and express mail on the 22nd which is wednesday. >> you will have them working on christmas day? >> dressed at santa claus some of them. >> cards and letters recommended deadline today. if you top the ship priority, you have until wednesday. make sure you are packed and ready to go. the lines are expected to be long at this facility and thes around the bay area. in san jose, chris sanchez, today in the bay. >> sometime running out. thank you very much. >> president obama expected to sign a bill to end don't ask don't this week. when he signs it into law, it

will not take effect immediately. there several questions about the new policy. the top question of course is will it be accepted by the troops? more than 13,000 service men and women were dismissed under a law that banned gay soldiers from serving openly. >> traveling during the holidays is getting more expensive. a new survey shows the price of regular gas has risen 8 cents a gallon in two weeks. san francisco as usual 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. it is continuing to rise through the new year. >> mike is looking at the east bay. putsdy and wet. >> you top the slow it down. you have to slow it down where we start highway 4. typical pattern over here started at the typical time of

5:30. we haven't seen speeds below 20. an easier drive through pittsburgh and concord. 680 moving through the walnut creek interchange. over here for westbound 580, we have the typical slowing through livermore. 18 minute drive and 20 minutes earlier and the volume doesn't look to be as heavy, but slick roadways again and there is a slow down. you have to hit your commute. through sunol, the drive looking nice. the tail lights away from us and before you get here around stoneridge reports of someone fixing the tire on the shoulder. use caution. it's nerve racking if you have been on the side of the road fixing a flat. 87 and 280 and 101 on the northbound commute. moving smoothly right now. 101 up the peninsula. it shows a nice flow of traffic

and that slow down is around 7:30 for the southbound side and the northbound side after. past the dumbarton bridge and away to hayward with the tail lights. we are looking at the camera. there is wind and gusty wind across the bridge as well. hold on tight. >> rain is sticking around for the first official day of winter. >> we are watching that and the wind and we even have thundershowers as if there weren't enough to worry about. isolated thundershowers mixed in with sunshine and tuesday night into wednesday and finally as we get into thursday and friday, we should catch a break before raindrops in on us. the radar shows you two areas that we are watching across the south bay here. across the santa cruz mountains and morgan hill.

notice into downtown, dry for the most and the east bay to san francisco, relatively dry. it's the north bay where we see a lot of activity and occasional thundershowers and that's a sneak preview of the day ahead. rain off and on and a slight risk of thundershowers. highs in the 50s and as we head into the sierra, look out for the winter storm warning that will likely last through wednesday of this week as we watch the two-daybreak thursday into friday. more rain spills as we kickoff the weekend. >> 6:10 and a new way for your kids to get in touch with santa. >> you can get through the holiday parties with taking in fewer calories. we will show you how. >> also a dozen people are arrested in a terror raid today. details are next. >> you are looking at a live picture of the bay bridge. it will be wet out there. we will check in with rob and mike and tell to you slow down

in a minute.

>> good morning, everyone. you are looking at a live picture of snachlt 6:13. a terror plot discovered in the united kingdom. british police arrested 12 men in raids in three cities. police say the suspects are being questioned. they are not saying what the alleged plot was or the targets, however police say the men had to be arrested to ensure public safety. the arrests follow a large scale

preplanned operation using officers from different cities. we will update the story as more information comes in. >> the u.s. state department is warning americans not to travel to the ivory coast. yesterday it ordered all nonemergency staff to leave the west african country. violence is tearing through after an election. two candidates are both claiming that they won. at least 50 people have been killed in recent days. >>. >> north korea will not retaliate for drills conducted by south korea. they launched fighter jets to deter any north korean attacks in the drills. the drills happen off the coast of an island at the north shelled earlier last month. four people died in the attack. you are looking at people who live on the i land who took shelter in the drills. north korea considers the waters around that island its territory. >> experts say 2010 was a disaster literally.

earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanos and super typhoons, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people. the earthquake last january killed more than 200,000 people alone. that makes 2010 the deadliest year in more than a generation. more people were killed worldwide by natural disaster this is year than had been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined. democrats in a big rush to ratify the arms treaty. president obama signed with russia last spring. they will try to do that before thursday. the republicans want to slow the process down. today in the bay's tracie potts breaks down what to expect from this week. >> the stark nuclear treaty would reduce the warheads within years and establish a verification and inspection system. some republicans think it's too

weak and others are concerned it will prevent the u.s. from developing missile defense. others don't like the idea of rushing through. >> i don't think you can have a serious debate. >> it needs to be fix and we are not going to have the time to do that. >> it's important and should not be side tracked. >> we need to bring it to a vote. >> the senate will decide whether to bring it up for a final vote. two key republicans will vote no. on sunday -- >> the ayes are 32 and nays are 60. >> democrats beat back an effort to change the treaty which would have killed it. congress repealed don't ask don't tell over the weekend. the president is expected to sign that this week. it's unclear when or how gay troops will be allowed to serve openly. as for government spending, the senate is expected to extend that temporarily until march 4th. in washington, tracie potts today in the east bay. 6:16 now.

if you are looking to read electronically, you have options. here are tips to help you make your decision. four main choices. amazon's kindle, barnes and noble's nook, samsung's galaxy tab and apple's ipad. each has pros and cons. the kindle can store content and has no video element. the nook has a video player, but is heavier. the galaxy tab is more expensive, but am can comes with wireless internet and a camera. the ipad is big and bulky, but has great storage space and a nice screen. a georgia church is putting a twist on the christmas carol. they are using ipads and iphone to make music. the north point community church in georgia thought it would be fun to try to play music with nothing more than aps. they posted on the internet and it's become 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. >> voot received 1.5 million hits on you tube. they hope the video will help people enjoy the season. . >> 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 healthiest ways to drink this holiday season. >> this is the mistletoe martini. >> no matter how you shake it or pour it, the holiday party requires the perfect holiday drink. >> go diva chocolate and cream demint. >> if you are trying to stay health conscious, stick a drink and stick with it. >> if you are going through the

martini list and picking a different flavor each time, you will probably drink more. >> lisa is a clinical dietician in case medical center. this is not her office by the way. she said if you want to indulge in the mint chocolate martini, go for it. try to stay away from the christmas cookies. >> if you drink a glass the regular full fat eggnog, realize you are pretty much having your dessert. >> a glass can have as much as 500 calories. there lighter options or soy nothing. if you like mixers, choose diet soda that has fewer calories. fruit juices are another option. >> i like champagne with diet cranberry juice. >> we will finish it off with an orange twist. >> nort sure that counts as a serving of fruit, but it can't hurt. nbc news. >> 7 on facebook these days, even santa claus. if your kids didn't get the letter off in time, search be

merry santa, all one word. more than 1700 people like santa. he replies to most comments written on his wall. i am concerned about wikileaks getting ahold of the good and naughty lists. >> terrifying list. >> we know which one mike would be on. >> that was in the 70s. experimenting with toys and my brother's property. in the south bay where i grew up, minor flooding. highway 87 and downtown with reports of the slow lane with standing water. a big puddle. further north you look at 880 and standing water there and minor flooding for 101 as you come through mountain view. the volume is holding up. nice speeds through here into the area. 880 and 680 through the newark area. the fun zone right here. it's looking nice right now. right there at the top of the screen, you see sunol. we will show you the grade.

the volume of traffic through the area amount of nice flow southbound with the tail lights and an easy drive northbound through the area. your east bay times are looking goodas well. let's get a look at the 880 through oakland. that's slower than we have seen and also in the 50s as you come out of the tunnel. the east shore freeway off of the bridge shows you that 18-minute drive. there is the volume holding steady and lighter for a monday. they turn on that and we are looking at an easier drive and we will follow this and send it back to you. >> two bay area high schools are bringing some serious hardware home. you can see who calls themselves state champs, next. >> 6:21 and a live look at the golden gate bridge toll plaza as drivers are ns proemss making their way into and out of san francisco there. for itchy dry skin.

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>> welcome back. a live view from san bruno mountain. let's show you the wins lower than the mountain top levels. you can see into the inner bay, oakland southeast at 17th that is breezy. not everybody seeing the rain right now. most of the rain we are seeing is flying there on the santa cruz mountains. san jose not so bad. oakland to san francisco, things are calm and very busy before dawn this morning. across the north bay, sonoma towards napa and isolated thunderstorms coming in off the coast and the lightning flashes heading out towards fairfield. this is a pattern of the day. breezy along with rain off and on. we will manage sunny breaks and the risk of an isolated thundershower at times. highs in the mid 50s. if you are heading up to the sierra. close to 5 hundred,000 feet and another to two feet on top of the 15 feet of snow that came down. the first half is in and out of

the raindrops. thursday and friday dry before more rain for christmas day. newark airport is safe after a brief bomb scare. terminal a was reopened about an hour ago. a package was found and tested positive for explosives. after looking at the package, they determined it was a computer monitor. monitors like it normally emit small amounts of radiation and that's what set off the alert. there was no danger. closer to home, high school football teams are waking upstate champions. de la salle beating the underdog status and from orange counto saturday night. they were the fourth ranked team in the nation. de la salle didn't care. they took home the state championship. palo alto high school coming up

with a big upset. they completed their undefeated season friday night. shockings en teleial high of corona. they win 15-13. they are the division one state champs this morning. time now is 6:26. advertisers desperate to reach women don't have to buy ads during "desperate housewives." the surprising new popular show for ladies. here's a season, postseason hopes are still alive for both bay area nfl teams. find out what needs to happen to get into the postseason. >>ar also the end of don't ask don't tell is near, but a lot still needs to happen before it's gone for good. details in a live report. now at 6:26, a live look from the san jose cam. it is dark out and their and the rain is still coming down across parts of the bay area. we will have a look at the forecast coming up. [ male announcer ] how do you say...

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>> i'm chris sanchez with what the repeal means immediately and down the road. >> alarming news about san jose's tap water. and a live look outside right now. san francisco is 6:30 monday december 20th today in the bay. good morning to you. brent and laura are off today. scott will join us in a few moments. let's go to rob now with his hour by hour forecast. good morning. >> we are off to an interesting start this morning before sunrise. we are talking about thundershowers in parts of the bay area.

rain mixed with thunder at times and a mixed bag for the day. highs in the 50s and breezy with sunny breaks and rain at times. speaking of the rain, highway 17 with los gatos to santa cruz, it is coming down pretty good. the north bay with flashes of lightning on the radar from marin county northward. isolated thunder for the morning around the north bay. back to you. checking on the traffic with mike. say it isn't so. >> that would be a lie. you know that. we are looking over here and coming off of the 880 interchange. both a commute and non-commute off the castro valley y. that's the major slow down and even that's lighter than normal. a 21-minute drive through the pass and through livermore.

that's a nicer flow. we will take you down to the south bay. through sunol, minor flooding showing up and 101 downtown for 87 right there at park. a new one. so far we heard about the accident. i don't know whether or not lanes are blocked and the volume is picking up and slowing in spots. we'll follow it up and i will have a report for you in about 10 machines. a new study on drinking water said san jose contains a dangerous chemical. a u.s. and environmental group, a probably carcinogen was found in the drinking water of 31 cities. san jose ranks fifth worst. 24 other cities on the list had levels that surpassed the goal proposed here in california. the federal government is setting a limit for chromium in tap water. you may recall it was made

famous by the film erin brockvich. this is the first analysis measuring the chemical in water systems to go public. >> gay service members are celebrating the repeal of the don't ask don't tell policy that barred them from serving openly. at the same time they are likely wondering what's next. today in the bay's chris sanchez will bring you a live report from san jose in just a few moments. >> president obama expected to sign the repeal in washington. he has done that. some of the people in charge of the freeze to federal salaries are being asked to look in the mirror. congressional republicans increased their own offices payroll. eric kantor boosted his office's payroll by 81% since coming to congress in 2001. congressional payrolls have climbed to a far faster pace

than either the federal government or the private sector. the white house said a freeze could save $28 billion over the next five years. >> yes, gay service members are celebrating the repeal of the don't ask don't tell policy. we will go live to today in the bay's chris sanchez live in san jose with what could happen next. good morning. >> good morning. president obama is expected to sign the repeal of don't ask, don't tell sometime this week. that doesn't mean that gay service members can come out and serve openly any time soon. it could be a couple of months. there was a sense of celebration when the senate repealed the ban. we watched it live. there was work ahead to put it into effect. the president and they had to identify that it will not have a negative impact on the readiness or effectiveness. 60 day after the letter is transmitted to the congressional

armed serfs committees, the policy goes into effect. immediately some experts expect that gay discharge cases will be dropped immediately and is estimated that during the 17 years of don't ask don't tell, 13,500 members were dismissed because they were out of the closet. they were cleared to reenlist if they want to serve. the pentagon recommended setting up separate bathrooms and perhaps -- >> clearly we just lost her audio. we will check back with her momentarily. >> with a little help, the 49ers are still in the playoff hunt. the two teams ahead of san francisco, st. louis and seattle lost yesterday, giving the niners a sliver of hope. san francisco must win the last two games and seattle must win one game for san francisco to advance to the playoffs. the niners lose on sunday and closed things out at home january 2nd against arizona.

the raiders in the playoff hunt and let the broncos hang around in the second half. the final score was 39-23. the raiders still trail kansas city and san diego in the west. they will need to win their final two games and get a little help in order to make the playoffs. however statistically they are still in it. the raiders play at home against the colts this sunday. it's going to be a frigid monday night football game. the vikings are going to play the first outdoor game at home in 29 years. tonight's game moving to the university of minnesota stadium because snow collapsed the roof of the metrodome last week. it will be 24 degrees with a 90% chance of snow. it should be a well-behaved crowd. the gophers don't allow alcohol in their stadium. >> the nfl's advertisers have a new audience to target. sunday night football on nbc is

the third highest rated prime time show for women ages teen 49. for the record, the top-rated show is dancing with the stars. second is gri's a n"grey's anat he said story lines attract women to the game. tom brady and peyton manning. football games have been huge in the past year. they represent 18 of the 20 most watched telecasts of 2010 and they are eight of the top ten. >> 6:36 and something will happen tonight that hasn't happened in more than 500 years. you might have to miss it. >> health care for kids. find out how many can't even see a doctor when they need to. >> wild weather across the pond. the havoc the snow is wreaking in the uk, coming up next. >> wild weather closer to home. we are tracking rain, wind, and

thundershowers around parts of the bay area this morning. there it is. wind fre san bruno mountain. the forecast next on today in the bay.

a warning up towards yosemite where we have snow by the foot. about 15 feet so far and i would not be surprised to see that get close to 20. around the bay area, it's interesting. widespread rain and thundershowers across the north bay. highway 17 and the rain spilling over towards campbell. not much rain in the east bay. here in the north bay, petaluma south and areas to the north, intense showers which at times fired off thundershowers off and on for the morning around the north bay. a mixed bag around the bay area. a lot of rain into central california if you are trying to travel into southern california, it's tough to the south. mixed bag of sunshine and rain off and on. a slight risk of a thundershower and highs in the mid 50s. the first half will be the wetter half of the week.

thursday and friday we should catch a break and more rain as we kickoff the upcoming weekend. >> thank you, rob. weather inland on is making travel tough. the snow continues to cause havoc in britain. freezing temps are causing chaos on the roads and in the air. land on's heathrow airport that happens to be europe's busiest is only letting a limited number of flights in and out. hundreds of persons camped overnight. the travel industry said delays and cancellations will most likely continue through the week. >> california is the second worst place to retire. the only thing keeping us from the top is our sunny days. according to the top retirement dot-com, california is second worst behind illinois. the weather is the only thing the golden state has going for it because the budget issues and high taxes are working against us. rounding out the top five, new york, rhode island and new jersey. 6:41 and the busiest day of

the year at u.s. post offices. we will check to see how they are doing in a live report. >> we're will look at the golden gate bridge that looks fairly dry. we will check in with rob and lots of weather coming up.

6:44 and a live look from the san jose cam. you can see traffic moving along just fine. we will check out the wet roads. >> most of us take going to the doctor for granted. a study finds almost one million children in america live in areas where there is no local doctor. tracy pots is live in washington with what doctors are lacking.

good morning, tracy. >> good morning, everyone. the new numbers are coming out of dartmouth, a study that will be published in the junior of pediatrics and almost a million kids in the country can't find a doctor near their neighborhood. in some cases in their town. in california there 9.7 million children and on average there is a doctor for everyone 1300 or so, but in california one in 12 children live in places where there is almost no doctors. one in 3,000 i cans. the issue is not enough doctors. pediatricians and family doctors are coming out of medical school in droves and outpacing the growth in the number of children in the country. it's just that they tend to settle in urban areas in the suburbs and not in rural areas. that's where we are seeing the problem for the most part. solutions? the authors of this study suggest that there be

incentives, private and public for the doctors who are coming out of medical school to entice them to not necessarily go to the city but perhaps to consider opening shop out in the country. tracie potts, thank you much. in the middle of flu 18, there almost a million kids without access to a local doctor. a new ivy league study shows the majority of doctors are practicing in cities. in rural areas, there is only one doctor for more than 3,000 children. sometimes no doctor at all. this after the pediatrician workforce grew by 50% between 1996 and 2006. researchers at dartmouth say more needs to be done to encourage medical students to work in remote areas. breast-feeding could make boys smarter. a new study shows boys who were breast-fed for at least a half year did better in math, reading, and spelling.

they followed more than 1,000 children from there when their mothers were 18 weeks pregnant until the kids were 10. they believe there may be nutrients in breast milk that help the brain develop. >> hard to imagine a worst place for a crash, but that's what's going on. let's join mike. >> good morning to you. past the area where at this time of year, we know it as the area around valley fair, but we have a spinout reported. southbound 880 is the new location approaching 280 and the connector. there will be slowing and not enough to show up yet. look at the south bay map. i pointed out how 101 is coming into mountain view for the flooding as well as the bottom of the screen. speeds in the 50s and the 101 from actually past the airport. we have the typical south bay slowing as well.

a maze approaching the toll plaza. a slow drive across the bridge. indicating the metering light is on. they were turned on at 6:25 about 20 minutes ago amount of light volume and approaching the east shore freeway towards the bridge. the camera is shaking. it's above our truck and the wind is catching it from time to time. >> winds are picking up across the bay. about 15 to 25 miles per hour. that's enough to get you startled across the spans of the higher bridges. it may startle you that we had close to 10 inches of rain in the santa cruz mountains since friday. incredible totals. lower locations two inches or less. the mountains taking the biggest punch and it's happen this morning. widespread rain to the south of santa cruz and as we head towards the central bay area, it's not that bad. the wind is getting your attention up to 25 miles per

hour. in the north bay into sonoma and marin counties, this line of showers is included with embedded thunder too. you can see it heading out. we are talking several feet of snow. the heavy rain again today. the coast heading on into southern california. you see it with the winter storm warning and likely to see another foot or two of snow during the day today. highs in the mid 50s and a few sunny breaks and rain at times. as you saw, a slight chance of thundershowers at times. rain off and on and we will catch a break thursday and friday and into saturday, rain at times and hope we manage a few breaks in the clouds. >> if you get a break, you may be able to see a total eclipse of the moon. >> for hasn't happened in almost three years. it should turn red. the first time in about 500 years that a lunar eclipse will

coincide with the winter solstice. the moon passes through the earth's shadow. it will begin at about 9:30 with the full eclipse just before midnight. astronomy lovers can catch the show at the science center in oakland. they will stream it online, again assuming a clear sky. if you haven't received christmas cards yet, they could be on their way. today in the bi's chris sanchez is live at san jose's busiest place in town. if you haven't gotten them yet, hurry, hurry. >> no kidding. this is expected to be the busiest day of the year. the birds are arriving to drop off the deliveries. 17 million pieces of mail between the san jose processing plant and the one in oakland alone. nationwide we are talking about 800 million pieces of mail. we are talking about cards,

letters and packages. today is the suggested deadline for getting the letters and cards in the mail. you have until tomorrow if you want to pay for shipping and if you want to push it, you have until wednesday and send it express and it makes it there by christmas day. they will be working on christmas day, some of them dressed as santa. so says gus ruiz of the postal service. you can give us tips to make sure we get the package there is on time and safely? >> these are tips santa gave us. make sure you put it in a sturdy box. you can write on the box and make sure it's clean. make sure you removed all the other addressing on it. cushion it well and use popcorn or newspapers or whatever. if you send a toy or something that requires a battery, remove it and keep it separate. we don't want it to emit a noise in transit.

>> hopefully we will figure out how to take out the battery from the ipad they are sending me in the mail. we don't want it scaring the carrier. i will put my stuff in the mail and see you in a bit. >> i will hand deliver the ipad. thank you. >> oakland group with more than 35 years of sing experience together is very close to major bragging rights. they are among the finalists on the nbc show, the sing off. at stake as sony recording contract and $100,000 which you can help them win. the a cappella group is called jerry lawson and the talk of the town. they may be the oldest group on the show, but they have young fans since andrew lockwood is the head cust oatian in alameda. we spoke about the competition.

>> it's very rewarding. all of the kids are so talented. we are going to hang in there and it's a great, great opportunity. it's a great thing for us to preserve the art of a cappella. >> giving them a run for their money. you can catch the finale at 8:00 on nbc bay area. >> a heck of a year for 88-year-old betty white. it got better. the associated press named white entertainer of the year. she beat the cast of glee by 20 votes. she used to be known for her roll o golden girls and mary tyler moore. she was on "saturday night live" after a facebook campaign. she calls the honor ridiculous, but admit it's been a lovely year. i was in the mall yesterday which was a story in and of itself and they had a betty white calendar.

>> i love miss white. >> i saw it too. i attempted to buy it, but i was looking for the 12 months of scott. we will wait. the bay bridge and the toll plaza, the metering lights are on. that is a lighter volume when which we expect for the week. they have a good number of cars and needed the metering lights on. look at the east shore freeway with 20 minutes and a very nice drive in the 50s off the bridge down through berkeley and richmond. 24 off the tunnel and no major delays. the typical slowing. 880 through oakland and an easy drive. a good drive at highway 4 out of antioch. 580 into livermore has that slowing and we will look at the south bay where we had the flooding reports. minor flooding and 280 and 880. a live look south of there at the 17 summit. looks like the rain is am category down good. i headed off to rob.

>> let's show you highway 17. this is where rob is located. you can see good rain on the west where we have been talking about, eight to 10 inches of rain. across the north bay, pretty intense pockets of rain and embedded thundershowers. it will give us a combination of all types of weather. rain at times and a mix of sun and a chance of thundershowers through the morning and off and on through the day today. look for highs in the mid 50s and rain on the first half of the week. it looks soggy, but we do finally catch a break thursday into friday and more raindrops in as we approach this upcoming weekend. back to you. >> thank you much. you remember the beijing summer olympics and the stadium, it is a winter wonderland. they call at this time bird's nest. they are hosting a snow fest cal for the next two months. man made snow nearly three feet thick and has almost 57,000

square feet. tubing and ice skating and a ball pit. officials are hoping the fest cal will attract people to pay for all that maintenance. they have been struggling to book effects in the stadium since the olympics. a luxury hotel is having tree remorse. the emirates palace hotel unveiled this jewel-covered tree valued at $11 million. we showed you this last week. now the hotel manager say they regret attempts to overload the tradition. the jewels were donated and will be returned to their owner after the season. i can't wait to get them back. >> every time you take a kid, that's the he wants to have. 70 feet high. >> and $11 million. >> thank you for joining us this morning. the "today" show is up next. >> a local news update in about a half hour. have a great day.

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