christie smith is in the east bay, kris sanchez is on the coast and rob mayeda is in the weather center tracking the storm. we begin with rob. good morning, rob. >> good morning, marla. let's go hour by hour with the storm. widespread rain around the bay area but the change you'll see around lunchtime is the rain will change to scattered showers and eventually some breaks in the clouds. as the showers start to shut down later on today, one of the stories that we're watching and one of the places hardest hit continues to be pacifica. you can see the rain racing through, some pretty good downpours. later today we're talking about high tide and storm-driven surf that could cause issues out on the coast. that's where kris sanchez joins us live with a look at things on the coast this morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, rob. we're feeling a little bit of a light, misty kind of rain right now but we are expecting that that rain is going to pick up and those drops will get a little bigger this morning. the worst of the rain this morning, and as you mentioned, the worst of the flooding could come a little bit later on for

folks who are used to the flooding. a lot of the folks who live here in pacifica, they know that they are going to be flooded when the weather gets like this, so many of them are prepared and ready for that. high tide is projected for 10:00 or 11:00 this morning. that could be a little more than six feet so ten-foot waves not major, but that coupled with all of the rain that we're getting right now could be the problem. clearly rain and high tide make the folk at the pacifica cliff apartments a little bit nervous. they have been evacuated before as storm waters pounded away at the foundation of their building last winter. no evacuations so far this morning, but there may be a bit of sleeplessness over there. still, if you're drawn out to see the beautiful spectacle that is the stormy pacific, watch from afar. don't go into is the water. health officials from san mateo county closed four beaches because of bacterial contamination. when we get a lot of rain, the problem is that we get a lot of rain in a short period of time as we have the last couple of days, aging sewer systems can't handle the volume and the contaminated water makes it onto

beaches, onto the streets and into the water. if you swim in e. coli-tainted water, you are likely to get a rash or perhaps a belly ache. we are watching for flooding here in pacifica, but in the east bay where christie smith is, it's less of a problem what's rising and what's coming down. >> reporter: good morning to you, kris. well, i can tell you that it is raining here in oakland, but the damage is done, at least for this neighborhood. and i cross my fingers as i say that. take a look at this. a 75-foot pine tree came crashing down, toppled right over onto this home. people were actually inside at the time, five of them. two people sitting on the couch. they had an extreme close call because the branches landed right next to them, according to the homeowner. this is on the oakland/san leanne electroboadro border. you knew it was bad when you heard the homeowner say that she thought it sounded like an earthquake or a plane crashing

into her house. >> very, very frightening. i just kind of held my head and was like "please make it stop" like what is this? >> reporter: now, inside the damage is done and it's not just her house but the one next door. this was actually on sunday, so the trees have been cut, but still here. she said she had plans to go away for the holidays, but probably not now because, of course, she's dealing with major damage on her property and just wanted to show you a car here that's parked on the street in front of the house as well looks like it got hit too. reporting live in oakland, christie smith, "today in the bay." with the wet weather comes risk on the road. >> slippery conditions, so you're going to lower those speeds. the last couple of days despite a lighter commute, wet conditions and slightly more serious accidents have had an impact on the roadways. here's the bay bridge. we'll continue to watch that rooster tailing of the water kicking off the roadway.

puddling and a wind advisory. that's what chp says. those are the conditions coming from the east bay into the city. from the north bay where there are soupy conditions and down into the city, slick roadways continue. no major flooding reported on the freeways, but as the morning continues, we're likely to see reports of flooding and maybe some downed trees. back to you. well, this morning six california counties are under evacuation orders as heavy rain continues to pound parts of southern california. the governor is calling for a state of emergency in kern, orange, riverside, san bernardino, san luis obispo and solare counties. that means the state will free up resources to help local governments with relief and recovery efforts. that are some evacuations in southern california this morning. there's also trouble on interstate 10 near state route 57. in the pomona area, landslides shut down three lanes around 3:00 this morning.

a landslide hit the same area in february. here in san jose, one pit bull found, another still running around. san jose animal control officers will continue their search this morning. two pit bulls attacked that woman in her driveway on monday night as she was trying to get something out of her car. the dogs bit her in the arm and hip. a neighbor across the street heard her screams and threw rocks and bricks at the pit bulls. the dogs ran away. animal control officers caught one of the pit bulls last night in a neighborhood about a mile away from monday night's mauling. >> the descriptions appear to be consistent with what the witnesses said, so we do believe that this is one of the dogs. >> animal control says it will quarantine the pit bull while it searches for the second dog and their owner. this morning the governor is offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in an unsolved east bay murder.

vallejo police say at least three men attacked 19-year-old ivan arosco and his girlfriend as they sat in a car on cherry street in november of 2009. he was shot several times in the chest and died. this morning a south bay police officer is in danger of losing his badge for good over a secretly taped beating. they have cell phone video of the alleged beating of the san jose state college student recorded by a roommate. san jose city manager is moving to fire the officer for what she says is, quote, unnecessary force. the police department recommends the officer be suspended without pay. the grainy video you just saw appears to show the officer striking the student more than 12 times with a baton. today bay area lawmakers will call for the power to shut down the party on party buses that are so popular with partiers in their teens and 20s.

assemblyman jerry hill of san mateo will introduce a law to hold bus companies accountable for keeping booze out of the hands of anyone younger than 21. the bill comes after the death of a burlingame teenager who drank on a party bus, then got behind the wheel of his car and crashed. his mother will be there today when the bill is introduced. right now party buses don't fall under the california public utilities commission's alcohol laws for transportation companies. tonight, san francisco police will hold a vigil to remember one of their own gunned down in the line of duty. today marks four years since officer brian tovara was shot and killed by a suspect wanted on a felony warrant. he was just 28 years old. tonight's vigil will be held at the police station at 8:00. if you have bills to pay or parking tickets to contest, you better do it now. many cities throughout the bay area are closing of course for

the holidays. even though the holidays this year fall on the weekend. in san mateo only police and fire services will be open between friday and january 2nd. the same goes for belmont, san carlos and daly city. most other cities will be closed on december 24th through the 31st and then again on january 1st. it is now 5:08 on this wet wednesday morning. mike, how are the roads looking now? >> they're wet, as you might ma imagine. slick conditions. watch those off ramps coming off of highway speeds. looking at the san mateo bridge, heading over to that side the taillights moving smoothly. you see the sheen on the roadway. chp issued a wind advisory for the bay bridge earlier overnight and that might be the same case as you're coming over the high rise for the san mateo bridge from time to time. but right now the camera holding steady and a nice drive here. the golden gate bridge, the crews have moved across to the marin side. there you see flashing lights.

it's a light volume. watch those speeds, marla, it's slippery out there. back to you. >> okay, thank you, mike. now we're going to check in with rob. what's going on, rob? >> we'll show you the state wide view on the radar because this is very interesting this morning. if you have flight plans into l.a.x., burbank or orange county this morning, you may have some delays due to severe weather that could be setting up across southern california. that's where the heaviest rain of this system is falling right now. obviously snow flying around the sierra. i just checked the snow levels, close to 6,000 feet across the grapevine so it's probably not hitting interstate 5 but you c expect wild weather and some thundershowers into southern california today. right now the south bay, santa cruz mountains catching a brief break. notice that line of heavier showers. let's zoom in for you, those are pretty strong downpours there. across the north bay you're seeing scattered showers this morning. notice most of the action starting to head off to the east and the futurecast, we'll show this for you, the trend for the afternoon, some clearing,

showers shutting down, setting us up for patchy fog heading toward tomorrow morning so high temperatures mid to upper 50s. kind of a rainy start but a sunny and at times good finish. thursday and friday we'll catch a break from the rain and just in time for christmas, more wind and rain on the way. what better time to bring in the newest member of our weather team. we have meteorologist christina lauren joining us. actually welcome back to california. >> thank you. i'm really happy to be here. a good time to be here, very active weather happening. but i want to let everybody know rob is not going anywhere. >> i'm just getting more sleep. i get to sleep in a few more days. >> moving to weekends. but on the mornings and evenings, we need you here. you're one of the best meteorologists in the state. >> oh, thank you. thank you for that. we're really lucky to have you. you have severe weather

experience in miami covering hurricanes. florida, the thunderstorm capital of the world, we really need your help with the active weather we've seen the last couple of days. >> well, i'll do what i can. >> we'll try to dry things out for everybody as we head closer to the weekend. back to you. >> all right. another california girl. welcome, christina. the time is 5:11. a feat so huge the president stopped working to make a phone call. we'll show you why a regular season college basketball game was anything but regular. plus it's supposed to be a toy for kids, but when you visit this barbie website, you find something very much for adults. we'll tell you what has a number of parents angry this morning. and -- why come the new year you're not going to hear that sound too much in san francisco. we'll tell you why the tourist attraction is going silent. reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the bay" with laura garcia-cannon, brent cannon, business and technology with scott mcgrew, and traffic with

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come on... isn't it time an auto insurer gave it to you straight? that's why you should talk to state farm. but not yet. first, talk to any one of the 40 million drivers who already have state farm. 40 million. yeah, that's more than geico and progressive combined. by a lot. 40 million drivers. more savings. and discounts up to 40%. where else you gonna get discounts like that? call an agent at 1-800-state-farm or go online. a live look from our south bay cam. you're looking at san jose at 5:14 on this wet wednesday morning.

rob will have a full look at your forecast coming up. a popular holiday gift for kids is being linked to a porn site. a sacramento mom gave her daughter an early christmas present, the barbie video girl doll. the two were surfing what was supposed to be appear official barbie site trying to upload a video. when she clicked the link to upload, suddenly porn popped up. >> i pushed my daughter really quick out of the way. i was shocked. it was a perfect pedophiler place for somebody to get on. >> mattel didn't even know about the link until our sacramento affiliate contacted them. the link has been taken down. mattel says it was put up by a third-party vendor and it is investigating. mcdermott hopes her experience will help parents remember to put up parental controls. the jingle of san francisco's famous cable car lines will be missing the next six months. the california street cable car will shut down from january through july of next year.

now, it's part of a $24 million project to upgrade old underground components. to replace the service, a muni bus shuttle will run from 6:00 a.m. until midnight. san francisco's other cable car lines will remain in operation. where no man has gone before. the uconn huskies women's basketball team is the first division i team to win 89 games in a row. now that's men or women. their decisive 93-62 win over florida last night sealed the deal. after the historic victory, the head coach got a call, well, from the president. >> no, you're not interrupting anything. if i was calling you when you had all those reporters in front of you, you'd be dying to take my phone call. we have not lost. we have not lost since you've been inaugurated. how about we keep that streak going for a couple more years. >> the wins surpasses legendary coach john wooden. his ucla bruins team won 88

consecutive games between 1971 and 1974. the uconn women have not lost since april 6th of 2008. well, for all you last-minute santas out there, there's still time to buy that new big screen tv for under the tree. we spoke with the folks about some of the best possible choices. if you're looking to go high end between 18 and $2200, cnet says panasonics tcp 50 vt series is the way to go. >> it's also a good 3-d tv so if you want that future proofing and are willing to spend the extra money to get excellent picture quality, that's my recommendation. >> if you want a great picture without the 3-d option, they recommend viz vizio. that one costs between 1700 and $2000. it's a mistake that can cost you hundreds of dollars if not

more. getting caught blowing through an intersection equipped with a red-light camera. wouldn't it be great if there was someone to warn you about those intersections? well, as garvin thomas shows us, there is. well, sort of. >> reporter: this is a two-minute story about a split-second decision. as in the split second it takes to go from yellow to red. do you slow down, do you speed up, and is that a red light camera? well, you're on your own for the first few, but that last one, perhaps now your phone can help. in just a few minutes of searching, we came up with at least half a dozen smartphone applications that promise to save you a ticket by warning you of intersections with red light cameras installed. which brings up two questions. one, do they work? and two, are they a good idea? >> it's a good idea. i wonderful idea. >> reporter: a photojournalist and i took a few of the apps out for a spin. they all work generally the same

way, tapping into your phone's gps to show your location as well as where the red light cameras are. all offered the option of an audio alert if you get close to a red light camera. >> red light camera ahead. >> reporter: also you could configure the apps to alert you to other things as well. speed traps, school zones, even railroad crossings. >> a railroad crossing ahead. >> reporter: but most importantly, did they know where the red light cameras were? >> red light camera. >> reporter: for the most part, yes. only once did our phone warn us about a red light camera that wasn't there, which is a good place to stop and discuss the biggest drawback of these apps, the distraction. when you get an alert, you often have to study the map to figure out just which intersection near you has the camera. then, of course, you can't help but look to see if it was right. all that is time spent not looking at the road. >> well, distracted driving overall accounts for about 20%

of all fatalities nationwide, distracted driving takes many forms. this would be another form of it. >> reporter: the makers of these apps, though, disagree. they say the alerts actually cause the driver to pay more attention to the road and intersections ahead, making everyone safer. of course there is an even easier way to keep everyone safe and avoid a ticket. just stop. >> stop and you don't have to worry. i haven't gotten caught. i haven't run any. >> reporter: garvin thomas, "today in the bay." good point. phantom alerts, cobra i radar, i speed cam and trapster were free to download but offered upgraded versions for a price. the time now is 5:20. we'll check in with mike and he'll take us to the santa cruz mountains where there was a problem earlier. >> there was but it has cleared up, that's good news, folks. if you're heading over the summit or expecting someone over from the santa cruz side, they will be delayed because of an

earlier sig alert but all lanes have just cleared as you're approaching that glenwood cutoff. getting into the south bay through los gatos, things are moving smoothly. there's an earlier accident that just cleared right here southbound 101 at capital expressway. over here we're talking about some downed liepz, but they are not power lines. 101 at brokaw so you might see a lane block. heading up out of the south bay, the peninsula and the nimitz freeway moving smoothly. at jack lemon square there are ak track delays so you'll have to catch your capital corridor train at emeryville because of an investigation going on there. there was an accident right there at jack lemon square. meanwhile approaching the bay bridge, an easy drive. a live look shows you weather is your big story. rob has a look at your forecast coming up in a couple of minutes. >> thanks, mike. well, the weather has caused a lot of accidents in california in the past few weeks, including one that sent a car filled with teenagers careening into a rushing river. lucky for the people inside, a

homeless couple was taking shelter under the overpass. we'll tell you about re tscexue azi nng rescue next. stay with us. [ male announcer ] how do you say... welcome to the neighborhood. ♪

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let's bring you some live pictures here from interstate 80 this morning. we've got snow levels pretty cro close to 5,000 feet. take the chaenz if you're heading to the sierra.

the snow levels closer to 6,000 feet, probably not sitting on interstate 5 if you're heading towards the southland today. around the bay area 50s this morning. kind of a mild start. we still have some rain. the winds have backed off a little bit. you'll see coming up statewide southern california getting the worst end of the system that we're seeing this morning. now, later today we'll see rain changing to showers. patchy fog for tomorrow morning but try weather at least as we head towards thursday and friday. take a look at southern california, that's where the heaviest rain is falling. pockets of rain pushing out and away from san jose heading off to the north and east. you can see a few showers around the east bay hills. look at san francisco, this is the worst of the weather crossing the peninsula. pretty against line of showers heading to the north and east moving into marin county. now you see the scattered showers leaving the north bay. we've got an area of low pressure scooting through southern california today and steadily through the day today what you'll notice is showers starting to shut down with one exception for the santa cruz mountains. they may still see lingering

showers but the trend certainly by this evening will be things will calm down and dry out. jumping ahead to saturday, this is the next chance for seeing rain and unfortunately this is christmas day. we'll talk about a lot of snow heading up to the sierra for saturday and wind and rain coming back into the picture. in the meantime we'll see things calming down. highs mid to upper 50s for the bay area today. truckee, snow will continue to fly at times. here you go, your seven-day forecast will show we catch a break. but as is typical, the patchy fog could be a problem. that will probably slow the travel at times over the next couple of mornings. then for saturday the raindrops back in. marla, back to you. a homeless couple in central california are being called heroes after saving four people from a sinking car. now, the accident happened friday. a volkswagen beetle carrying four young adults slid in the rain and went over the curb into a creek and then it began to sink. the danger and cold temperatures didn't give them time to think. the man jumped into the rushing creek, pulled three people onto

the embankment and then went to look for the fourth. >> scooped down in the water to where the car was and felt for him. i felt him and i kind of pulled him toward the shallow. >> rescuer joseph edwards says police helped all of them up the bank. he says he's happy everyone made it out alive. it is now 5:27. the freak making an appearance on your newsstand this morning. we'll tell you why. intensive healing. izone 10 the strongest itch relief medicine now has three vitamins and seven moisturizers. feel the heal. ♪

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new this morning, permits for pot farms supposed to go out

today in one bay area city but there's a snag. we'll tell you what the holdup is. >> reporter: all the rain and it saturated ground is just too much in one oakland neighborhood. a 75-foot tree came crashing down. i'm christie smith. we'll show you that coming up "today in the bay." >> from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." well, good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. >> and i'm marla tellez. it is 5:30 on your wednesday morning. brent and laura have the morning off. our top story this morning, the weather. it is triggering a state of emergency in parts of california. >> we have team coverage. kris sanchez is live in pacifica. christie smith following the weather in the east bay and rob mayeda in the weather center tracking the storm as it rolls over the bay area. let's start with rob. good morning. >> good morning. we're seeing the wettest part of the day right now with pockets of heavy rain crossing over right in time for your morning commute. notice the trend as we head

towards noon and 4:00. we see the rain changing to scattered showers. later todaye'll see the showers shutting down. right now the radar firing big time over the peninsula and right now approaching oakland. it's been dry the last 5 to 10 minutes but that's about to change as heavier rain moves in and that's where nbc bay area's christie smith joins us, talking about the one-two punch of wind and rain causing problems. >> reporter: good morning to you. i'm going to pretend i didn't hear that if you said heavier rain is coming here to oakland. i can tell you that it's been sort of on and off all morning but certainly the ground is saturated here in oakland. take a look, this is the result. a 75-foot pine tree came crashing down into a house here. the homeowner says she thought it sounded like an airplane or maybe an earthquake. the ground completely soaked from the rain. now, we're here on the oakland/san leandro border. the homeowner says that at the time that five people were

inside and this was sunday afternoon. she said two of those people in her house had a very close call. >> i had two friends on the couch at the time, so just very, very happy that they did not get hit by the branches because everything else in the living room was smashed. >> reporter: damage inside that living room pretty bad. she took some pictures there. now, she says she had planned to go out of town for the holidays, but now she's not so sure if that's going to happen because she has to deal with all those holes in the roof. i also wanted to show you here, steve showing you this car here. it looks like the tree actually fell across and hit the car as well so quite a lot of damage here in oakland but at this point not a whole lot of rain. i'm going to toss it over to kris sanchez who's in pacifica. kris, how's it looking over there? >> reporter: well, we're getting what you're getting, off and on rain. right now it's just enough to mess up your hair and make your commute a little sloppy. folks here in pacifica can

expect a little localized flooding in some areas. the folks who are likely to get flooded are the folks who are used to getting flooded when there is a lot of rain. we are expecting a high tide this morning a little bit later on, 10:00 to 11:00 this morning. not much to talk about. six feet. ten-foot waves. not major, according to rob mayeda. that coupled with the rain we've been getting over the last couple of days and the rain we're getting this morning could be the problem. clearly rain and high tide make the folks at the pacifica cliff apartments a little nervous. they have been evacuated before but no evacuations this morning. now, if you are drawn out to see the beautiful spectacle, that is a stormy pacific, watch from afar. don't go into the water. health officials from the san mateo county health department closed four beaches because of bacterial contamination. when we get a lot of rain in a short amount of time, what happens is that all of the water overwhelms the aging sewage

system and some of that sewage gets backed up onto the beaches, onto the roadways, sidewalks, et cetera. if you swim or come into contact with e. coli-tainted water, you could get a rash or a belly ache. we are watching for flooding here in pacifica, but again the rain is just mostly light and annoying. in pacifica, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> now, with all the wet weather comes a lot more risk on the roads. >> mike, you are busy and monitoring the commute this morning. >> a lot of little accidents here and there but also some trees reported from time to time and some debris. right now a look at the golden gate bridge. rob and kris both told you 101 getting hit with rain on the peninsula side. the issue here, just the rain and slick roadways. watch the speeds. further north in santa rosa, a sig alert for the northbound direction. right now a smooth flow from oakland near where christie is. pretty deep water as you're approaching the toll plaza so watch that standing water. if you come across puddles,

don't go through them, go around if you can. back to you. the series of storms marching through california is keeping insurance companies busy. state farm is reporting 900 insurance claims reported in california since monday. one insurance agent says a lot of the common claims involve fences blowing over and leaky roofs. flooding is also a big problem, a problem homeowners need to pay close attention to. >> flooding in many cases is not covered because that is something that's excluded from many homeowners policies. >> right now it is a good idea to check your homeowner insurance policy to know what kind of coverage you have. whether you're heading to work or heading out for the holidays this morning, it's a good idea to check in with us before you leave. you can sign up for severe weather and breaking news e-mail alerts at nbcbayarea.com. this morning investigators are trying to get to the bottom of a disturbing discovery at the oakland estuary. oakland police say a bird watcher using a telescope

spotted a dead woman yesterday afternoon. now, they're still looking over evidence collected at the scene of dolittle drive and harbor bay parkway near the northeast corner of the alameda municipal golf course. the "oakland tribune" is reporting the woman suffered several gunshot wounds and her throat was slit. of course if you have any information, please do call the oakland police department. oakland city leaders are trying to shut down three holtes they say are centers of prostitution. the city will announce details of lawsuits at 10:00. oakland police say the economy inn on east 12th street is one of the hotels where child prostitution and other crimes are taking place. a receptionist at the economy inn said the hotel's owners were not available for comment. also in oakland plans to sell pricey permits so people can set up large-scale indoor marijuana farms has hit a snag. the deadline to apply for the

$211,000 permit was today, but the oakland city council stopped the process last night. that's so members can take another look at the laws that the council wrote. the move comes after the district attorney issued a warning that the plan could put councilmembers who approve it in legal jeopardy. >> she is not saying we would be tossed in jail. historically when there have been prosecutions, it has never been against the city government, it's been against the facility. >> councilmembers are downplaying the warning, but admit changes are in the works and the process is on hold. hundreds of people are interested in buying those four growing permits. no word yet on when the applications will once again be accepted. tim lincecum is hitting newsstands across the country this morning. the freak gracing the cover of the "sports illustrated" today. the giants ace was named one of the most memorable athletes of the year. now, his second solo cover for

si. just so you know, here's the photo they didn't use. wonder why? i don't see anything wrong with that. hey, he's having a good time. he's a world champion. >> he can do whatever he wants. >> absolutely. >> whatever he chooses. >> just like our newsroom new year's photos. all right. >> let's take you out to the roadways where we're talking about an issue. i mentioned the fact reports of trees and wires down over the course of the morning. the latest report, northbound 680 at scott creek road as, reports of a tree branch in the middle lanes. we'll see if they have to send a crew out. a light volume of traffic but issues like the other one here at 101 at brokaw, reports of wires down. pg&e says they're not electrical woi wires but these guide wires have to be moved. no lanes blocked. antioch, your first slowing. then a live look at the san

mateo bridge because a little north of that we have rain coming down from the east bay all the way over to the city. >> all right, mike. i think we're going to head over to rob. good morning, rob. >> yeah, you can see that around the san mateo bridge. also toward antioch still some scattered showers. there you see the wide angle view of the radar. notice the trend of the most of the moisture heading off to the east. in san jose we've seen the rain let up a little bit but it's going to find you around the sunol grade as you approach fremont. san francisco seeing the worst of the weather. pretty good line of showers crossed through within the last ten minutes heading towards the bay bridge and approaching christie smith there in oakland. across the north bay and marin county, you can see light to moderate rain there. notice the north bay, already some of that moisture heading off to the east. that's going to be the trend today. as the rain starts off your morning, then we'll see clearing skies, decreasing showers by the afternoon. probably most of the showers we see will be south of san jose. highs mid to upper 50s around here today. snow at times. if you're heading up to truckee,

take the snow cables and chains. your weekend looks kind of rainy there. saturday, we'll catch a break tomorrow and friday but in time for the weekend more rain rolls in. what better time to introduce the newest member of our weather team. we have meteorologist christina lauren joining us for the first time. christina, it's great to have you back in california. >> thank you. i'm happy to be back in california. i actually had the opportunity to forecast in southern california, central california and northern california so i'm really familiar with the patterns. like you, nothing pleases me more than a perfectly accurate forecast, so it's really important to get it right. >> it is. we have two weather brains working together this morning. it's been great. you've got family here in the bay area so i'm sure they're happy to see you back. >> the best part about being back is i know the pronunciations. >> she's a pro already. that's great. just pointing out you'll take over the mornings full time coming up pretty soon and i'll get more sleep by going to the weekends.

so i'll be over on saturday and sunday and you'll be with us every morning. so a good time to come aboard. we've got the rainiest time of year now december heading into january. back to you. >> welcome, christina. >> welcome. >> that's tremendously exciting sglchblts t . the time is 5:41. keeping you and your family safe with the new cars. wee look at the crash tests coming up in a live report. and a major milestone in a fight for gay rights about to occur. we'll tell you what the president is doing today. and our own bob redell is traveling, we kid you not, to the north pole. we'll tell you what he's been doing on his journey to meet santa. reporting what matters to you, you're watching "today in the bay" with laura garcia-cannon, brent cannon, business and technology with scott mcgrew, and traffic with mi

5:43 now. in the market for a new car? this morning the insurance institute for highway safety

released its new list of top safety picks. tracie potts is live in washington with a rundown of what cars are considered the safest and no doubt some cool video as well. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. well, with over 3,000 fatal accidents in california last year, you need safe cars on the road, don't you? now we've got some recommendations for 2011 if you're ob on the lookout for a new car. you might want to check out these manufacturers because there were several that rated tops. hyundai, kia, volkswagen, audi both had nine cars on the list of 66. gm, ford, toyota all had eight cars on the list. subaru had five. in fact every subaru car was a winner in this particular list. now, these were based on the insurance industry's crash tests. they do front, side, rear tests,

rollovers. they have a new test for roof crush safety. the government has upgraded its standards, but the insurance industry says the cars that pass that roof crush test, their roof crush test are two times as safe as the federal standard. missing, though, are any pickup trucks. they didn't test the big one's. the small ones didn't make the grade and there is one minivan on this list, only one. it's the toyota ciena. scott. >> thank you very much. a group of bay area prius owners may face a class action lawsuit against toyota and dealerships. the group said its mad about battery failures it accused toyota of not honoring a warranty. the group will hold a news conference in oakland this morning. well, it is 5:45. good morning, everyone. i'm scott mcgrew. >> and i'm marla tellez. brent and laura have the morning off. you may be noticing the change of scenery around us. >> this is a temporary home while we build a new

state-of-the-art news set in a studio just a few feet away. these are not bad at all, we'll be here a couple of weeks. >> in a couple of minutes we'll look at traffic and weather. in the meantime, you think it's cold here, you have nothing on bob redell. he's in fairbanks. that's alaska. getting ready to go to the north pole. >> but he didn't mind braving the weather to file this report. >> reporter: this is fairbanks, a nice-size town situated in the center of alaska. about 2,000 miles from the bay area, 3,000 miles to honolulu, about 4,000 to miami and to tahiti, it's about 5,690. but who's keeping track, right? and for those of you stuck in those places for the holidays, all i've got to say is you obviously drew the short straw. now, before we head down the street to north pole, alaska, where santa and his elves are getting ready for christmas eve, there are a couple of things you need to know about this time of

the country. >> do you happen to have the time? >> it's quarter to 8:00. >> so i still have a couple of minutes before the restaurants close for dinner, is that right? >> close for dinner? >> yeah, you said quarter of 8: 8:00. >> it's in the morning? >> that's funny. seriously. fairbanks gets less than four hours of sunlight this time of year. it's only four miles south of the arctic circle and the tree line. and the cold is killer. i almost died the other day after the tonton i was riding on, knocked me off. thank goodness santa sent one of hi elves to help me out. he had me nice and warm inside in no time, brought me back to life. it was like a snuggie. anyways, we're waiting for the sun to come up. we're going to the north pole to

check on santa to see how he's doing, getting ready for that big flight around the world. we'll have that status update tomorrow live on "today in the bay." meantime, here in fairbanks, alaska, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> i told you tontons were real. >> he tied in star wars and snuggies all in one report. >> that's bob. 5:48. time to check weather here with rob. >> this is why it's going to such extreme measures up there in fairbanks. minus 30. highs near minus 16. that's without the windchill. just brutal temperatures there in alaska. let's fly you down to the bay area. we've got rain but it's staying well above zero here. the rain is heading more towards southern california. you can see the rain lifting away from san jose. the most substantial rain right now actually falling right over downtown san francisco, crossing over the bay bridge and heading into oakland and across marin county. the north bay actually starting to catch a break now as this rain continues to transition out of here.

the futurecast picks us up heading into the afternoon. we'll see clearing skies. things will dry out but then patchy fog may slow things down around this time tomorrow morning. highs today in the mid to upper 50s. we'll see showers and eventually clearing skies. so the wettest part of the forecast actually happening right now. we'll be dry probably at least through friday. saturday it looks like we'll see a little more rain coming in but still pretty slick roadways this morning. >> slick to say the least, rob. let me get out of this shot because if i was at home i'd want to see this. look at this, the water spraying up behind the cars. that will play a major factor in most spots. you showed the rain coming into the oakland area. it's going to get worse here at the toll plaza. yesterday the volume of traffic was not a big deal and we expect the same today. it's the volume of water that's an issue. let's look at the travel times approaching the maze and bay bridge toll plaza. the nimitz freeway no problems. the east shore freeway just a 19-minute drive. if you're taking 80 over towards the sierra, remember to bring

the chains for 80 and 50. you'll need them at some point the next few days. keep that in mind as we send it back to you. this morning one defendant in the brutal richmond gang rape case walking free. six others are headed to trial. six defendants were ordered to stand trial yesterday on felony charges in connection with the october, 2009, gang rape of a 16-year-old girl at the high school's homecoming distance just outside there. all charges were dismissed against a seventh, the youngest defendant. five of the remaining defendants face a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. one facing eight years in prison. that report about contaminated water in the bay area could soon lead to action on capitol hill. senators barbara boxer and dianne feinstein are calling on the epa, asking it to set an enforceable drinking water standard. the move comes after an environmental group found

chromium 6 in the tap water in dozens of u.s. cities, including san jose. high levels of the chemical are known to cause cancer. it is the same chemical that was featured in the movie "erin brockovi brockovich." gay right activists will claim a major victory today. the president is expected to sign legislation that will end the military's don't ask, don't tell policy that repeels a 17-year-old policy and will allow gay members of the military to serve openly without fear of retribution. this is video of the bill being signed by nancy pelosi yesterday. it is on to president obama's desk this morning. once it is signed it will take a little time for it to be implemented across all military services. overnight congress wrapped up work on a stop-gap measure spendingwise. it freezes agency budgets at the current level until march. the move extends a holiday truce between republicans and president obama until they can

return to budget battle next year. republicans of course will control the house next year and have greater power in the senate. they vowed to cut funding in many programs back to the levels they were in before obama took office. the senate is expected to vote on a nuclear arms pact with russia sometime today. the passage of the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty appears assured after 11 republicans joined democrats in a vote to end debate yesterday. president obama should have the two-thirds majority he needs for final approval. the senate will also hold a key test vote on a bill aimed at aiding 9/11 first responders. the bill would provide up to $6.2 billion in medical and economic help to the survivors and responders of the world trade center. many of them got sick because of toxins after the attacks. backers of the measure say they have the 60 votes needed to pass the bill, but they're worried republicans will try to stall the final vote so it does not

happen before the holiday break. if it is passed, it will need to be approved by the house. new york lawmakers are pressing the house to remain in session for the vote. apple is taking a bite out of profits from a wikileaks app. apple unplugged the app that allowed iphone, ipad and it pod touch users to download and get updates. the $1.99 app was removed from sale on itunes monday night just three days after it went on sale. he said he sold $1,000 before it was sold. apple says it violated developer guidelines. where you go to college can largely determine how much money you make after you graduate, at least according to payscale.com. a report that reveals the salary potential at nation's colleges. number one on the list, harvey mudd college in clairemont,

california. grads have a midcareer median salary of $126,000, a starting median salary of nearly $68,900. number two is princeton. its grads got around $123,000 midcareer, $58,000 at the start of their careers. and stanford is number seven. its graduates have a mid-career salary of $119,000. starting salaries around $60,000. stanford grads aren't just making money, so too is the university. a new report finds despite the down economy, stanford-based inventions generated more than $65 million in income for the university last year. that's almost a $3 million increase from what the university made in 2008. inventions like hypertext searching used by google and ground-breaking dna splicing technology has helped stanford make more than a billion dollars

in the last four decades. with all the wind and the rain, doesn't it sound nice to stay dry and cozy indoors watching a movie? there are a couple of new flicks hitting theaters this weekend. >> i'm looking for the man who killed my father. the man's name is tom cheney. >> jeff bridges, matt damon and hailey steinfeld star in the remake of the john wayne classic western "true grit." it is rated pg-13. if you're in need of a last checkout, "little fockers" is also rated pg-13. let's join rob. rob, you promised the sun will come out tomorrow and i bet my bottom dollar you're right. >> well, i'm hoping it's going to come out at little later on today. we'll take you on a quick tour of the radar. you can see around the south bay things improving. out towards the altamont pass still seeing rain but heading over to the tracy side.

rain moving from san francisco over towards oakland. in the north bay you're still seeing showers but the trend certainly during the day will be the sun will come out. showers will shut down as we head towards the afternoon, transitions us to a drier pattern thursday into friday but the rain will come back just in time for saturday. some wind and rain to kick off the weekend. speaking of weather, the next time you order a pizza, listen to this story, you want this guy delivering it. reggie redding braved what people in north georgia lovingly refer to as the hill of terror. last week it was covered with ice. this was after a quick rain and below freezing temps. so redding tried to drive up the hill but halfway up his car stopped, he started to slide backwards and that's when he got out and started to walk. >> i had to kick some of the leaves out of the way to walk it and i slipped. and my glasses had fell off. a couple of people that live up here were walking to their houses an they were offering me cash money, i mean big dollars

just to get this one pizza. >> redding was not tempted. he continued on to his destination. pizza delivered. it was cold. recipients didn't mind, they stuck it in the oven and thanked redding. we're not sure exactly how much they tipped him. >> i hope a lot. >> yes, i would think so. one select is feeling a little sheepish. find out why he's sporting an eye patch coming up. and an accident turns off the lights on spiderman's after dark. find outxp eveensihe most expene broadway show ever is expected to return.

good morning. i'm christie smith live in oakland where the ground is saturated and the rain has taken its toll. we'll show you the damage coming up in a live report. >> reporter: and i'm kris sanchez in