morning, december 23rd. i'm marla tellez. brent and laura have the morning off. we begin with traffic and weather. >> it's a nice start to the morning so far. mike inouye and downright chilly in the north bay. patchy fog and 2:00 and 3:00 this afternoon. staying cooler in the north bay and clouds spilling in. freezing advisory on interstate 80. that's one thing we are watching and we have a lot of clouds hinting at the christmas day storm. first a check of the morning commute across the east bay if we can look at the maps. i can show you around the freeway, things right on time. slowing northbound 880 as you leave oakland and as you head off to the bridges as well.

travel times still on schedule. a holiday-like morning so far. back to you. >> thank you, rob. this morning two people are dead and six people are shot and a manhunt is under way for the gunman. south san francisco police are looking for three men seen driving away from the scene at lyndon and eighth last night. neighbors called 911 after hearing shots fired. they found three people on the ground and two were dead. another victim is in critical condition. another said her 15-year-old brother is shot in the leg. >> my brother is 15 and he's traumatized right now. right now he's not talking because he's traumatized. >> police are looking into whether there was an argument before. they saw a 2000 to 2002 brown

chevy impalla with tinted windows drive away after the shooting. a portion of the a.m. ma den county park in south san jose is off limits indefinitely. santa clara county parks department shut it down after a landfill company released a by product of methane gas at the northern end of the park. they don't know if it's harmful to humans or animals, but they smelled a strong odor tuesday. a few trails by the entrance are closed until further notice. taking toxins off tap. the epa is moving to address a potential health risk of chromium 6, a known carcinogen in water. they named 31 cities across the country where cancer-causing chemicals have been found in tap water. the environmental working group

released a report after analyzing drinking water. the study lists san jose among cities with the highest levels of the chemical. tens of thousands of teachers stand to lose jobs next year. a new study questions layoffs based solely on teacher seniority. it shows laying off teachers with the least seniority has a significant impact on students's ability to learn. next year thousands of teachers may get binge slips as stimulus money dries up. researchers recommend laying off teachers based on student performance. some teacher unions say that method would be inconsistent and inconclusive. the head coach of stanford's women basketball team is in an elite club. she has 800 wins and is the sixth women's coach to reach that mark. she got number 800 last night. one of the former players was

there to celebrate with her. she is the head coach at south florida. next week, vand veer will face a touch challenge trying to beat uconn. they the huskies won 89 in a row. the niners can't seem to settle on which mr. smith will be starting. troy smith gets the nod for the game in st. louis. the niners must win to qualify for the playoffs. tonight you can catch the giants's world series run the way it was meant to be seen and heard. with crook, kip, and dave flemming. they can hear the radio calls tonight at 7:30. game four of the world series against the rangers relived. a complete schedule of the games is on csn bay area.com.

expect busy airports and roads. holiday travelers have company this year. new numbers are out this morning. today in the bay's christie smith is live in oakland international with a look at how it's going. you are not alone this morning. >> reporter: no, we are not at all. a lot of these planes take off around 6:00 in the morning. we are starting to see people where they were walking. they start to run with the rolling luggage. i want to step aside. it's far in the distance, but we will take a chance you will see an outline of it. this is curbside check in for southwest airlines. all of the people are lined up in the distance. if you are traveling today, you will have plenty of company. the counters don't even open until now, but people have been lined up for about an hour trying to get a jump on it. that goes along with travel being up about 1% to 2% this december over last.

today and tomorrow the busiest of the week. about 3% more californians are traveling by car, air, and train this holiday season. maybe it's a sign that confidence is coming back and the economy with optimism. here's what one traveler told us. >> i travel about the same, but i don't think the economy is all that great right now. i have friends that have been looking for a job for a year. it's gotten a little bit better. >> reporter: you travel anyway? >> yes. >> reporter: more travelers are heading out in their car this year over last as well. traveling about 1200 miles. we have a few dry days in store. that helps too. let's take a live look if we can over at sfo. a good crowd there and our

photographer is there and it's not too unbearable there. it is early. one thing i notice that they cut out this morning if you are heading out, it's probably not a good idea. we did not see one present. not one. live in oakland, christie smith today in the bay. thanks, christie. weather continues to be one of the top headlines all over the world. airlines are struggling to catch up after a few days of delays and cancellations. the snow and ice in europe are beginning to melt. still hundreds of flights were canceled earlier this week. in paris, airlines are also dealing with piles of lost luggage. people lined up hoping to find their bags. back in the states, work continues on the metrodome in minneapolis. the home of the vikings could be out of commission longer than

expected after heavy snow caused the roof to cave in. concrete dwighters were helping to keep it from flying off. engineers used a shotgun to break open the snow dams. in arizona this morning, homes teetering on the brink of disaster. check it out. there is so much rain in mojave county, five homes have been washed away by fast flowing waters. three others are in danger are washing away. the heavy rains have damaged a number of other homes in the area. more rain is expected to hit arizona this week. >> california's flood suggest bad in san diego. torrential rain forced lifeguards into action yesterday. they had to set up a zip line to rescue people trapped in a hotel. swift-moving and deep water caused the hotel to be isolated.

crews at qualcomm stadium working to try to get the stadium drained in time for the poinsettia bowl tonight. the field is under a foot or two of water. the game will go on. in case you are wondering, it features san diego state versus the navy. >> in orange county, check out this mudsliding down the roadway. about 30 people were told to leave their homes because of rolling boulders and debris. the narrow canyon was burped by a 2007 wildfire and remains at risk for mudslides. check out this video from claremont. downed power lines littering the street. crews working to get things cleaned up. all that trouble in southern california is why amtrak is cancelling some service this holiday season. until mid-slides are cleaned up, service between san juan

capistrano and san diego has been canceled. here at home, get ready to hit the road. the snow is high and the crowds are low in tahoe. merchants think everyone is scared away by the storm talk. lines on the slopes and in stores are short or nonexistent. the conditions are fabulous with record breaking snow levels at all the resorts. it is 5:10 and people are scared away from tahoe. we don't want to scare them. >> it is remarkable. record breaking snowfall up and down the sierra. 14 or 15 feet of snow so far. pretty amazing now. southern california tach of catching a break. actually the rockies about to get blasted by a few feet of snow. lake tahoe with an easy drive and freezing fog around interstate 80. look out for that. a good day to travel to the sierra today and tomorrow.

we have the system that will spill clouds our way. the rain will likely hold off until about midday saturday and will pack a punch. the rain is racing in and heavy rain at times. totals up to two or three inches with the coastal mountain tops getting started on saturday. upper 50s around san jose and mid 50s in the north bay and cooler with high clouds. between now and friday, we should stay dry and the wind kicks up and the rain starts to fly again saturday. >> thanks, rob. 5:11. a minor car accident turns into a big ordeal for one driver. what he did that got the secret service involved. ready, set, shift. the important holiday deadline you need to know about this morning. plus -- she just cried, screaming, saying you can't give me $1,000. >>$1,000. o one company is putting a personal touch on the season of giving.

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president obama's former right hand man will be able to run for mayor of chicago. a judge rejected the claims of more than two dozen people who argued he did not meet the one-year residency requirement. rahm emanuel owns a home and pays taxes in the city of chicago, but spent much of two years in washington working as the white house chief of staff. >> in more than a week, california will swear in new leadership in sacramento. governor-elect jerry brown will take the oath of office on january 3rd at the sacramento memorial auditorium and host a private reception at the california state railroad museum. an inaugural committee will cover expenses, but brown plans to keep a tight budget. if you lose control of your car and wind up on someone's lawn, you expect to get questions from angry homeowners. when it happened in the preston hollow neighborhood near dallas,

you could be in store for questioning with the fret service. a driver showing off his muscle car crashed on to the lawn of former president george w. bush. the gas pedal got stuck and he lost control. the secret service and dallas police questioned the man, but they said it appears to be an accident. the president and mrs. bush were home at the time, but were never in danger. a worldwide skype outage affected bay area companies and other users. it was first reported yesterday morning a little before 9:00. skype tweeted that some users might have problems signing into the service. two hours later nrnls were working to fix an issue. skype relies on super nodes to connect users with each other. large numbers went down, causing the communication break down. let there be light as long as it's from an energy-efficient

bold. they are standing firm to ban the sale of conventional light bulbs by 2012. the eu banned 100 watt and brighter bulbs. they last longer and use less energy. they are more expensive by about $2 per six-pack. the bulbis could cause a hazard if they break. a similar law bans conventional light bulbs by 2014. they will start implementing it next month. >> today is the last chance to ship fedex express in time for christmas. more than 223 million shipments moved through in the holidays and all that traffic is paying off for fedex investors. they posted second quarter earnings of 89 cents per common

share. you heard of pay it forward, but how about make it personal? from dallas, a company that is handing out an unusual holiday bonus. >> the holiday bonuses these employees receive are changing lives. >> we established a program called making it personal. what it is is making the process of giving and changing the world much more perfect for each employee. >> every year employees receive $1,000 to give to someone in need. the recipient cannot be charity. >> i couldn't believe a company being so small would do something like this. >> this year it resulted in 23 people all having $1,000 each to look around their world and see who is impacked and people for the most part see people and hand a check to them personally. it's a transforming experience

for most of them. >> employees tell stories of giving. >> she went to her and said i have $1,000 here with my job to help you. of course the woman broke into tears and bought tires for her minivan that allowed her to work and take care of her family. >> she just cry and screamed and said you can't give me $1,000. >> for employees and the recipients, the experience is an unexpected blessing. >> she was told to be patient and it would come. i was placed in her life for a reason. >> it's a privilege. >> it's so fun to see people see the opportunity to help. >> for dale thompson, the results mean changing the world one person at a time. >> for the fourth year we run this program where each one of us has to take on responsibility

and opportunity and privilege to touch people's lives. >> i have been challenged to make it personal too. dale has given me $1,000 to give to someone in need. >> what a nice program. one government is offering up evidence of possible signs of life on other planets. we will show you the video and let you be the judge. that's still to come. here is a live look at the city of oakland. sparkling this morning. it is 5:20 and this is today in the bay. stay with us. ♪ [ female announcer ] yoplait's real fruit and the goodness of dairy... gives you a little slice of happy. and happiness cos in 25 decious flavors. explore them all. yoplait. it is so good.

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and welcome back as we show you the temperatures we are waking up to. it is chilly. novato towards santa rosa with patchy fog and 30s to start off the morning. livermore to 39 degrees and patchy fog in the pass. 47 in san jose and 49 in san francisco. fog the only thing you have to watch for. patches of low clouds for the afternoon and dry through friday. the winds picking up and saturday in time for christmas, we are talking rain and gusty winds. 20 to 35 miles per hour. something to look for as early as friday. out towards the sierra, traffic cams in the high country,

freezing fog is up and you get drizzle on frozen ground and it ices up. look out for that on 80 and 50. no snowstorms for 36 hours or so. bay area looking dry for now. you will notice from time to time, we have high clouds and areas northward, you may see a few showers. high pressure should hold ground for now and probably for the better part of tomorrow. more rain is ahead as we head through the weekend. patches of fog and cool temperatures towards the north bay. highs in the 40s to low 50s. mid- to upper 50s for the south around san jose. here's the saturday forecast. the rain rolling in. gusty winds picking up ahead of that front. you will notice they are turning gusty saturday morning. sunday will follow-up with more showers and maybe the chance of a thundershower. rainfall totals, we are looking at two to three inches of rain. coastal rapes getting the

heaviest rain and most of the bay area close to an inch of rain. this is a significant system cong in as we go through the weekend. upper 50s in san jose running cooler as you head to petaluma and helds berg. look out for the freezing fog. storm, rain and wind on christmas and showers and isolated thunder to finish off the weekend and another two daybreak and more rain next wednesday. the weather is looking pretty good. the golden gate bridge and notice the roadways are dry. not seeing much fog there, but holiday light there. let's show you the maps and the east bay highway 4 with everything on time. the pass despite the patchy fog looking good. west and eastbound and up and down the east bay with travel times on schedule. the same story into san jose. look at the green on the map. you will never see the maps look like this when everyone gets back to work.

travel times on schedule. san mateo bridge with patchy fog, but overall your travel times into the peninsula. >> you are the bearer of good news today. a new gaming website is taking social networking to a new level. winster uses social games based on trust and collaboration instead of comp toigz create new friendships. most of the membership is female and many are older than 45. some friendships blossomed into row mantic relationships. they have two million monthly visitors and founded six years ago. in contrast, facebook and other social networking sites are often based on useful relationships. >> this morning the new zealand air forces revealing four decades worth of classified uso files. the military agency released thousands of pages of notes on

sightings reported between 19 and 2009. one of the sightings was captured by a cameraman in 1978 and shows a glowing circle in the sky. >> it hovered along and darted. >> scientists say the light was either an unusually bright sighting of venus or a glimmer from radio and light waves. time now is 5:27. we head north, way north. today in the bay's rob redell visiting santa at his workshop. to find out how the holiday rush is going. here's a live look from the south bay camera as san jose wakes this thursday morning. stay with us. actually does it. [ female announcer ] gold bond ultimate healing lotion. nothing feels like it, smells like it, heals like it. gold bond. this stuff really works.

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>> if you are traveling today and tomorrow, you will have a lot of company. a live look at what it's like at the oakland airport. >> did you just double dip that chip? >> double dip the chip? >> double dipped? what are you talking about? >> you dipped the chip, took a bite and you dipped again. >> so? that's like putting your mouth in the dip! >> that's not the only gross thing lurking in the holiday buffet. we will tell you what to look for.

>> a live look outside, it is december 23rd, christmas eve eve. this is today in the bay. >> i'm marla teleez. >> brent and laura have the morning off. let's look at the forecast. >> we are watching patchy fog. north bay waking up to 30s and visibility is down to about a quarter mile at tiles. if you top the do last second shopping, you want a jacket. mid 50s and cooler across the north bay and for now, we don't have rain. that is a developing storm system that will pack a punch on christmas day. we will show you the forecast in a few minutes. >> put on a jacket and lots of patience. more californians are traveling

this holiday season. the new information comes from aaa. especially since tomorrow is a holiday for many businesses. good morning, christie. >> reporter: it has picked up since we last checked in. i understand why people are standing in there lined up at about 4:15. planes don't take off until 6:00. every time we turn around the line gets longer and longer. this is one of the ipod travel days. you will have people shoulder to shoulder with you and plenty of company out there. you need something to do with your time. this goes along with what the airport is saying. air travel is up about 1% to 2% over last december. the busiest days of the week.

3% more californians are traveling this year. they are thinking this is a sign of stronger consumer confidence. either way it's going to be a long and a busy one. one traveler said the earlier the better. >> we don't have seat assignments. >> how was the parking? >> i parked at a park and fly. it was fine. >> i believe we have a live look from sfo this morning. our photographer is standing by and said it's picking up inside the domestic terminals since they last checked with him. even though of course the weather is good today, you want to check in with your carrier because it could be storms elsewhere. we saw a couple of delays this morning into southern california. into the d.c. area. today in the bay. >> an ipod travel day.

that's a good one. >> thanks, christie. >> now to a today in the bay exclusive. a man who stumbled across the body of a murdered woman who was half snake and her throat slit. she was shot several times. he was found on rocks in the estuary on tuesday. the man wants to remain anonymous, but said it's a discovery he will never forget. >> i thought is this a homeless person who didn't make it through the night? i thought there was some possibility that she might be hypothermic and might still be alive. >> the body was found along the shoreline. they don't know the woman's name and have no idea who left her there. oakland police are offering a $10,000 reward for helping to find the killer. sex offenders are getting around a law that is supposed to restrict where they can live.

a few dozen challenge jessica's law that prevents them from living near a park or school. they issue stays allowing them to ignore the ban pending rulings, but often the slow pace mean they last until parole terms expire and they can continue to live near schools or parks. north pole alaska is getting ready to send off the most famous residents. in about 24 hours, santa claus will into a sleigh for his trip to a roof top near you. >> outside santa's house with an update. good morning, bob. >> good morning to you, marla and garvin. merry christmas to you. you can tell something magical is about to happen here in north pole. the jolly elf himself, rudolph

and the eight tiny reindeer who has it turns out are not that tiny after all. sometimes even the fastest animals in the world have to take it slow. dasher, dancer, donner, britsen resting for the maddest did she around the world. helping the jolliest guy in the world deliver on the countless toy requests pouring into the remote town of north pole, alaska a. >> you have no clue. >> the u.s. postal service has been receiving 30 to 40,000 letters to santa each week. >> you get people looking for something extravagant like a home computer down to a toy for their puppy. >> all 5-year-old cassidy

wants -- >> is that real? >> all santa wants is a sleigh to replace the old one. wish granted. >> i got a new this year with gps, hot chocolate and the whole nine yards. >> santa is proud of the sleigh. he is in his workshop. he is too busy. we did get one of his helpers here. let's go over the checklist for the trip around the world on christmas eve. >> everything is under roll. >> you know me well enough that when someone gives me lip, i confront them. he is 3 foot 2 or 3 foot 3. i don't want to end up in a hospital.

>> give us the temperature. >> it's really not noteworthy or news worthy. eats only negative 40. >> my goodness. you can feel your toes? >> at least it's not negative 41. that's when you start to feel it. >> with the wind chill it's at least negative 43. that's what it feels like. >> santa says he has his navigation system this year? >> he does. finally he gets with the 21st century. he has rudolph's red nose which is the main beacon that guides him throughout the world. he will be taking off soon. >> he got my list, right? >> he did. i actually presented it to him as you gave it to me. put it this way. his reaction is not one you want to remember. >> thank you very much, bob.

stay warm. >> merry christmas, you guys. >> merry christmas to you. >> 5:38 and time to get a check of the forecast. minus 40? ouch. >> ohm 80 to 90 degrees warmer here in the bay area. wow. that is cold. boy our standards, 30s around the north bay is chilly. patchy fog and no rain or snow to talk about. not much wind. the fog reducing visibilities and about a quarter mile or less. dry for now. a strong system will come cranking upstarting late friday. in the meantime, travel plans are okay. we have the patchy fog to slow you down this morning. cool temperatures today. not minus 40 or 50, but 40 or 50 above zero for the north bay. mid 50s and here's your saturday forecast with not just the rain, but gusty winds. you will see that cranking up as early as friday night. across the north, two to three

inches of rain and for the rest of the bay area, this system will pack more rain than the we saw the other day. the weekend looks soggy and sunshine as we make our way towards sunday. highs near 58 and mid 50s and the seven-day forecast will keep us in the pattern every two to three days we get a soaker with gusty winds. that's your saturday and by wednesday, more rain and wind in the bay area. >> thank you, rob. the time now is 5:40. santa has a naughty and nice list. you shouldn't use it. keep your kids in line during the holidays. >> it's meant to keep you safe, but is it an invasion of privacy. an insurance company that is tracking where you drive and how. >> could being with the ones you love be bad for your health? >> let's take a peek outside. the golden gate bridge is one spot programmed on his

ma w ho is making his way to the homes of good bay area children. back in two minutes. #a

>> welcome back to theprogram. 5:42 is the time and it is thursday. only two shopping days left until christmas and rob promises us a dry one. you may want to get out and take advantage of it. >> one of our producers, joe, is a bit of a christmasaholic and a shopping procrastinator was out shopping yesterday afternoon and said it was nuts. he went to the mall because he didn't believe you could still buy gifts on line and get them delivered on time for christmas. our brian moore told us you can. good morning. live in washington this morning. >> marla, it is madness. madness, i tell you. the national retail federation kind of say that too. they have never seen anything like this. sales are through the roof.

we look at online retailers seeing 23 to 50% increases in sales year to year. they are doing everything they can to keep those numbers up in the stratus fear. let's look at a couple of major retailers. niemann marcus and tiffany's are offering fast shipping at basically free prices as long as you get the order in by today. jcpenney is in on the deal offering half off. you don't have to pay as much as you do at tiffany's and niemann marcus. amazon.com seem to be taking the cake. you can order something christmas eve and have it delivered the same day in some areas for just $3.99. don't know how they do it. hats off to them. you may have to buy the hat from them. you can do it on christmas eve at a cheap price. >> making miracles happen.

thank you very much. the country is ready to launch a rake red war against south korea. the leader made a comment this morning. north korea said the south is fueling tension in the peninsula through a series of military drills. south korea is staging the largest air firing drills of the year in a show of force after a shelling of a frontline island. they show south korean fighter jets dropping bombs and a 40-minute drill near mountains about 20 miles from the border. in a statement, they call the drills provocative and offensive. time is now 5:45. good morning to you all. >> brent and laura have the morning off. you certainly are noticing a change of scenery around us since monday. >> this is our temporary home

while our state-of-the-art news set is assembled a few feet away. don't lean against anything. very temporary. we will be in our new digs in a couple of weeks. you will notice the improvement. >> absolutely. we want to look at traffic and weather. he is doing double duty today. >> good morning to you. in terms of getting travel plans done, you have patchy fog to worry about. chilly. we are seeing 47 in san jose. 39 degrees in livermore and 36 in santa rosa and 32 in novato. between now and friday, we will be dry and the wins pick up late tomorrow hinting at the christmas storm that will pack wind and rain. if you are heading to the sierra, good time except for freezing fog the next system is tapping into tropical moisture and this is the reason why we see things changing up midday on

saturday. the futurecast with the revy rain and scattered showers to follow on sunday. heavy totals around the north bay with two to three inches by the end of the weekend. in terms of snow, you will notice we take you into the weekend. the fog and icy conditions. by the end of the week, one to two feet of snow on a snow base that is close to 12 or 15-feet in spots. incredible skiing in the sierra. 58 degrees around san jose. north bay running cooler because of the clouds spilling in. 40s and 50s for highs and plan on wind and rain for saturday. showers and sunny breaks and another break in the rain coming up monday and tuesday. let's show you the morning commute around the east shore freeway. slowing as you approach the berkeley curve. overall not too bad as you get past the tunnel. the benicia and car quinnacy

bridge, east shore freeway highway 24 nimitz freeway and travel times looking good. highway 4 still on schedule. that is an atypical commute, but holiday lights there and along 580 through the pass this morning. back to you. 5 tile time 48. a drunk driver will serve 51 years to life for the crash that killed a major league baseball pitcher and two of his friends. 24-year-old andrew thomas gallow sat sobbing in the santa ana courtroom as relatives of his victims shared their pain. will goo was convicted of three counts of second-degree murder for the alcohol-related high speed crash in april of 2009 that killed nick adenhart. he apologized to the families of his vehicles and asked them to forgive him. he will not be eligible for parole until sometime in the 2050s. grinches with heart two

sizes too small vandalized a christmas display with a charity donation box in northern california. a home surveillance system caught them on camera. it happened at a folsom church. it appears to be two teen girls taking down lights and taking down the box for the make a wish foundation. what would cindy lou who say? they hope someone in whoville know who is they are. a major recall this morning affecting diabetes patients. 350 million glucose test strips are being pulled from shelves after they were found to give inaccurate results. the fda is working with abbott to recall six of the brand name glucose test strips. the recalled strips may give a false low blood sugar result that could cause patients to raise glucose unnecessarily or avoid treating high blood sugar because of the low reading.

president obama got out of washington later than planned, but left with more than many thought he would get. he strung together a series of legislative wins with republican help. he got a treaty with russia, a repeal of don't ask don't tell and other items on his wish list. as brian moore reports, the incoming congress may not be as generous. >> merry christmas. >> how is your vacation? >> president obama is off on his holiday hawaiian vacation and happy it get out of town on a high note. >> it's fair to say this has been the most productive post election period with we in h in decades. >>. >> the resolution is agreed to. >> he won his signature achievement. the start treaty with russia. >> the motion is adopted. >> the house overwhelmingly passed aid for the first responders of 9/11 before going home. the president signed the repeal of don't ask don't tell into

law. he said his biggest disappointment was the failure of the dream act. his bipartisan tax compromise was a bitter pill to swallow for members of his own party, but it demonstrated the diplomacy he will need as republicans take the reigns in the house. >> the republicans recognize that with greater power comes greater responsibility. >> president obama said the final weeks of this lame duck congress show that he and republicans can work together. in a few weeks, they will have plenty of chances to prove it. the president is talking bipartisanship and republicans are getting ready for a fight. they want to repeal the health care reform law. brian moore, nbc news, washington. with about 48 hours to christmas morning, they want to keep up with demand. they will not close doors christmas morning.

toys 'r us is in the middle of an 88-hour selling spree all over the country. they are open for customers 24 hours a day through 10:00 pardon me o christmas eve. toys 'r us is not the only one staying open. several wal-mart and walgreen stores will be open 24 hours. lineup the load this holiday season. shouldering family demans and worries appears to weigh heavy on the chest. danish researchers followed 4500 daals with good heart health for years. those who had worrisome or demanding relationships with their partner or a child were two to 3 1/2 times more likely to develop angina or chest main. worries about family members was linked to a doubling of angina risk and arguments with friends and distant relatives were

insignificant, fre friend conflict with a partner by 44% and with a neighbor by 60%. >> a device that tracks your driving habits. snapshot monitors when someone drives, their mileage and how hard they use their brakes. it doesn't track where the driver goes. they use the infoe to give downs on insurance. the new version success rolled out in michigan and earlier versions are already out in 27 states and 100 hundred thousand customers have signed up. changes for nursing mothers who are federal workers. president obama wants a breast-feeding policy in place for federal employees. he issued a memo asking workers to draft the rules and the changes are mandated in the health care overhaul bill passed this year that require new breast-feeding rights especially for hourly workers that ensures they will not be discriminated against or fired for

breast-feeding or pumping during breaks or lunch. the park district landed a $1 million grant to restore marsh and the regional park in richmond. the money will be used for title and seasonal wetlands. they provide the public access to the area. the transformation will let people enjoy access to the shore. >> we are catching a break, but it will impact us around christmas day. if you have travel plans, patchy fog may show you down. we will get high clouds for the afternoon that will block out the sun. 40s and 50s for highs around the north bay. for saturday, gusty winds and rain and isolated thunder not

just for the cold front, but the cool and unsettled air that follows into sunday. saturday is certainly the windier and wetter half of the weekend. late sunday into monday, things are calming down around the bay area. highs and 58 degrees around san jose. patchy fog in spots. here we go for the weekend. wind and rain and showers for sunday and another two-daybreak monday into tuesday and more rain midway through next week. back to you. >> thank you very much. vending machines are taking seafood to the next level. when you see the seafood favorite you can buy it on the spot alive. crab selling machines are popping up in subway stations in china. the freshly packed treats sell for less than $10 and kept in temperatures between 41 and 50 degrees. if you buy a dead one, the company will give you three live ones for free. the buffet is a great way to handle food at a holiday party.

people can serve themselves whatever they want, whenever they want. you leave certain dishes out too long, you may be serving up food poisoning. if you are planning a buffet, skip heavy mayor and egg-based dishes and crack down on the double dippers. scientists at clemson said double dipping three to six times can transfer as many as 10,000 bacteria from the mouth to the bowl. salsa picked up the most bacteria because it tends to be runny, spreading germs more easily. experts say for the most part if you can keep hot things hot and cold foods on ice you should have the makings for a great and bacteria-free party. >> he sees you when you are seeping and knows when you are awake and knows if you have been bad or good or double dipping. >> many parents used santa to threaten kids to shape up.

experts say it's not a great idea. turning jolly old st. nick to an enforcer takes the fun out of the holidays. keep the holidays separate from discipline. >> good advice. >> it is now 5:57. bob redell is outside santa's workshop. coming up, we are going back live to the north pole. time magazine named facebook's founder as person of the year and another picked steve jobs. >> the clean up has begun in southern california. a live report is next o t t 6:00.

good morning. i i'mchristie smith. if you plan on traveling before christmas, prepare to have a lot of company. we will show you long lines