this morning, the captain's side of the story. hear his unlikely reason for ending up in a lifeboat as passengers were drowning. and a live look outside. that is sfo. a lot of lights. a lot of traffic starting to flow on a wednesday, january 18th, "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay." good morning to you, and thanks so much for joining us on this wednesday morning. 6:00 right now, i'm laura garcia-cann garcia-cannon. >> and i'm john kelly. let's go to christina loren

to find out about the forecast. >> it will start out cold but we'll end up mild with cloud cover overhead. temperatures in the 50s for the most part across the bay area. we've got a lot of rain on the way and that means sierra snow in addition to that, and we'll tell you how much to expect at your doorstep and how long the wet pattern will last, here's a hint. at least through the weekend. want to talk to mike and see what's impacting your drive. >> all the other cars, it's just getting crowded out there, maybe for once that's a good thing. but looking to the roadways for 580, we kicked in, we hit the tipping point from green to yellow. speeds down into the 50s coming out of the altamont pass and we'll see the jam drift over towards vasco over the next 15 to 20 minutes. we're watching that as well as the typical hot spots, the bay bridge toll plaza, yet. >> yet. >> yet. >> we'll keep checking. it is 6:01 right now. occupy protesters in san francisco planning to take over city streets all over again. "sf weekly" reporting protesters planning what they say is the

largest street protests since anti-war rallies in 2003. occupy protesters reportedly will picket banks throughout the city on friday, and they are calling this day of action occupy wall street west. vice president joe biden is in san francisco today for a fund-raising luncheon. the event will be held at the bentley reserve on battery street at 11:30. tickets for the events started at $2500. $10,000 getting donors lunch, a picture with biden and a handshake. the vice president's wife, dr. jill biden, will visit wounded warriors at the va hospital in palo alto. it's part of her work with michelle obama to support vets and her families. following that visit, she and the obama administration's chief technology officer will attend an event in san francisco. the captain of that partially sunken cruise ship in italy says he ended up in a lifeboat by accident. this morning, british newspaper "the telegraph" reporting

francesco schettino told interrogators he tripped and he then fell into the lifeboat. friday's accident killed 11 people. today's search had to be suspended, again, because the cruise ship started moving in those choppy waters. on the a great way to start the morning, but hundreds of oakland city workers are bracing for pink slips in oakland today. "today in the bay's" christie smith joins us live with the bad news. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, laura. this is a big hit for city workers here in oakland. about half the workforce, 1,500 people, are expected to get pink slips starting today. now, the expectation is that ultimately about 200 of them will be laid off by the end of the month. and this is to comply with seniority rules and to get the city flexibility as it tries to make up about $25 million in redevelopment funds that will be lost. this after the state-subsidized programs were basically

eliminated last month. the money is often used for things like fighting blight and creating affordable housing, but oakland also uses it to pay salaries. >> this is a paradigm shift for the state of california. we are -- we have been ordered to dissolve redevelopment. and many other local governments in other cities are dealing with the same issue in their own way. >> reporter: now, the state has created a deadline of february 1st for redevelopment agencies to be dissolved. now, what's happening here is that the mayor and the city administrator expected to make the tough decision next week on which jobs would actually be cut and then the layoffs would be effective on february 3rd. reporting live in oakland, i'm christie smith, john and laura, back to you. >> thank you very much, christie. it's 6:04 right now. new information is coming to light in the domestic abuse case against san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi, he's due in court tomorrow, but in the arrest warrant affidavit we

obtained, his wife told her neighbor about an incident involving mirkarimi. the video apparently shows lopez emotional in which she recounts the incident in which mirkarimi allegedly grabbed and bruised her right arm. she said, quote, this happened yesterday. two times in 2011 and this is the second time this is happening. she went on to say, i told ross i want to work on the marriage. we need help. i've been telling him we need help and i'm going to use this just in case he wants to take teo away from me because he's very powerful and he can do it. mirkarimi plans to stay in office while he fights the charges. his wife said the incident is a misunderstanding and calling it a private matter. santa clara county declaring a public health emergency over the drug ecstasy. the county produced a 30-minute documentary called "lives out of balance" after learning one in

four teens says, yes, they have tried ecstasy. health officials say it's important teens know ecstasy is very dangerous. it also could be mixed with other drugs. and it can be deadly. this man supports the documentary and hopes his 17-year-old niece and her friends do get the message. >> probably feel invincible, you know, and feel the worst can't happen to them but then you hear, you know, about the people taking ecstasy at rave parties and dying of overheating and stuff like that. i don't know if it takes a trip to the morgue for them to wake up or what, you know? >> to get the word out, high schools and middle schools in santa clara county have a copy of the documentary. officials hoping teachers will use this as a learning tool and to start some conversations about drugs with their students. consider yourself warned. we've been talking about the big storm, i guess a series of storms coming our way. got to dust off the umbrella. >> yeah, really wet pattern that is not only going to last through the weekend, looks like the first part, maybe the midsection of next week, rain

showers in the forecast every day, and it looks like as we head through thursday, friday, and saturday, we'll be measuring rain everywhere across the bay area in inches. so, yeah, we've got a lot on the way, just a short amount of time. make sure you've got your storm drains nice and clean because that way you avoid any sort of localized flooding in your house. 29 in livermore. very cold conditions. watch out, make sure you travel cautiously. certainly cold enough when temperatures fall to 36 degrees or below for frost to go ahead and develop on your windshields. it gets much colder in the your surrounding area. and we could see ice all day long especially over the bridge and overpasses. we'll climb nicely until about noon, but then the clouds increase. as they do so, i think we'll only end up about 65 degrees in san mateo. you'll end up at about 54 in los gatos and 52 degrees in san francisco. so, the cool air is in place. and then the rain moves in. we've got three storms on the way. the first one's packing quite a bit of moisture.

here's the deal. as you wake up tomorrow morning, the bulk of the showers arrive, a.m. showers and periods of rain, and the nice dry break for the first part of your friday, but another more significant round of rain to get through late afternoon tomorrow into tomorrow night. that's when the bulk of the moisture will come through from the friday storm. and then the coldest, most potent storm arrives as we head through saturday. and that brings snow levels down to 3,500 feet, even right here in the bay area. so, maybe 1 to 3 inches of snow high atop mt. hamilton. we'll time that out for you. we'll tell you what that means in the sierra nevada, and, yeah, we might see upwards of six feet of fresh packed powder. we'll tell you where. we want to get you to work on time on this wednesday with mike inouye. >> near freezing temperatures in many spots, and we've got an issue because it sounds like water is coming onto the roadway eastbound 237 at 101. maybe a busted sprinkler, i'm not sure. we're trying to sort out the details as chp will arrive on scene shortly. but the little bit of water, the

thin layer, may be just enough to maybe freeze or at least get a little slicker out there, so we're watching for that and once chp gets there hopefully i can tell you. but it sounds like it's just out of lanes. again, hopefully an update in next few minutes. the rest of the south bay is looking all right, as you come over 880 and guadalupe parkway, and we should see the typically slowing kicking off down here. we're looking at the times on the bay bridge and a nice smooth flow of traffic. close to 60 for all of these routes and that's a good flow of traffic through oakland and the east shore freeway. and a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza itself, the crowd is starting to grow in the cash lanes on the bottom of your screen and fastrak not a problem, and the metering lights in 15 or 20 minutes guys. 6:09, closing parts of the bay bridge for a day could get the new bridge opened months earlier. see why coming up. niners play-off tickets go on sale today. coming up we'll hear from one guy who got his and he didn't have to spend a single dime.

and a live look outside golden gate bridge this morning. another cold start, but big juicy storms coming our way, bringing snow to the sierra! >> juicy storms sound refreshing. for all the latest news, traffic, and weather and, of course, juicy conversation, come find us on facebook at nbcbayarea. ♪

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welcome back, everyone. we'll give you a live look at san jose, early morning before the sun comes up on a hump day we'd. we're here to help to push you through the week. it's 6:12. tickets for the nfc championship game go on sale in just a few hours. season ticket holders get the first crack, their chance to buy extra tickets starts at 10:00 on ticketmaster. general public can start logging

on at 1:00 this afternoon. ticketmaster is the only way they can really guarantee that your 49ers tickets are real. the sites like craigslist or ebay, you got to buy them at your own risk. san francisco police actually nabbed three people outside candlestick on saturday for allegedly selling counterfeit tickets. and if you just can't wait to get your game on until game day and you need your niners fix right now, hey, we make it real easy. just logon to our website, nbcbayarea.com, and click "road to super bowl xlvi." i like the fact that we're talking super bowl. >> of course! come on. >> beautiful thing. >> going to be a great weekend, too. right now we want to check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> yeah, great weekend to stay indoors and watch that game with the roof over your head. you'll be happy you have one. we've got a lot of rain on the way. heavy periods at times, so make sure you're ready for that. make sure your windshield wipe blades are ready to go, and it's always a good idea this time of year when things get more active

to check the tread on your tire. 55 degrees later in san jose, 54 in fremont. and you'll hit 53 degrees in livermore. it's cold out there. probably going to be cold for the first part of the day, but, hey, if you can take the mid-50s, you can shelled the jacket by 3:00 p.m. cloudy conditions. take a look at what's happening. we're getting snow over lake tahoe. not much just yet, but already picking that up on the radar returns. that's a good sign for skiers and snowboarders, we've got a lot on the way as we head through the next 72 hours. in fact, you at way through this weekend it's going to be pretty active up through lake tahoe. make sure you got your chains ready to go as you head up that way. a lot of people will be, as you're aware this is the first significant snow of the season so far. as you can see right now, seattle getting slammed. got a lot of moisture coming through the northernmost portion of the state. we'll still have to wait for it, though, until about 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. that's when the first front drops into the north bay. we continue your futurecast set it into motion, stop it at 4:00 p.m. a little bit of heavy, moderate rain coming down places like

fairfield, novato, even san francisco at that point. we'll continue this. we get a dry break for the first part of your friday, boom, the rain comes back as we head through the second half of the day. the second system packing even more moisture than the first. the difference is, though, the second system is a little bit warmer, so we'll see the snow levels fall to 6,000 feet and then they come back up to 7,000 system on friday and then we get the coldest and most potent on your saturday, and we're talking an additional one to two inches on friday. this is friday, before the saturday storm arrives, yeah, measuring the rain in inches just about everywhere across the bay area, so you want to make sure that you're ready for this. good idea to clear out those rain gutters on your roof as well. so, here it is. when it comes to tahoe, we're talking about maybe six feet of snow above 7,000 feet but we're going to get some really fresh packed powder, really good fresh packed powder. elevations 5,500 feet and above. and then as we head through saturday, the snow level falls

to 3,500 feet. that means mt. hamilton, fair game for straight snow, maybe one to three inches there. as you can see the 49ers game a little dicey when it comes to the weather forecast. i think it's not only going to be breezy but quite wet as well, so make sure you got your rain gear ready to go. you can cheer on the 49ers comfortably. we've got a live reporter who has more tips for you to prepare yourself for this wet weather pattern that's going to stay with us all the way through tuesday of next week, stephanie is live in san jose, and you're covering not just the cold air out there, the freeze warning in place for the santa clara valley, but, hey, all this rain, people need to be ready for it. >> reporter: they do, good morning, christina. it's cold out here, although not as cold as yesterday. as you mentioned, there's a freeze warning in effect until santa clara valley until 9:00 this morning, so bundle up if you are headed out this way. down here at mineta, the airport volunteer has to let people know about terminal changes, she's standing out here for quite some time and she's nice and bundled

up. take a look at the video we shot this morning, frost on the cars as we saw yesterday, on your lawns, of course, possible black ice on the roads and in particular bridges and overpasses. the real concern, though, is the rain that we're expected to get late tonight into tomorrow morning with even heavier rain into the weekend as christina mentioned. it's great news we're finally getting the wet weather but it also means dangerous driving conditions with all the oil that's built up on the road, so allow yourself more time for your commute and drive slowly. >> it's been cold. real cold. usually take my dog for walks at usually 4:30 in the morning, and it's been freezing. i have three jacquetkets on rig now. >> reporter: and also with the rain coming, clean out those gutters, the storm drains, debris has likely been building up and could flood. also as christina mentioned, great news not just the rain but the snow. so if you're headed up to the slopes, make sure you've got your chains and enjoy yourself. live in san jose, stephanie

chaung. >> not needed just yet. we want to check the roadways with mike. >> we'll take you over to the ma maze, the crowds just starting to build for the cash lanes, we might see the metering lights in 10 or 15 minutes. i was distragted by this for the last few minutes. northbound at the coliseum at high street we had a slow-moving truck of some sort and it had things backed up all the way to the off-ramp there, but that just cleared off the roadway and things are moving much more smoothly, though, as you are headed to downtown. the volume could be causing an issue over the next few heading southward to hayward and the 92. and a nice easy drive at the dublin interchange but traffic ekes over from the altamont pass over to this section we talked about between vasco and isabella, the interchange and now speeds are coming down into the 50s through that area as well. still holding at 16 minutes over to the dublin interchange, 680

and 580 and a south drive from sunol as well heading to the south bay. right here we're talking about the water reported on the roadway eastbound 237 at 101 i suddenly see some slowing. chp has yet to file the rest of that report. we're looking at possibly having to block one lane because there may be water on the roadway and i'm warning just about the chance of ice, but unlikely throughout most of the area. we're looking at a nice flow northbound and no problems coming off the cochrane, that's where there is debris. it's good news, bad news for bay bridge commuters. the bad news, caltrans says it needs to shut down the upper deck over presidents' day weekend, but here's the good news that comes out of it, that shutdown could actually shave six months off the reconstruction project. that means the new eastern span could open in late 2013. the proposed closure would close westbound lanes starting at 8:00 p.m. on friday, february 17th. if the work goes off without a hitch, the lanes would reopen at 5:00 a.m. the following tuesday,

february 21st. well, this next one is a late closing, but it's a closing nonetheless. tioga road in yosemite park closing in anticipation of the coming winter storm. the state's highest highway is normally already closed by heavy snow this time of year, but the unusually warm weather which has been very nice and the dry weather has kept it open much to, of course, the tourists' delight. this is the latest winter closing of the road in recorded history. it's 6:20 right now. coming up on "today in the bay," tim lincecum and the giants putting up some big numbers months before the season even starts. we'll have details on the contract negotiations coming up. as i'm sure you've noticed, a big protest on the internet, but the fight may be ovn eer before it'started.

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welcome back, everyone. 6:23 right now. the giants just locked up one star but they are still working on another one. pablo sandoval signed a three-year deal for $17 million. he's coming off a solid 2011 season after losing nearly 40 pounds. the new contract avoids salary arbitrations. meantime, giants in the thick of arbitration with ace tim lincecum. he wants $21.5 million a season. the giants have offered $17 million. both sums break the record for the most money sought and offered in arbitration for a

player not eligible for free agency. >> real nice gig if you can get it. take a look around the road and you'll see older cars. a new report shows the average age of more than $240 million cars and trucks on the road rose to nearly 11 years. this is a full two years older than the average back in 2000. analysts, well, they blame slow sales. automakers say cars are just better built and they last longer. the fight over two controversial bills to kro the internet is over even as the internet sites continue to protest. scott mcgrew join us. thousands of sites offline. >> that's right, all in protest of two proposed laws, it's really honestly this morning very difficult to find a congress person still in favor of those laws. even the laws' authors have backed away, but that doesn't stop the internet from holding a good old fashioned protest. let's take a tour. starting with wikipedia this is what it looked like this morning, taking millions of

english language entries offline this morning. not everyone involved in wikipedia supports this decision. the foundation after all, just finished a huge fund-raiser asking people to donate money, so kind of awkward timing. here's craigslist calling out news corp., the recording industry, the movie industry including, i need to pint out, our parent company, comcast, which indeed is on the other end of the fight. you can click through on craigslist if you need a lawnmower, so it's not totally offline. google didn't go as far as taking itself offline, it put a black bar over its logo and created an online petition against the two laws. we've talked about the laws for weeks now, but if you're just now wondering what this fight is about, it's two laws that were designed to protect legitimate copy right holders, the kind of people that work hard to bring you movie and music from piracy, particularly from overseas pirates. but the problem was not with the goal, it was with the means to get to the goal.

the way the laws were written considered by many to be too vague, putting lots of innocent content on the internet in danger. protesters also have a major issue with congress refusing to hear from experts in this matter. they've heard a lot from hollywood and content owners. congressman darrell issa of san diego got so upset he called his own hearings in to the matter scheduled for today. those have been called off because politicians supporting those bills have backed down. he is going to keep up the fight. he's written a bill called open which would protect internet users' rights online reported by silicon valley as well. back to you. >> very involved. thank you very much. it's 6:26 right now. still to come on "today in the bay," governor jerry brown delivering his state of the state address tonight. find out what he's expected to focus on coming up. hundreds of oakland city employees will get pink slips today. coming up, see why that doesn't mean they're all losing their jobs in a live report. and our extended stretch of

dry weather all comes to a halting close by tomorrow. 24 hours away from our first of a series of storms. we'll tell you what that means in your city coming up. and speaking of coming to a halt, yes, the bay bridgeplazri meeari larngst.plstone [ female announcer ] what would you call an ordinary breakfast pastry

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>> reporter: we're dealing with another cold one again today, but the real story is the rain. we've got all the details coming up. >> reporter: and a loss of redevelopment funding means more than 1,000 pink slips are going out starting today for oakland city workers. i'm christie smith, i'll have that story coming up. the case of hasanni campbell missing since 2009 gets national attention today. we'll have all the details coming up. a live look outside for this wednesday, january 18th, "today in the bay." from nbc bay area, reporting what matters to you, this is "today in the bay."

good morning to you, and thanks so much for joining us. closely approaching 6:30, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm john kelly. we check with christina loren, this is wet and cold, and it's the stuff you love working on. >> it certainly is, and i'm trying to wrap my brain around all the timing, when are we going to see the three systems hit exactly. well, i think i've got a pretty good handle on that. we'll take you through your forecast hour by hour coming up. but, first, it's cold out there, make sure you're ready before you walk out the front door. temperatures in the 20s and 30s across the board, which brings us to our very own live reporter. stephanie is live in san jose this morning. can you see your breath this morning? is it that cold? >> reporter: it is. here we go again, right there. every time i open my mouth. now, be forewarned there's a travel advisory at san jose international, but there's no delays or cancellations, there is, though, at oakland, they've canceled a flight to denver. at sfo they've canceled a

flight, an alaska airlines flight to seattle where it's very cold up there where they're dealing with extreme winter conditions. here in santa clara valley in the meantime there is a freeze warning in effect until 9:00 this morning. we're talking, again, about the frost on the car, the lawn, some black ice possibly on some roads. the real concern, though, is the rain that we're expected to get late tonight into tomorrow morning, with even more rain expected into the weekend. >> i don't mind the rain. i think, you know, we definitely need it, and, you know, it's going to be kind of miserable outside, but, you know, i spend most of my day at work inside anyway, and so hopefully it won't be too bad. driving will be kind of annoying with traffic and everything. people tend to go a lot slower. >> reporter: and, of course, it's great news we're finally getting that wet weather, but it also means those dangerous driving conditions, the oil has been building up on the roads. mix in that water and it means slick problem areas, so, again, allow yourself more time for your commute and drive slowly. also with the rain, make sure to

clean out those gutters. the storm drains. debris has likely been building up, so clean it up a ahead of the rain tomorrow. we're live in san jose. john, laura, back to you. >> thanks so much, stephanie. it's time to check in with mike inouye to find out what is happening on the roads. >> a lot of the happening is the not happening part on the bay bridge toll plaza. the metering lights were turned on five minutes ago, that's how quickly the backup forms even on a wednesday. on the top of the screen you see the eastshore freeway flowing and it stops at the berkeley curve and we've got other spots to show you coming up. >> thank you very much, mike. it's 6:32 right now, hundreds of pink slips going out today for oakland city workers. "today in the bay's" christie smith live in oakland right now. she has the information and details on what's behind all the layoffs, good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning to you, john. yeah, this is a big hit for

oakland city workers. about half the workforce, 1,500 people, are expected to start getting those pink slips today. the only people who won't would be police officers and firemen. now, the expectation is that about 200 people will actually lose their jobs by the end of the month. what's happening here is the city's trying to meet a february deadline to dissolve the redevelopment agency after the state-subsidized program was basically axed last month. oakland considers about half the city blighted, so it had a really active redevelopment program, and it paid for nearly 200 full-time workers. and some told us they've already given all they can. >> we have given up more than 20% and they're coming back for more. it seems like the more you give, the more they have come back for. >> reporter: now, the cuts are trying to make up for about $25 million in lost funds. and the city is expected to decide sometime next week which jobs will actually be eliminated unless the state comes up with a last-minute plan to spare these jobs, the cuts would be

effective february 3rd. reporting live in oakland, i'm christie smith, john and laura, back to you. >> thank you, christie. it's 6:33 right now. 5-year-old hasanni campbell disappeared nearly 3 years ago and tonight a new cable tv docudrama hopes to bring him home. a veteran reporter with "the oakland tribune" is featured in a clibl we p we obtained, "findr missing." she covered the case from the very beginning. >> while we hear hundreds if not thousands of missing children every year in oakland, they are very, very rarely 5-year-olds. >> the 5-year-old was reported missing by his foster dad in august of 2009. the tv-1 docudrama talks about his foster dad's release and then release over lack of evidence. a group that formed to search for campbell hopes someone will speak up. the show will air at 7:00 tonight on tv-1. well, the captain of that sinking cruise ship near italy

is in all kinds of trouble. he said he slipped and fell into the lifeboat. he's under house arrest. british newspaper, "the telegraph" reports the captain told investigators he ended up on a lifeboat by accident. he may face charges that include manslaughter for this. 24 people remain missing, 11 confirmed dead. the "costa concordia" ran aground on friday. vice president joe biden and his wife jill will be in the bay area today. the vice president will be at a $2,500 a plate fund-raiser in san francisco. some will pay up to $10,000 for greater access to the vice president. later tonight, mr. biden will meet with leaders in technology and innovation to talk about the economy. it is 6:35. education expected to be the focus of governor jerry brown's state of the state address taking place this morning. the governor expected to call for fewer standardized tests. he says he believes they rely too much on memorization and not

enough on critical thinking. the governor also will propose redefining how the state measures school performance. the state of the state address starts at 10:00, we'll have live streaming of it on our website, nbcbayarea.com. and don't forget to tune in and check us out at 11:00 a.m. news for all the highlights. 6:36 right now, one east bay city wants to make it tougher to light up. the dublin city council is considering a ban of the sale of cigarettes within a certain distance from homes, schools, parks, or anyplace where children are present. the final vote is expect lated r this fall. dublin became the first city in the bay area to declare secondhand smoke a public nuisance back in 2006. >> it's chilly outside but relatively speaking, christina said not quite as cold as yesterday. so we should be happy, right? >> you might noticed difference, it's still cold out there, but we're not dealing with the low 20s and teens like we were yesterday. we have more 30s and upper 20s on your temperature map.

still cold enough for the formation of black ice. you do want to take it easy on the bridges and overpasses. of course, our own mike inouye tracking everything you need to know about the highway, we'll get to his report in a moment. 47 degrees in san francisco. 54 by noon in sunnyvale, so temperatures only able to climb into the upper 40s and low 50s if you break for lunch today and as we round out the day, highs coming in at about 3:00 p.m. the highs today will probably come in more, like, 1:30 and that's because of the clouds increasing in the second half of the day. temperatures ending up in the mid-50s just about everywhere. a couple of low 50s in places like san francisco and santa rosa. let's talk about what's headed our way. we've got a lot of moisture on the way if you need to get outdoors, your timing is very limited when it comes to the first storm. as you can see, impacted the pacific northwest forcing flight delays into seattle. you want to check ahead with your carrier throughout the day. thursday. showers develop, and friday we'll get a dry break for the first part of the day and

heavier rain moves in by early afternoon. saturday, the coldest, most potent of the storms comes through. snow levels falling to 3,500 feet. so, we'll tell you how much we're expecting, what this means for the big niner came and, of course, when this pattern might just come to a close. overall looking wet for the weekend. let's talk to mike about the drive. >> it will be getting more crowded right now after 6:30, 6:38, in fact, and highway 4 has speeds down to 10 approaching summersville, but slowing speeds into the 40s and 50s through pittsburg, and 680 heading toward the 24 interchange as well. still have a smooth drive as you are approaching the maze, but the slowdowns by berkeley has started to happen as the metering lights are turned on, the backup there up the incline towards treasure island. 880, the volume increases on the

southbound side. a smooth drive through oakland downtown and the coliseum, still about 16 minutes between 238 and the toll plaza itself in both directions. and a look at the san mateo bridge shows you crossing the water, and good volume. and i'll give you more in the next report. niners play-off ticket going on sale today. coming up you'll hear from one guy who got his tickets and didn't have to spend a dime. two new reports show there's good news for consumers. a live report from washington is next. graduation.

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welcome back, everyone. some good news here, consumer debt is falling along with stress. that according to two new reports. "today in the bay's" tracie potts live to tell us about all the good vibrations. good morning, tracie. >> reporter: congratulations, california, you paid off some of your debt last year. the 11% drop from the year before is just on par with what we saw nationwide. but they think that consumer debt is probably going to go up a bit this year because the economy is rebounding. people have more. they spend more, and they tend to borrow more, even though the banks are still tightening up credit according to this report. in a completely separate report

today, "consumer reports" index finds that people are still getting auto loans, too, and home loans. in fact, auto loans are up 2%. but here's the real news out of that. consumer sentiment is up. employment is up. retail was up last month as you might expect with the holidays. but stress, that's down 5 1/2 points according to this index. it was at its lowest for the year in december. even though stress levels are down, people are paying off their debt, things tend to look good, there are still a lot of americans who are struggling. that "consumer reports" index also found that 15% of us had trouble just last month either buying prescriptions or paying medical bills. >> all right, tracie, thank you very much. probably very true following the holidays. 6:43 right now. coming up, you'll hear from the guy who won niners tickets and field passes after answering jed york's call for interesting tweets. high school students wake up

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welcome back, everyone, it's 6:46 right now. want to check the current conditions with christina loren. >> still cold out there, but not as cold as yesterday when we smashed records all across the bay area. this morning we're seeing more upper 20s and 30s than the low 20s and teens that we bottomed out at yesterday. now, it's been over 30 days without any significant rain right here in the bay area after the second driest december on record in san jose, san francisco, and oakland. everything is going to change as we head through tonight and especially tomorrow morning, so enjoy the dry break that we have for you today before it starts

to get very active out there. and today's the day you want to go ahead and clean out your storm drains, make sure you're prepared, heavy rains at times on the way. 54 in los gatos later today. 55 in san jose. so, if you are getting outdoors make sure you have the jacket ready to go, it will be a little bit on the cold side heading throughout the day and increasing clouds will limit your sunshine through the second half of the day. take a look at what the first system is bringing into the pacific northwest, heavy snow and rain there. the system will slide south heading through 8:00 a.m. thursday. continuing your futurecast, at 4:00 p.m. we're getting read with moderate rain north of the golden gate bridge. we get a little bit of a dry break on friday and then a more potent system comes through, this is warmer, so it's packing more moisture and you can see the orange and the yellow embedded within the green, that's moderate and heavy rainfall coming down in sonoma county as well as marin, so make sure you are ready for that. three storms in three days. take a look at our accumulations. the forecast shows you all that orange and yellow, yeah, that's

upwards of 2 inches of rain. even right here in the south bay, so localized flooding will likely be a factor. but you can help out. go ahead and clean out your storm drains and that will help out the situation not just for you but your neighbors as well. so, what does this mean for the big game? well, it's going to be rainy for the big game. 55 degrees, showers, and i think winds will come into play as well, 10 to 20 miles per hour, certainly strong enough to impact ball play. keep that in mind. we continue the showers monday into tuesday and temperatures stay cool, so if you got an umbrella for christmas, boy, oh, boy, you're going to get to use it and you'll get to use it quite a bit. let's check your drive with mike. if you got an umbrella for christmas, that's one of the most popular -- no, my kid s complained. southbound 101 at mathilda, we've got an accident right here. reports of minor injuries originally reports have been pulling someone from the car. it sounds like they had to wedge the door open and the person has maybe some pain in one of their legs. but the slowing expected because one lane is blocked through the area, so while there's a minor

issue as far as the incident goes, the traffic impact may be more because of that as well as another accident northbound at 101 at westbound 237. car went off into the bushes. we're looking at the flashing lights. a couple of issues around the interchange could cause early slowing for mountain view and sunnyvale. the rest of the slowing is northbound as expected from capitol expressway northbound 101 up towards the airport and your typical slowing southbound as well around guadalupe parkway, typical pattern for the south bay. moving up the lower peninsula, the bayshore freeway moves nice. the southbound sides start to slow as the sunrise starts. make sure you bring the sunglasses. 21 minutes out of the altamont pass, 580 through livermore, no incidents but a lot of people to keep you company through the dublin interchange and looking at the bay bridge toll plaza, the metering lights doing their jobs keeping people at the toll plaza but it's smooth across the upper deck. there's a freeze warning in effect for santa clara valley,

following close behind, we've been talking about the first significant rainfall. stephanie joins us live from the norman mineta airport in san jose to tell us how the weather will affect more than just the commute. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, laura, just a side note, the folks are having fun with the cold weather at mineta, someone walked by and had fun with the san jose police car, driving a heart and a love into the frosted window there. on a more serious note, mineta does not have any delays or cancellations but oakland has canceled a flight to denver and alaska airlines has canceled a flight from seattle to sfo where they are dealing with winter storm conditions up in seattle area. here, we are dealing with a freeze warning in effect until 9:00 this morning, so look out for some possible black ice on some of the roads. it has been fairly dry, so the real concern really is late tonight into tomorrow morning when the bay is slated to get hit with rain. that means dangerous driving conditions especially with the oil that has built up on the

roads. you may also want to clean out those gutters and the storm drains. debris has likely been building and could flood. the good news is that we're getting rain period. but as christina broke the news this morning, we're going to get snow finally in the sierra, so pack up those chains and hit the slopes if you can this weekend. we're live in san jose. >> all right, stephanie, thank you very much. well, it will be nothing short but a rough day for hundreds of oakland city workers. the city will hand out 1,500 pink slips. in reality, however, fewer than 200 are expected to actually lose their jobs. but the city says it does want to be flexible to deal with the loss of $30 million in redevelopment funds. the search for a 14-year-old sexual assault suspect is over in oakland. the teen, he turned himself in at alameda county's juvenile hall yesterday. police say the boy robbed and assaulted two 28-year-old women in separate attacks earlier this pon

month. the "san francisco chronicle" is reporting that pg&e lost track of more than 300 miles of gas pipelines. 140 miles of them are in urban areas. this is on top of the 160 miles of pipeline it admitted to losing track of back in december. pg&e has reduced pressure on the pipes until they can be inspected. the latest announcement could mean more fines for the utility. in the meantime "the mercury news" reports pg&e has revised its gas pressure procedures in urban areas. the utility has admitted some pipeline pressures were too high for densely populated regions. it's adopted stricter inspecting and monitoring guidelines and stepped up training and supervision for workers. state regulators had ordered pg&e to review its pipelines following the san bruno explosion. we have a little warning for you about mountain lions near the uc santa cruz campus. a pair of women walking their dogs spotted two mountain lions in the park. they were on a trail last night in the upper meadows.

the area there off the spring street exit -- or actually, i should say entrance. their dog was off leash and the women say the mountain lion, well, it appeared to be eyeing their pet. fortunately they were able to leave and nobody was injured. 6:52 right now. later today the tickets go on sale for the niners game against the giants but one lucky fan scored four tickets directly from the team's owner. what makes him so special in "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live in san carlos. this guy, i guess, had a great tweet. >> reporter: good morning to  you, laura. vince cava of san carlos won't have to watch from his living room or sports bar, all because he won tickets showing his true fan dedication while his wife was in labor. and he's not an insensitive sports snob, he said it was at his wife's suggestion that they turned on the tube in the delivery room to catch the exciting fourth quarter finish to the 49ers win over the

saints. that was this saturday as she was about to give birth, so when team owner jed york asked fans on twitter why they deserved free tickets to sunday's nfc championship against the giants it should come as no surprise that no one was more deserving than cava. my first child was born during saturday's game, my doctor allowed us to watch it during labor, it would be awesome to see the nfc champs. and when we asked him who are you going to take to the game on sunday, he told us his brother, some other guy friends. he's already blood signed a promise to his wife that she has a shopping trip or upgrade to the house in her future. reporting live in san carlos, bob redell, "today in the bay." no joke. >> thanks. >> take care of the wife. she takes care of you. >> hey, now. san francisco getting into the spirit of the play-offs, of course, and that's a beautiful sight there. city hall lit up red and gold last night. coit tower also tinged in the

niner gold. you may remember two years ago the city buildings were all lit up in orange in honor of the giants for their world series magical run. well, 49er fever catching all over the bay. if you haven't got it, be careful, you probably will. so much so, a san francisco rapper and lifelong fan providing the theme song for the 49er faithful, bailey. well, he wrote "who's got it better" after hearing coach jim harbaugh with his team's mantra. the team asking the question every game basically in the locker room, and the players, of course, answer nobody. and nobody's got it better. bailey adding a catchy beat to this, rhyming here, with some san francisco lyrics, when the 49ers president jed york tweeted this is an awesome song, things just took off for bailey, he ended up performing the song before saturday's saints game. >> just soaking it up. the energy from the crowd. knowing that they know my words by looking at the views that we

had on youtube. and it's just spreading and they're taking to it. >> all right. tried to listen a little bit there. i like that. bailey may get a second chance to perform his hit at sunday's game. good luck. the raiders, they're casting a wide net in their search to replace head coach hue jackson who was recently fired. new gm reggie mckenzie interviewing two coaches in denver. reporting that the raiders want to talk to former nfl head coach marty mornhinweg and mike tice. mornhinweg coached the lions in 2001-2002. the bears just promoted tice to offensive coordinator. he was the vikings head coach from 2001 to 2005. 6:56 right now. "today" show coming up in minutes. ann curry shows us what they're working on this morning. >> good morning, on this wednesday morning on "today," a major snowstorm hitting the pacific northwest this morning, one of the worst in years. schools in seattle already

closed. roads a mess. we'll be there live. also ahead if mitt romney wins south carolina's primary, should his opponents bow out of the race, we'll ask new jersey's governor chris christie when he joins us for an exclusive live interview. and the latest on the medical mystery we told you about on tuesday. 12 girls at one school suffering with turret's-like symptoms, we'll have the newly released results of environmental testing. and the designer of michelle obama's inaugural gown coming up with a new line for target. jason wu will give us a sneak peek when we get started on this wednesday morning here on "today." >> thank you, ann. americans are no longer tipping the scales at alarming rates. new statistics reveal after a 30-year record-shattering rise u.s. obesity rates appear to be stabilizing. new data from the centers for disease control show there's only been a slight uptick since 2005. health experts are hopeful they

may be gaining ground to slim down the nation. they say the new data is a sign that putting food nutrition on school packaging is working. george lucas said he's giving up the blockbuster movie business. lucas telling "the new york times" he's going to concentrate more on smaller art house films. his reason, he's already got enough money. no. actually, he said the troubles they had with the studios releasing "red tale" and his last three "star wars" movies, why would i make any more and yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are. lucas, he left himself an out. he said he could step in to help out on a fifth "indiana jones" movie. the founder of yahoo! leaving that company. scott mcgrew joins us. scott, largely considered good news. >> yeah, it's strange, laura, to think the guy that started

yahoo! is not welcome at yahoo! many investors are glad he's gone, shares are up 2% after he stead he'd step down. a lot of people are bitter he resisted selling to microsoft a few years ago, a deal that would have left investors richer than they are now. he may not be the last out open several others may be planning an exit or having an exit planned for them. the nasdaq, dow jones up, and miss america opening nasdaq. yahoo! up 2%. as you've no doubt noticed by now, a lot of wefb sites offline as well, wikipedia being one of them, we'll talk much more about that coming up in the 11:00 a.m. back to you. >> sounds good. want to check in with meteorologist christina loren once again with a look at the forecast. >> good morning, hour-by-hour forecast shows we won't be that warm, and we're tracking the storm. >> and a sigalert, half an hour to clear, southbound