nearly brought to a stand still. thousands forced to find a new way to the annual chinese new year parade. the largest bus since a ban took effect. a hockey showdown in the winter olympics. the face-off against russia, a game for the amgs. a live report from sochi. good evening, everyone. i'm terry mcsweeney. >> i'm diane dwyer. we're on a little bit later because of olympics coverage. we begin with hundreds of thousands of people gathered in downtown san francisco. it is the annual chinese new year's parade.

and traffic is always bad. but today is even worse after muni had to shut down one of its main stations. nbc bay area's monte francis is there with more for us. hello, monte. >> reporter: that's right, the underground subway was shout down between embarcadero and van nuys since this afternoon. first, i want to show you the parade under away just about an hour ago. this is considered one of the largest celebrations of the chinese new year. the parade started here on market street. up to union square. north on powell street. and to chinatown, on post and

then kearny. this is the year of the horse, which is the seventh animal in the chinese zodiac. we caught up with mayor ed lee. >> during those times the horse is the only one that delivered people and goods. so he had to be very dependable. i think this year it's a cowl upon all of us to be more dependable to each other, more prospero prosperous. that's the message we're giving. >> reporter: thousands of people trying to get to the parade, were affected by the incident at the powell station today. they had to shut down that station when a man was killed on the track. a muni spokesman told me it was unclear whether the man jumped or fell near the train. we understand that service resumed just about ten minutes ago. and b.a.r.t. was not affected. a lot of people used that as an alternative.

back here live, you can see it's a festive atmosphere. the mayor said he knows we really need the rain but really hoping it will hold off at least until 9:00. that's when this parade is expected to wrap up. live in san francisco, monte francis, nbc bay area news. >> monte, thank you very much. people were advised to bring their rain jackets to that parade today. after last week's soaker. another round of rain this weekend. let's take a live look at the bay bridge in downtown san francisco from the emoryville camera. rob mayeda joins us now. how strong is this storm going to be? >> fnothing like the strength o last week's storm. right now, san francisco just seeing clouds. 47 degrees, breezy outside. a little misty around san francisco. though we will see heavier rain dropping into marin county, and south into san francisco. misty skies off to the east. we'll turn things around and

show you the north bay. that's where the rain is for now, within the next 15 minutes or so we should start to see this pushing to the south, in san francisco, just after 9:00, we'll see light rain at times. picking up in intense as you approach midnight. the system likely bringing about quarter inch of rain in the wettest locations. so not very strong. the question is, how much is this going to hang around for your president's holiday weekend plans? we'll look at that in the forecast in just a few minutes. police in the east bay are investigating a deadly stabbing behind a brewery. officers responded to a fight at a parking lot behind the buffalo bills brewery in hayward around 12:30 this morning. they found a man who was stabbed and died at the scene. two other stabbing victims went to the hospital on their own. police are not releasing the name of the victim. new at 6:00, wildlife officers in san francisco seized thousands of pounds of what's believed to be shark fins headed to bay area restaurants. this is a picture from the bus

that took place last month. officials with the california department of fish and game said they followed the trail of shark fin soup served at emoryville back to the supplier. authorities say the business involved is quony incorporated, opened by michael quon. the group has since dropped its case. quon was cited and released. the bill was passed in 2007 because of the way fins are harvested. >> they simply bring the sharks out of the water, he hardly keep them out of the water for a significant part of the time, cut the fin off and dump the carcass back in the ocean. it will die a slow painful death, for two small fins they can make soup out of. that's why the law is in place today in california. >> there is a second group keeping soup fin soup on the menu. that case is still pending in federal court.

our bay area ice skating phenom is finally in sochi. there she is, 15-year-old paulina has been training in austria leading up to the competition. she also sent this photo of the olympic figure skating team in sochi. her first event, the short program, is wednesday, with the free skate, or long program on thursday. the olympics are really all about the athletes, but there is an immense support staff as well. among them are hundreds of specially trained doctors. stephanie caught up with one bay area doctor at the games and found out what he says is the biggest risk. >> it's no secret the odds of becoming an olympian are slim. but that doesn't apply to just athletes. >> as hard for the medical personnel as it is for the athletes. >> jonathan had to compete to go to the games, as a doctor.

he's the director of sports medicine at barton health care based in tahoe. he's off to sochi with the ski team. a team he's accompanied, but two smaller events. he describes it as training for team physicians. >> trained four years to try to get to go to the olympics. >> the task at hand is fairly simple. >> people train for decades in order to actually get a chance to go to the olympics. then when they go to the olympics, even the smallest thing can ruin their chances. whether that's injuring their knee or a cold. >> he adds it's important to have sports medicine doctors on hand, because they've dealt with one of the biggest and most pervasive injuries of all, concussions. >> you think about the downhill ski racers, and they're going 70, 80 miles an hour on an icy run. so when you fall like that, it's like jumping out of a car onto the asphalt. it is that hard and that significant of an injury. >> team doctors volunteer their

time to go to the olympics. he said the payoff comes in the once in a lifetime opportunity. stephanie trong, nbc bay area news. american doctors are not licensed to practice medicine in russia so they can't actually take care of the athletes. if there is a serious injury they become advocates making sure the russian doctors are formed in delivering the best possible care. the two teams could meet again in the medal round of the olympics. team usa versus russia is always a meaningful hockey game since the 1980 miracle game in lake placid. here's jack dole live in sochi with the latest. jack? >> reporter: fantastic game. the united states had only met russia three times in olympic competition since the game that changed u.s. hockey forever. none of those games were as highly anticipated, and none carried this type of drama.

the miracle on ice rematch was a back-and-forth battle, that had the intensity of a gold medal game. and it cannot be settled in regulation, thanks in part to a controversial call that disallowed a goal that would have given russia a 3-2 lead. instead the game went to overtime, and a shootout where team usa won it. >> the crowd was into it. it just shifted back and forth. i think that's the mark of a good hockey game. >> the coach put the puck on the stick of tjoshi in six of eight rounds. it paid off. he scored four times. >> were you surprised dan kept calling your number like that? >> i was. we have a lot of guys that are more than capable of going in and scoring goals in the shootoff. i'm happy that he chose to support me and trust me to keep going. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin was on hand. and barack obama was also tuned in. tweeting his congratulations after the game.

but the team won't get to savor the victory for long. they go right back to work tomorrow, in a matchup against slovenia. cross-country skier part of the 4 by 5 kilometer relay this morning. it's not just overconfident athletes that have a big head in these games, one of the olympic mascots was caught on tape trying to leave the sliding center. but his head was too big to fit into the van. they kept trying, though, and eventually laid down in the back seat. >> jack dole's report. the bear getting in the car. >> that's hilarious. he had to go in head-first to get in the car. coming up next, always one of the sports you only see at the olympics. curling, and how you, if you want to, can get in on the

action. rallying for higher wages in the bay area. home depot is going on a hiring spree. how many new jobs will be coming to the bay area soon.

they're trying to piece together how a motorcyclist tumbled to his death on highway 101 this morning.

the motorcyclist was entering southbound 101 at tenth street when he apparently lost control of the bike, hit the guardrail and fell about 30 feet to a parking lot below. the on-ramp was shut down for about an hour and a half. a call for increase in the minimum wage. lift up oakland organized this event. they want to see the minimum wage raised to $12.25 an hour. they want to provide sick days to all workers. members of the group spanned out to gather signatures to put the initiative on the november ballot. the raise they say would help them become independent. >> we have to get second jobs just to survive. we don't want to have to depend so much on state, city, and federal government assistance. >> basically, i don't want a handout. i don't want to depend on the government. i just want to be, you know, a providing parent. >> the group needs 35,000

signatures to get that on the fall ballot. opponents say higher wages mean fewer jobs and higher prices. home depot is looking to hire 1,500 seasonal employees in the bay area in anticipation of spring which is traditionally the busiest season. the home improvement store chain plans to hired 80,000 new people. new construction projects rose 18% last year. that is, of course, helping home depot's bottom line. coming up next, speaking of bottoms, half-naked people take to the san jose streets. you may be wondering why they're doing this. that's one of the things we're going to explain after this. right now, starting to see a little bit of light rain in the north bay, as clouds and a change to the forecast as we go through your holiday weekend. a look at that when we come right back.

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here we go. dozens stripped down to their understoodies for a run in downtown san jose today all for a good cause. the cupid's undie run. it collections donations to the children's tumor foun tags for ctf. 26 other cities across the country held similar events. >> it was sort of chilly this morning. i mean, not east coast chilly, but for here. >> the middle of february, yeah. rob mayeda is here with your microclimate forecast. >> we did have temperatures in the low 50s. so you probably would have wanted more than an undie run going. it wasn't totally nis ribl outside. we're in the upper 50s to near 60 in san jose. muggy outside right now.

the winds have picked up. here's the reason at least right now it's not that chilly. the winds are out of the south, bringing more mild air from the south. during the day tomorrow the winds will shift out of the opposite direction and that will lead to cooling and clearing. rain from san rafael north of the golden gate. san jose missing out right now. we've got the clouds, but not the rain-producing clouds just yet. that system will continue to slide to the south as we head through the next three to four hours. fairly fast moving weather system as we get into about 10:00, 11:00. the rain now scattered, not the heavy rain like we saw in the north bay. by 2:00 a.m., looking at a few scattered showers around san jose. by tomorrow morning, clearing skies. during the afternoon, things will be dry. this is a fast-moving system. impacting mainly just for about eight hours or so, then it's here and gone. the rain totals, thanks to the fact the system is moving quickly, not expected to drop

inches of rain in the north bay. the system weakening and moving quickly, very likely not getting more than a quarter inch of rain in the lowlands and maybe a half inch or slightly more in the coastal hill tops in the north bay. sierras, a little more snow out of the system. also moving quickly. so snow totals, close to five inches of new snow around king vail and more around wednesday of next week. the bottom of the screen, wednesday for the north bay, next chance of showers. low 60s tomorrow in san jose. san francisco, upper 50s. clearing skies. a bit breezy outside. pretty nice day. sunny for sunday. that will carry over into monday. highs in the low 60s for most of the bay area. >> looks good, rob. thanks very much. coming up, it will be all over the television soon. how you can get started in the olympic sports of curling, right here in the bay area.

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curling has been around for at least 500 years. but not a whole lot of people know much about the olympic sport. the san francisco bay area curling club always takes this opportunity during the winter games to try to change that. and today showed people how to play. >> kimberly tere live with more on how the sports is connected to a well-known 49er player. >> reporter: that's right. right now, on the ice, you see a very popular olympic sport, figure skating. but earlier this afternoon, hundreds came out to try their hand at curling. the simple but very intricate sport consists of two teams taking turns sliding very heavy polished stones across ice. the goal, of course, to hit a circular target called the house. the san francisco bay area curling club holds lessons year round. during the olympics, interest peaks. many of the people playing today actually told us they'd watched curling on the olympics. some mentioned making fun of it, seeming simplicity, joking they could easily make it onto an

olympic curling team. but then they actually got out onto the ice. >> you can laugh at it, but give it a try, because it's harder than it looks. >> i thought it was like bowling. i've fallen over, hit my knee. >> i wanted to get an olympic medal. this is my chance. much harder than i thought it was. >> reporter: it seems from the turnout the bay area has a lot of curling fans. among them is the 49ers' own vernon davis, the tight end. the women praylayed sweden toda. apparently he tried the sport about five years ago. and loved it. enough to be usa curling's honorary captain for the 2014 games. that's the same role he played in vancouver. back out here on oakland ice, you can see figure skating still going on. there's also hockey. popular olympic sports here. but if you are interested in

curling, there are some more lessons. they're going on over the next couple of months. not just here in oakland, but also in san jose. live in oakland, kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >> they have synchronized ice skating going on behind you. they're really good, too. that's unbelievable. >> they don't care about curling right now. they don't. >> those figure skaters? >> who cares about 24/7? >> i had another story for you guys, dealing with curling. but being that you just saw one, i won't show you mine at all. we've got seth curry, nailing tough shots in the big easy. the most exciting two minutes in bay area sports as well. it hits golden gate field. but first, rumors of pablo sandoval's weight loss is

circulating for months. we're at giants spring training in arizona, next in sports.

welcome back to nbc bay area. the panda has been in the big league since 2008. but his weight remains a hot topic. spring training is under way, and pablo sandoval appears to be serious about getting in shape. for more on the orange and black, we welcome in ahmed fareed. a lot of familiar faces got in

work today. it was pablo sandoval grabbing the headlines. >> reporter: yeah, henry, you know how it's been with the giants and pablo. back and forth on his weight. we saw over social media maybe he was slimming down. then we saw evidence today, with our yoen eyes, that yes, indeed, he is much more fit. he wouldn't say how much weight he's really lost up to this point. but he really had two big motivations to lose this weight. number one motivation is a contract year. he's a free agent at the end of this year. number two, this one was kind of surprising to us, his teammates got on him a bit at the end of last year about his weight loss. >> i'm just trying to encourage him, tell him how good he is. he put in the work, made the decision. i don't think that i came at him with anything negative. i just told him how good he could be. >> i put in my mind that i needed to take it serious. that's what i do. i don't care what people say.

i don't care what people think. i just want to get in shape to help my team. get in shape to help my team win a championship game. >> i think we all go through that point in our career where we -- you know, we need to find things to help us push it along and not be complacent with being in just one spot. >> you can see what kind of damage he can do when he's in shape. that's as far as you need to look. there's really -- you know, the proof is in what kind of numbers he puts up when he's in good shape. and what he does for the team. >> pablo saying he would be open to a contract extension with the giants saying, quote, if it happens, it happens. bruce bochy did say the biggest test will be to see if he can keep that weight off during the season. reporting in scottsdale with the giants, ahmed fareed, nbc bay area news. >> nice work, ahmed.

warriors star seth curry and barnes will both be competing in the all-star competition tonight. curry in the three-point contest, barnes in the dunk contest. the human torch living up to his nickname today. seth curry, horsing around from half-court. hits the shot with no problem. next time he stepped up, he hit it again. third consecutive time he stepped up, he hit it one more time. seth curry is unbelievable. however, he just got knocked out of the round of the three-point contest. he had 16 points. from the el camino real derby, the jockey russell bay who was 55 years old. terry and diane, hard to top that story. >> henry, thanks so much. 9 "olympic zone" with rob mayeda starts at 7:30. first up is a recap of the exciting usa-russia hockey game.

and women's alpine skiing. you'll see rob in just a few minutes. good night. >> we athlete. metal and the moment. hi everybody. welcome to our olympic theme special edition of "access hollywood". i'm shaun robinson and we get right to all the olympic action with billy in sochi, russian a.hi billy. >> shaun the flame burns britly here in olympic park at the halfway point of the game. and let's start off with multi-medal day with ladies and multi-medal day with ladies and the half pipe straight into the 5 40. come out swinging. do you remember when the score came in found out were you no. 1 gold kate lynn is america new