a water rate hike in milpitas has people in sticker shock. is it an isolated case, or a sign of pricier water to come? a water rate hike in milpitas has people in sticker shock. is it an isolated case or a sign of priceier water to come. gop hopefuls took swings with an underdog candidate making a serious case for relevance in the year's final debate. up in flames, an apartment fire in pittsburgh wipes out a family's home with a cold night partially to blame. "today in the bay" starts right now. a very good wednesday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. you'll feel it the second you step out of your door, definitely a chilly start today. in the 30s in some parts of the bay area.

kari hall with your forecast. >> freezing temperatures, especially in the north bay. it is 32 degrees there and will drop a couple more degrees before sunrise. in the upper 30s, peninsula and south bay, 40 degrees in the east bay and san francisco. today's highs about like yesterday. in the upper 50s once again and bright sunshine and a breezy wind. i'll detail what to expect with more rain headed our way in time for the weekend. that's coming up. let's see what's happening in the east bay with mike. >> we're taking a look over here towards the eastshore freeway. eastbound 80 getting away from the bay bridge. it sounds like all lanes are closed getting away from the bridge and heading just past th split, 880 and 580. we're talking about folks headed toward the richmond san rafael bridge. you get off the roadway and take san pablo past the scene. i think central should get you past it, i'm checking with chp.

new details on a landmark decision in milpitas. the city council approved a 65% water rate hike. residents, as you might imagine, are fuming. "today in the bay's" bob redell has more on a very expensive decision. >> reporter: very expensive is right, sam. good morning to you. when this water rate hike goes into effect, customers will be paying on average roughly $28 to $30 more per month. that's a 65% increase in the water rates increase, they will go up 30% in january and up again by 35% in july. the council chambers were full of upset residents last night as the council listened to their concerns. the city leaders passed this hike in a unanimous decision a few months prior but could not give their final approval which thaid they did last night until hearing from their constituents,

some of whom are very worried about how to make ends meet with a significant increase in their monthly bill. >> so many of our residents are lower and fixed income and will be financially devastated. our water and trash bills are already high. the raise is certain to have a domino effect on our local businesses as well. >> milpitas blames the need to increase the rates in part because of the drop. for example, the city gets most of its water from the san francisco public utilities commission, the puc, which has increased its price for water by more than 20%. milpitas has also raised rates for improvements to its infrastructure. bob redell, "today in the bay.." santa clara has agreed to spend more money on its troubled jail system. "mercury news" reports that over the next 20 years the county will pay $74 million beyond the

original budget. the money will go toward the training of guards and beefing up psychiatric care. the new plan comes in the wake of last summer's beating death of a mentally ill inmate. three guards are now facing criminal charges. investigators say it was a space heater that caused a destructive apartment fire in pittsburgh overnight, those flames erupting about dinnertime on peppertree lane. nobody was hurt thanks to a quick thinking woman who grabbed her 18-month-old niece as soon as she heard a smoke alarm, behind the bed, down, coming up. oh, my god, i didn't know what to do. >> preliminary we're found out that the space heater was plugged in using an extension cord because the original cord wasn't long enough. there was clothing and cardboard boxing nearby. >> on a bitter cold night, they

were trying to stay warm. the father of two also lost everything in the flames including all his christmas gifts. the red cross is helping the displaced tenants inside that apartment complex. >> horrible timing. nchts as you mentioned, a very cold start once again. you have to bundle up before you head out the door. >> yes, it is colder than yesterday morning at this time. we're in the 30s for the east bay, peninsula and north bay, san francisco at 40 degrees. in the north bay temperatures are the coldest at freezing right now. heading into the mid 50s this afternoon with mostly sunny skies, and it was also breezy yesterday, still breezy this afternoon. fremont looking at 56 degrees today. we'll take a look at the microclimates and i'll let you know when the rain is returns in a few minutes. let's see what's happening on the roadways with mike. >> we'll start with the biggest issue. all the bay except for this one

spot is moving freely. this is eastbound 80, you see all the folks stopped up. there's a crash, 47,000 pounds of truck and trailer with cinder blocks, some spilled causing debris in the roadway. this is past university where you may want to get off the freeway and take san plo avenue past the scene. jumping back on to the eastshore freeway, you should be okay getting toward the richmond-san rafael bridge. the rest of the bay is clear. coming up, what happened in vegas isn't staying in vegas. the nation talking about the last gop presidential debate of the year. the winners, the losers and those most talked about moments.

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you're never going to be president of the united states by insulting your way to the presidency. >> let's see. i'm at 42 and you're at 3. so far i'm doing better. >> spirited moments at the gop presidential debate in las vegas as donald trump takes fire for his ban on muslims entering the u.s., a proposed ban.

the terrorist attack in san bernardino and national security dominated the debate. >> gop candidates shrugged it out one final time. "today in the bay's" tracie potts breaks down the memorable moments. >> this is a tough business. >> you're a tough guy, jeb. i know. >> we need to have a leader -- >> you're tough. >> you're never going to be president of the unit states -- >> reporter: donald trump and jeb bush captured the top moments. trump topped six online polls. next to trump, ben carson got the most new followers on twitter last night, weighing in on isis in syria. >> there will be boots on the ground and they'll be over here and they'll be their boots if we don't get them over there now. >> ted cruz came in on social media, clashing with marco rubio on immigration and national security. >> he was fighting to grant amnesty and not to secure the border. >> does ted cruz rule out ever

legalizing people that are in this country illegally now. >> he's the weakest of all the candidates on the border. >> if your eyes are glazed over like mine, this is what it's like to be on the floor of the united states senate. >> islam, isis and terror were the most talked about topics in the debate. >> we need to have a coalition that will stand for nothing less than the total destruction of isis. >> this morning kasich heads to iowa t. caucus is now just 46 days away. tracie potts, nbc news, watch watch. >> they'll continue to duke it out. 4:41. up next, rowdy, unruly passengers, disrupting flights a growing problem. law enforcement not keeping up with the times. we investigate disruption in the skies putting your safety at risk but with little consequence. got a tip for nbc bay area's

investigative unit, e-mail theunit@nbcbayarea.com. nbc bay area, investigate.

we are pairing -- our weather and traffic is like the missing man in the room. we'll get to mike -- >> he's got a lot going on with the eastshore freeway issue. >> so do you. >> it's cold out there, too. >> the heater is up on full

blast this morning. it's freezing in some spots. so as you head out, you'll want to make sure you're wearing a heavier coat and make sure the kids are bundled up, too. let's take a live look outside looking at the pay bridge from at&t park. we start out with clear skies and a light breeze and very cold air, the coldest we've had so far this week. now looking at all of the temperatures across the bay area, 37 degrees in livermore and san carlos, 40 in oakland and san francisco and napa at 34 degrees, some spots in the valley really dipping down this morning. going hour by hour in san francisco, it will be cool to start, only in the upper 40s. by 10:00 you're stepping out. it is 49 degrees. by lunchtime, we're up to 52 degrees and we'll stay in the low to mid 50s throughout the afternoon. the futurecast keeps it dry for now. we'll start to see light showers moving into the north bay tomorrow and a bigger system will move in between friday

night and early saturday morning with a couple of rounds of that in the forecast because we will have several systems, and they're just lining up over the pacific. it looks to keep us wet in to christmas starting on saturday and off and on through at least next tuesday. the amount of rain we could see between saturday and tuesday may be anywhere from the purple shaded area that show an inch and a half to 2 1/2 inches. we're looking at least a half inch of rain, possibly two to 2 1/2 inches of rain with all the weather system. now once again the time to start clearing those leaves and getting ready for a wet weekend. once again it starts late friday night, but we will have mild temperatures out ahead of that. it does cool down into the mid to upper 50s as we head into saturday and sunday. we'll take a look at more of the forecast coming up and see what's happening in the sierra, too. that's a little later. let's see what's happening on

the roadways now with mike. >> kari, thank you for mentioning the east shore crash. got the camera located. here is what i was sorting out. here is the split here, east 880 getting toward the richmond-san rafael bridge. that sign indicates east 80 as well as 580 across the bend area. that's blocking that connector. what it looks like, although chp hasn't confirmed this, it looks like the albany off-ramp will take you toward buchanan. you can take that and get back on the freeway north of there. that's what it looks like from the maps. once you get to the area, this is a fluid situation. cinder blocks and a crash blocking the transition ramp. watch chp and follow their queues as you arrive there. there is a crash 880 at whipple, a crash at the off-ramp southbound side. not just google. ford pretty soon will start testing out self-driving cars in california. >> for more on that and the rest

of the news before the bell let's turn to landon dowdy live at cnbc world headquarters. >> the fed will announce whether it's deciding to raise interest rates in nearly a decade. most expect the fed to full the trigger, but focused on the pace of future rate hikes in coming months. the dow posting its best two-day performance since october. the dow rising 156 points to 17,524, nasdaq up 43 to 4,995. look, ma, no hands. ford gets approval from california to start testing itself-driving car, a fusion hybrid on roads next year. they join google, honda and tesla who are experimenting with self-driving technology. they say the vehicles could be ready by 2020. facebook is quietly testing a new future to help local

business is. that could help competition. facebook happening in stepping up its outreach to small businesses making it easier for them to get noticed by and respond to consumers. facebook says it has more than 50 million active business -- this morning the wraps come off a new system of alerting people to terrorist threats. homeland security teach jeh johnson says it's better suited to what the company faces today, less sophisticated attacks which are harder to detect. the system is believed to involve bulletins much like the government shares with local law enforcement. we'll give you all the details as soon as we get them. >> in a few hours students will go back to school in southern california. yesterday more than a half million students and teachers were told to stay home. it all stems from an investigation into a threatening e-mail that was sent to school leaders. it claimed explosives were left at the school.

ultimately the threat was deemed a hoax. a similar result happened in new york city but they decided to keep schools open. trapped on a plane with a rowdy passenger. it's a nightmare scenario. >> senior investigative reporter stephen stock with an answer that might surprise you. >> we combed through nasa's safety and reporting system, their database of complaints. there we found a huge spike in the number of unruly passenger complaints, especially in the last two or three years. the complaints cite everything from smoking in the restroom to assaulting flight attendants and, yes, even sex on airplanes. while complaints are on the rise, federal enforcement of the rules is on the decline, at least according to the data. airlines are not required to report these incidents to authorities which allow some

rowdy passengers to actually walk free without any criminal charges. it's a loophole that passengers believes sends the wrong message. an international trade group for the airline industry is working on new standards that will give law enforcement more power to go after rowdy passengers. you can read more about all of this and see our entire story and hear from one group that says they get a thrill from actually breaking the law in the air all on our website, the full report there, nbcbayarea.com. i'm stephen stock. now back to you. >> if you have a tip for our investigative unit, call 888-996-tips or send us an e-mail to theunit@nbcbayarea.com. debris continuing to wash ashore on san francisco beaches after a shipping container dumped several loads in a violent storm. this morning, new concerns about the environmental impact.

it's beginning to feel a lot like christmas. >> it is. the holidays mean spending time with family and getting to the ice rinks. one of our concerns today is not that the ice will melt. >> absolutely not. very cool out there. tomorrow i'll be at union square for the midday show. we'll have some nice weather. i think the next couple days will be your best opportunity to take advantage of all the local ice rinks and getting outside and enjoying this weather. if you're heading the the sierra, we are really looking good with the snowfall update. we are now at about 85% of average at this date. we are looking anywhere from the north to the central and the southern sierra in the 80% range. we are making it closer to 100% which would bring us back to normal with several more

snowfall systems that will be moving in next week. we'll be keeping you up to date on that. let's see what's happening on the roadways with mike. >> kari, not a whole lot aside from this big issue over in berkeley. again, we have this weird camera angle because i need to show you the flares. this roadway is blocked. that's where you see the two signs, this signs indicating heading toward the richmond-san rafael bridge, the bridge to san rafael westbound 580. that connector is closed. there is an off-ramp between the albany and buchanan off-ramps. that will take you to city streets. look at your map. you see slowing both on the freeway itself as well as san pablo avenue coming towards central. we'll get back on to the freeway. a lot of congestion there that looks like a lot of people are getting off the freeway and back onto the bridge. if you're continuing north past there, you're fine heading towards the carquinez bridge. we talked about this crash north 880, the off-ramp at whipple, just a little debris. the roadway is clear.

we'll take you to the peninsula, traffic moving nicely. no maj oior issues in berkeley. federal researchers worried about a threat to wildlife and the environment, this coming after a dozen containers that fell off a ship near san francisco last friday reached shore. the contents of one of them has already washed ashore in baker beach. the rest are floating south toward specifically and moss beach. the marine reserve in moss beach can be in danger from a large amount of styrofoam and the plastic crates you see cut up. anyone who sees anything is asked to please call the post guard. it's 4:56. pg&e will release natural gas at two locations on the peninsula. the idea is to release pipelines running through the area. two locations are here, one in san carlos, the other at the intersection of edgewood and interstate 280.

people in the area might notice the smell of gas or hear the sound of venting about 2:00 this morning. a popular fremont hiking area has become too popular, if not for its own good, for the good of the people nearby. the area is mission peak and the mission peak regional preserve. the problem is the parking lot fills up quickly, so visitors park in the surrounding neighborhoods. relief could be coming for the neighbors who can't seem to find a spot on the street. city council has agreed to allow a petition drive that may lead to to permits. they're looking into expanding the mission peak lot to about 300 spaces. 4:57. coming up, the south bay city unloads a water rate hike on residents and it's not sitting well with many folks. who will sit atop the polls after last night's year-end debate. one candidate mired in a

tailspin, potentially getting things turned around by taking on trump. talking tough-- fireworks

between >> this is a tough business. >> you're a tough guy, jeb. >> i guess those guys are talking tough. fireworks between republican candidates as they battle it out for the last time this year. the highs and lows from last night's gop debate. >> plus taking water conservation to a whole new level. a 65% water rate hike.

"today in the bay" starts right now. good wednesday morning. thanks for joining us. i'm sam brock. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's check that forecast. it's a cold one out there, kari. >> yes, laura, the coldest morning we've had so far this week. freezing temperatures now in the north bay. we are cranking up the heater and trying to stay warm as we take a live look at all our microclimates. it's 33 degrees in the north bay. east bay, 43 degrees elsewhere in the 30s. we'll see the drop as we head through sunrise. with all the sunrise it warms it into the upper 50s with sunny skies and a lighter wind. i'll detail that and the next chance of rain for the weekend. let's see what's happening with an update on the commute with mike. >> big issue is the eastshore freeway. folks, if you're using the rest of the bay, you're doing just fine. we'll look over here. this is vertically heading toward the split. the roadway heads around the san rafael brid