what pg&e is saying ab it this morning. also some chilling new details released in the deadly stabbing of a bay area father inside a target store. what happened in the moments leading up to that deadly encounter. we're learning more. "today in the bay" continues right now. good morning to you at 6:00. thanks for joining us. i'm kira klapper. >> i'm sam brock. following breaking news this morning. a major traffic mess on 280 southbound. it was bad this morning, vianey. >> yes. this happened around the 4:00 578 hour. unfortunately a very sad situation. it was an accident involving three vehicles. apparently a wrong-way driver was involved. it did leave that person who was hit in the hospital with major injuries. that person actually, according to san jose fire dispatch had to be extracted from their vehicle. they did have a sig alert that was in effect. it appears that sig alert has

been canceled as of this moment. all lanes have remained open. however, it looks like we're still seeing a few cones out in that area. we'll keep a close eye on any backup. >> we have team coverage of that crash on 280. let's get straight to "today in the bay's" tom jensen who has been on the scene this morning talking to investigators. tom, you actually had to move locations at one point. what kind of updates do you have? >> reporter: we had to be moved from the location because they're opening the lanes right now. you can see the traffic at least where we are south of the accident scene, all five lanes are open. we did notice when we were coming down here, there were still flares in a couple lanes. that might be causing a bit of a backup. this is a horrific accident, if we can go to the video we got earlier today. wrong-way driver, a volkswagen heading northbound in the southbound hit the red car. the engine was actually blown out of the vehicle and was wrolg

down the highway. they had to ex-kate the woman from that red car. we talked to chp sergeant out here who told us exactly what happened. >> we think a silver volkswagen was going the wrong way on 280, hit head on with the red chevy that's right behind me here. as those vehicles rotate, the chevy goes into the center divider, hits the wall, winds up on the roof. the driver is trapped in the car. the volkswagen stays in the two lane and gets rear-ended by a third vehicle which was a white bmw. >> reporter: i talked to the sergeant later, he told me the woman in that red car was upside down. she was screaming when firefighters came up. she passed out. they extricated her from the vehicle, took her to the hospital. she and the woman who was in the volkswagen both have major injuries, both at area hospitals. another driver who was at a bmw crashed into the back.

she had minor injuries and was able to be released from the scene immediately. this is causing a bit of a backup just north of us. they hope to have all five lanes open here very soon so the commuters coming in, going into the downtown, will have those lanes open in a little bit. we'll keep you up to date as we get more information. for nourks live in san jose, tom jensen, "today in the bay." >> a very serious scene there. we hope everyone is okay. tom, thank you very much. we're going to check in with kari hall now. much the same, a chilly morning. you say today and tomorrow are the warmest days. >> yeah, during the afternoon. we still have those cold temperatures in the morning to deal with, some freezing temperatures especially in those wind-sheltered valleys and all clear skies around the bay area. so looking at now the shot from emeryville, as we see that, traffic is moving smoothly. skies are clear. only 37 degrees now there and 33 in napa. 29 in fairfield and 34 now in

morgan hill. it will be warmer today, up to the low 60s for parts of the south bay, mid 50s for san francisco and 58 degrees for napa. i'll show you a little bit warmer weather in the forecast for tomorrow. that's coming up and also a look at some weekend rain in a few minutes. 6:04. more breaking news this morning. this coming from downtown san francisco where utility crews are searching for the source of what they're calling a suspicious odor. >> "today in the bay's" pete suratos joining us live. we understand the fire department got a lot of calls about this overnight. what are you learning? >> good morning, sam and kira. about 30 calls is what sf fire is telling us they got regarding this gas odor spell. according to pg&e, they're saying there are no natural gas read dngs and classifying this as an unspecified odor. this is specifically in the downtown san francisco area including south of the

embarcadero as well as geary and leavenworth. the first call came in from polk street. the good news is, this smell has dispalted. we're told there are crews on the ground with pg&e conducting those readings around the city. if we get new information or new details on, this we'll bring that to you back in the newsroom. live in san francisco, pete suratos for "today in the bay." >> pete, thank you very much. some folks in the bay area also feeling this this morning. a swarm of earthquakes near south lake tahoe that could be felt close to the bay area. take a look at this usgs map showing the cluser? the center of your screen, being updated as aftershocks continue to hit. this is what we know, two 5.7 magnitude quake shook minutes apart this morning after midnight. then there was a serious of smaller earthquakes after that. the two larger quakes were centered near hawthorne, nevada, more than 300 miles from the bay area. >> at least one of the two men

arrested in connection with a deadly stabbing inside a target store on christmas eve will be charged today. we're also learning new details of the vicious attack of a father of four. the victim here, tyrone griffin seen in this photo with his family. police say he was stabbed in the toy section of the target store on whipple road in hayward, again, on christmas eve. griffin was shopping with his 4-year-old son at the time. the suspects who were arrested that night are franky and jesse arch let toe. witnesses say the victim was talking to the two men about their music because it was inappropriate for children. >> so tragic there. at 6:06 right now, "star wars" fans remembering carrie fisher. certainly a lot of heartbreak. fisher died yesterday in los angeles at 8:55 in the morning. she was only 60 years old. her death comes after she suffered an apparent heart attack while on a flight from london back to los angeles last friday. fisher was best known for her iconic role as princess leia in

"star wars," but she accomplished so much in her acting and theatrical career. she was also known as an author, activist and srcertainly a witt personality. coming up at 6:30, we'll hear from a bay area man who directed fisher for her show "wishful drinking." stay tuned for continuing coverage at 7:00. the "today" show will have an in-depth look for her life as can carrie fisher. we'll remember her work and sem braet her life. >> it's 6:07. still cold out there. all clear skies, 39 degrees now in the peninsula and the south bay, 35 degrees. we're dealing with frost again this morning and freezing temperatures in spots like the north bay. it's 30 degrees, 44 in san francisco as you head out the door. it will be up to 58 degrees today in the peninsula. upper 50s to low 60s again this afternoon and a light wind with

mostly sunny skies, looking at more sunshine in the forecast for the next couple days and also a chance of rain as we go into the weekend. we will be keeping an eye on a couple of storm systems moving in, but it looks like only spotty light rain at this point in the forecast as we end out 2016 and get ready to start 2017. i'll have a look at that frost coming up in about ten minutes. heading over to vianey looking at a lot of busy things going on. a couple of crashes. >> kari, unfortunately a very scary start on the southbound 280 near byrd avenue exit. there was a sig alert issued. that's due to a wrong-way driver involving three vehicles. unfortunately, it appears to have major injuries. as of now, all lanes have been reopened and the sig alert has been canceled. good news if you're heading in

that direction. a quick look at your south bay drive times, not looking too bad on the roads. >> coming up next, a bay area public transit agency making it easier for you to get home on new year's eve. the steps caltrains is taking to make sure everyone stays safe as they ring in the new year. fights breaking out at malls across the country. we'll tell you why social media is being blamed. >> a live look outside from our emeryville camera. as we were finding out, traffic still lighter this week in between christmas and new year's. you're watching "today in the bay." much more in two minutes.

==traf good wednesday morning. time for the tahoe, squaw valley, alpine met does report. it will be bright and sunny today. up to 42 degrees for tomorrow. into the weekend, a slight chance of snow at the base. 24 inches of snow as we head into the holiday weekend. looking at only spotty light snowshowers. a bigger storm for monday and tuesday where we could have over a foot and a half of snow. we'll talk about that and how much rain for the bay area coming up in about five minutes.

>> we've been getting updates on the major crash southbound 280 at bhird avenue. the sig alert was canceled. no backups at the moment. a quick look at your south bay drive times. i'll give you the late up updates in just a bit. >> vianey, thank you very much. let's stay with the roads now and kind of a good news, bad news. the good news, duis were down. the bad news is chp says not wearing a seatbelt is what caused many deaths. the agency also says among the 16 people who were killed in collisions within the chp's jurisdiction, half of them were not buckled up. chp says it's going to also crack down this upcoming weekend

for new year's eve, focusing on impaired and distracted driving, speeding and, of course, seatbelt violations. >> caltran is making changes to accommodate passengers on new year's eve. start 8:00 saturday night, they'll offer free rides to encourage partygoers to use the train instead of getting on the road. if you're hoping to catch the fireworks, caltrain has four extra southbound trains running after midnight. there will be four extra trains every half hour. the 2:15 a.m. train is expected to be very crowded. caltrain is urging people to take an earlier train if possible. on new year's eve they'll be on a regular schedule. on sunday,. >> someone found what they thought was a suspicious bag yesterday afternoon at trump tower. that triggered the panic you see here. the building was evacuated.

as it turns out t suspicious bag was filled with toys. the president-elect was at his estate in florida, not at the building at the time. social media may have played a roll in a number of fights at malls across the country. 15 massive brawls erupted the day after christmas. people could be seen running from fights and from the exits at malls across the states. some say rumors of mass hysteria being spread through social media is feeding into these panicked scenes. no reports of major incidents here at bay area halls. 6:15 on your wednesday. let's get to business and tech news now with scott mcgrew is off this morning. wall street could start positive today in the green as futures right now are pointing higher. the dow rose 11 points to 19,945, the nasdaq up 24 to 5,487. stocks posting small gains

yesterday with the nasdaq reaching a new record high, although the caveat is, on very low volume. investors are cheering economic data that shows consumer confidence rose to a 15-year high. donald trump taking credit for that increase in a tweet he posted last night. we'll get a report today on ending home sales as well. a last-minute surge in spending may have helped offset a slow start to the holiday season. sales at brick and mortar stores rose 6%. master card says strong demand for furniture, home furnishings and men's apparel is what pushed holiday sales up 4%, slightly above the forecast. december is the season of giving, january may be the month of returns. ups expects to deliver 1.3 million packages back to retailers on january 5th. that day is celebrated by the company but no one else.

about 10% of holiday purchases are returned. staying with post holiday shopping, if you're headed to the stores to return an unwanted gift this week, experts say be on the lookout for fake money. the secret service says there's always an up take in counterfeiting money. the federal reserve says the 20 bill is the most count fitted in the u.s. while the 100 is the most counterfeited around the world. hulu signing a deal for movies with disney. the first time disney films have been available to hulu customers. rival netflix also has a deal with disney for recent releases such as "zoo topia." >> the mighty ducks is old now? >> i love that movie. i probably watched it over a thousand times. thank you for making me feel old

about that. >> i'm included in this. a bunch of hole difficults up here. >> let me ask you a question. is today going to be a good day to sit in and watch movies? >> at least early. then it warms up and you'll want to get outside. that's the kind of weather we've had recently. mornings it makes you not want to get out of bed. you want to stay warm under the blankets and then we'll have sunshine, making things all bright and a lot more comfortable. a live look outside at san jose. it is chilly again this morning and all clear skies. only 35 degrees. 32 in livermore. below freezing in fairfield and santa rosa. starts out the morning at 30 degrees. now we make it up to 60 today. a big difference from the morning to the afternoon. in oakland up to 58 degrees and 56 in san francisco. we compare that to what everyone else is feeling around the country. it's pretty much the same. a big chunk of the northern half

of the country seeing temperatures right at or below freezing. but no major snowstorms which we're seeing on this busy travel week as people try to head over toward new york city to watch the ball drop. we'll be watching out for a weak storm system moving into southern california for the end of the week. it may bring scattered showers south of the golden gate bridge, but not expecting any widespread heavy rain, also spotty showers and chilly air for the weekend. as we start out the new year, it will be still wet in some spots with spotty showers here and there. then the rain estimates show we won't see much, up to about .25, maybe .50 inch in spots. looking dry over the next several days. in san francisco, expect highs to be the upper 50s, dry weather until friday. then the weekend once again, some cool spotty showers moving in and look at the highs next week in the upper 40s to lower 50s. so enjoy this warm weather the

next couple days. heading over to vianey, what's happening as you head out on the roadways now? >> following the holidays, we're starting to see that traffic pick up. early this morning during the 4:00 a.m. hour, we had a major accident that happened on southbound 280 at byrd avenue involving three vehicles and a wrong-way driver. there are serious injured involved. as of u now, all lanes are open. we had a car fire westbound 580 that still appears to have backup. here is a quick look at your try val li drive times from 580 to 680, about 26 minutes. the south bay seeing light backup from northbound 101 towards highway 85, about 19 minutes. the san mateo bridge, a quick check, already seeing cars trying to get out on the bridges. coming up next, you may be paying more for medical care

than you need to. we'll tell you the reason why next. >> plus "nbc bay area responds." a train trip where the temperature dips into the 40s on board. then an even frostier reception when a refund is requested. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. "nbc bay area responds" next. on treating and manag

in medical news this

morning, when it comes to health care, americans spend the most money on treating and managing diabetes. a new study looks at the dramatic rise in health care spending from 1996 all the way to 2013. diabetes topped the list at an estimated $101 billion followed by heart disease and low back and neck pain. treating high blood pressure and high cholesterol also rank in the top 20 for health care spending. new research suggests icus  are used far too often. data from 808 patients admitted to ucla medical center in l.a. shows more than half could have been treated in less expensive and less invasive settings. many were in need of close monitoring, but not quite at icu level care. others were so sick they didn't even benefit from intensive care. "nbc bay area responds" to a san francisco man who says he experienced a very cold train ride on amtrak. >> consumer investigator chris chmura has what happened when

that passenger requested a refund. good morning, bruce paid $4200 for an amtrak rooid to portland and back with his family. bruce says the return trip was way too cold. he says the air conditioner in their sleeper car malfunctioned. this is a screen grab of the temperature in there. this is the thermometer from his phone, 41.6 degrees in their cabin. he recorded that with his cell phone. bruce says it was very hard on his aging father while sleeping inside that cabin. he complained to amtrak but was told no other sleeper cars were available. after the trip, bruce asked amtrak for a refund and was denied. he reached out to us and we reached out to amtrak. it issued bruce a partial refund of $500 plus a $700 credit for future travel. in a statement, amtrak only said this matter was resolved. bruce told us this has at least lightened and other wise dark and unhappy chapter in his

family's life. if you have a consumer complainter, you can call any time, the number is 1-888-996-tips or visit us online at nbcbayarea.com/responds. have a great day. >> thank you, chris. you, too. up next on "today in the bay," the president-elect takes his battle with the current president to where else? social media. the online feud between donald trump and president obama. >> plus, chilling new details released in the case of a bay area father stabbed and killed inside target on christmas eve. we'll tell you what witnesses reported seeing just before the attack. >> reporter: a bad accident, a multiple-car accident on highway 280 southbound. we'll show you exactly how it happened and what commuters can expect coming up in a live report. and here is a live look outside right now from the bay bridge toll plaza. no metering lights necessary.

we're still enjoying holiday light this week. vianey is in for mike tracking all the latest incidents in the bay area. we'll be back in two minutes. another chilly start across the

bay area this morning... taking a live look at downtown san jose. a lot of blue on kari's maps as once again we're waking up to chilly temperatures this morning. that is not dublin. that's downtown san jose.

good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm sam brock. >> i'm kira klapper. laura garcia-cannon has the morning off, as does mike inouye. vianey is joining us with traffic. first we'll check in with kari hall. but you say today will get noise for a period of time. >> yeah, during the afternoon. we have to deal again with freezing temperatures and frost as you head out this morning. so bundle up and make it a great start to this wednesday morning. it is freezing in the tri-valley. 32 degrees. 39 in the peninsula and some frosty conditions for parts of the south bay. we're down to 30 in the north bay and 44 in san francisco. today it will reach into the upper 50s to lower 60s, another nice one. but you know that's only for a few hours during the middle of the day as the temperatures will drop off fairly quickly. tomorrow will be another nice one before we have cooler air in the forecast. i'll detail that coming up in a few minutes. as we head over to vianey, let's see what's happening on the roadways? >> well, as more cars start

heading out on the roads, we're seeing more backup. the early morning hour, around the 4:00 hour, we had a serious accident that was starting to see backup in the san jose area along 280 southbound near byrd avenue. chp originally issued a sig alert. that's because the traffic accident involved a wrong-way driver. the driver had to be extracted from the car and appears to have serious injuries. that's an unfortunate situation. as of the moment, chp has cleared. the sig alert has canceled. all lanes appear to have reopened. right now my map is still showing grown which means we're not seeing a lot of backup near that area. if this is your early morning commute drive, as of right now, i know we did originally see a few of the cones left over from the scene that was cleared earlier. i know we have a crew on scene to give us the latest updates. back to you guys first. >> we'll check in with that crew now. we have live team coverage of that crash on 280, a story we've

been bringing you since the news started at 4:30 this morning. >> "today in the bay's" tom jensen has been at the scene talking to investigators. it's amazing there were survivors at all. a wrong-way driver colliding head-on into another driver. >> reporter: it really is incredible. when you look at the video, the driver of the car hit head-on going southbound on 280 ran into a volkswagen going the wrong way headed northbound on 280. look at the vehicle. smashed up like a crushed can. amazingly the driver inside that vehicle is at the hospital. she does have major injuries according to chp who told me firefighters had to ex-kate her from that car and that she was awake, screaming when they first got to it, then passed out. they got her in an ambulance, took her to the hospital. the driver in the wrong-way car had a major injury, broken leg.

we talked to chp out here a little bit ago. they told us exactly what happened. >> we think a silver volkswagen was going the wrong way on 280, hit head-on with a red chevy that is right behind me. as those vehicles rotate, the chevy goes into the center divider, winds up in the roof. the driver is trapped in the car. the volkswagen stays in the two lane and gets rear-ended by the white bmw. >> we don't know if alcohol was involved in this crash or not. the chp said they are investigating to see if alcohol was a factor in the crash. but somehow the woman in that volkswagen that went the wrong way actually went up one of those ramps that said do not enter and was going this way on 280. we hope to have more information as it becomes available to us later on today. for now, we are live on

interstate 280 sbouchbd going into the downtown. tom jensen, "today in the bay." >> tom, thanks to you. more breaking news, this time in san francisco where utility crews are searching for the source of what they're calling a suspicious odor. >> pete suratos has been tracking this all morning long. they're trying to figure out where the source of this smell came from, pete. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the good news is the smell has dissipated as we stand in the embarcadero area of san francisco. we know according to pg&e there are no natural gas readings as of this time and classifying this as an unspecified odor around the city. they were inundated with calls, pg&e and san francisco fire, roughly around 2:00 a.m. from around 30 people that said they smelled some of the gas odor, some of the areas are the tender loin area, south of the embarcadero area where we're

standing, tand polk street. the smell has dissipated in this area. we're being told utility crews are still investigating this issue around the city. we're live in san francisco, pete suratos for "today in the bay." it is 6:35. a developing story this morning. a swarm of earthquakes near south lake tahoe could be felt close to the bay area. take a live look at this usgs map. it's being updated as aftershocks continue. two 5.7 magnitude quakes shook minutes apart after midnight. a series of smaller earthquakes right after that. the two rj laer quakes were centered near hawthorne, nevada, more than 300 miles from the bay area. 6:35. at least one of the two men arrested in connection to a deadly stabbing inside a hayward target on christmas eve will be charged. we're hearing horrible details about the vicious attack of the

father of four. you see him here with his entire family. that's the victim, tyrone griffin. police say he was stabbed in the toy section of the target on whipple road. it happened as griffen was shopping with his 4-year-old son at the time. according to witnesses, the suspects who were affidavit rested are franky archuleta. he was talking to the men about their music because he felt it was inappropriate for his children. a gilroy man is under arrest for the murder of his own mother. santa clara county deputies tell us matthew salewske beat to death claudia salewske with a baseball bat on christmas day. the victim was a long time leader with the gilroy historical society. he was a long-time educator at gilroy high school and san jose state university. friends and colleagues described her as universally be loved. >> community contributor, and

she certainly was, in every way you could think of. a very gracious, thoughtful person who was always kind of looking out for others who needed a little extra helping hand. >> a motive for the killing has not been released. in other news, the president-elect has a full sked you today trying to finish up hiring his team that will help him run the country for the next four years. "today in the bay's" edward lawrence is live in washington, d.c. for us this morning with how the president-elect has taken his battle with the current president to social media. good morning to you, edward. >> reporter: good morning, kira. it's continued this morning with a series of tweets. it began with a difference of opinion over israel and how to handle the israeli situation. it's escalated to a feud. within the last 30 minutes donald trump said, quote, thought it was going to be a smooth transition. not. >> reporter: the future president has been out of sight over the holidays, were view

visible on twitter. he's now taking on the current president directly. president obama campaigned hard in important swing states and lost, the voters wanted to make america great again. >> part of partisan rivalry. >> reporter: behind closed doors advisers to president-elect donald trump say his comments may seem divisive, but he really wants to heal the country. >> he's all about unifying the nation, but he is a competitive guy. >> reporter: competitive on the world stage as well as mr. trump's stance on israel defies the current administration. secretary of state john kerry will defend president barack obama's decision not to veto the u.n. resolution on israeli settlements in a speech later today. >> he has the choice, settlement or peace. he can't have both. >> reporter: settlements in east jerusalem were halted this morning ahead of secretary kerry's speech. >> we were told that the prime minister asked to postpone it,

and we plan to do so. >> reporter: republicans remain critical. >> we should not be in the position where we've got frankly not just republicans, but democrats as well, disagreeing with the president's decision. >> reporter: growing conflict between administrations during what has become a bumpy transition following an unpress departmented campaign. >> in transition, president-elect donald trump named another bush administration veteran to his team, thomas botzart will be the assistant to the president. he'll be the first guy to brief the president after a terrorist attack. live in washington, edward lawren lawrence. an amazing acting career that starting with a performance on broadway at the age of 15, snou "star wars" fans are remembering carrie fisher who died yesterday in los angeles. she was only 60 years old after

suffering an apparent heart attack while on a flight from london to los angeles. it was in the last 15 minutes of that flight that that medical emergency happened. fisher known for her iconic role as princess leia in the "star wars" movies, but also known for a brilliant career that included being an actor and an author and personality, a personality that shined when she performed in her one-woman show "wishful drinking." we spoke with the man who directed her in that show back in 2007. >> she was a deeply gifted human being, endlessly creative and one of the great comic masters of our time. >> carrie fisher is survived by her mother debby reynolds and daughter actress billy lord. celebrities are sending their condolences following the news of fisher's death. that includes friend and co-star mark hamel who played luke

skywalker. a few hours ago he posted a message. in it he called fisher, quote, irreplaceable. at 7:00, the "today" show will have a more in-depth look at the life of carrie fisher has fans remember her work and celebrate her life. back here in the bay area, a new menorah is expected to arrive today to replace the one stolen from a san francisco park. the new menorah arrives just in time for the fifth night of hanukkah. the six-foot-tall menorah was stolen from washington square park on christmas day. police tell us they're looking at surveillance video as they search for the thief. good wednesday morning. it is 6:41. as we take a look now at the golden gate bridge, all clear skies. drivers making it from the north bay into san francisco. it looks okay at this point. only 41 degrees now.

the heater is on. we're trying to stay warm. it's even below freezing in some parts of the valleys. in santa, 32 degrees. 32 degrees in livermore. one degree above freezing in morgan hill. it will be warm nicely with highs in the upper 50s to lower 60s which is slightly above average for this time of year. we're in for cooler air, also spotty showers. i'll detail that in about ten minutes. now as we head over to vianey, we'll see what's happening on the roadways. >> we've been tracking that major accident on southbound 280 at byrd. all lanes are now reopened. right now not seeing any major backups. it was a wrong-way driver and there have been serious injuries involved. as of now, the san mateo bridge looking good. we are starting to see some backups. it may be time to hit the road. i'll send things back to you. >> vianey keeping us up to date all day long. controversy at an upscale

east bay store, the racial discrimination allegations against the versace store. the amazon echo now at the center of a murder investigation. ==vianey/trx==

(vianey ad libs) ==traffic maps full== good wednesday morning. it's 6:45. as you head out, a live look outside over san jose, chilly temperatures, too. in willow glen at 10:00, 49

degrees, upper 50s and low 60s today with a lot of sunshine and looking at a very nice day. i'll have a look at a chance of showers and cooler weather in the microclimate forecast coming up. we've been updating you on that major crash that happened early this morning around the 4:00 a.m. hour on southbound 280 near byrd avenue. adds of now, that sig alert has been canceled and all lanes reopened. a quick look now at your south bay drive times, northbound 101 to highway 85, about 21 minutes. now to a high-end outlet in the east bay accused of discriminating against customers based on the color of their skin. a former employee is suing versace after working at the brand's outlet store in livermore. christopher sampino says he was told to use a specific code when another black person enters the store. he accuses managers of treating him differently and ultimately

firing him because of his race. versace filed a response to the lawsuit denying all the claims and issued a statement to several media outlets saying in part, quote, we do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, national origin or any other characteristic protected by our civil rights laws. the decision whether to charge students for sharing sexually explicit pictures is now in the hands of the santa clara county district attorney. mountain view police say they and other agencies have been investigating the allegations at five south bay high schools for several months now. students were said to be sharing hundreds of sexually explicit pictures on other students via an online drop box account. police have since put a freeze on that drop box account. investigators say an anonymous tip led them to the case. among the possible charges against the teens, child pornography. 6:47 on your wednesday. now that christmas is over, some people are wondering what to do about their christmas tree. at 10:30 we have an answer for

you. the 30th annual tree chipping event in san francisco can help you get rid of your tree and help the environment at the same time. you can bring your tree to the civic center plaza on larkin street between the library and asian art museum. tree cycling is a great way to have your tree turned into energy instead of taking up space at a landfill. we now take you to arkansas where a man is facing a first degree murder charge after police found the body of a man in a hot tub. this happened in november of 2015. nbc's gabe gutierrez say how people are hoping to use an amazon echo device to help with their investigation. >> reporter: good morning. many folks may have gotten the amazon echo for christmas. now police want to tap into one of those devices to potentially help solve a murder. they filed a search warrant for electronic data from an amazon echo inside a home where they believe a murder was committed. the suspect's attorney says,

while her client has nothing to hide, investigators are overreaching. there are questions about how relevant this data is that is on the device or amazon servers. prosecutors say 32-year-old james bates murdered his co-worker victor collins who was found strangled in bates' hot top. bates pleaded not guilty and the murder case is set to go to trial next year. this is raising new questions about the intersection of police work and technology. the prosecuting attorney says this is just like asking for potential evidence from a suspect's home or from his cell phone. again, the suspect's attorney says this is overbroad. amazon has turned over some of the account details but is refusing the hand over this electronic data from the echo which is also commonly known as alexa thanks to those commercials. again, this trial is set to go to trial -- this case is set to go to trial next year. now back to "today in the bay."

>> gape will have more on that on the "today" show right after "today in the bay" in just about ten minutes. the rain keeps falling, but that doesn't mean the statewide drought is over just yet. the sierra snowpack provides around a third of the state's water. it's below normal but it's higher than we've seen in recent years. it's at 72% of normal for this time of year. we've seen a lot of rain recently, in fact, 50% more than an average year. not all that rain has translated to snow which is the key to ending the drought. water officials say they're optimistic but also hesitant to announce an end to the state's drought. >> we have seen both components recently, lots of rain and snow. vianey is in this morning for mike inouye. >> busy morning. i don't know how he does it. >> smoke and mirrors. >> first let's get a check. you'll see your breath out there this morning. very chilly. >> it is very cold again this morning. bundle up as you head out.

another morning to crank up the heater, and it looks like we'll have to do this for quite a while. nice, chilly mornings and more comfortable afternoons. as we take a live look outside at emeryville, it's starting to get a little more busy out there and still another cold morning as we've had to deal with freezing temperatures in the valleys. in the tri-valley right now, 32 degrees. 39 in the peninsula and 37 degrees in the east bay. also cold in san francisco, mid 40s there and heading into the upper 50s today for the peninsula and the tri-valley. a nice one for the south bay, 61 degrees. you see the sun rising as we get a view from belvedere. 58 will be the high there today. in livermore, we're once again at freezing. the temperature trend brings us up to 51 degrees at lunchtime. we'll still be wearing long sleeves, but at least the sun will be shining. we're right at about average for this time of year. we haven't seen much in the way of rain in the forecast this week.

only spotty showers. could be moving up from southern california for friday and then not seeing any significant storms so at least a better chance of rain for the start of 2017. we'll keep an eye on that. looking at the forecast, as far as the seven-day raen fall estimate. over the next seven days, we may only have about a quarter inch of rain. it only comes as we head into the weekend, but it will be very chilly in san francisco. highs in the upper 40s for monday and tuesday. a cool start, but we could be seeing freezing temperatures in the mornings. let's head to vianey for a look at this morning's commute. starting to get a little more busy. >> definitely. around this hour that traffic starts to pick up. we start seeing a lot more color on this map. green means it's good. we've been updating you on the early morning accident that happened 280 southbound at byrd avenue. it involved three vehicles and a wrong-way driver. we're not seeing backing up

along that area. we are expecting for that to possibly pick up as we continue on through out the early morning hours. however, there was a quick crash reported on the chp. it looks like all the lanes, no injuries involved. out near the westbound 880 we are seeing slowing. we did have the car fire reported early this morning near the 580. still seeing slowing out there. as far as the bridges, over all the bay bridge looking pretty smooth. no metering lights just yet. i'll send things back to you. coming up, we'll take a look at the top stories we're following this morning on "today in the bay." that includes a wrong-way crash on 280 in san jose southbound. our crews have been there all morning talking to investigators. we have an update on what happened next. that crash happened at about 3:30 this morning. we continue to follow it as breaking news out of san jose. it did create some backups there. be sure to download our nbc bay area app. you can get traffic alerts sent

directly to your cell phone. plus the passing of actress carrie fisher. on our home page we've posted several stories looking back at fisher's life including more about her time spent in the bay area. we'll be back with you in just two minutes. here are the top stories on nbc

bay area... . welcome back. before you head out the door, here are the top stories on nbc

bay area. let's check in with tom jensen standing by this morning. >> there has been an accident just a few hours ago on 280 southbound and tom has the latest. >> it happened at about 3:30. a head-on accident. chp told me a short time ago the driver of the mustang probably came down this ramp, the off-ramp at byrd avenue up onto southbound 280 smashing head on into a 2014 chevy aveo. if we show you the video, you won't believe the driver of this car, the chevy aveo got out alive. she does have a major injury. the woman going the wrong way has a leg injury. she also is in the hospital. a third driver who is in a car that rear-ended the volkswagen, a minor injury. she's okay. we'll keep you up to date. traffic is moving just fine right now.

all lanes are open. they're open for commuters. we'll keep you up to date later today. >> for now, live in san jose, tom jensen, taish. >> tom, thank you very much. more news now and saddening at that. one of the two men arrested in a deadly stabbing incited a target store. you're seeing a picture of the victim with his family. the victim is tyrone griffin, a father of four. police say he was stabbed in that target on whipple road in hayward. griffin was shopping with his 4-year-old son at the time. the suspects arrested are franky and jesse archuleta. witnesses say the victim was trying to talk to the two about their music because he thought it was inappropriate for the kids. a swarm of earthquakes could be felt close to the bay area. take a look at this live usgs map. two 5.7 magnitude quakes shook

minutes apart this morning after midnight. there was a serious of smaller quakes after that. >> it's been an active morning. earthquakes in nevada. we had reports of weird odor coming from san francisco. establish some normal see now. >> it's pretty normal to get cold temperatures and even freezing temperatures now. we're seeing that from morgan hill up to the north bay, and oakland and san francisco, 42 with highs today reaching near 60 degrees. we're going to check in with vianey for a last look at the traffic. you've had a busy morning. >> certainly did. we've been talking about the southbound 280 crash. it looks like the sig alert has been cleared. the maps not showing any major backups. the commute out there seems to be smooth flowing, still a sad situation out there. >> we're seeing more cars on the road than the last few days. >> i think when new year's eve comes around, we'll see a different flow of traffic. >> enjoy it while it lasts. absolutely.

that's what's happening "today in the bay." we're back at 7:25 with a live local news update. >> the "today" show picking up more on the passing of krish right now. good morning. farewell to a princess. tributes to carrie fisher pour in from around the world as costars, family and friends iconic princess leia. we'll look back at the life and career of the actress, author and comedian. back to business. president-elect trump returning to full-time work on his inauguration and filling his cabinet today. this after a security scare forces an evacuation at trump tower. >> let's go, out. out! alexa, who did it? police in arkansas demanding access to a murder suspect's amazon echo. the online giant refusing.