help has arrived for victims of this devastating fire. federal workers are there now offering aid to burned out residents and businesses now that telegraph avenue is officially a federal disaster zone. good morning i'm kristen sze. i'm terry mcsweeney in for cheryl jennings. amy hollyfield is live in berkeley with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. they are calling this the larges fire in berkeley in 20 years. check out how the -- aftermath of this fire still makes it tough to get around almost a month after the fire. this is the time of the year when they need shoppers.

this year the businesses on telegrah avenue need the fire not only did an incredible amount of physical damage it also destroyed the foot traffic that comes through. >> for three weeks people from the northside couldn't get to the southside. southside couldn't get to the north. everyone's business went down by at last 50%. our business was a little worse because we were at the last point could you walk south. >> reporter: the federal government is stepping in to provide the help the stiff berkeley couldn't offer. >> there is no -- no city that could an provide assistance. two s are closed. we don't know how long that will be because of damage. it has had a considerable effect on the business district. >> reporter: the u.s. small business association opened a for front today on telegrah avenue offering a place where merchant apply for help. >> the sba is offering loans to homeowners, renters and

non-profit organizations that were impacted. >> reporter: some businesses could qualify for a loan of up to two million dollars. >> it is hard to recover from being down 50% for three weeks. but it will be helpful to get a loan at fair interest for 30 years for a lot of businesses. >> reporter: the interest rates are low. officials think this fire started because after electrical malfunction in an apartment building. residents and merchants can all apply. amy hollyfield, abc7 news. former giant's slugger barry s will be sentenced tomorrow after being convicted on federal charges. prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence bonds to 15 months. bonds' lawyer want probation saying prison time is unfair and unwarranted. a jury convicted bonds on a single charge because he vase

siff answers he gave a grand jury about his use of designer steroid . the jury deadlocked on three perjury counts. we will bring you the sentence when it comes down. a memorial service will be held tomorrow from the toddler who died from injuries in a shooting. hiram lawrence shot in the head, taken off life support last friday he and six others were injured when gunmen opened fire outside a liquor store. no arrests have been made. the service begins tomorrow at 11 a.m.. it is open to the public a block party will be held in honor of hiram in january. san francisco police are warning women about a sexual predator who they believe has brutalized two women in the mission district. both were attacked on 24th street one last thursday morning the other in november. police released this surveillance video of the suspect walking in the mission district. take a close look. black male mid 30s, between

5'9 and 6 feet. medium build and seen wearing a black hoodie and dark pants. if you have any information you are asked to call san francisco police immediately. in washington now a government shutdown looms with president obama prodding lawmakers again about 90 minutes ago. he announced a plan to allow almost two million americans to make more money and put a bay area woman in the spotlight. >> the president: congress should not and cannot go on vacation before they have made sure that working families aren't seeing their taxes go up by $1,000. and those out there looking for work don't see their unemployment insurance expire. >> reporter: with america's authority to spend handling in the balance both sides are hung up over extension of the payroll tax break if not extended costing $1,000 next year democrats had wanted to

pay for it with a tax on millionaires. they are retreating from that position. >> we are not going home without enacting a payroll tax cut for america's working families and extending unemployment insurance for millions of americans. >> no more showboats. it is time to legislate. i think america needs to see us earning our paychecks. >> reporter: the president served an early christmas present for two million home health care workers. they will all make at least minimum wage and be paid overtime. he singled out alameda's pauline beck who inspired mr. obama in 2007 when a in a program he did her job for a day. >> the president: you can wake up at 5 in the morning care for somebody every minute of the day take the late bus home and still make less than the minimum wage. this means many home care

workers are forced to rely on food stamps to make ends meet that's just wrong. >> reporter: leaders of both parties say he are optimistic they will find a compromise and avoid a shutdown. a new sign that lay-offs may be declining labor department says new claims for unemployment benefits fell by 19,000 last week to 366,000. the lowest level since may of 2008. job cuts have fallen sharply since the recession so far employers are hiring at only a modest pace. this morning the u.s. military shutdown the nearly nine year war. troops held a ceremony in baghdad to officially retire the flag of the u.s. forces in iraq. the flag was lowered then wrapped in camouflage, an army tradition. defense secretary panetta told the troops they leave with lasting pride. >> to all of the men and women in uniform today, your nation

is deeply indebted to you. you have done everything your nation asked you to do and more. >> the 800 billion dollar war claimed the lives of 4500 americans. the final 2,000 troops are set to leave the country in days. officials are planning to shutdown westbound traffic across the bay bridge on president's day weekend in february if the weather k5079s. the closure would last two to three days so crews can reconfigure the roadway taking traffic to a westbound detour. any rain would postpone or let end the closure. the project is part of a complicated plan to allow both directions to open to traffic in traffic flowing again in petaluma after a nasty crash brought drivers to a halt for hours. a car crashed into a power pole sending live powerlines on the road at the

intersection of windsor drive and d street this morning. pg&e crews cleared the lines traffic was diverted on to highway 101. no injuries were reported. no word on what caused the crash. a woman in the hospital right now after slamming her car into o'dual bridge near at&t park. her car spun out of control -- crossed the sidewalk and ran into the guardrail. the rail presented the car from plunging into china basin. so far, we don't know how bad there that woman was hurt. still ahead, what did you google this year and how often? top searches of the year. i'm katie marzullo live at the alameda county community food bank where something special is happening. if you donate a canned good to the food drive they have someone here that is teaching clients how to use that food and make hurt they get the

>> reporter: sadly the need is greater and ever and donations

are low. you can help by donating and you have been doing so all morning so thank you for that. i have a special guest katrina is a nutrition educator. what is that it you do? >> i go out to our member agencies and teach them how to be healthy and prepare healthy meals utilizing the foods we give out in the warehouse. >> reporter: makes sense. what have you prepared? >> today i made a cabbage and chicken stew using all ups we found in our warehouse, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, onions and chicken. >> reporter: it looks and smells delicious on a chilly day nothing is better than hot soup. do i get to taste it? >> of course. >> reporter: i want to remind you there are seven ways to donate to the food drive this year all on our website. you can text the word "feed" to 80077.

that will make a $10 donation. which can provide a holiday meal for a family of four. or you can call the number on your screen: 1-800-515-1719. folks, please dig deep, give what you can. every dollar helps the food banks can stretch a dollar. even if you can donate one they can turn that into four or five. hold that for me, if you will. broth in there. it is delicious. katrina, thank you. folks you would be lucky to have some of this. again thank you for your donations let's make this the best year ever. >> taking the taste test, thanks. google out with its top 10 list of topics that piqued america's interest in 2011. each year they design the zeitgeist list offering a reviling look into the people, police places and things that sent america searching over the last 12 months.

>> we have billions of searches and compare one year to the next and say what happened in 2011 that made it special that maybe we didn't see in previous years? >> here is a look at google's fastest rising searches in the u.s.: youtube sensation rebecca black. social network google plus. hurricane irene. social catalogue start-up and ryan dunn rounding out the top five. >> some surprises there. >> lisa has been hard at work searching for any remaining rain. >> sun is over taking the clouds so it is turning out night with temperatures in the low 50s where the sun is shining, upper 40s and more clouds in the south bay. any more rain in the outlook? i hope so, i'll tell you, coming up. ladies, is there really a mr. perfect? we'll have a snapshot of how happy women really are with their man. >> it is not a pretty picture.

>> also, a miracle baby. at birth her doctor could fit her in the palm of his hand. how she not only survived, but thrived.

ladies if you are searching for mr. right stop

wasting your time. apparently, he doesn't exist. a new study shows out of 2,000 women most rank their partners as only 69% perfect. >> that's not bad. >> top shortcomings: not getting along with her family. using her toothbrush. ugh! leaving the toilet dirty. hating her friends. not being good with children. >> especially hers. >> criticizing her driving, big no-no. watching too much sports and not helping with cooking. >> i have a list more would you like to hear them all? >> no, that it the other side could be brought now lisa speaking up for men, go ahead. [ laughing ] >> sorry you are alone. >> i hired the wrong attorney. it goes on and on. >> lazy, grumpy, blah, blah,. a lot of sunshine that will brighten your spirits that is

going to over take the forecast for the rest of the afternoon even in the south bay and east bay where it has been cloudy. we still have a few clouds, fog in our east bay valleys. in the south bay you are slow to clear san jose monterey county if you look at the temperatures, you notice where the has been shining low 50s,!wñ napa, santa rosa, 53 half moon bay with the cloud cover over into our east bay valleys 48, 49 san jose, wind shift going on that going to be quito night and tomorrow as winds pick up north and -- east bay hills northeasterly winds following this area of low pressure and weak front that pushed through concord and north wind with a gust at 17 still the westerly mountain view and san jose partly cloudy this afternoon, lingering showers around monterey county and points south. otherwise, we are looking at a nice afternoon, breezy, not as

hills, some of that warmer air will work down to the surface, valleys still chilly santa rosa, napa, dry, mild through the weekend boy we need rain and it looks like another weak system by the end of our seven day outlook. the past three hours, the rain slow to clear south bay totals from a quarter of an inch in mill valley, 10th in mountain view 9/100 in ben lomond. 10th half moon bay not much to help us. we are looking at the system sliding through the central coast and here's our next weather maker high pressure building in bringing the dry weather, offshore flow, slightly warmer conditions tomorrow through the weekend. the north bay is leading the clearing we will see the east bay continue to brighten up then the south bay peninsula upper 50s in the warmer locations where the sun is shining in the mid 50s, 56

fremont, oakland, 55 livermore. lingering shower south then partly cloudy conditions breezy tonight and look at the next several days lots of sun more clouds tuesday, wednesday that was our possibility of rain and doesn't look like it. still hoping, winter begins next week, so we have to get going. >> thanks lee say groups with environmental concerns about san francisco's staging of the america's cup regatta say they will slow the development process if the planning commission refuses to do so. the commission is scheduled to vote on the impact report. in the planning commission certifies the report members of the environmental council coalition say they will appeal to the board of have advisers or take it to court. the group says more time is needed to review the environmental report, event organizers say swift approval is critical to make necessary improvements to the water front in time for the races to

be held in 2013. one of the smallest babies ever born is wheating the odds and ready to go -- is beating the odds and ready to go home. melinda was born august 30th in southern california weighing nine ounces, small enough to fit in one palm. she was born at 24 weeks, 16 weeks premature the world's third smallest baby on record. doctors thought she wouldn't live but she fought and is now thriving. >> smallest baby in the unit in the last 30 years. nine ounces, how big is a coke can? eight ounces, so your baby is just an ounce more that's what i tell everybody. >> it is a huge miracle. -- she has been through a lot and she has made it. people have doubted her. >> melinda now weighs four pounds after spending the first months of her life in an incubator, her mother by her

sigh. hospital officials say they will follow melinda over the next six years to monitor her health. ringing into the record books. bay area man joins others across the nation for a bell ringing

today at 3:00, high-tech stocking sufferers for the foodies on your list. google's answer to apple's siri.

an inside joke. at 5:00 the teen who tried to sneak into his house late at night like santa and got stuck in the chimney. at least he was trying. right now salvation army volunteer in san francisco trying to ring into the guinness book of world records. salvation army captain is trying to break the record for continuous running of a hanibal by a single person. -- ringing of a hand bell by a single person. he is one of 24 people nationwide trying to break that record to raise awareness about the salvation army's red kettle holiday campaign. >> wonder how you train for that? >> you got to do some squeezes, you don't want carpal tunnel. >> no. >> thanks for joining us today. >> who wants to be a millionaire, next.