it's fascinating. this piece actually began its long climb at about 5:00 this morning and it's now almost in place. three other sections just like it will form the third level of what will be an awe-inspiring signature tower for the new san francisco oakland bay bridge. it's slowly and carefully being lifted into place. >> we could get it done in five or six days uninterrupted. we know we have got potential storms coming up thisay. >> reporter: in this speeded upanimation of this phase of the tower, you'll see each leg must be lifted and placed upon the previous segments already in place. to avoid damage or a major accident, wind conditions must be right. >> despite the fact that you've got a very heavy piece of steel out there, still right now being suspended on cables so as the wind pushes against it it

can catch it like a sail and move it around. >> reporter: when they are finally plated, bolted and welded in place, this uncompleted tower will stand 374 feet tall, but with two more segments to go. >> the next segments are expected in in january and the final ones will arrive in february and we expect to top out right at the end of february, early march for the main tower. >> reporter: despite the massive size of these four pieces, this lift will actually be done before christmas day, amazingly amazingly there will be two more lifts and the entire tower, 525 feet tall, will be done by the end of february. once the tower and deck sections are in place, the elaborate process of stringing the massive cable system that will hold up the signature span will begin. a high wire act not seen on the bay since the western span and golden gate bridges were built in the 1930s. >> this really is going to change the look of the bay when we are done. >> reporter: so this phase of the work will continue 24-7 so

that bridge workers would be done in time to spend the holidays with their families. and it's important to note that with this piece almost in place, the other pieces are already loaded on barges, another one will be over here tomorrow morning and they will start putting that one up. fast work indeed given the complexities that we are talking about. reporting live, consumer editor tom vacar, ktvu channel 2 news. the bay bridge project may be on the fast track now but it has been a long time coming. the planning actually began more than 20 years ago in the 1989 loama pre etta -- prieta earthquake caused a span to collapse. they planned to build a new span over a five-year period with a projected cost of just $1 billion. when this bridge is finally completed almost a quarter of a century after the '89 quake, the price tag expected to be about $6 billion. and for more information about the bay bridge and the progress being made toward completion, you can go to our website and click on the bay bridge tab. renewed focus on a marin

county cold case tonight as a reward in a 2-year-old murder today skyrocketed from 4000 to $50,000. ktvu's deborah villalon live in san rafael to explain why the killing of ashley yom mut-y -- yamaguchi has taken -- >> a woman comes to this downtown bar to watch monday night football. when she leaves hours later those steps would be her last. >> it's hard looking at my child sometimes to know someone would do this. >> reporter: john griffin and ashley yamauchi met as teenagers, lived together, had a child, broke up and two years ago he passed this crime scene driving their door to school never dreaming it was ashley raped and strangled. >> never wanted to come to this street ever again in my life. >> reporter: but her loved ones came back on this anniversary to help revive her story. >> our department will not rest

until we solve this case. >> reporter: san rafael has secured a $50,000 reward from the governor for information leading to the killer. >> we have 50,000 reasons for people who were here that night who saw something, who know something to from forward -- to come forward. >> reporter: her body found in the parking lot behind the bar. dozens of dna samples from the scene were tested but no hits. >> there was definitely some items that were sent out and again nothing has been inclusive from -- conclusive from that evidence. >> reporter: she is described as very social but not naive. >> outgoing and so forth, but she's also very street smart as well, you know, so kind of surprised. >> it turns and turns in your head. >> reporter: friends remember she was on the verge of fulfilling her dream, becoming an aesthetician after years as a nanny. >> we are thinking about her to actually be back in the parking

lot is stomach turning. >> selfless and caring friend. she was a wonderful mother. she was, you know, smart, fun and full of life. >> reporter: it's hope $50,000 will finally bring justice for yom uche -- yamauchi. we have details on ktvu.com. her daughter is now 10 years old. reporting live from san rafael, deborah villalon. >> we have an update tonight on that shootout in sacramento. the claim -- it claimed the life of a young mother. today a second person died. yesterday 30-year-old monique nelson died after being hit by a stray bullet during the gun battle at a strip mall. police say at least one gunman walked into a barber shop targeting two other men. they exchanged fire inside and then outside in the parking lot. five other men were injured in the gun fight. all are expected to survive. at this point investigators are still trying to figure out the motive for that shooting.

a man suspected of sexually assaulting an 8-year-old girl while she was shopping with her family at a san leandro wal- mart store appeared in court again for arraignment. 29-year-old carlyle villazon did not enter a plea but the judge increased his bail to two hen -- $210,000 saying the previous amount was a miscalculation. he is charged with false imprisonment and aggravated assault on a child. police released this photo. you can see here in the photo the bystander tackling villazon is on the ground after the mother yelled for help. villazon set to appear in court on january 10th. bay jerry supporters -- area supporters of d.r.e.a.m. act urging lawmakers to pass that legislation before christmas. >> we have copies of our newspaper here called the liberator. we encourage everyone to take a copy. >> these are live pictures tonight at a local rally.

these students marched down international boulevard from high street to 34th in the past hour. they are gathered right now near the fruitvale bart station. you may recall last week the house of representatives passed the federal d.r.e.a.m. act but a senate vote delayed until democrats can get the 60 votes needed for it to advance. the d.r.e.a.m. act would allow children who came here illegally with their parents before they were 16 to apply for permanent residency if they meet certain requirements. among them, they must have graduated from high school here and have completed at least two years in college or the armed services. we are about to enter a wet weather pattern that could be unlike any we have seen so far this season that has a south bay's largest homeless agency taking action now to keep as many people as possible safe and off the streets. live team coverage for you. ktvu's chief meteorologist bill martin tracking the storms but let's start with robert handa in gilroy. >> reporter: we are at the gilroy national guard armory

where the homeless agency has taken over the facility for tonight. inside workers setting up for some of the people waiting outside who have nowhere to go, people who are also aware of what can happen if they don't fight shelter. today ehc life builders said it is taking extra steps at its shelters in san jose, sunny vail and gilroy because of the upcoming storms. >> this weekend we have extreme weather coming in so we have already started planning with the staff for transporting folks to the various shelters where we have room. we are going to allow folks to come into the shelters above our usual amount. >> reporter: many homeless people are relieved and grateful. >> you get wet and once you're wet, you stay wet and stay cold. then you're fighting the cold, you're fighting your hunger. >> enrique hernandez, benford herman. >> reporter: it is the roll call of the victims of homelessness. today they held their annual program to acknowledge those

who died on the streets the past 12 months. this year 51 names were read. >> we see this as an opportunity to really honor these individuals, honor their humanity and make sure that they are not left unrecognized. >> reporter: for some homeless people, a friend's name was called. >> marcus mcconnell. >> we lost green ice, he is greatly missed. he was there to help a lot of others and we are going to miss him. >> reporter: ehc life builders says there has been progress. the 51 people who died represents a 24% drop from last year, almost 50% from 2008. mainly because of onsite clinics and respite centers built through community partnerships. >> imagine you have a sickness and sleeping under a bridge and trying to get better. we have a cold that takes two weeks to get rid of but if we don't get medication and antibiotics and we are outside in the cold we are only going to get worse, then pneumonia and then die. >> reporter: some of the homeless waiting outside waiting for doors to open in about an hour so some people will beat the storm but

obviously with 7000 people on the south bay streets homeless every night, a lot of them won't. live in gilroy, robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. >> we are going to talk more now about the storms over to our chief meteorologist bill martin. >> it's been a wet year so far. most of us are a good 100% of rainfall average, a very wet october, wet november, cold as well. take a look at the satellite image. you heard gasia mention this event has the potential to be one of the more significant events this year and that would be impressive. what i want you to see here, you'll see a pull-out, the satellite here in a minute. what you're going to see is that swath of moisture extends out into the pacific, extends all the way out past the hawaiian islands. it's not going to do it. see that moisture moving through there? more behind it. so what we are looking for is a -- at is a series of weather systems starting to roll in here over the weekend and linger. it's not one or two. there are going to be five weather systems.

we are going to be wet probably right through christmas maybe into the new year and that is -- could mean significant rainfall. so i'll have all the details, show you that, what i was trying to show you just then and we will have your forecast back here in just a few minutes. >> thank you, bill. congress today breathed new life into the push to repeal the pentagon's ban on gays serving openly in the military. the house voted to refuel the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. speaker nancy pelosi called the law a fundamental unfairness. she said because of the policy more than 13,000 men and women have been discharged from the military. >> infantry officers, arabic translators and other specialists have been discharged at a time when our nation is fighting two wars. "don't ask, don't tell" doesn't contribute to our national security and it could co

ntravenes our american values. president's tax cut deal took another step forward today with an overwhelming vote of approval in the u.s. senate. >> the yays are 81, the nays are 19. >> the $158 billion bill extends the expiring bush era tax cuts at every income level, also reduced job benefits for the unemployed. all the democrats there are fighting a provision that eliminates the inheritance tax on estates under $10 million. we will have more details and reaction from president obama coming up at 5:45. on wall street, it was a wn day of stocks bounced between small gains and losses for most of the session. analysts say the markets were down in reaction to concerns about inflation and rising interest rates. the dow closed down 19 points

at 11,457, the nasdaq was off by 10 1/2 points closing at 2617. not the biggest giants fan in the world today but he sure was today. we will talk about why the mayor of arlington texas was here wearing giants orange. that story straight ahead. also why the fbi is stepping in to investigate the deadly police shooting of an oakland barber shop owner. ♪ keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. [ female announcer so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. ♪ because it is. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig.

a plan to keep the as in oakland has inched forward this week. the city's community and economic development committee voted last night to go ahead with a $750,000 environmental impact study on a new stadium. the proposed site for a 30,000 seat stadium is near jack lemons square. the oakland city council will vote on this proposal next week. in san francisco, it was payback time today for a world

series bet. the mayor from texas was in town living up to his promise on what he would do if the rangers lost and it made for some pretty interesting pictures today. ktvu's mike mibach live in the city tonight with our report. mike. go ahead, mike. >> reporter: frank, the giants fever is still alive here in san francisco as you can tell right behind me, still selling on this mid-december day. it was the same day a big name ranger fan did come to town to talk about how proud he was of the san francisco giants. the stands were packed, the bases wiped, players in place. >> watch your ball. >> reporter: and the two coaches ready to coach. >> leadership is important. everybody on this team should be a leader. >> reporter: this is robert cluck, mayor of arlington, texas in town to own up to a world series bet he made with mayor gavin newsom if the rangers lost the world series, this texan would have to fly to

san francisco, put on the giants orange and coach a junior giants game and today mayor cluck did just that. >> this is a great place. >> reporter: and you can deal with the orange colors? >> i love san francisco, i do. >> reporter: i feel like you're biting your tongue a little bit. >> no, i'm not. not really. >> reporter: the game at gillman playground in san francisco's hunters point is just one event that shows the spirit of the world championship still alive in san francisco. >> it creates a great whirl of energy. >> one, two, three. >> reporter: today inside city hall cj jones and other fans snapped pictures. >> i still just every now and then get overcome and get teary. it's the most wonderful thing ever. >> reporter: merchandise still pouring out of the dugout store, t-shirts, pennants, you name it, it's gone. store manager says business has not slowed. beth armstrong says giants fever will never slow down and the man who runs the organization agrees.

>> we talk about how avid our fan base is. we have moved a lot of fans. the baseball people have by playing good baseball. >> the whole bay area can celebrate which in these times we don't have too many things we can celebrate. >> reporter: todayed at the ballfield coach cluck was proud to do his part. >> they played great baseball, we played pretty good baseball but they won and i'm proud of them. >> reporter: cluck flew into san francisco today and he is flying back to texas tonight. reporting live here in san francisco, mike mibach, ktvu channel 2 news. a special election has been set in san mateo county to fill a vacant supervisor seat. the board of supervisors has voted to hold a special election on may 3rd of the coming year to fill the seat of outgoing supervisor mark chirp, an all male election and potential candidates have until february 4th to file papers with the elections office. he was elected chief elections officer and will vacate his

supervisor seat january 3rd. today the obama administration sued bp and eight other companies involved in the gulf oil spill disaster. the lawsuit alleges a series of federal safety and operational violations in the april 20th explosion and fire on the deep water horizon drilling rig. the explosion killed 11 people and led to the largest offshore oil spill in u.s. history. the justice department hopes to recover billions of dollars to pay for the cleanup costs and the damages caused as a result of that oil spill. back to our weather now. those approaching storms. you were saying today and tomorrow could be a good time to get out there and get things done. >> how can everybody is saying it's going to be a major event? let's look at the satellite image on live stormtracker 2. we are out in the western pacific but you see all this cold air coming down from the gulf? and then you see this mid latitude moisture and it's all -- the jet stream is basically blowing it right over the top of us so those two are going to combine, the cold air and warm

air and a rapidly moving jet stream and it's going to push copious amounts of moisture and basic dynamics, upper air dynamics which is low pressure systems and what have you and high jet stream winds right into our area and so that will do it. that by itself will do it. but you can see a couple other things will enter into that. i'm watching this, i'm watching this and i'm watching this. that's just north of the hawaiian islands, a lot of moisture coming over the date line there. a lot going on and we have seen these patterns before. i've seen a number of these patterns. this is juicy and it's juicy because it has the potential to be multiple storms, not just one, at least we hope it's not just one. we want it to be multiple storms with a little break in between. if that's the case you're in good shape in terms of the rainfall drainage basin, get a little break, that will do it. but we are going to see day after day after day of some significant rainfall,

especially in the coastal hills. in the meantime, though, we have got a little valley fog to talk about. it's forming quickly. you saw it this morning. it will be back again late tonight, early tomorrow morning, the high pressure will stay with us. but then later in the day tomorrow you'll see the clouds thickening up. each weather system is going to have a different personality. one might be a little colder, one might be warmer, one might be wind ier but steadily come through here. start on friday, saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday, right through next week. so i'll guide you through that i've got the computer model loaded up and ready to go. see you back here in a couple of minutes. >> thank you, bill. tracy police tell us they are on the lookout for a suspect they are calling a serial bank robber. he held up the bank of america on 10th street monday afternoon armed with a semiautomatic gun and demanded money be placed in a plastic grocery bag. they believe the same armed bandit may have held up the

robo bank earlier. investigators are looking for the cause of a fire that badly damaged a home in oakland. broke out just before 6:30 this morning at a home on santa ray avenue. firefighters were able to keep it from spreading to neighboring homes. they say that it started in the rear of the house on the second floor and that it seriously damaged two back bedrooms which the homeowner uses as a sewing room and an office. >> opened the door and it was just solid black inside, so i tried to reach anything, i couldn't see 1 foot inside the room. >> fortunately no one was injured in the fire. the damage, though, is pretty extensive but investigators say the home actually is not a total loss. most of the damage was contained to the roof and the attic area. today we know that some bay area companies are topping the list of the best places to work in the country. we will tell you which ones next. plus mark zuckerberg is

named time's person of the year. what he's saying about that on his facebook page today. and what kind of crib does your child sleep in? in a moment, the type of crib that was banned today from being manufactured or sold in the united states.

palo alto based facebook receives another honorable distinction today. it tops the list of best places

to work in the united states. southwest airlines number 2, bain & company rounded out the top three. other bay area companies include shutter fly, number 14, sunnyvale's net app at 15, cupertino based apple is 20th and synopsis is 25th. employment website glass door.com conducted the survey. it ranks companies solely on the input of employees. and the accolades keep coming because "time" magazine friended facebook today naming the social networking site's young ceo mark zuckerberg its 2010 person of the year. >> he's been doing big things in the past year, so many people use facebook now. it's almost weird when you don't find someone on facebook. >> 26-year-old mark zuckerberg is one of the world's youngest billionaires. today he joins such luminaires as pope benedict xvi, martin luther king, jr. and john f. kennedy landing on the cover of "time" magazine as its person of the year.

the "time" magazine honor makes sense because zuckerberg has connected billions of people all around the world. >> i was in contact with relatives abroad and now -- i wasn't in contact with relatives abroad and now all of a sudden my aunts and uncles and grandmother in spain have facebook. >> just this last spring we got together with nine other couples from my college group and we went on a cruise together and we did it all through facebook. >> and perhaps appropriately zurichberg posted a response on his facebook page today saying being a person of the year was quote a year end recognition on how our little team is building something that hundreds of millions of people want to use to make the world more open and connected. i'm happy to be a part of that. facebook getting more attention tonight. the movie the social network which signs a light on the facebook creator's life just won a golden gate bridge nomination -- golden globe nomination. dropdown side cribs are

outlawed. the consumer product safety commission voted unanimously to ban the sale or manufacture of cribs with a side rail that moves up and down. they have been blamed for the deaths of more than 30 infants and toddlers over the past decades. new standards to have cribs with fixed sides will likely take effect in june. coming up at 6:00, a local family, who lost a child in an accident provides some perspective on these new safety rules. as the holiday shopping season enters the home stretch, are people feeling more comfortable buying gifts or are hard times still here? an attorney representing a family who may make a claim against the city over a shooting death is praising the chief of police today.

complete bay area news

coverage continues. this is ktvu channel 2 news at 5:00. cut back because i don't know what next year is going to bring us. >> holiday shoppers are still cautious since many are still uncertain about the economy but the latest retail sales figures show that shoppers are feeling better about spending this year compared to last year. ktvu's rob roth live in daily city tonight -- daly city tonight to see if bay area shoppers agree with that. >> reporter: right now many people getting off work and some stopping here at the mall. the parking lot is filling up just in the past half hour as folks are stopping to do some shopping. with christmas now 10 days away, the shopping season is entering the home stretch. some economists look at retail spending during the holidays to help gauge which way the economy is heading into the new year. some shoppers we spoke with say they are spending more this holiday than they did last year because for them the economy has improved. for some the job situation is

much, much better. >> i guess i'm a little bit more relaxed this year. >> reporter: why is that? >> well, last year my husband didn't have a job, so it's a big difference. >> i'm a cocktail waitress so i'm living off tips that i make every night. >> reporter: and tips are better? >> oh, yes, definitely. spending a lot more on my brother and mom this year. >> reporter: recent figures show sales at general merchandise stores increase by 4.2% this past october compared to october of 2009 and department store sales were up 2.8% last month compared to the previous november when the effects of the recession were still in full force. >> people were buying more necessities last year, outer wear, socks, underwear, people definitely buying a little bit more luxury items, frivolous items, more so, definitely not where it was a couple of years ago but definitely improving compared to last year. >> reporter: but many people tell us they are in the same economic position as last year, struggling. >> because the recession and everything, we are just

surviving, you know, so that's the times that we are living. i know everybody else that doesn't own businesses is doing better because they don't have to worry about overhead. >> not doing expensive gift exchange with friends, the typical stuff that didn't think too much about a couple years ago. >> cut back because i don't know what next year gonna bring us. >> reporter: store owners tell us they are bracing for a big wave of shoppers next week when many people take time off and hit the stores. reporting live in daly city, rob roth, ktvu channel 2 news. do you still have a pile of presents you need to send out? one of the major shippers warned today the clock is ticking. fedex said today that friday, this friday is its drop dead date to send gifts by ground with a guaranteed delivery before christmas. the expects to ship a quarter of a billion packages during the holiday season, up 11% compared to last year. and if you plan to travel this holiday season, be

prepared for crowded roads and airports. for the fifth straight year, aaa predicting an increase in the number of americans traveling 50 miles or more from home over the christmas and new year's holidays. more than 90 million people expected to hit the roads, up 3% from last year. 90% of them will be driving to their destinations, the rest will travel by air, train or bus. now if you're out on the road tonight, you should be extra careful. all state insurance says that today, december 15th, is considered the most dangerous driving day of the year with 22% more accidents than on any other day. the insurer blames the weather, holiday shopping and other distractions for the high rate of accident claims. it doesn't happen very often but the fbi tonight is now involved in the investigation into a controversial police shooting in oakland. derek jones was killed after police responded to a domestic dispute. his death led to protests and it appears that because of those protests, the chief decided to call in the fbi. ktvu's kraig debro has our

report. >> reporter: police chief anthony batts would not talk to us about his request to have the federal government investigate the derek jones shooting death. instead, he told a packed public safety committee room hearing last night. >> i had contacted or had my staff contact the federal brewer of investigations today -- bureau of investigations today and asked them to open up a civil rights investigation. >> reporter: the family's attorney says the request is a step in the right direction. >> i think that's a great idea. that should have been done at the outset. it's always an issue in oakland with the internal affairs investigation of any police shootings. >> reporter: 37-year-old derek jones was shot and killed by two oakland police officers on the evening of september 9th. the shooting took place just yards from jones' barber shop quick can you cuts on bran crossed and essential -- bancroft and seminary. the officer said they shot jones because he was reaching for something in his pants. his mother wrote a poem about

it last night. >> sound like a broken record with choice of words, the suspect appeared to be reaching for a shiny object or he reached for his waist so i shot him dead instead of giving him a tase. >> don't move. >> reporter: just days earlier the opd invited the media and members of the public to participate in a shoot or don't shoot simulator. the idea in part was to put the police shoe on the public's foot, in other words, what if you had to make that split second decision. could the request and the simulator be part of a public relations campaign. >> not so much what you do now. it's what the result of the activities and shootingses go down and complaints -- shootings go down and complaints go down. >> reporter: both officers in this case now on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of certainly internal and external police investigations. he says there's another reason to bring in another investigator. in his years as an attorney here, he has only seen one time

when police have held one of their own responsible for shooting a suspect. in oakland, kraig debro, ktvu channel 2 news. berkeley police say they have made nine arrests in the past few days and may be related to a string of robberies in the north berkeley area. they focused their efforts on the area north of university avenue recently after a number of robberies there over the past month. one berkeley resident says he is glad that the people responsible may now be off the street. >> just makes our street safer. >> police are not releasing the names or pictures of any of the suspects at this time because the investigation is ongoing. it's a new rule. where gun owners can now take their guns starting today. also a bay area leader said back east today that has to do with jobs right here at home. also the connection between our troops overseas and smartphones. how they are being used to help our soldiers fight in afghanistan and iraq.

ktvu fox two publishes you happy holidays.

starting today amtrak riders can legally bring their guns on board some trains, but the guns have to be in checked baggage, unloaded and locked in an approved container. passengers will also have to call to register their weapons 24 hours before they board the train. there are some exceptions,

though, amtrak's gun ban is still in effect on the capitol corridor trains which connect the bay area and sacramento. that's because there is no checked baggage service on that route. about 1000 career counselors and job trainers from around the country are meeting near washington, d.c. looking for advice on how to get the unemployed back to work. councilors and trains are brain -- trainers are brainstorming ideas and sharing their best methods to help people find work. an alameda county employment specialist was invited to speak at the summit about the county's thriving network of businesses, career trainers and local officials. >> alameda county has a brand. this is our business. we lived through plant closures, we lived through the base closures, we have a great team of people who are well networked. >> alameda county workforce officials have also been invited to washington, d.c. in february to attend another national job meeting. congress has stepped up to help stop phone scams by passing the caller i.d.

bill today. the bill targets spoofing where scammers use the caller i.d. of a bank or government office to try and trick people into giving them private information. the bill authorizes penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation and up to a total of $1 million for the entire scam. u.s. troops stationed in iraq and afghanistan are equipped with cutting edge military technology but the latest addition to their arsenal isn't a new high tech weapon. it's a smartphone. the army has a new iphone program. army officials say smartphones can give soldiers access to realtime intelligence during a war. they expect apple's iphone or google android powered phones to be wildly deployed to troops in iraq and afghanistan next year. adjusting to next long trip flight could one day be as easy as taking a pill. scientists at the university of san diego say they found a natural chemical that can relieve jet laguna -- jet lag.

that certainly could be good news for jet setters and for people who suffer sleeping disorders. researchers studied the compound on fish which showed no negative side effects. the complete study published in the public library of sciences journal biology. swiss doctors studying the effects of wine say they found no evidence that it causes indigestion. it looked at 20 healthy people who drank white wine and ate cheese fondue. digestion was slower but found no evidence that alcohol caused an increase in digestion problems. researchers believe their results paint a broad picture of how alcohol impacts your body. the activist who made a nazi salute is going to be getting another trial. plus the new vote today on the tax cut showdown. what hurdle the plan cleared this time. tracking another weather system. i'll let you know when your city could get wet and when things could dry out. see you back here.

we will hear from the income mom -- northern california mom taking on happy meals and a bay area mother who says she even feels the pressure to buy them. and the bay area schools now poised to slash bus service for grade school students. tonight on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. , sea ro f t t.. ro fn-opooal..ko gr. i'a n ! ro fe ysexdo..ko gr. llev wt emo?

the senate voted overwhelmingly to approve the measure and pass it onto the house. house democrats get set for showdown. >> the yays are 81, the nays are 19. >> the senate passed the $858 billion bill by a vote of 81- 19. the measure extends the expiring bush era tax cuts to all taxpayers regardless of

their income. it also renews jobless benefits for the unemployed. >> i am absolutely convinced that this tax cut plan while not perfect will help grow our economy and create jobs in the private sector. >> reporter: president obama, who held an economic summit with u.s. business leaders today lobbied hard for the bill but the measure faces a tougher battle in the house among members of his own party. >> there's so much wrong with this deal. >> reporter: some democrats oppose the provision that lifts the inheritance tax for states under $10 million couples for $5 million for individuals and there are anger on the other side of the aisle as well. >> despite the fact that last november the american people did not vote for more than deficits, more stimulus and more uncertainty in the tax code, that's just what this lame duck congress is about to give them. >> reporter: president obama said he knows some lawmakers aren't happy with the bill but he said that's the nature of compromise. >> we worked hard to negotiate an agreement, that's a win for middle class families and a win for our economy and we can't afford to let it fall victim to

either delay or defeat. >> even opponents admit the bill is on a roll. >> i do not think we have the votes in the house to kill it now. what we have is the opportunity to alert america to the cost of this. >> the house could vote on the tax cut bill as early as tomorrow but if opponents manage to make any changes to that legislation, it would then go back to the senate and that could keep congress working right up until christmas eve. a federal appeals court has revived a civil rights suit in the santa cruz nazi salute case ordering a new trial. he says his free speech rights were violated when he was kicked out of a meeting after giving a nazi salute. the city council says they dismissed him because it was disrupted. coming up next at 6:00, the bay area family that's been fighting for five years because of how their young child was killed in his crib and tonight that fight has finally paid off. now we check in with julie haener in the newsroom now with a look at some of the other

stories we are working on. a northern california woman filed a class action lawsuit in san francisco today against mcdonald's. what she wants the company to stop doing. also ahead at 6:00, the little creatures creating a big problem in one bay area city. why they may have attacked a dog and how they are ending up in people's homes. these stories and much more coming up at 6:00. see you then. >> thank you, julie. santa cruz sheriffs investigators are searching for a pennsylvania man. 57-year-old jonathan frank has not been reported missing but yesterday park rangers found his black kia station wagon parked at big basin redwood state park. been there since saturday. sheriff's office said detectives found a small amount of ammunition inside the car. frank is described at 5'7" tall weighing 150 pounds, brown hair and green eyes. anyone who may have seen him is asked to call the santa cruz county sheriff's department. a milpitas test over -- missile test over the pacific

failed today. the launch went off properly but the planned interception failed. the agency says there will be an extensive investigation into exactly what went wrong. onto our weather now. we go to bill martin. you were saying earlier we have a series of storms stretching all the way to hawaii? >> yeah, a lot of activity in the pacific. it's about a pacific eastern and western anytime of year. that's what we are forecasting for real wet weather coming up. not one big story but a bunch ask that's usually what will do it especially when you go on for a week. let's take a look outside. it's mostly clear, we got a lot of fog this morning, mild outside, lots of 50s, got 54 right now in concord, let's take a peek at what we got going on the computer here. we have got temperatures outside tonight that are going to be cooler than they have been for a while so that's going to set up your patchy valley fog. we had some this morning, we are going to see more tomorrow morning and so be prepared for that. tomorrow not a bad day. that's the day that you may

want to scoop the gutters, get things ready because we will get rain, we could see half a foot of rain in some places, more than that, a foot of rain up towards jenner and those areas, easy. partly sunny tomorrow. we've seen these before, we had something sort of similar to this last year as well. this is the system that rolled through last night, quarter inch of rain, weather system to the north, some out to the west and they will start to move in. as they do, group up, get their act together and start bringing rain as early in the bay area as friday morning. tomorrow afternoon, mid-50s, tomorrow at the end of the day, mid-50s upper 50s, not a real warm day tomorrow. partly sunny and then increasing clouds so here's the computer model the latest. going to take you all the way into saturday. so thursday at 6:00, you see the clouds start to increase. that's tomorrow night just about now. i've got rain, probably be showing you rain from live stormtracker 2 on shore. now we are thursday, friday

morning at 6:00 a.m., that's a wet morning commute. you can see -- you know what i noticed when i look at this? look at the extent, look at the aerial distribution of showers along the coast. that is heavy rain, subtropical moisture, heavy rain across the hills. now we are friday lunchtime, it's raining, and it's snowing a lot. a lot of snow. and then you get into friday afternoon, your commute, that's how that looks. go to saturday and see what happens. saturday early morning, it's raining hard still, we are get into saturday before i get up, 6:00 a.m., still raining and you get into saturday afternoon, it's still raining. we have got a fire hose pointing at the west coast of the united states and it's just going to spray moisture and cool air and windy conditions right through the middle of next week. san jose tomorrow in the low 50s, mid-50s around the bay, 55 in san jose as i mentioned and then the five-day forecast, so,

again, not to head for the hills. don't panic. we have seen these before. but definitely merits paying attention to and we will be here and walk you through it. if we get breaks, we will be fine, but if we don't, flooding issues. >> half a foot of rain? >> yes but over a bunch of days. a holiday tradition could turn dangerous. how the season could end up in flames. the ktvu channel 2 news stock report brought to you by kaiser permanente.

san francisco firefighters are teaming up with st. francis hospital's burn unit to encourage people to take extra care this holiday season to avoid holiday fires. and that's what happened when firefighters set a christmas tree on fire this morning to show us just how quickly dry branches and decorations can go up in flames. in fact, this tree was fully engulfed in flames in less than a minute. every holiday season more than 400 people die in fires and more than 1500 people are injured by fire. now officials say that the best way to avoid a holiday fire is to make sure you're giving your tree enough water. they also say don't overload your extension cords and say to keep anything with an open flame such as a candle at a safe distance. every year damages in the u.s. relating to christmas tree fires total more than $990 million.

and there is much more news just ahead. ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00 is next. mcdonald's gets some unhappy news about its happy meals. find out why a sacramento mother is taking the fast food giant to court.

an unhappy day for mcdonald's. the action taken today to force the fast food chain to change its happy meal ways. also raccoons break into an alameda home. the unique way they got in and why the animals may be getting more aggressive. complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. good evening, everyone. i'm frank somerville. >> and i'm julie haener. a california mother is taking on a fast food giant. she is suing mcdonald's saying the company's happy meal toys and advertisements are putting undo pressure on parents to feed their children unhealthy meals. ktvu's david stevenson joins us now. he's live in san francisco with the details. david. >> reporter: julie, the lawsuit claims that happy meals such as these are the bait that helps lure children into unhealthy eating habits. the nation's largest fast food chain got served today as a sacramento mother of two and a washington public advocacy group filed a class action suit