>> i am tara moriarty live in san francisco where the clock is ticking down as to where the next america's cup will be. we have just received word that mayor gavin newsom is expected to react to the decision this afternoon. we will bring you the latest coming up. >> law enforcement will bo out in force this new year's eve. we will tell you what san francisco police say they will be doing for the first time. >> a sad end to the year for some families because of deadly traffic accidents. the story ahead on ktvu channel 2 news at noon.

>> complete bay area news coverage starts right now. this is ktvu channel 2 news at noon. >> good afternoon, i am gregg debro in for tori campbell. ktvu has been told that san francisco will probably be awarded the next america's cup race. the city has been in a battle with an unnamed italian city and newport, rhode island. it could pump up to a billion dollars in the local economy. tara moriarty more. >> reporter: good afternoon. we are here live at the st.ñfrancis yacht club along the marina in san francisco where there should be a party because they have clinched the

america's cup. here is the reason, the golden gate bridge, this is a natural amphitheater for viewing. you will be able to watch it from several areas. now it seems like this announcement has been drawn out, many members of the yacht club here have been paying close to attention to blogs and posts on facebook waiting to see what race organizers will decide. we know this rome and newport rhode island were competitors. it wanted to host after they captured the trophy in february off the coast of spain. >> it is going to be a dream come true, just like giants winning the baseball game, all that, this is going to be another dream, having america's cup here. east coast have had enough of

this. >> we spoke to bob billingham, who said san francisco had something none of the other cities had. >> one of the principal concerns is the timing of regular live television broadcasts, in san francisco they turn the wind machine on at 1:00 every afternoon and the races are going to for, the wind is strong wind, which makes for exciting coverage and exciting racing. >> now, this international sporting event is projected to pump more than a billion dollars into the local economy here. generating the equivalent of more than 8000 jobs. there are a couple of proposed staging areas, one on the northern waterfront near peer 39, the passed the embarcadero straddling both sides of the bridge. the mayor's office will give them lock long-term rights and will receive 80 million dollars

to shore up those peers. the mayor's spokesperson says they do not have official word and then they will try to organize a press conference. live in san francisco, tara moriarty. >> the police like to say you can't afford it. they have used that phrase to the tear people from drinking and driving. today the chp and other law enforcement agencies are saying if you drink and drive on new year's eve you will pay. claudine wong is live at the bay bridge toll plaza with those the details. >> reporter: good afternoon. the police plaza will be a busy place as people come in and out for new year's eve. law enforcement will also be out in force and they say have a good time but if you get caught drinking and driving that will cost you an estimated 10,000 dollars in fees and

fines and also means you will start 2011 behind bars. the highway patrol plans to saturate the freeways looking for drunk drivers, the chp says now is the time to figure out the details of where you are headed and how you are going to get home. >> when you start drinking and when you think of how you are going to get home that is when people make poor decisions. >> some are avoiding the roads altogether. >> i am going to san francisco civic to see the play again. >> to you worry about getting on the roads? how are you getting there? >> no, staying at a hotel nearby and staying the city. >> i think we are staying at home. >> i know my kids are not going to be in a car and taking public transportation but i would not want to be out

driving. >> in san francisco all vacations have been cancelled and for the first time saturating the entrances to the freeways with officers. >> we have approximately 27 officers assigned on motorcycle along with the california highway patrol, to the on and off-ramps into san francisco. >> they will be checking everything and here 20 more officers will be stopping every third car at this sobriety checkpoint, with a thousand cars expected to head down this corridor, hundreds will be having a chat with officers tonight. san francisco police say the check points are no secret. violators have usually heard about them, but drinking too much makes them irresponsibility and forgetful. >> they are not going to pay attention and those people serve to be arrested. if you are caught in this check point you deserve to be arrested. >> police say they hope they are not the only ones keeping an eye out tonight.

chp says if you see someone driving drunk or dangerously call 911, give them a vehicle description and a location and they will get someone out there as soon as basic message tonigh celebrate the end of 2010, celebrate the beginning of 2011, just do it safely. claudine wong, ktvu channel 2 news. >> we will have more on some of the new year's celebrations in a few minutes. we also have a list of the programs around the bay area that will help you get home tonight. we also have a list of local events on special new year's eve web tab on our website, ktvu.com. bay area transit agencies are also gearing up for tonight's new year's eve crowds. san francisco muni is expanding its night service and offering free rides between 8:00 and 6:00. they are also waving fares between 7:00 and 4:00. bart will extend service until 3:00, still have to pay though.

with some training skipping downtown san francisco stops. they will operate on a sunday schedule, so is cal tran. this month's critical mass could cause a lot of traffic problems in san francisco tonight. despite the holiday bicyclists say they will meet around 6:00 at the foot of market street and it is not known where they will go from there. two people were killed this morning in separate car accidents in oakland. the first one happened on 880 near the coliseum at 2:00 a.m. the driver of that red was car speeding and lost control. >> for unknown reasons the solo occupant of the vehicle drifted to the right at a high rate of speed, crossed over the deter embankment and the vehicle became overturned at this point over the 66 avenue on-ramp to northbound 880. >> the car hit a fence, the male driver was ejected and killed. the chp tells us minutes after

three other drivers distracted got into the same fender- benders but were not injured. it was shot down for an hour and a half following that accident. just hours before another man lost his life on tell grant and west mcarthur boulevard. he hit several parked cars before his vehicle flipped and landed on its side. the cause of this crash is still under. it is not clear weather drugs or alcohol were involved in either of the accidents. police confirm to ktvu this morning the person killed in the fatal crash near livermore was an off-duty deputy. marco ortiz died on vasco road early yesterday morning when his vehicle ran off the road. the cause of the crash is under investigation. he was an 11 year veteran of the alameda county sheriff's office and a resident of brentwood. the woman at the center of the san francisco police crime lab schand dale will not face criminal charges in the case. the state attorney general's office says there is simply not

enough evidence to prosecute deborah madden for drug theft. she was accused of stealing small amounts of cocaine from the lab. in a scandal that prompted the dismissal of 600 drug cases this year. she still faces a hearing on felony drug possession charges in san mateo county. check your refrigerator and freezer for ground beef being recalled because of possible e. coli contamination. it was produced december 7th and 16th by a southern california company called first class foods. the packages have the number-s- t-1-8895 on the labels. 17 tons were shipped around california and five other states, no illnesses have been reported. still to come a preview of the floats in a world famous parade that takes place right here in california. it is already 2011 in parts of the world. we have highlights to show you something up. and will bay area people

ring in the new year in rain? meteorologist keith paulson has the forecast ahead. also. >> with too many new year's eve celebrations to list we have a story of a woman who has had a handin a thousand of those celebrations. we will explain coming up. ;

it is already 2011 in some parts of the world, that is australia rine ring in in the new year. they celebrated with a fireworks display over sidney harbor, an estimated 1 million people showed up to watch the show. in hong kong fireworks exploded from 10 of the city's most famous buildings. the lights show started at -- start there at 8:00 our time and lasted four minutes. those are pictures and sounds from thailand, where a large crowd gathered to ring in the new year and watch the fireworks. january 1st 2011 arrived there

at 9:00 a.m. our time. the list of new year's eve parties is to along to give you but we know one woman what has had a hand in nearly a thousand of them so far, most of them here in san francisco. jade takes a look inside the ba loop lady's warehouse. >> reporter: they were busy blowing up balloon. the woman behind it all the balloon lady. >> i have a fabulous staff and great clients and everybody does what they are supposed to do and it gets done in time. >> how late will you be working tonight? >> i hope we are wrapped up by 8:00. >> this is the busiest day of the year for her. her operation is a well orange

orchestrated event. they take them to their final destinations, including balloon drops. >> we do it because we are good at it and we have been doing it a long time. it is what we do. >> she wasn't the only one preparing. barricades were situated every few feet along the water for the fireworks show at midnight. you are looking at where thousa into the city. extra police patrols are out again this year and free transportation provided throughout the city. jade hernandez, ktvi ktvu channel 2news. >> the judging of the floats is underway right now in pass a pasadena, dozens of groups around the country have built floats for the parade. >> the theme of this year is a

state fair to remember and just embodies the things our customers like to do. >> the winners will be chosen today. thousands will be camping out tonight to be sure to have a perfect seat for the parade tomorrow at 8:00. a oakland teenager will be on the float tomorrow. he will be one of recipients on the donate life float. he received hernandez's liver in a transplant two years ago. two san mateo beaches will remain closed to recreational use at least through monday, high levels of bacteria have infected the waters off marina lagoon and lakeshore park. people are being advised to stay out of the water there. the water became contaminated with sewage from storm runoff on december 22nd. gray whales are a lot

larger than ground hogs but like the smaller mammals the whales appear every year at the same time. a kayaker shot this video of a whale. they are on their way to california from alaska. they have been spotted in the area for the past three weeks. gray whales will spend three months in the warm waters then migrate back to alaska. >> steve paulson is coming up. he has got more on what we should expect new year's eve night. >> it looks like it. we had sun this morning but it was cold, upper 20s, 30s, and it is going to stay cool. we are under gray skies now. most of the sun is disappearing fast unless you are watching us in thailand, where it is probably sunny and warm. friday night, yes, cloudy, cold, light rain around 8:00 at the earliest, then by midnight it surely looks like it is going to make it coast and bay, so temperatures 40s.

heading out early you will escape the rain but anything after 9:00 or 10:00 you will have to deal with it. we have two parts, the front coming in right now then the low right there but some of the echos are starting to show up. i doubt this is reaching the ground but here we are noon so we still have a ways to go here and it sure looks like that system will spread rain over us in the next 10 to 12 years. the atmosphere is juiced up anyway. cold conditions have given way to 40s and one 50 at san jose. bridgeport was minus 10, 25 in reno, ukia 28, sacramento down to 29 and 30. las vegas down to 31 this morning. so that is really cold air in

place. this system will spread in clouds and they get lower and thicker, that will may not only into our weather tonight but also saturday and maybe even into sunday. santa cruz mountains down to monterrey could by looking for decent rain out of this but nothing compared to wednesday, this is just more clouds and rain but it is tapping into moisture here so it bears watching as we go into the weekend. this is an event more for us than the sierra nevada. cold morning and light rain by midnight. beautiful in the sierra but clouds increasing. really cold this morning. light snow off and on. more clouds than anything else into the weekend. so if you are going up there the rain is a bigger story for us than any snow will be for them. so cold, chilly, staying that way, clouds increase with rain on the way, upper 40s or very low 50s for your temperatures. this is it for 2010, our last -- my last five day, craig, clouds coming in, rain comes in tonight, takes us into

saturday, probably more rain south on sunday then a break monday, one more system on tuesday. >> thanks a lot steve. >> anytime. >> people in parts of the south and midwest are dealing with the aftermath of a deadly tornado today especially the small town of cincinnati, arkansas, three people were killed and 12 others injured when a twister touched down just before sunrise. the winds destroyed homes, knocked out power and reduced businesses to rubble. in missouri near st. louis cars were thrown around and two people were killed in other parts of that state. the unusually warm winter air is blamed for those violent storms. in san francisco tough contract negotiations with muni drivers begin next month. the current contract expires june 30th. last november voters passed prop g, which gives management more flexibility in knee getting wages scheduling and benefits with the union, previously muni drivers had their pay set by a formula p the city charter which mandated they equal the second highest

of any transit operators in the country. even if you spent a lot of money on holiday shopping there is still a few hour and reasons to make one more big purchase in the final hours of this year, because auto dealerships are offering some their best deals right now as they close out the calderon 2010. they are using rebates, low or no interest loans and maintenance deals to bring customers in who may have been considering a new car. >> they know if they come right now not omar we anxious but there is incentives there to get the numbers in. >> i have had the same employer for four years, so i guess i personally am feeling secure enough in my economic situation that i feel okay about getting a car. >> local dealers say after watching some of their competitors disappear earlier in the year they are starting to see growth in the auto industry and some dealers say they are even building new stores. still ahead he was accused of killing 20 people so why did

a southwestern governor consider pardoning billy the kid?

a retired firefighters from san leandro will be starting

off the new year as a millionaire, he won $8.4 million playing a mega bucks slot machine on tuesday night. that are reporting that he owns a vacation home in lake county and is a frequent visitor to the casino. the new mexico governor has decided to pass on the towpt to pardon old west outlaw billy the kid. today is richardson's last day in office. the prospect of a pardon for billy the kid was based on a promise by the governor back then. the mayors' office says the announcement is coming up about

the america's cup. our next newscast is at 5:00, happy new year. send comments to comments@captioncolorado.com captions by terry james, caption colorado, llc.