. time is running out, christmas is just hours away as people across the bay area rush to get those last-minute gifts. alameda firefighters help to lessen the blow of a devastating fire and we're there as they deliver holiday cheer to those who lost just about everything. >> complete bay area news coverage start right now. this is ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. >> good evening everyone, i'm

healthy holmes. i'm ken wayne. christmas is hours away and there have r-still a lot of shoppers out there, taking it down to the wire, looking for a special present to put under the tree. ktvu's jade hernandez is in emeryville. >> reporter: ken, look at this parking lot. shoppers are trying to finish off their lists, each shopper today told us a story on how it was supposed to go. >> i kept thinking i would buy it all on-line and missed my window. >> reporter: at union square this man showed us what he purchased so far under pressure. >> i got some ugs and my mom and sister some lev sweaters. >> reporter: he is not done yet. >> i have given myself two hours and have five people off my list and hoping that i can finish them off. >> reporter: the holiday spirit may be the force behind spending, but this vendor hopes 2012 is more profitable.

>> the economy is going down, you know? that is why the customer budget, budget. >> reporter: this shopper happened to snag a spot in a parked parking lot. department stores planning to close their doors at 6:00. in emeryville. >> today is easy. >> reporter: one shopper proves that point. >> i guess i will get my mom something from banana republic and an iphone. >> reporter: what was the hardest part about shoning today? >> the hardest part was getting out of bed. [ laughter ] >> reporter: down the road at target, jennifer sailed through the line with her snowglobe in hand and also brought some extra supplies for a late-night wrapping session scheduled for tonight. luckily for the shoppers behind me in this parking lot, target is open until 9:00 p.m. >> well, bay area grocery

stores also crammed with lots of people getting ingredients for their christmas dinners. >> 67? >>. >> reporter: this was the scene at piedmont market in oakland. last-minute shoppers were checking their lists from everything from dungeness crab to gourmet cheeses and we saw some people on cell phones making sure they hadn't forgotten anything for the folks back home. retailers say yesterday was expected to be the busiest grocery shopping day of the year, but it seems from these pictures it they left their chores to the last-minute. bay area airports are checking in problem-free. a spokesperson at san francisco international says flights are rung on time at both domestic and international terminals. and they are there are no delays reported at monetta /san josi aaron. >> thousands took part in the

tradition prime rib lunch at glide memorial church. the free lunch serves the homeless and hungry living in the city of it's made possible by the owner of the house of prime rib joe betz who has donated the meat for the past 19 years. also at glide, veterans were busy preparing for tomorrow's big christmas dinner. they sliced and diced and chopped and mixed for the thousands expected to be there tomorrow. on the menu, ham, turkey, stuffing and a lot dessert. >> the holidays will be a little brighter for those forced out of their homes in alameda by a fast-moving blaze. ktvu's mike mibach talked to firefighters who are lending a helping hand. >> excellent, thank you very much. >> perfect, thank you. we greatly appreciate it. >> reporter: alameda a's fire station one. >> looks like we have old navy and kohls. >> reporter: today the gift cards and goods kept coming, not just toys, but shoes, bedding and much more. alameda residents arza ralph. >> we're all here on earth to

help each other, and i have had people who have really helped me when i have been in trouble. >> reporter: what is different about this drive through is that firefighters in alameda are donating the goods to the people in the building that they were at one week ago today. it was a three-alarm fire that destroyed at least 18 units, division chief mat tunney was the incident commander that day. >> as soon as we get on scene, we had a lot of fire to deal with? >> the job was done, but not for them. firefighters went right to you work yet again. this time collecting items for people displaced by the fire. people who lost everything this holiday season. >> it brings the best out of people, let's just say. this community has always rallied behind their citizens when things get tough around here, we get a lot of community support. >> we're all connected. nobody is ever separate and nobody should be alone. >> reporter:

on this christmas eve, they go back to the same apartment complex they rolled to last week, this time to drop off christmas wishes and items donated for those who need. the same items will be handed out through the holiday website. mike mibach, ktvu channel 2 news. some of the people who lost their homes in a five-alarm fire in san francisco went back today to see if they could retrieve any belongings. the san francisco fire department says 38 adults and three children were burned-out of two buildings in the fire on thursday. we caught up with one resident who says he doesn'tspect there will be much left. >> i think i will be able to save a few folks who were in a bookshelf that were protected burb oregon than, that i think everything is pretty much gone. >> the red cross says it's helping seven residents who are left homeless, putting them up in a hotel. extra castro fire officials have released new details in the arrest of the man they call a serial arsonist.

they have linked this plan, 53- year-old thomas hartman of pittsburg to 48 dumpster fire over the past two years. officials say hartman fits the profile of serial arsonists who are often unemployed and tend to set fires at night. hartman is in custody on $50,000 bail. >> we have an update to a story we brought you last night from vallejo where a young man has died from stab wound. the victim, 22-year-old caesar villalobos was found in his pickup truck. responding officers say he was stabbed several times. this is vallejo's 18th homicide of the year. today officials identify a motorcyclist kid on the bay bridge as 33-year-old aaron peters of oakland. he was riding on the upper deck

and rear-ended a toyota on the s-curve at a high rate of speed. two people in the toyota were not hurt. the highway patrol and bay area law enforcement agencies are on the lookout for drunken drivers this holiday weekend. the extra pools and dui checkpoints will go through new year's day. the chp says the number of alcohol-related deaths on california highways dropped to a record-low last year. meanwhile, starting january 1st, a nu new law will giff judges the ability to suspend a repeat offenders license for up to ten years instead of the current three. members of occupy san francisco came together, but this time their message was more festive. they took part in a holiday potluck, saying it was important to create a sense of community with the group. >> presidential hopeful new

port richey is lashing out after hearing he will not appear on the virginia baxt he called the system "failed" and vowed to conduct an aggressive write-in campaign. however, virginia law doesn't allow write-in ballots for elections. to get on the ballot a candidate needs 10,000 signatures from registered voters, including 400 from all eleven counties in the state. neither perry or gingrich did in a. >> the president and first lady make a special plea on behalf of the veteran troops. >> our veteran troops sacrifice so much for us, so this holiday season let make sure that all of them know how much we appreciate everything that they do. so from our family to yours, merry christmas. >> merry christmas, happy holidays, happy new year everybody! >> the first family is now in president obama's home state of hawai'i for the holidays.

criticism tonight of california's death penalty from the state's ton judge who says, "it's notice effective. chief justice cantil-sakauye told the l.a. times it's rather is it effective and worth the cost? her comments comes associates are collected comes as a ballot measure. a employee at pacific steel plant as filed a civil lawsuit against the company, claiming that the company did not give timely meals and rest breaks. they are in the mids of laying off workers after a federal audit that found workers did not have proper immigration paperwork. christmas across the world.

how people are marking the christian orlandos. holidays. we'll tell you more about lefty o'douls and the plan to collect 10,000 toys. the latest kim jong il's son is named supreme leader and what the title means for the new head of north korea. temperatures dropping off this evening and another freeze warning and coming up, the areas that will be in the lower 20s first thing christmas morning. [ female announcer ] at the jcpenney... ...after christmas sale, unwrap the biggest savings this monday. shop from 6am to 1pm and save big with doorbusters like... ...9.99 sweaters for her. 70% off sleepwear for him. just 3.99 for bath towels. and buy two bras and get two free. plus with jcpcash... ...get $10 off

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. today thousand of people gathered if celebrate christmas at the biblical town of the bethlehem. the patriarch of jerusalem joined others in the town where christians believe jesus was born. later the faithful attend midnight month at the church of

the nativity. he the tourism bureau says this is the highest turn out in decades w-an estimated 120,000 visitors. pope benedict xvi preside over midnight mass at the vatican today. thousands came to st. peter's basilica for the service and in his homily they urged the faithful to look beyond the increasing commercialization of christmas and discover hesitate true meaning. ten thousand toys, that is the goal set by leftieey o'douls lefty o'doul's and the san francisco firefighters this year. >> christmas coolers and santa are part of the season, but most will agree on nirfavorite part of the holiday. >> being with my family and opening presents

with them. >>. >> reporter: san francisco firefighters and lefty o'douls want to make sure that every kid in san francisco gets that wish. >> the real essence of christmas is to give. >> reporter: it's the 11th year for their toy drive. people stopped in as early as 6:00 a.m. to donate. >> i'm originally from san francisco, so to me it's like coming home. >> reporter: coming home with an extra gift for the toy bin. on christmas morning san francisco from firefighters and police will deliver the gifts, something that they fondly remember. >> load up the ambulance and any kid or person we seen, we give them toys. >> reporter: some families apply for the program ahead of time and those applications doubled from last year. organizers noted many families were asking for help first time. >> they don't know the process because they haven't gone through it before. >> a lot of working families needing toys.

>> reporter: last year they collected 10,000 toys and organizers are optimistic that they will hit that goal again. the age group that they need for is 11 and older, like sporting equipment for teenaged girl and clothing and make-up for older girls. these bins will be out until last call at lefties at 2:00 a.m. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news nfl we just checked with organizers at lefties and thresay 7200 toys have been collected to far, so they need about 2200 to meet their goal of 10,000 times. >> a last-minute plea for help, for those in richmond. christmas many richmond is a grassroots operation started by women who wanted to make sure that no one went without on christmas. this year they say they don't have nearly enough. >> face of less fortunate has changed and it could be even

the middle to low class families. it's hard. we started out initially going after the homeless community and now you see families that are working, but even while working they are having trouble making ends meet. >> they says she received about 30% what they took in last year and that they desperately need more. for information on how to donate to this organization ore others in the barack, go to our website, ktvu.com and click the "charities in need" link at the 207 of our hem faith. speaking of giffing our talented ktvu photojournalists fanned out across the bay area to bring you stories about people making a difference this season. our special holiday special airs tonight at 6:30 and tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. >> tonight the north korea city named kim jong un the leader of the communist

country. he would be the third generation of his family to lead the nation of 24 million people. today thousands continued to pay tribute to kim jong il who died a week ago. in moscow, thousands braved below freezing temperatures in the biggest demonstration against vladimir putin. his party lost 25% of its seats during elections earlier this month, but still managed to hang onto a majority. independent observers say the vote was tainted by fraud. queen elizabeth paid a hospital visit today to see her husband, prince philip, who is recovering from a heart procedure. the 90-year-old prince underwent a isn't it procedure. officials at buck ham palace

haven't said when the prince will be released. winter weather is causing holiday weather tie ups from the rockies into the southwest. today a few inches of snow of covered radios in el port angeles texas, where officers respended toy responded to a rash of accidents there. and parts of three major highways in new mexico are all closed tonight. cold weather in the barack in the bay area has prompted a spare-the-air day. speak of the weather, rudolf will not need to turn on the red nose because it's clear sailing. mark tamayo in the weather center with more. >> that is right, precip--free weather, with no rain in the bay area, but basically just haze out there. overall, it was a very nice day

for christmas eve. overall clear skies, a few high clouds pushing into the region, but it's already in the upper 30s in fairfield at 38 degrees. san francisco at 54 and mountainview, 53 and san josi, 51. another freeze warning to talk about as we head into christmas morning. in fact, it begins tonight at 11:00. lasting all the way until 9:00 tomorrow morning. once again, the same areas for the inland valleys. overnight lows tomorrow morning in the coolest spots back down to the 20s to lower 30s. in fact, here is a look at the breakdown for sunday morning for christmas morning. napa at 26. concord, 28 and livermore in the upper 20s at 27. san josi around 32 degrees. so once again we could have frost. high pressure still in command of our weather. a few high clouds will sneak into the barack, but bay area

tomorrow. for tomorrow, here is the forecast model showing you high clouds heading into the region for the afternoon hours. in fact, tomorrow will be the tenth day in a row for the dry pattern. once again you can expect a few high cloud as we head into christmas day, but no raindrops expected. tomorrow, 7:00, partly cloudy, that free warning. temperatures recover nicely, by 12:00, lunchtime, hazy sunshine. warmest locations around the 60- degree mark. san josi tops out 59 and morgan hill at 60 and these temperatures will check in around 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. here is a look ahead, your

extended forecast. you notice partly sunny skies into moaned and basically tomorrow get ready for the chill, but then partly sunny into monday. tuesday we bring in a slight chance of sprinkles, but better bet of light showers tuesday night, maybe a few drops into wednesday. there is a slight chance of a shower on thursday. but heather and ken, if you think it's cold here, santa's home, the forecast low will be minus 32 degrees, so 20-degree temperatures that we have in the forecast is nothing. >> puts it in perspective. thank you, mark. >> well, the 49ers and the raiders marched towards the playoffs. we have the highlights. >> first, take a look at this big, fat check. we'll have the story behind this surprisingly generous donation.

. a bay area salvation army worker got a big, big surprise yesterday after someone dropped a $10,000 check into a red kettle outside of a menlo park grocery store. a salvation army manager says this donation comes a few days after someone slipped a $5,000 check in a kettle in redwood city. >> good for them of the i'm sure it will go for good use. >> absolutely. >> good day for the 49ers in seattle. >> it wasn't pretty, but the

49ers defense aloud its first 100-yard rusher and gave up its first touchdown on the ground, but they took another step closer to clinking the second- best record in the nfc. they played the third straight game without pro bowl patrick willis. 49ers led 16-10 in the 4th quarter when the rambling marshawn lynch scored the first rushing touchdown in 18 games. david akers kicked his fourth field goal. seattle still time in the game. patrick willis' replace; larry grant lowers the boom on quarterback tavaris jackson.

larry grant, not a bad you back, is he? he gets skittles for that first quarter and that is the candy given to marshawn lynch when he does well. raiders and santa claus in kansas city. oakland had ten penalties in the first half, and here is your biggest one, the great fake field goal. raiders didn't get the play off in time and are flagged for delay of game. it is tied 3-3 at halftime. carson palmer threw two more interceptions, but on target for this pass to denarius moore. langford can't catch moore and the touchdown makes it 10-3. it's tied. scott blocks the 49 field -yard field goal attempt. we go to overnight. sebastian janikowski's field

goal and raiders win it 16-13 wan their fifth straight game they have won, 8-7. 8-7. denver lost and so they are tied in the playoff race. >> thank you, fred. and come this holiday season, an oakland family loses a member to violence, but one recipient tells us about his holiday gift. >> thank you so much for trusting ktvu channel 2 news break. >> our coverage continues on our 10:00 news on charles and we're always on-line at ktvu.com and mobile ktvu. see you tonight at 10:00.

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