new year's eve is not a favorite time of year for bay area doctors. ahead -- why there's worry so until -- some worry in emergency rooms. i'm maureen naylor. tori campbell is off today. bay area emergency rooms are preparing for what could be a busy year for accidents. we're live with why the timing of this holiday this year can

bring more emergencies. lorraine? >> reporter: well, new year's eve is typically a busy night for area e.r.s but this year doctors are brace for even more patients because the holiday now falls on a saturday. we visited eden medical center in castro valley today. one doctor told us it's like clockwork. every december 31st, right around 2:00 a.m., when bars an clubs close, the e.r. becomes packed. the doctor says most related to alcohol. he says they are already busy on friday nights. so this is really -- this could really be a challenge. >> they are all alcohol- related. >> reporter: san francisco general is already preparing its trauma center for an influng's. last year with new year's i've

on a friday, citywide e.r.s noticed an increase of patients from the year. of the doctor says pace yourself and drink plenty of water. >> really know how many drinks you -- if it takes two that gets you buzzed, know that three should be your limit. >> reporter: according to the san francisco department of emergency management there were 100 more 911 calls last year on new year's eve than the year before. reporting live in oakland, lorraine blanco, ktvu channel 2 news. the chp is, once again, warning drunk drivers to stay off the road this new year's eve. the highway patrol wrapped up the maximum enforcement period for the christmas holiday. now the officers are getting

ready for the new year's crack -- crackdown. dui checkpoints will be posted and extra officers will be on the roads. the san francisco muni is offering free transport tails starting at:00 p.m. lasting until 6:00 a.m. january 1st. free rides on caltrain start at 1 1:00 on new year's eve until 2:15 a.m. the vta will have free service between 7:00 p.m. and 3:59 a.m. an arraignment is scheduled to take place this week for the bay area man accused of posing as a doctor. carlos guzman-garcia is accused of running a phony dermatology clinic in san francisco's mission district. he has no license to practice medicine and gave one person an infection after a botched liposuction procedure. if convicted, he faces up to 12 years in prison. >> police in oakland are searching for suspects involved in an overnight shooting. it happened at 89th, not far

from the fruitvale b.a.r.t. station. the victim was behind the wheel of the truck when he was shot in the neck. oakland police said the victim is in the hospital in critical condition. police shut down three blocks of international boulevard for several hours searching for both suspects and for end -- and for evidence. antioch police are investigating a tragic accident where a child was killed in front of his home. investigators say the child's father was backing his toyota pickup out of his driveway yesterday on pembroke court, when he accidentally ran over the 2-year-old. police say while they don't believe anything criminal occurred, an investigation is ongoing. the national transportation and safety board says it's about to finalize a recommend as i which could -- recommendation which could help prevent accidents like that one. some cars have rear-view cameras. if automakers comply with this,

they would likely have it as an option for new cars. a san jose woman accused of dropping her toddler out a window on new year's -- christmas day, will be in court facing charges. police say she underwent a psychal trick evaluation -- psyche at evaluation -- psychiatric evaluation yesterday. her son has only minor j's. she has -- injuries. she has broken bones in her feet. authorities a male victim died by the time they arrived. the big rig did stop and is cooperating with investigators. a bay area firefighter who spent his career helping others found himself in the fight of his life. coming up in about eight

minute, the life-saving organ donation that helped this fire captain return to the job he loved and the unique way he will spread the message about giving the gift of life. new numbers are out revealing consumer confidence is soaring and since the highest level since april. here's more from tara moriarty. >> reporter: well, deep discounts, discounts and longer store hours. it looks like the consumers got a shot in the arm. but is it still too early to get excited? that's what many experts are saying. the economy is vult merrill. that's despite the fact that the consumer confidence index rose almost ten points. store expects were nervous about consumers' willingness to spend. we had record numbers over thanksgiving weekend, a lull and then a resurgence. given the last three years and the difficult time we've had as

a nation, i think even a little bit of positive signs gives consumers a lot of reason for joy. >> reporter: we asked -- asked consumers how they felt. >> i think it's getting a little bit better but it will be a while before it improves. >> corporations are still laying off, the jobless rate, the homeless, looking at chirp, the poverty level at 41 -- at children, the poverty level at 41%, the families living in poverty. breaks my heart, actually. >> reporter: shoppers are still worried about their jobs and the overall economy according to the survey. the national retail federation does expect a nearly 4% jump in holiday sales. more information should be released later this week that would offer insight into that surge. tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2

news. in other financial news, ibm says christmas day online shopping was up 16.4% from christmas last year. a lot of that was on tablet computers or smart phones. buyers charged 172% more than last year while shopping on mobile device. a survey of leading economists say they expect only small changes in the coming year. most say they don't expect to see much change in the current 8.6% unemployment rate. the overall prediction is by 8.4% by the time of the november election. they also say the economy is likely to grow 2.4%. growth for this year is expected to be less than 2%. the sears holding company says it will close at least 100 stores and possibly more after the first of the year. they say poor holiday sales are forcing the moves. no decision has been made yet on which soergs will be

shutting -- stores will be shutting down. sears also plans to cut inventory at stores that remain open. hundreds of pg&e customers in fremont have no electricity at this hour. the utility says a wire came down on beard road near whitehead lane. that knocked out power to almost 6200 homes and businesses. power has been restored to about 5800 customers. pg&e crews are working to restore service to the remaining 400 customers sometime this afternoon. all across the bay area, people are getting ready to dispose of their christmas free. allie rasmus is live with more about what leaders are recommends a safe an environmentally friendly option. >> reporter: that's right. dent put them in the chimney as fuel. don't throw them in the trash. the only safe option is to recycle your christmas tree. that's exactly what happened here at civic center plaza. at 11:00 a.m. they had 30 discarded trees, they had a wood chipper in the

back and it took less than ten minutes to turn those trees into mulch. for these christmas trees it's not the end but a new beginning. >> it's true. we're gonna make energy with these trees. >> we're gonna use them for biofuel. >> reporter: san francisco has been resignling christmas -- recycling christmas trees for years. this man was here for the sipping ceremony this morning. >> we just want to keep the awareness up. san francisco does a lot of turnover. residents move in and out all of the time. >> reporter: and nd -- public here that we are less than 5% of the world's population. >> reporter: recycling is the only the real green way to get rid of the trees. >> if these go to the tlafl, they generate -- landfill, they

generate methane as they decompose and methane is 20 times worse than 202. it's not just -- let's not just putting it out of sight, out of mind, let's think about the dispoising of these materials. >> reporter: san francisco was the first city to offer this service. since then others have caught on. now there are 4,000 recycling tree programs across the nation. allie rasmus, ktvu channel 2 news. >> all right, allie. thank you. there are another more places around the bay area where you can take your christmas tree and have it disposed of. you can find a list of those low cases at ktvu.com. besides christmas trees

theirs's also a used electronics recycle. the company will accept any item that plugs in for free. electronics are then sent to facilities in stockton and roseville for proper disposal. >> recycled prald -- property, we can melt it down and make another dvd case or whatever out of it. this kind of mixed material can be crushed down or used for concrete material or speed bump. >> the company works with whole foods and google. an election coverage with the iowa cau you cans are just -- i cau caucuses are just -- iowa caucuses are just one week away. newt gingrich is launching a new television ad. commercials take aim at his rivals and also focus on

romney's character and economic vision. ron paul is ahead in most polls in iowa. he seems to have the most de -- devoted followers. paul is just at over 22%. romney is at 21%. gingrich at 14% and perry, 12% of likely voters. a new gallup poll shows mixed numbers for president obama heading into 2012. for the first time since july, the daily tracking poll shows more people approve of the president's job performance than disappear. that's a big improvement from october, when president obama hit his lowest mark of approval at 38%. however, only 39% of americans approval of -- approve of his handling of the economy. the 19-year-old southern california man accused of leaving an afghan war veteran pair lied has turn the -- has turned himself in. he surrendered yesterday. investigators say he shot 22-

year-old christopher sullivan friday night after an argument over football teams that took place during the soldiers' homecoming party. the defendant's lawyer claims his client was attacked before the shooting. >> without going into other the -- into the other detail, on its face it appears there is a lot more to it than what is just being reported. >> this shooting crumbs after sullily -- comes after sullivan survived a -- an accident in afghanistan. a d.a.r.e. is being sud. they claim they -- a daycare is deeing sued. they claim that the school did not do a thorough enough background check of this man. he's accused of molesting nine

girls. a bay area firefighter will be drawing attention to a close -- because of something near too his heart. anthony robinson received a heart transfer. today, the black firefighters association gave him a big sendoff as he gets ready to go to the parade. >> tissue and organ donations literally save lives and i stand in front of you today to prove just that fact. robinson is now back with the fire department. he will ride on the front with 20 other resipians, donors and family members on january 2nd. san francisco firefighters are coming together for a 15- year-old central valley boy who died of leukemia just days before christmas. he died on friday at ucff's hospital. firefighters came into contact

with the modesto boy several weeks ago while donating toys at the hospital and grew close with hill and his family. firefighters will hold a fund- raiser tonight. the fund-raiser starts at 5:00 p.m. at don ramon's restaurant on 11th street in san francisco. the chp says a highway north of san francisco has reopened after a suspected dui crash that tapled seven power poles. the crash happened just before 4:30 this morning. officers say a suspected drunk driver crashed into a telephone pole and kept going, taking six more poles down with him. that sent live power lines dangling. the chp said it had no choice but to shut the highway down. witnesses say the pup truck could be seen weaving in and out of track right before the crash. bay area quality officials are asking you to avoid burning wood today. no spare the air alert has been issued but the district says there's still a mix of

unhealthy air. air quality officials say the air quality was so poor yesterday that it rivaled conditions after the 2008 wildfires. good afternoon to you. you may be tempted to to light a -- tempted to light a fire in the fireplace. cool out there. some areas in the north bay are still dealing with pretty thick fog. calm conditions we have a light offshore breeds at the service and that's helping out just a little bit. you can see over parts of the north bay. napa reporting partly cloudy skies now. but mostly gray most of the morning. san rafael, novato up to santa rosa seeing partly to mostly cloudy skies as we continue now into the noon hour. take a look at that area of blue. it's a possibility if you are in this area, you are dealing

with this. napa started at 40 degrees this morning. not a big warmup. 52 in santa rosa. a difference there where we've seen partly cloudy skies and some clearing. the rest of us dealing with 50s out this time. 57 livermore. mid-50s in mountain view. again, easy to indicate where we're seeing some fog an clear skies. satellite radar we'll continue to see the high clouds drift overhead. we have the ridge pretty flat and these storms are progressing over northern california are doing this and bringing us just the clouds. we had anticipated the possibility of maybe a system far enough to bring us rain on thursday. not gonna be the case. take a look at what happens here. we're in the noon hour, in addition to low clouds, high clouds are passing through. and will be in and out through the next day or so. tomorrow morning we wake up and we're cloudy but the rain is going to stick to the north.

i'm gonna run you through the next few days. now we're into thursday morning. clouds, maybe a little bit of moisture popping up over the north bay. and thursday night into friday, it begins to sink. we're not expecting a whole lot but we'll take what we can get at this point, right? we're looking at dry conditions between now and then and then the possibility of a few scattered showers for your friday. sheer a look at your high for -- here is a look at your highs -- >> into the south bay, 60 degrees for the afternoon, san jose. 60 degrees expected morgan hill as well. the extended forecast, again, it's going to be dry and a very similar pattern. we definitely have a lot more moisture in the air. we're seeing it with the fog and patchy frost but because of it r -- but because of it, the

temperatures are not as cold. upper highs, 50s, 60s. 50s, 60s. we could use some rain. >> thank you. we have new video on the streets of oakland late this morning of a driver trying to evade them, he crashed into a power pole and parked car around 11:40. deputies say the driver was initially pulled over for a traffic violation but sped off after the deputies approached the car. the passenger was arrested. both are said to be juveniles. the megamillions lottery game is living up to its name with a megajack po. it's grown to $206 million for tonight's drawing. that's because the lottery has gone without a winner since november 1st. but some people we spoke to today who were lining up for tickets hope their luck will

make them the next winner. >> you have to be in it to win it. if you don't come down and play, then you won't ever know if you will be the winner. >> can you spend that even all? >> no, probably not. >> yeah. >> we'll just give it away, most of it. have fun. help out people. >> megamillions is a multistate game played in california and 41 other starts. its largest jackpot ever won was $390 million in march 2007. bicyclists on the golden gate brack will soon -- bridge will soon have to share the swab -- share the sidewalks with peds. the work will -- perdz. the work -- the perdz. the work will continue until finished. it's the audibon 29th

annual bird count -- count. this is meant to assess the bird's moplation. teams will count birds in 17 different locations including from a boat that will span the bay. last year 177 species of birds were counted. the latest in wall street is coming up next. also an an unexpected guest inside of a home. and the residents are wondering if santa was missing a reindeer.

it's been a heavily heavy day on the stocks -- heavily trading day on the stock market. home prices fell an average of 1.2%. that brings the annual decline to 3.4%. prices in san francisco are down even further for the year. 4.7% since november of last year. what happened in las vegas didn't stay in las vegas. one el paso man is happy about that. mitch gilbert was about to board his flight back to colorado when he saw two ceaser palace envelopes containing $10,000 each on the floor. once he got home, he called the airport for two weeks until one operator decided to take him. >> she says this is breaking the rules but you are trying to do the right thing. >> she said an el paso man

reported the envelopes missing. so gilbert contacted him to return the money. that -- that man says he's extremely grateful to gilbert for being so honest. a utah fall was expecting santa on christmas eve but got a different visitor. >> it's in the room! >> well, it was a deer. he crashed through the family's basement window. he traveled through the home and ended up in the bedroom. for about two hours, the family took these photos as they waited for wildlife officers. sadly, they had to put the deer down to get him out of the house. we told you about the decision of sear's to close down roughly 100 stores in the nation. coming up at mock, we'll take a look -- 5:00, we'll take a look and see what this means for the bay area. that's at 5:00. we want to thank you for

trusting ktvu. we'll see you the next time news breaks. until then, we hope you have a great day.