track down the regist understan in pleasant hill. again the headline right now is that both people on board this small aircraft suffered minor injury, both of them are being treated at the hospital. and as for that aircraft that wept down nose first here -- went down nose first i'm told it is significantly damaged. i'm heather holmes, ktvu news. crews are working to repair a 6-inch water main break in walnut creek. ktvu's janine de la vega there now with all the disruption it's causing. >> reporter: main street is closed in both directions, as you can see behind me it's because these crews are working to repair a main break. this is happening right in front of this crate and barrel.

water started flooding into the basement of that crate and barrel where they keep the merchandise. now let's take a look at some video that we took earlier of where you can see where the actual water main valve broke. crews happened to already be in the area doing routine maintenance work and they responded to the water main break. the pipe did not break because of the work they were doing and they are still investigating the cause. this is really causing a lot of traffic delays around this area, a popular shopping area broadway plaza. right now walnut creek police are out, they are showing drivers detours since there is this two block area. that is closed off. so they're asking people what to avoid the south main and olympic boulevard . since this work is being done, we're told the only store so far that had damage was crate and barrel in

their stock room. some of their merchandise was damaged. i just got off the phone with a spokeswoman from east bay mud and she says that they expect to have the water back on any minute now at those businesses and they also expect to have this work done by 6:30 tonight. reporting live from walnut creek, janine de la vega, ktvu news. we now know the cause of a massive water main break in san francisco. it turns out it was human error. water shot nearly 100 feet into the air when the line broke in south san francisco on the day after thanksgiving. today the san francisco public utilities commission released the findings of an outside consulting firm. their investigation found that a fixture that connected two 12- inch pipes was not tight enough. >> there's no excuse, it was human error that caused it. and that's why we're putting in place to make a difference to make sure it doesn't happen in the future. >> reporter: more than 1 million-gallons of water was released damaging at least six

homes and nine cars. the puc hasn't put a price tag on the damage yet but is working with homeowners and the city to settle claims. governor brown spoke today on its effect on the state. ken pritchett live now in sacramento with that and the key question that the governor wouldn't answer. >> reporter: it could be said that this year was marked more by a major cut backs than bold landmark legislation. it was a year that did see deep cuts, millions of the dollars to social service programs and legislation. but the governor can hang his hat on a major establishment that was his plan to realign state control in the way of moving inmates to city facilities. >> reporter: it was a casual jerry brown that sat down with

reporters to speak about the year. >> pulling it all together will be just as hard as last year. >> reporter: a $26 billion budget was cut in half and that was done because of cuts. when asked how governor brown would grade his first year in office. >> students don't give themselves grades. >> reporter: as 6:00, more on the governor's tax initiative and how that will play into the budget he will announce early next month. a budget that the governor says, the governor guarantees will contain billions of the dollars in new cuts. in sacramento, ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >>lot of people sure hope so

because this has been one of the driest decembers on record. our chief meteorologist bill martin is tracking the weather. first to robert handa who's in the south bay to show us why so many agencies want and need the rain. robert-- >> reporter: we're here above the guadalupe river that runs through san jose or at least it usually does during december. now it's just a trickle, one of many troublesome situations that comes with a dry winter. there are a lot of disappointed people and agencies today as the chance of rain for this week fizzled out. public help officers and the bay area quality management district had hoped rainfall would reduce some of the pollution sent out by people burning wood. >> we breathe them pretty deep into our lungs so that's what causes the problems in our body. >> reporter: the air quality management district says it did get a break today.

officials were hoping for some rain soon but did get a significant breeze. >> we are seeing a general downturn in the amount of smoke that's building up in our air so that's a good thing right now. >> reporter: calfire was also disappointed by the no rain forecast. >> things have stayed very dry. the moisture in the atmosphere would have made it a significant difference or some difference at least in the fuels and would have kept the fuels wetter than they have been for some time. >> not surprisingly one of the most disappointed as the santa clara valley district which says we're headed for the fourth driest december since 1940. >> we do look forward to a wet winter usually january, february, march are usually our biggest rain months. so we still have hope that we can get close to an average year. >> reporter: well with this kind of start average may be a high goal the water district is also concerned about the lack of sierra snow because the south bay gets half of its water supply from that run off and right now not much is running. live in san jose, robert handa,

ktvu channel 2 news. chief meteorologist bill martin has been talking about this dry spell for weeks now, he's here with what's to come. >> it definitely has been a dry december. as we move forward coming up on obviously the last shortened week or the last bits of december. it looks like this will go down in record in san francisco as at least one of the top driest decembers and more likely the top three or four. we have some clouds moving in now. and what's interesting is the pattern starting to break a little bit because of that, you haven't seen this in a while. there are changes coming our way but when you look at december, this high pressure dome has been living here. it's been a very, very dry december. so we go week by week, there's a little bit of shower activity on the 11th and 12 and fifth but minuscule. as we get into this last week we're pretty much, looks like we're going to be dry right through there. there will be a few showers on thursday and friday. on this time of year, certainly last year and the year before that you see creeks and water moving there's nothing out

there. it is very, very dry. we do have a break in this pattern, things are starting to change around. but when decembers start out this dry we usually end up below average rainfall for the year. that's what climatetology will tell you. i'll show you when there's a chance for a big storm coming up, see you back here. a high speed chase today ended with a crash in oakland. sheriff deputies say a teenage driver trying to evade them crashed into a power pole and car. it started as a routine traffic stop but authorities say the driver sped off as deputies were checking records that indicated the car was stolen. after the crash the driver ran away and was shot with a taser before being arrested. a passenger was also arrested. police in oakland are searching for suspects in an overnight shooting. it happened late last night at 39th and international not far from the fruitvale station. the male victim was behind the

wheel of a dodge truck when he was shot in the neck. oakland police told ktvu news he is hospitalized tonight in critical condition. police shut down three blocks of international boulevard for several hours searching for both suspects and evidence. as the bay area prepares to celebrate the arrival of the new year, local hospitals are getting ready to care for people who go a little too far on new years eve. every new year's eve is a busy night in castro valley. they say when the bars and clubs close at 2:00 a.m. patients flood the er. but the difference this year is that new years eve is falling on a saturday night so doctors are bracing for even more action. >> everything that comes in is alcohol related. assaults, motor vehicle accident, and unfortunately most unfortunate patients that come in here are the ones that haven't been drinking and they are coming home from a late night at work and they get involved in these kind of accidents. >> the san francisco accident -- coming up at 5:30, the san

francisco hospital that says this saturday night will be the busiest night of the year and how they are planning ahead to make sure they can meet that demand. many employees at sears and k-mart in the bay area are worried on what's to come. since the company announced there will be closures throughout the country. >> reporter: gasia, we talked to customers in oakland who certainly wonder if their downtown sears location may be in trouble. the company has not said yet which of its stores will be closing, because sales are down during this critical time of year. >> is it busy in there? >> the line to pay was really long. >> reporter: but many people say -- >> no, no, there's nobody in there. >> reporter: this critical holiday period means sears and

k-mart stores will have to close. >> it's very sad, i've been shopping at sears since my parents shopped there. >> reporter: retail analyst dweller says sears and k mart can no longer compete with other retail giants such as wal- mart. but there could be hope for bay area stores. >> the bay area has been one of the bright spots in the u.s. for retail. it's not clear to me that the stores around here would be among those. first on the list for closure. >> reporter: sears has said it will now focus its resources on their remaining stores. >> for people that are losing jobs that is another blow that's going to make it harder on the american people. >> the sales of sears and k- mart did not go well on wall street. live in the newsroom, eric rasmussen, ktvu news.

there is some encouraging news tonight for the u.s. economy, the conference board says it's consumer confidence index hit at an eight month high this month to almost 65. that is near a postrecession peak. the surge builds on another big increase last month. still analysts say the december confidence reading is behind the level that indicates an economy on solid footing. consumer spending accounts f or -- they are down compared to october of last year. prices in san francisco are down even further for the year at 4.7% compared to november of last year. president obama today nominated two new members of the federal reserve board. one of the president's choices

is jeremy stine who is an economics professor. he recently served under geithner. both nominations must be confirmed by the senate. the obama administration says the government is once again getting close to its borrowing limit. treasury officials plan to go to congress on friday to request another 1.2 trillion in borrowing authority. they say the government will approach its current limit by the end of the week. the increase would boost the debt limit to $16.4 trillion. congress and the white has agreed to an increase as part of a hard fought deal that was reached back in august. we've been following another developing news store. highway1 has just reopened following a deadly accident just south of pacifica. the chp tells us a pickup and a motorcyclists collided in the south bound lanes just south of

devil slide at about 2:55 p.m. we learned the motorcyclists died in the crash. now southbound lanes were closed at linda mar boulevard. this is a live picture of that area right now and you can see that it looks like all is clear. you see a lot of cars coming through. it appears to be smooth sailing. but boy that was not the case earlier this afternoon. there was a huge back up, news chopper 2 was over the scene shortly after the accident to bring us this picture of the investigation of the crash scene and far beyond where these emergency vehicles are, there was a long back up of cars. at this point we have learned highway 1 is reopened as of just maybe 15 or 20 minutes ago. but again there were huge delays earlier this afternoon. the obama administration is weighing whether to grant a medical visa for abdula sali. he was wounded at the

presidential palace. some have accused him of committing acts of violence. thousands of defiant syrians took to the streets to call for the ousting of the current regime. some shouted for the execution of bashar al-assad. meanwhile officials in neighboring lebanon said syrian troops killed four lebanese men when they accidentally drove into syria. a crowd of mourners marched into the investigation center. that's one of the last places

the man known as dear leader visited. kim's son and chosen successor kim jung un cried in front of his father's casket. people in the san diego cost are bringing out surfers and tourists. the winter holiday season felt more like summer as visitors ventured into the water. surfers also took advantage of the conditions and hit the waves. >> let's face it it's epic conditions. do i go to the park with family or surf? you could do either or today. >> the waves also produced some strong rip currents. let's turn to our chief

meteorologist/surfer to see what's going on today. >> i just showed you how dry it's been. how the entire month has been relatively dry. this pattern is probably as good as it gets for surfers in northern and southern california. this is one of the biggest places for surf where we had almost every day you could get out in the water. the swell is beginning to subside. it's going to crank up again as we go into a next week. this type of pattern as much as we need the rain has surfers th area. plenty of swell in the wind direction. that's about as strong as we've seen them out of this direction in a long time. so what does it do? number one it keeps temperatures on the mild side overnight. so no more 29 readings overnight. it also helps pick up the atmosphere. i think we will see patchy fog.

but definitely a a change in the pattern. the winds are starting to come on shore, the jet stream is starting to drop a little bit. there's more action in the pacific. we see some weather systems out there not this week, there are systems that will come by this week, but next week they could be productive for us next week. some where near the middle and next week. fingers crossed. it hopes it works out that way. but the pattern is beginning to move into the direction where it looks more productive for rainfall. i think frost, you can find frost. i think forestville is notorious for getting frost and out through sebasta pool. lows instead of the 30s in the 20s. lows are going to look like this. 45 in vallejo, 40 in fairfield. patchyfog for your wednesday. the valley fog will be per sis

-- persistent. we are in this holding pattern as clouds begin to move into the pacific. here in fact, is tomorrow's. this is the computer model now. at 4:00 a.m. look at the clouds coming in, right. so that tells me there's not a lot of high pressure around right now. look at the clouds, that's not rain, but that's cloud cover. it's going to warm us up. it's going to prime the pumps for what could come next week. we'll get to that -- to all of that. we'll get to the five day forecast with the weekend in view. as part of a requirement to receive federal start up money for the project, the first section of track had to run down the central valley. there also had to be a back up plan to ensure that the track will be used if the rail project collapsed mid-way. the high speed rail authority had pegged amtrak as the fall back plan to use the track. but now amtrak says it

currently has no commitment to use the track and that it has not been directly involved in the planning. some say it's unseamly and premature. the welcome home u.s. troops from iraq won't be getting any time soon. we'll also two ton the road with the candidates in iowa as the top three are busy trying to change a race that's right now too close to call. plus the special celebration at san francisco city hall today and what the kids were doing under the dome. it's what everyone is talking about. >> i believe that consumer confidence is up this year. >> i'm not confident at all about 2012. >> we'll break down what the consumer confidence report has to say. what san francisco firefighters are doing to support the family during this

devastating time -- and this teenager lost her life, what san francisco firefighters are doing to support the family during this devastating time.

the iowa caucuses are just one week away. and the republican candidates hit the campaign trail hard today. the candidates are neck and neck making this one hard to call. the iowa caucus begins on highways criss crosses iowa. five of the major candidates are in iowa tuesday, santorum, gingrich, bachmann and romney. romney began on the east coast. >> i appreciate the support i have here in new hampshire but planned to be in iowa by evening. >> this is our opportunity. >> reporter: candidates filled diners. rick perry's latest act

features an anti washington mood. >> if washington metropolis why trust a congressman to fix it. >> reporter: polls shows two points separate the top three candidates. the poll shows 20% of caucusis still undecided. >> i thought i would come to a conclusion in september or october, it's nearly the end of december and we're within a week of the caucus and i've not gotten to that point where my head and my heart come together. >> reporter: it leaves candidates going the extra mile to win support. hoping it pays off down the long road. an athiest group wants crosses the come down, but many

service families want them to remain honoring the fallen troops. there are no plans for a big ticker take parade any time soon in honor of the troops returning from iraq. in the past wars, service members received large homecoming celebrations. with tens of thousands of american service members still fighting in afghanistan, many think a big parade would be unseamly and premature. in addition, many veterans of the iraq war could end up being sent back into battle in afghanistan. the city of san francisco today hosted a celebration of the festival of kwanza. >> ♪ lean on me >> under the city hall dome, kids sang songs. they were observing kwanza which is a week long

celebration of african american history. it featured a feast and gift gives. >> today is the second day of kwanza. the principal is self- determination which means determining our own identity and who we are as a people. >> reporter: kwanza was first established 45 years ago to give black americans a time to celebrate their heritage. bay area hospitals ramp up to treat new years eve injuries. why they're expecting twice the number of patients this year. don't trash it and don't put it in your compost bin. we'll show you the greenest way to say goodbye to your christmas tree.

emergency room doctors say

it is going to be a crazy night. they are talking about new year's eve and how busy it's going to be. one hospital says saturday night will be their biggiest night of the entire year. ktvu's david stevenson is here now and tells us how they are preparing for all the potential patients coming to the emergency rooms this saturday night. >> reporter: the big party saturday night will be along here in the embarcadero. but what will happen saturday night is what has people at the hospital worried. ahead of this weekend's new years eve celebration in the embarcadero the discoballs are hanging. >> it can be crazy. everybody is a little nervous about it. the city sent out a warning to

all the emergency services. san francisco's department of management tells us it received 100 more calls last new years eve than in the previous four years. pacific campus medical center officials say saturday will be their busiest night of the year with a flood of patients coming in after the bars close after 2:00 a.m. >> we are almost certain we will see double the volume we would see on a normal saturday night so we've actually doubled our coverage. >> reporter: with new year's falling on saturday, dr. pike says more people will be drinking. >> we will see injuries related to being intoxicated. falling down, lacerations and obviously fights. >> reporter: pcnc expects to double their ambulance injuries on saturday night for parents parents -- for patient that is can't come in on their own.

>> ambulances we can see 10 ambulances a night, but new years eve we should see 20. >> reporter: reporting live in san francisco, david stevenson. the highway patrol is sending out a message, don't drink and drive. the chp just wrapped up it's maximum enforcement period. already officers are getting ready for the new year's crack down. the chp plans to place dui check points throughout the area. >> in the next few weeks, americans will be taking down their christmas tree and it's believed that most will probably end up in landfill, but as janine de la vega tell us, not in san francisco. >> reporter: for these

christmas trees it's not the end but a new beginning. >> that's true, we're going to make energy with these trees. we're going to grind them up and they're going to make bio fuel. >> san francisco has been recycling christmas trees for 25 years, and mike beto has been a part of it every year. he was here for the chipping celebration this morning. >> in san francisco there's a lot of turn over. residents move in and out all the time and might not understand. >> reporter: understand that while this seems like a light hearted event there's a serious message behind it. >> we're trying to educate the public that we're less than 5% of the population but we're generating 45% of the pollution. >> reporter: the needles are too acidic for composting and

don't throw them in the treasure. >> they generate methane as breaking down, and it's the worse pollution. let's think about what's going to be the effect of how we dispose of these materials. >> reporter: san francisco was one of the first cities in the nation to offer christmas tree recycling but the idea has spread since then. the national christmas tree association estimates there are now more than 4,000 recycling programs across the country. in san francisco, allie rasmus. the city of tracy is doing all it can to get people to place the christmas trees where they need to be. trees larger than 6 feet should be cut in half for collection. other holiday plants can be put into the yard waste bins.

other holiday remnants such as gift boxes and wrapping paper can be placed in recycling bins. bikists will once again have to share the lanes with pedestrians. the work will close the west sidewalk from january 9 until april 1st. all bicycle riders will have to use the east side block during the closure. sections of a popular east bay path for walkers and bicycle riders should be off limits soon. starting next month, parts of the aloni greenway between the el cerrito plaza will be closed due to bike sizement work. b.a.r.t. says the project is designed to help make the elevated tracks in the area withstand a quake with a magnitude of 8.5. police released details from the confession of a man that killed a little girl he was babysitting then

dismembered her body. he admitted to beating 9-year- old aliana leven with a brick last week. hen the dismembered her with a hacksaw and hid her remains in his freezing at a near by business. he was babysitting the little girl and her two sisters because their mother was sick. that early morning christmas fire that killed five people in connecticut has now been ruled an accident. the home had been torn down. today investigators say it was a friend who was staying at the home who place add bag of discarded fireplace embers either in or near an outside trash bin. the flames then spread to the home and trapped the victims in the upper floor. neighbors tried to help but there was nothing they could do as the large victorian home was engulfed. a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins and her parents all died in the fire. and are you just hours away from being a multi millionaire?

the promises some people are making if lady luck comes through for them tonight. and sarah shourd has completely changed her tune about iran. what she is saying about the nation that held her and her two friends captive for more than 30 months.

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the mega millions lottery game is living up to its name

with a mega jackpot. it's now grown to $172 million for tonight's drawing. that's because the lottery has gone without a winner since november 1st. but that isn't stopping folks from buying ticks today. >> you have to be in it to win it, that's what i am telling myself. if you don't come down and play you will never know if you will be a winner. >> can you spend that all? >> probably not. so we'll just give it away most of it. have fun. help out people. >> reporter: mega millions is a multi state game played in california and 41 other states. the largest mega million jackpot ever was 390 million that was won in march of 2007. a federal judge has dismissed a harassment suit against uc berkeley. two students sued cal claiming they were harassed by muslim students. they allegedly stopped passing students and asked them whether they were jewish. the judge ruled if the behavior did happen it constituted

protected political speech and the university was not obligated to stop it. uc berkeley graduate sarah shourd has revealed why she said thank you to iran for her release. shourd says she did it to secure the release of her fiance and friend. bouer and fa the, tal finally came back after two years of captivity. the attorney for pip told reuters that all the implants made contained silicone. none of the implants appeared to have been used in the u.s.,

but hundreds of women across europe and south america have those implants. childhood obesity could be linked to a poor emotional bond with mothers. ohio state university researchers say that children with that type of relationship were twice as likely to be obese by the age of 15. the stress of the relationship leads to bad eating habits and less sleep. the public is published in the journal of pediatrics. prince phillip waved as he was driven away from a cambridge hospital. doctors inserted a coronary stint to release a clogged artery. my whole entire family is there and without saying it you are saying goodbye. he was diagnosed with

cancer and it didn't look good. but a life saving donation changed everything. what that donation was and why he's asking others to do the same. and a beautiful night out there tonight, in san francisco, the skyline you can see it not a lot of clouds yet but the clouds increasing tonight and tomorrow and as we move forward. there's a chance for a new sprinkles in your forecast. it's what everyone is talking about. >> i definitely feel that consumer confidence is up this year. >> i'm not confident at all about 2012. >> we break down what the latest consumer confidence numbers say about the times to come. this teenagers long battle with cancer comes to a tragic end. what san francisco firefighters are doing to support the family during this devastating time.

china has unveiled a new experimental bullet train as it pushes away with high speed rail.

the sleek new design allows that train to hit speeds of up to 310 miles per hour although one rail official said that once this new train is actually in operation, it won't go quite that fast. last summer a deadly train collision led china to suspend new projects for its high speed system. the accident also forced the government to decrease the speeds of its bullet train. maureen naylor reports, he hopes a television appearance will encourage others to take action -- >> reporter: the applause and balloons today seemed appropriate because not too long ago this san francisco fire captain was ár with an infectious smile didn't think he would be around to hug family and friends. >> doctors even told me that i probably didn't have a good chance of making it, one day my whole entire family is there and without saying it, you know you're saying goodbye.

>> reporter: the 53-year-old benetia father shared his store with members of the san francisco black firefighters association about how a donor named sammy saved his life. >> tissue and organ donations literally save lives and i stand in front of you today to prove just that fact. >> reporter: while people of all backgrounds are encouraged to register to be a donor, the california transplant network says that 13% of people waiting for organ donation are african american. 26-year-old emily fennel will be riding on the float. the float will also have

pictures of donors. as for captain robinson. >> so i am very happy. >> [ applause ] he became emotional before hugging his 21-year-old son who made a bedside pact with his father he would do his best in school if his dad would do his best to get better. >> as a father and son, we shook on it. and he lived up to his word. and i am still trying to do it on a daily basis for him. >> reporter: an estimated 47 million people will be watching the parade on monday. the captain says he's riding for the thousands of californians who are still waiting for a donor. maureen naylor. >> for more information on how you can become an organ donor just go to our website. click on the web links at the very top of that age. a new decision from the white house could help

gambling. experts believe this will open the door for lotteries, childr access. authorities say it could boost state revenues. more than 100 bird watchers were out scanning the skies today all for the golden gate audubon society. teams will count birds in 17 different low kaeugs including from a boat that will span the bay -- locations including from a boat that will span the bay. last year 117 species of birds were counted. what we need is a big old downpour. you mentioned sprinkles, when might that happen. >> reporter: sprinkles headed our way possibly as we head into thursday and friday. but not a big deal, mainly north of santa rosa. the reason it's important is because it's starting to break the pattern. this dry pattern.

there's some indications out there that things are starting to change around so that next week we could get significant rainfall and snowfall. i know it's a little late for the ski resort. they depend on this time of year. one of the indications are these west-northwest winds gusting to 22. that's the direction that the on shore winds blow, letting us know that the high pressure is beginning to weaken at this point. 62 in santa rosa, 58 in morgan hill and 60 in mountain view. another mild day, tomorrow not much different. tomorrow might be a little warmer than it was today. more clouds headed our way. that's the big story. so as you look up in the upper atmosphere you're going to see -- clouds you're going to see higher clouds tomorrow morning. those higher clouds impacting the overnight lows right here. 38 in napa, 38 in santa rosa and 48 in vallejo. nose temperatures are going to continue to stay on the mild side. here we have high pressure, tomorrow looks a lot like today. see the clouds coming in, as you go through time, these

clouds are going to start to push in further and further south and that allows the jet stream to fly south as well. the clouds are going to allow the jet stream to move south but it's an indication that it's sliding south. i'm looking forward to this change. i think it's happening right now. i think you're noticing it out there in the buoys and atmosphere. you go wednesday 9:00 p.m. you see showers up north. not a big deal for us but that's a break. you see more activity on thursday at 5:00 p.m., right. here we go into friday. it's starting to hit. this will be me drizzle friday afternoon along the coast. things are changing around. maybe a few snow flurries across the at phos fear. pattern is breaking. remember last year, storm, storm, storm. we're sort of in a position where we really have to hope that the changes occurring right now will lead to more activity. these changes not big rain but you see the clouds, that's an on shore flow, mostly cloudy.

maybe some sprinkles in here. i didn't put it in the five day because it looks so minuscule but the indications is that it's going to start to break things off. so we'll look at it again tonight at 10:00 obviously. hopefully that event, i'm looking at the long range models the middle of next week looks pretty productive for rainfall. >> that's the new year by then. >> yeah. >> thanks bill. as we mentioned a bit earlier the african american festival of kwanza is under way all across the country and in los angeles they celebrated the week long festival with a parade on crenshaw boulevard. >> this is for the children to carry on this tradition and keep it going. >> i've been coming since i was a little girl. now since my kids are here i figured i would bring them along with me. >> happy kwanza. >> today is the first day of what we hope will be the rerising of the kwanza event.

>> their biggest kwanza event ever was held in 1979. >> it's not rescue equipment or personnel. what fire houses are lacking that has a lawmaker pushing for change. a ski trip for the texas family in this suv almost turns tragic. how they were saved after being trapped in the snow for two dayless. -- for twodays. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal.

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a california congresswoman

has introduced a bill that she says will promote gender equity at fire stations. it would allow women to apply for grants to go toward women's restrooms, showers and changing facilities. the bill says most fire departments were designed with only male firefighters in mind. women account for fewer than 4% of the firefighters nationwide. a texas family is celebrating what its calling a christmas miracle after the three of them spent two days buries in the snow. now they are telling their story of survival. >> it's one of those things you never way to say. but we knew it with a look, we both knew we were in trouble with the look. all we could say was i love you and we would pray. >> reporter: these pictures from a search and rescue team tell the story. under all that snow is an suv belonging to the higgins family. last year the two left their

home in texas for a holiday ski trip but soon a storm hit much of the northwest. traffic came to a halt and the family became trapped underfour feet snow. >> and that's when we realized we're buried, it's a weird feeling but you don't want to stress that. this is just an adventure. we had mentioned to each other, do we have air in this car, is it possible to run out of air. >> reporter: the higgins had enough food and water, still it was 40 hours until they heard digging. >> my mother was the first to tell me this was her christmas miracle. it was the best christmas present she could get, knowing she still had her family. >> reporter: dave and their

little girl are doing fine. his wife is suffering of pneumonia and is recovering in the hospital. san francisco firefighters asking the community for help. the fundraiser they are putting on right now for the family of a special bay area teenager.

a small plane makes a crash landing in contra costa county and it doesn't take long for the pilot to realize there was a problem. crews cleaning up a big mess after a water main break in a major shopping area. we where it all started and when it happened. good evening everyone i'm frank somerville. >> i'm gasia mikaelian in tonight for julie haener. we're learning tonight that two men involved in a small plane crash in concord this afternoon should be out of the hospital within the hour. officials say the pilot declare an emergency in a single engine plane just after take off at about 3:20 this afternoon. he said he tried to return to the airport but wound up landing nose first at a gravel area near the runway. firefighters pulled the pilot and passenger from the