right now. you can see the puddle. some businesses welcome today's rain. >> reporter: businesses looking for a boost in sales, hardware stores. they have boots, tarps, umbrellas. >> we can sell this rack of tarps in one storm. >> reporter: this rain is needed and necessary. >> we are weather farmers. it is good. we are disappointed we lost christmas. >> reporter: why the rain is more than necessary for the area. >> if we don't get the rain the grass grows taller and drier. >> reporter: a spike in sales. >> people are buying coats. >> reporter: his trainer is also using the rain to her advantage. >> lot of people think the dogs hate the rain. the -- if you leave the house

with a smile the dog will like the rain. >> reporter: the rain has picked up in the last 35 minutes. it was drizzling at 5:00. now it is a light rain. the rock valley district told us today they had their storm patrols out, checking man holes and looking at pump stations. we checked in, they stock up on water chemicals and then within the next 48 hours, they will be putting in place their preps for their wet weather season and, of course, they tell us they will keep an eye on the rain. reporting live, jade hernandez, ktvu channel 2 news. the? started falling this afternoon in the sierra. this is video from an hour ago at interstate 80 at truckee. you can see what it looks like there. winter storm warning is in

effect right now. chains are required for interstate 80 and highway 50. winds gusting up to 80 miles per hour are fueling a brush fire that forced thousands to evacuate and destroyed three homes in reno. officials say 4,000 people have been evacuated and a stretch of 395 had to be shut down because of zero visibility. it even forced vice president joe biden to cut short a speech. 5 square miles burned so far. a day in court as san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi showed up to face charges of domestic violence. ktvu's david stevenson joins us live from san francisco with the strong words in and outside the courtroom today. david? >> reporter: the hearing wrapped up an hour ago but it

was an emotional hearing. ross mirkarimi broke down in here tears -- broke down in tears. >> reporter: this was the scene as san francisco sheriff ross mirkarimi entered the courtroom today to answer to domestic violence charges. he pled not guilty today to domestic violence battery. it stemmed from an altercation in which he grabbed and bruised his wife's arm, ellana lopez. ellana lopez came to court today. she told the judge she wants her husband back home today. i think the violence against me is i don't have my family with me. prosecutors revealed text messages ellana lopez sent to a neighbor indicated ellana lopez wanted to change the locks on

her home and wanted to know whether police would arrest ross mirkarimi. prosecutors said a video shows ellana lopez displaying a bruise and saying we need help. they argued the bruise was because of a argument. the judge granted a protective order and order ross mirkarimi to surrender his guns. supporters say the case may have a political underpinning. >> they have wanted to be together and have been together. >> reporter: the protective order means ross mirkarimi will have to stay 150 yards away from his wife, child and home. ross mirkarimi's lawyers move for a spedy trial. a court date is -- speedy trial. a court date is set for monday.

reporting live, david stevenson, ktvu channel 2 news. an occupy protest is underway inside a university of california at berkeley library. a live look at the library. it closes at 5:00 p.m. you can see dozens of students are staying inside to protest new reduced library hours. a lot of professors came in support. >> once they start cutting back the hours the libraries are available, they are it undercuttingcutting the students to become educated. a coalition of african american leaders gathered in oakland today to announce a new partnership with the occupy movement. persuading lenders to offer

more affordable home loans to low income folks. police identified the driver who was killed yesterday when suspects struck his car while fleeing from police. ktvu's robert handa is live where there samemorial to the victim. robert -- there is a memorial to the victim. robert? >> reporter: the memorial set up where the innocent motorist was killed. >> reporter: some of the people who work here are distraught over how a motorist was killed when burglary suspects fleeing from officers smashed into him. >> it was a fatal thing. that was upsetting to know -- once i found out it was like an innocent person that was upsetting. >> reporter: police identified identified the driver who

operated the central medical group in fremont. a family member said it isn't the right time to comment. patients describe himself as a kind, generous and humble man. police are still investigating the incident that started with a burglary. the crash occurred after officers called off the chase. the district attorney said it is still reviewing the case. people here at the time of the crash expressed sympathy for the family and pondered how close they came to being victimmed. >> bad accident -- victimized. >> bad accident. could have been me. >> i drive this road every day. makes me appreciate life but it is sad. >> reporter: no word on services for robert. some or all of the suspect

could be arraigned tomorrow. robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. in san francisco the driver of a shuttle bus that crashed last cementer and killed a doctor has been charged. he was behind the wheel on july 14 when his shuttle ran a red light and crashed into a big rig. dr. kevin mack was a passenger on the subtle. nobody else was hurt. police arrested a driver after he drove into a muni tunnel. scott mitchell was arrested on several charges. muni says he drove into the tunnel on church street before 6:00 a.m. this morning and then drove almost to the station before, you see what happened there, he crashed into the sides. no one was hurt and trains were

running by 8:15 a.m. push to save a famous bar that is losing its lease. an effort was launched to save it. it was frequented by celebrities. >> born and raised in san francisco and seen all the changes and moves that happened, polices like the gold dust keep us anchored. >> the landlord said today the bar has known the lease was subject to early termination. tempers flared today when a senator tried to overturn a veto by governor jerry brown. he wanted to let cities take over operations of state parks. had it worked it would have

been the first time it overroad a veto in 30 years. people rallied today protesting budget cuts. they are protesting its cut in services. demonstrators say the program enables people to live safely in their own homes. www.ktvu.com hosted the video of the george w. bush's state of the state speech where he discusses spending cuts. look for the link on our home page. -- new deadline to decide on the google takeover of motorola. they will approve or deny by february 13. they are waiting for new documents from google. gugeal's earning fell today, sending stock plummeting, 9%.

they totaled $8.1 billion. better news on the job's front sent stocks higher today. unemployment dropped to a four year low. the dow lost 12.64 points to 11,825.29. the nasdaq composite fell 40.49 to 2,725.36. the story of these twins. the tests, the surgeries that saved their lives lives and the message to parents. acting in his own defense, joseph naso questions his ex- wife about the years they spent together. her testimony today during his preliminary hearing.

the ex-wife of joseph naso testified that her former husband asked her to lie and

say she lost a pair of panty hose that prosecutors claim were used to strangle one of the victims. judith naso said her husband never threatened or harmed her but she said she was drugged twice and woke up with strange men around her. joseph naso pleaded not guilty to charges he killed four women. 14-year-old boy accused of sexually assaulting two women was officially charged today. he faces two counts of robbery, sexual assault and kidnapping for sexual assault. the boy turned himself in on tuesday. the da says he is charged as a juvenile but that decision could be reversed later. judge decided to cut in half the bail for a teacher accused of molesting a 16-year- old female student. peter kolesnikov worked at james logan high school. peter kolesnikov is due to

enter a plea on monday. twins wouldn't have survived the rare disorder they were born with but a new test means they are thriving tonight. john fowler explains how it works. john? >> reporter: doctors tonight say newborn tests and quick thinking saves their lives. >> reporter: at the hospital the twins thriving now. both have a rare disease called mma that almost killed them. >> the next day after they were born they started losing a lot of weight. >> we denied they looked sick. >> reporter: on day five a suspicious result from the screening program, some kind of

disease. they rushed them to specialists. >> had it been another day, you know, they might not have made it. >> reporter: doctors alerted this hospital laboratory late on a sunday night, they needed to know what disease it was. the test normally take as week but in 2 hours they had this result, unique to mma. >> what happens with them, they become lethargic. go into a coma. >> reporter: he stabilized the girls and proposed what is thought to be the first twin liver transplant for mma. >> at the same time. they got the livers close to each other. and they both made it home for christmas. >> reporter: mma can be misdiagnosed as a common infection. the girls still need careful monitoring. even a common cold could be dangerous for them.

reporting live, john fowler, ktvu channel 2 news. president obama unveiled a new strategy to boost u.s. tourism today. the president said making the u.s. a world's top travel and tourism destination will -- two fran hotels is on the list of the best in the nation. the fairmont palace was named 8 8th best overall hotel in the country. the "w" was named the 24th trendiest. a sea lion celebration today along peer 39. today kicked off the 22 sea lion anniversary and the public is invited to market. the tour is hosted by aquarium of the bay. depending on the season, as

many as 300 sea lions call peer 39 their home. >> the number one reason why people come down here now. >> the celebration runs through sunday. apple launched a new version of its ibook software. the company made the announcement in new york. they will offer interactive text books for students. apple is also sing up a text book section in their itunes store. the books cost $15 or less. scattered showers continue out there. it is not a big storm but it opened the door for a stronger storm tomorrow. the story tonight the rain fell a quarter of an inch in the heavier horizontal bars. look at tomorrow's tote --

heavier locations. look at tomorrow's totals. into the evening on friday. overnight lows tonight in the 40s. scattered showers throughout the evening. into the morning commute a few showers linger as well. the first storm of 2012, moving up into the mountains. in the pacific, here comes number 2. it is warmer. above the hawaiian islands. as it moves on shore, we are looking for the rain to develop by 6:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. strong winds as well and heavy rain and snow in the mountain areas. snow levels remain high because it is a warm storm. a winter storm warning on a friday is a big deal. you will have issues. snow levels are high.

around donner summit you will have chain requirements. the snow fall, a foot of snow in the next twenty four hours. depends where you are. plenty of snow by the middle of next week. 11:00 p.m., widely scattered showers. tomorrow morning, i mentioned the slight chance of a sprinkle. little 70 in san rafael. steve and sal will be talking about it. because friday morning's commute can be a bear. friday at lunchtime the rain starts. yellows show up in the latter part of the afternoon commute for friday. that is how it breaks down. highs tomorrow in the 50s. a nice day. next 24 hours, and beyond, scattered showers remain in the forecast. there is the five-day forecast with the weekend in view.

what you are looking at -- what you should be looking at. you will notice it tomorrow night will be windier, stormier, heavier rain. >> i bet the community will be tough. coming up on bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36 more storm watch coverage. our chief meteorologist bill martin says the roads may be slick right now, and some sops everyone knows, the music world mourning a music legend. join us for bay area news at 7:00 on tv 36. the questions experts are raising about the world famous race.

. san francisco's supervisors will meet tomorrow to discuss pollution concerns for the america's cup case. they are also questionings san francisco's claim that air pollution will be less severe than originally anticipated. mark is here now. eli manning feeling better

today? >> yeah. you know, when you get in a game like this everybody is looking for an edge. 49er fans are saying, eli manning is sick. forget about that. eli manning, stomach virus yesterday but back at practice today. this is a guy we are talking about that has never missed a start at quarterback in his nfl career. and going at it today, wasn't about to let a stomach ache keep him out. >> when you get into big games like this, anything that pops out, people make a big deal about. i am glad we put it behind us now and focus on the game. >> yeah. i am 100%. full practice today. took every rep. feel good. >> guy that top of his game right now. mean time, as far as football goes, on the outside looking in, who would have thought it,

terrell owens wants to get back in the spotlight, at 38 years old, still in good shape, he signs today with the wranglers in the indoor football league. he is apert owner of -- he is a part owner of that team. he tweeted today, see you in the end zone. he is hoping for one more shot at an nfl team. supposedly $500,000 behind in child support payments. so coming back from knee surgery, looking for one more crack at it in the nfl. that is the sporting life. >> that is different from the arena football league? >> yeah. indoor football league. same concept. along way away from the dallas

cowboys. >> sure. >> thank you. ktvu viewers are sharing their photos on our facebook wall. dreams of a 9ers win. >> and vivian posted this picture. three generations of 49er fans. share your photos on ktvu on facebook. and visit www.ktvu.com for a slide show of the fan vote photos -- fan photos. and thank you for trusting ktvu channel 2. [ male announcer ] get ready for some deli-style delic-ious-ity:

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