preparedness and recovery. >> the company's app is called beacon, and its goal is to provide automatically recorded messages about public safety information on traditional television, radio, streaming online and on beacon's mobile app. california homeowner has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against a major insurance company. that suit, filed in san diego county, accuses liberty mutual of canceling her policy and others based on unreliable satellite or drone aerial photography. she seeks unspecified damages. >> memorials continue to grow in new orleans following that deadly new year's terrorist attack. the latest on the investigation as officials dig for a motive, then new details are emerging about the man behind the cybertruck explosion in las vegas. >> why investigators say that devastation could have been much worse. >> plus, after part of the pier collapsed during last month's storm, the santa cruz wharf is

reopening. we'll take you live to the scene where the city is planning a special reopening ceremony. [music] >> live from jack london square. this is mornings on two. >> the nine. >> today is friday, january 3rd, and we're looking at san francisco under some clouds. it's going to be raining this morning. it probably will let up for most people this afternoon. we're going to talk to steve about the weather and also what we can expect for the next few days. here's your daily dose of viral reddit threads. a couple's wedding plans have gone viral after they couldn't agree on their big day. the pair are now hosting two separate weddings. one that's his and one that is hers. according to the post, the bride wanted a small destination wedding while the groom wanted a grand local bash. adding fuel to the fire, they've created two gift registries as well. guests are expected to attend both events and spend up to $200 a night at a resort for the bride's event. all right. i

don't know what i would do. >> seems like a big red flag to me. >> yes it does. just the beginning. >> they're going to be living in separate houses. >> yeah. >> i mean, i think that time should be when you're just. your relationship is just like, oh, everything's just amazing. >> and if you're a guest, would you go to both weddings? >> i mean, who's got time to go to both? you got to take time off. if it's a yeah, you got to fly into town. maybe. >> or i'm saying, no, i'm not going. that seems bratty. >> do you have to bring two gifts? >> you have to. >> because it's two separate, like celebrations, right? >> oh my goodness, that's expensive. >> it's $200 a pop each time, you know, plus travel expenses. >> i don't know. no, no, no, those therapists on the phone, they seem like expensive friends. >> yeah, i think they're going to say you might want to have some couple counseling before you. >> that's what i'm saying, right? yeah. >> go see the priest. all right. let's go to this now. the santa cruz wharf. it's ready to reopen. believe it or not, part of the wharf collapsed during heavy storms just days before christmas and tomorrow. city leaders plan to reopen the wharf. ktvu james torres is live

from the pier at santa cruz to tell us what the city had to do to make sure the wharf can reopen safely. good morning to you, james. >> good morning to you. well, new year and some new really good news for the people who live here in santa cruz and for the people who are out here visiting for the holidays behind me. it doesn't look too much different from what we've seen over the last ten days. the caution tape is still up and the signs are still telling you to turn away. you cannot go here, and that means a lot of the businesses on the wharf, on the pier who rely on this holiday time because of all that foot traffic and all the tourists didn't get to get any of that. but that's all going to change. tomorrow morning, we'll take you back to december 23rd. that was when the latest round of winter storms battered the pier. huge waves crashing into the wharf hard enough to break off a 150 foot chunk into the ocean. a bathroom building, a crane and some other equipment swept into the sea. and the city of santa cruz had to then hire engineers and consultants to check out all the damage, according to a

recent sonar and engineering report, the structural integrity of the wharf is safe, meaning there is no worry of any further collapse and the debris in the ocean, which includes three large construction machines, are all a safe distance away from the pier. so the beaches are back open too. we talked to some people this morning asking them, you know, the pier is going to reopen. what do you think? and a handful of them actually hadn't even known that yet. >> are you serious? yeah. well that's wonderful. >> i was really excited for it. so i could park instead of walking in the rain. and also to bring people back in. >> yeah, that sonar engineering report that was filed by a third party engineering firm and was also reviewed by the u.s. coast guard, all determining the wharf is safe enough to reopen. we've not actually seen any repairs go underway to the wharf. that's probably going to be a long ways away. that's at the end of the pier, and that will remain

closed off. but a majority of the pier will reopen tomorrow. the city planning a special reopening ceremony starting at 10 a.m. we're live this morning in santa cruz. i'm james torres, ktvu, fox two news. >> all right. thank you james. it's a quick turnaround for that pier. yeah for sure because this is incredible video. all right. let's check in with steve paulson for our forecast. it sounds like you've been saying it's going to kind of dry off for the weekend. >> maybe for a while. this may be it for a while is kind of the way it's looking here. we'll take a look at tom vacar covered this quite well here. not only snow, but rain. it's been really about marin county. north has been really good. not too bad. around the bay area. southern california has just been awful. i mean, this is about, as you know, how dry i am. no kidding. i mean, they cannot get a drop down there. and the 16 day outlooks are not that favorable. in fact, they're actually highlighting a little bit more rain for arizona than they are

for southern california. but santa rosa, reading and crescent city. life is good in the rain season so far. point reyes picked up a half inch this morning. santa rosa, a third, petaluma two bits, and san francisco has picked up a .07. that was as of about 25 minutes ago or so. our system is moving through. it's not a whopper, but it's giving rain to all. so we'll take it because this may be it. i think this is just kind of a continuation of what we had in december. sometimes they kind of just bleed into, if you will, the early part of the next month. and that's exactly what we're seeing. and then you see a pattern change. and sometimes these pattern changes can last quite a while as in 2 to 3 weeks. we hope not. but there's hints of that. the snowfall in the north, just like the rainfall. really good to the south and not so good. but at least we're above average for now. and there will be more snow for the central. and that includes tahoe, anywhere from about 6 to 10in, maybe a foot of new snow. now the snow level will go up, up, up in the morning due to a south wind, but that will start to drop by this afternoon. so winter storm warning is out. 6 to 12 should

cover it. and then i think that's it for a while. 50s on the temps. these probably won't change all that much. it will be a cool day. that's dry air swinging in, but also cooler air to the west. so that's going to set up shop later today. tonight into tomorrow. that's the system. once it goes by i mean we still have a ways to go on cloud cover. so i'd look for a cloudy day. i think the rain will taper off though late morning early afternoon and then get used to some. cool. but this is one last system in the old pattern here in this pipeline. so rain returns this morning for all and then it will scoot through a dry pattern. looks likely next week and maybe beyond. kind of the models are really painting a dry pattern here after today's system. kind of makes sense after what happened in december, but we hope it's not too long. but laughter in the rain for your friday. a cloudy morning, rain to the north, the heaviest to the north. but rain arrives for all. then much cooler as that breeze picks up. once the front goes through, that will be out of the west northwest. some mix of clouds and sun over the weekend, and then after monday it looks like a really dry, maybe windy and warmer pattern. you guys okay?

>> thank you steve. investigators are discovering more about the man behind the deadly terror attack in new orleans on new year's day, which killed 14 people. dozens of others are injured. fox's caroline elliott has more. >> the fbi says the suspect behind the deadly new orleans attack acted alone and pledged his support for isis on social media. investigators are combing through hours of surveillance video and more than 400 tips as they search for motive in that deadly new year's attack along bourbon street. the suspect's half brother telling fox news he blames radicalization, saying he did not see any signs ahead of time. >> maybe someone got ahold to him in his time of discovery and. in his time of him trying to seek out what his purpose was. >> authorities say they recovered bomb making materials inside the suspect's houston home. and the fbi is currently reviewing social media videos

that suggest the u.s. army veteran originally intended to harm his family. >> it's chilling. it's shocking. >> it's heartbreaking. new orleans officials now facing questions about security gaps. we will warn you, this disturbing surveillance video shows the suspect steering around a police blockade before plowing a pickup truck into the crowd. more than a dozen people were killed, including martin besh, also known as tiger, a former college football player. >> he really just took advantage of every opportunity he was in and enjoyed life to the fullest. he enjoyed people to the fullest, and memorials like this one are now popping up across new orleans. >> as the city begins to focus on recovery in new orleans. caroline elliott ktvu, fox two news. >> even though the names have not been released of the people killed in the attack, their families and friends are sharing

their stories. a photo shared on social media by auburn university of drew duffin. he was killed in the attack. the university's president, christopher roberts, says duffin graduated in 2023 and according to his linkedin profile, he worked as a supplier process engineer in birmingham, alabama. another victim we've learned about now is nicole perez. the 27 year old is a mother of a five year old boy. her family members and remembers her as being a dedicated mother and worker who did what it took to provide for her son. her friends have started a gofundme to help cover burial expenses and help raise her son. also, we've learned that one of the injured was a student at san diego state university. people on campus are expressing shock after hearing that news. >> new details about the man who was behind the cybertruck explosion in las vegas. outside of the trump hotel. authorities identified him as 37 year old matthew berger of colorado springs. he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound before the explosion. u.s. defense officials say he was an

active duty member of the u.s. army special forces, most recently as a green beret, and he was on leave from germany. vegas police say there were a number of similarities between that explosion and the terror attack in new orleans, but investigators do not believe they are related at this point. >> if these turn out to be simply similarities, very strange similarities to have. and so we're not prepared to rule in or rule out anything at this point. >> investigators say the explosion could have been a lot worse if the vehicle was other than the tesla cybertruck. the. they believe that the design and build of the truck helped to contain most of that explosion. now, to stay on top of the latest in las vegas and new orleans, you can download our fox local app. it is available on your smartphone and smart tv. it's a free download. just search for that fox local app and select ktvu. >> okay, well, your favorite drink could soon come with a warning label coming up on

mornings on two the nine. the latest advisory from the u.s. surgeon general amid a link between alcohol and cancer. then prices at the pump continuously change. but you don't always need to break the bank to get the most out of your gas tank. the simple ways to save from the pump to your driveway. and here's an update to our viewer poll we've been talking about this morning. we've been asking, have you paid off your debt from holiday shopping? and yep, all paid off is now leading at 72%. we also have work working on it and not even close as choices. [music] and you can still vote. just scan the qr code at the top right of your screen or go pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. how do i not break the bank?" we got you, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money

and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. so you get high speeds for low prices. better than getting low speeds for high prices. right, bruce? -jealous? yeah, look at that. -honestly. someone get a helmet on this guy. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get an unlimited line free for a year, plus a free 5g phone.

914 is the time. today, relatives of the menendez brothers will make another pitch for their release. family members of eric and lyle menendez will meet with newly elected los angeles district attorney nathan hochman. now he beat incumbent incumbent district attorney george gascon last november. while gascon favored releasing the brothers based upon new evidence. hochman needed more time to examine the case. relatives of the brothers say the two have gone through immense personal growth while in prison for killing their parents. in 1989, two people were killed and 18 others injured after a small plane crashed through the roof of a commercial building in orange county. >> it happened yesterday afternoon near the fullerton airport, about 25 miles south of

downtown los angeles. federal investigators say the pilot made an urgent call to the tower shortly after taking off, asking to immediately return to the airport. >> the tower controller then cleared the pilot to land on any runway. the airplane then appeared to make a 180 degree left turn, and flew the left downwind for runway two four, and ultimately crashed about 1000ft short of runway two four, struck a furniture building and immediately caught fire. >> authorities say the two people who died were on the plane. the injured people were inside the building. ntsb now leading the investigation into the cause for this crash. >> deadly crashes were down last year across the state. recent numbers looked at those fatal accidents from january through september and found an 8% drop. these numbers are an improvement over previous years as well. the state credits an increase in chp officers along with maximum enforcement period. experts say

this is too early to determine if it's just a trend, or maybe just a better year. no matter what it is, most of us want the most bang for our buck. this is especially true at the gas pump, where one prices can be down one day and then up the next, as you know. fox's jenna sachs has smart and easy tips for squeezing every mile from a gallon of gas. >> we can't control the price of gasoline, but we can control the type we buy and how we use it. consumer reports says buy good quality gas and recommends buying top tier gas. top tier is a higher standard that brands including chevron, costco, exxonmobil and shell offer. participating brands will have a top tier sticker on their pumps, save money and skip premium gas unless a higher octane is required for your model. >> for both convenience and safety, keep at least half a tank of fuel during cold winter months, when there's a risk of shortages, like when a major

storm is imminent. this also goes for holiday road trips, when roads can be congested and slow moving. >> check tire pressure. pressure drops as temperatures drop. lower pressure than recommended on your door jamb sticker can affect safety, tire longevity, and even fuel economy. here's a heads up on eco mode. consumer reports experts are underwhelmed with the feature. it's not a magic button. >> we found no fuel economy benefit using eco mode for city and highway driving. it's true ability is to encourage frugal driving behavior. >> drive evenly. avoid hard acceleration and braking whenever possible. pay attention to aerodynamics. remove roof racks when they're not being used. finally, check gas prices. online apps and websites such as gasbuddy can show local gas prices, making it easy to find good prices in your area or, if you need to travel, gas stations off major highways and away from city centers, as well as

warehouse stores and travel centers, tend to have better prices. >> that was jenna sacks reporting. consumer reports also advises that don't top off your tank, it says, adding more fuel after the gas pump clicks off can cause damage, leaving you stuck with an avoidable repair bill. >> the u.s. surgeon general is now pushing for alcoholic drinks to include the risk of cancer on their labels. the advisory states alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the u.s, following tobacco and obesity. doctors say alcohol causes about 100,000 cases of cancer and 20,000 cancer deaths every year. the advisory is also calling for reexamining limits of alcohol consumption and improving education on alcohol. another new study is finding a link between alzheimer's and cold sores. now, researchers found brain tissue samples from people with alzheimer's has had higher levels of the protein that

causes herpes cold sores. another study in taiwan also found people infected with herpes had double the risk of developing dementia. now, the study also finds antiviral medications can reduce the risk of dementia for some people. >> california's snowpack is off to a strong start this winter, coming up on mornings on two of the nine. we'll take a look at the first snow survey of this year, which shows it's higher than average for the first time of the year. >> also ahead, more political violence in south korea as police try to arrest the president. i'm greg palkot in london.

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to begin a new term. with republicans in control of both the house and the senate for the first time since 2019. in just a few hours, house republicans are scheduled to take their crucial leadership vote. president elect trump has endorsed house speaker mike johnson to remain in his powerful post on capitol hill. but some conservative republicans could derail johnson's efforts to keep his job. johnson points out the republican majority is razor thin in the house. >> the numbers game we have the smallest margin in u.s. history. we'll have a margin of probably two votes, so can only afford to lose 1 or 2. but i think we'll get it done. >> johnson's far right critics have said he has not done enough to reduce government spending. president elect trump argues johnson is the best leader to carry out his conservative reforms on capitol hill.

>> oakland congresswoman barbara lee has concluded her nearly 30 years of service in office. barbara lee shared a lengthy statement on social media with this photo that was taken following her first swearing in to the 105th congress back in 1997. in her statement, lee said she would continue to fight for working families, the middle class and those with low incomes. lee's next step remains uncertain. she previously told ktvu she is still debating whether or not to run for mayor of oakland, and would make an official announcement on her plans sometime this month. retiring silicon valley congresswoman anna eshoo has also completed her final day in washington, d.c, as she was elected to congress 32 years ago. she was the first democrat and first woman to represent her district, as she served on the house intelligence, energy and commerce committees and authored or coauthored more than 60 laws. former san jose mayor sam liccardo will fill her seat in congress. new california senator adam schiff announced that he will serve on the senate judiciary committee. schiff says he has also received assignments

to the agriculture, small business and environmental and public works committees. schiff says the assignments will allow him to help build a stronger economy and protect our democracy and planet. >> the fbi has released new video of the person who they believe planted pipe bombs in washington, d.c, the night before the capitol riot in 2021. surveillance video shows the person sitting on a bench outside the democratic national committee headquarters before placing the bomb. a second bomb was planted at the republican national committee headquarters. they did not go off and no one was hurt. a $500,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. >> now to south korea, where police tried and failed to arrest the country's president. as the political and military crisis escalates. fox's greg palkot has more on the developing situation there. >> the ongoing political standoff in south korea turned physical on friday, leading to fears of a possible civil war. president yoon suk yeol is

facing impeachment following his declaration of martial law last month. and on friday morning, some 80 police officers and investigators entered the presidential compound to place him under arrest. but they were met with a human wall of more than 200 soldiers and members of the president's security detail. there were clashes and police left without detaining the president. on the streets of seoul, protesters from both sides are making their voices heard. >> there, the country is in a state of civil war and anarchy. president yoon needs to return so he can normalize the country. >> the president needs to be criminally punished so he won't be allowed to do anything. he needs to be impeached as soon as possible. >> but others say they just want a return to stability. after weeks of uncertainty clouded the holiday season. >> while it's a season to celebrate, i feel really pessimistic that this situation has been going on since the end of last year. >> meanwhile, south korea's constitutional court is gearing

up for president yun's impeachment trial. a procedural hearing was held friday to finalize the trial schedule and witness lists, and the judges say politics won't play a role in the courtroom. >> i will judge independently only by the constitution and law, without bias, according to my conscience. >> yoon supporters are now drawing parallels with president elect trump, some even carrying signs that say stop the steal. in london, greg palkot, ktvu, fox two news. >> coming up on mornings on two the nine a budget crisis in oakland comes to a head. firefighters sounding the alarm over station closures and how soon they're- [music] coming. then taking control of your finances can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn't need to be. we're talking live with an expert about how to avoid common money mistakes and make your budget work for

mornings on to the nine. you're looking live at the oakland estuary right now, where we do have some cloudy skies. rain in the forecast for today. but steve paulson told us earlier that should be clearing up a little later on into the day. so that's certainly some good news. if you don't like to drive around in the rain. let's move to this story. now. a new study reveals that people who are overly confident in their knowledge often possess less

information than they believe. researchers found that people with limited information tend to overestimate their understanding, leading to misguided decisions. this phenomenon is known as the illusion of information adequacy. highlights the importance of seeking comprehensive information before forming conclusions. >> i like how our producer put in there, though, that the what we all commonly call it as know it all, know it alls, the know it alls. yeah, i, i've always told my girls it's good to be confident, right? confident. not cocky. yes, there's a big difference. >> know what you're talking about? yeah. and be confident in yourself. but don't you know, don't just do it out of ego, right? yeah. >> you know, with all the information you have, for example. hey, i need to learn how to use this new program. you can go to youtube and you have ten guys who are showing you how to do it. and i won't do it until i, you know, i listen to it because i don't want to do it wrong. >> and you know what else it's okay to say i don't know. yes. i don't know that.

>> let me find out. right. alternatively, good thing to say when you don't know what you're talking about. yeah. or you don't know the information. >> let me research that and get back to you. >> we all know this person. >> yes. yes. >> either in our lives in some way form or another, somewhere around. we'll leave it at that, won't we? we will move to this next story this morning. >> thank you. >> andre. the union representing oakland firefighters calling attention to a budget cuts that could affect response times as soon as next week. this morning, we spoke to leadership of the international association of firefighters. and since november 2022, a fire station in the grand lake neighborhood has been closed for renovations. will now, starting monday to. other stations will be temporarily closed. located on butters drive and grass valley road. oakland is facing a $129 million budget deficit, and these closures could save about $5.5 million. >> the folks in city management decided that since it's not technically fire season, now is a good time to have the residents up above highway 13. wait a little longer. and that

is the reality, unfortunately, is that there is no good fire station to close. it's all about response time. >> the station closures could force and would force firefighters to work at different firehouses. the department has about 450 firefighters with a $163 million budget, but the department is expected to go over budget, paying overtime to crews filling in for vacations. >> president biden and the first lady are set to travel to new orleans on monday to visit with survivors of the terror attack on bourbon street. 14 people were killed and 35 others injured along the street. memorials are growing to honor those lives lost and volunteers are stepping up to donate blood for local hospitals. now, terrorism experts say this week's attacks in new orleans and las vegas highlights the need to know the warning signs of violent behavior. they say law enforcement agencies often don't get the word about a person who's a threat to carry out an act of terrorism until it's too late. one expert here in northern california says

these two acts of violence serve as important reminders to know the red flags. >> if folks, you know, have someone in their family, because that's what always happens either a family member, someone they work with, they see these indicators and they don't tell anybody until after things happen. and then we get this reporting of, well, he did show this. well, we need people to call their local law enforcement, even if it's anonymously. >> experts say promptly notifying authorities about a potentially violent person can help them get the mental health services they need. >> the new year is getting off to a violent start in the city of san francisco. police are now investigating three shootings in the city during the first two days of 2025. ktvu christien kafton reports one shooting involved a man who took his own life after shooting his girlfriend and their son. >> 2025 is off to a deadly start with a series of shootings, including this one shortly after eight thursday morning near alemany boulevard. >> my name is anthony thomas. i'm the father of the deceased

male. antoine thomas. he took his. took his life. for some strange reason, i didn't get a chance to make it here on time to stop it. and now he's gone. >> anthony thomas said his 24 year old son's girlfriend called him frantically, telling him to come over right away. but by the time he arrived, the tragedy had already unfolded. the younger thomas, he said, dead by his own hand. the girlfriend rushed to the hospital in critical condition and a toddler, also injured but expected to survive. >> the baby was a year and a half year and a half year and a half. so yeah, she's going to have to have to grow up without the dad and everything. he's going to have to grow up without a dad. >> in a separate incident thursday afternoon, san francisco police confirmed they had arrested a woman in connection with the shooting on the 800 block of bryant. at about 10 a.m, officers arrived on scene and located two

victims, an adult male and an adult female suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. >> the victims were transported to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries. >> investigators caught the woman, who they say pulled the trigger hours later in the city's tenderloin district. >> at this time, this is an active investigation. >> san francisco police also say they have a suspect in custody after a homicide on the first day of the year, the first homicide of the year. investigators say shortly after midnight on new year's day, 29 year old jose rivera flores shot a man near the intersection of venice and 17th. >> right after the shooting, the suspect fled from the area in an suv. a few hours later, officers located the suspect vehicle in the area of bayshore and geneva and were able to take the suspect into custody without further incident. >> all of this comes on the heels of a year that saw homicides in san francisco drop steeply to their lowest level since the 1960s, with just 35 homicides over the course of

2024. in san francisco, christien kafton, ktvu fox two news. >> a retired san francisco police commander has been appointed the city's first chief of public safety. paul yap will lead that newly formed position. yap is a 28 year, 28 year veteran of the san francisco police department who will be in charge of coordinating all of the city's agencies that deal with public safety, as well as emergency preparedness and response. >> domingo is chief of public safety is to ensure that the people that live, play and work in san francisco feel safe. statistics are very important. numbers are important. they tell one story. but if people don't feel safe, then we really haven't accomplished what we need to accomplish. >> yep. served as police captain in san francisco's central and northern richmond stations during his nearly 30 years with sfpd. >> the new year is here, and for many of us, it's a fresh start to tackle our finances. or at least we should. but setting financial goals can feel

overwhelming. from saving to paying off debt to investing. we're breaking it all down with simple, actionable steps to set yourself up for success in 2025. jason matthews joining us again here on the nine with matthews financial insurance solutions. so we appreciate you being here because you always have such great advice starting with that. i think something that everyone juggles is the balance, finding a good balance between saving, paying off debt and investing. do you have a percentage that we should keep in mind for like percentage of our income? what do you suggest? yes. >> great question. so what i would say is you want to break it down just to make things simple. so what you want to do is break them down in threes. so you want to break down your paying down your debt in one third, building up your savings in one third and doing your investments in one third. now once you get your savings up to 3 to 6 months, depending on your job, your job cycle, once you get that up, then you get out of the savings part, and then you start investing that money after

you hit that 3 to 6 months emergency savings that you should have, okay, one third, one third, one third. >> that is easy. okay. that's simple. i mean, not easy to do necessarily, but good to keep in mind. okay. this is something that i definitely struggled with when my kids were younger. and i know a lot of people with younger kids struggle with saving for retirement, saving for college education. what's the priority? >> oh, so i always say is when you go to the bank, right? when you go to the bank, you have the person who give you a student loan. you have the person give you a home loan, but you don't have anybody who give you a retirement loan at all. so with that being said, is when it's time to retire, there's nobody who's going to save you. so your priority always has to be your own retirement first, then your kids college and savings for their college at that point. okay. >> worry about that later. yes. they might not necessarily take care of you later than your kids, right? exactly. okay. what about advice for, you know, the new year? a lot of us are. okay. i'm going to create a budget for myself. it's hard to create. it

may be easy to create a budget. not necessarily easy to stick to it. what's your advice on that? >> i think it's very hard for people to do budgets. when we ask our clients to come into our office, they usually we always tell them to fill out a budget sheet and some people reluctantly hard for them to do. they give me all the rest of their documents, but hard for them to do a budget. but i think in the beginning of the year, this is where we really should be doing a personal inventory for ourselves. we should be doing our budget. we should look at all our credit cards, look at how much debt we have, what the current interest rate is. we look at our retirement accounts and our savings, really look at how our current financial picture looks. and then at that point, we can see what we could do to make those adjustments in our budget, even if it's a small change. but do something where we don't have to think about it anymore. >> so if people haven't set up a budget for themselves, like what do you what is the beginning, what do you do? like, okay, here's how much we're going to spend on groceries. like, do you start with the necessities and then maybe put aside vacation? like, what does a budget look

like a good budget. >> a good budget is first, let's take care of the necessities. how much is my mortgage, my rent, how much i'm paying for food? how much is gas? how much is to keep the lights on every day? and the water in those basic are basic things. so we want to say is ideally you want to have 50 to 60% of your income goes to your bare necessities. another 20 or 30 should go for any extras, and the rest be going towards your saving and investing at that point. >> okay. and you brought up a couple of points that kind of reminds me this is a good time to review some of those things. maybe ways you can save on those necessities, right? your your gas bill or go through those assessments and then also credit cards, right. look for a credit card that has a lower interest rate. is it is it worth the time to switch those things over and go through those assessments to try to reduce those costs? absolutely. >> so let's look at your credit cards. so right now you see many credit cards are offering 2528 possibly 30%. while you have some like some credit card companies might do 18 months no interest for free transfers. so what you should do, go ahead and just fill out the application online. do that free transfer. and now you got 18 months of no

interest. you're not adding all that interest. and now you have a game plan to say, hey, an 18 months i'm going to pay that down then. now you're making your life easier. if you have your problem with your utilities where it might be too expensive, maybe call it ppe, call your utilities company, see if there's any special programs you can be part of that could possibly lower your rate. call everybody because every dollar saved is less stress you put towards your savings and retirement. >> that's a good that's good advice because they they could say no, but you might as well try. right. right. and it's so it's worth playing that game to just keep transferring. does it hurt your credit to transfer those balances to continually do that to lower? >> at first it might be right. so when you first apply it depends. so some credit cards might do a soft pool or hard pull right. if it's a hard pool at first it will. but if you get accepted right we're trying to pay off our credit. so in the short term it might be in the long term we won't pay attention to that 3 to 6 months. so if you're not planning on buying a new home, getting a new car or anything this year, i would say who cares? let's work on paying

down the debt, which is the more important thing than worrying so much about our credit score at that time. >> or one more thing before we go. are you seeing more? i was, you know, a lot of people were fortunate in 2020, you could maybe take out an equity line. are the banks are you seeing banks? because certainly it's better to have an equity line or to because you get to write off that interest as opposed to a credit card debt. are you seeing more banks doing that now that interest rates are coming down a little bit? >> we're seeing more and more people do a lot more heloc loans. you're seeing that more and more people don't want to get rid of their 3%, 4% interest. i think 60% of homeowners have a 4% or less interest rate, and they don't want to give that up. so what you're seeing is more increase in heloc loans for them to pull out some of that equity out of their homes. okay. >> so the equity loans on your home. all right. great. jason matthews from matthews financial insurance solutions thank you so much. great advice. always great to have you here. >> thank you for having me. >> all right. good luck on that. new year's budget and finances still to come. if you thought buy now pay later. speaking of those finances, maybe that saved you during your hol ayay

way we get emergency alerts. the 2024 hurricane season was one of the most destructive on record. the three big storms killed more than 250 people and caused

billions in damages. now, the state of florida is partnering with the tech company futuri to mitigate losses. the ai technology will be integrated with traditional broadcasting, so people will always have access to information 24 over seven. >> today's emergency alert systems do a good job of short bursts of information just in time. but what's missing is extensive information about preparedness and recovery. >> the company's app is called beacon, and its goal is to provide automatically recorded messages about public safety information on traditional tv, radio, streaming online and on beacon's mobile app. out of all the florida counties that reported deaths during hurricane helene, only a third sent out alerts. >> the first survey of the year shows a good start to the winter snowpack for the last 84 years. six specific spots on the phillips station are measured in an averaged rather. surveyors have found this year's snowpack is higher than average by 10 to

60%. surveyors warn that in the past, some winters started off strong with a lot of rain and snow, but then had a dry rest of the season. >> back in year 2022, we had 154% of average snowpack on this day in january, but it ended up on april 1st at 37% of average. so we definitely dried out. >> experts say, well, we all need more monthly storms to keep our water levels above average. since most of the water's state water supply comes from the sierra snowpack, researchers use both information from human surveys and sensors to gather information to pass on to water planners. farmers, along with water and wildlife agencies. the u.s. government announced today that five jetblue airways $2 million for what's believed to be the first penalty of its kind. the department of transportation found jetblue was responsible for what it calls chronically delayed flights on some of its busiest routes, and that included flights out of jfk, fort lauderdale and orlando. the department

considers a flight chronically delayed if it arrived 30 minutes late, more than half the time. >> if you were among the hundreds of thousands of airline passengers who flight during the holidays were disrupted, you could get some money back. the u.s. transportation department recently enacted a law requiring airlines to automatically issue refunds to passengers when their flights are canceled or delayed, more than three hours for domestic flights and more than six hours for international trips. >> when it comes to significant delays or cancellations based on weather, this is really where travelers are the most vulnerable, and it takes not even a moment to bring up the airline consumer dashboard by going to flight rights. gov. and that really is a handy tool to understand. >> there has always been a right to refund, but most consumers didn't know about this, and the rules differed from airline to airline. baggage fees are also refundable if there are delays by 12 hours, but there is a catch if you choose to stay on your delayed flight or take an alternative route, the airline

books for you, there's no refund. >> many people use buy now, pay later programs like klarna or afterpay to buy holiday gifts, but it can end up costing you more if you're not careful. most of the plans don't include additional interest. however, if you miss a payment, you will be hit with late fees. late fees can range from a few dollars to 25% of the loan amount. late payments negatively affect your credit score as well if it gets reported to those credit bureaus. so next time consumer reports suggests opting for other payment options before using those options, especially for expensive purchases. >> or if you think you're going to return something, consider using a credit card instead and aim to pay it off as quickly as possible. >> if you don't have a credit card, talk to your bank or credit union or if it's a larger purchase, consider a personal loan. if you do use buy now, pay later options. opt for the payments of four, which normally doesn't have any interest. also, put those payments on auto pay

to ensure your bills are paid on time. that leads us back to our viewer poll we've been talking about this morning debt. we're asking, have you paid off your debt from holiday shopping? we have 71% now saying, yep, all paid off. so good. great. glad to hear that. working on it about even with not even close. so i'm glad more people have it paid off because that is tough to do. >> drag on your overall finances. >> wow. and it just compounds so you can still vote. so let us know. we'll continue to share the results of our poll this morning. all right. >> if you're ready for a fresh start after the holidays, dry january might be for you. coming up on mornings on two and nine. the health benefits of giving up alcohol for one month, and why

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american tribes suing dozens of california card rooms. the suit alleges these gaming parlors that have no ties to their

tribes are violating a new state law that went into effect in the new year. now, it reinforces earlier laws that give native american tribes the exclusive rights to run many gambling games in california. the card rooms deny they are breaking any state laws. >> two major california business groups are suing over a new state law that bans businesses from making employees go to mandatory meetings in the workplace that involve politics or religion. the california chamber of commerce and the state restaurant association filed a federal lawsuit about that law. both groups claim it violates the constitution, including the right to free speech. >> our fear is that the way the bill is written, and especially in light of already existing protections, not only in california law but federal law that also exist, that effectively businesses cannot talk about a wide range of topics without fear of litigation. >> several labor groups are supporting the new law, saying it's meant to free workers from intimidation from their bosses, particularly if their union is

if they're trying to form a union. >> we're not surprised. we anticipated there would be a lawsuit. i think they threatened it during the legislative process. but the reality is this is well settled law. you know, although we call it a prohibition on captive audience meetings, what this bill actually does, it's a not a restriction on employer speech. it's a restriction on their actions. >> attorney general rob bonta is representing the state in the lawsuit, but has not yet commented on the pending litigation. >> governor newsom is calling it a landmark action in which california's increasing paid family leave and disability benefits in the new year. he says it will help millions of californians who need to take time off from work to recover from an illness, to care for a loved one who's sick or to bond with a new child. workers earning less than $63,000 a year can receive up to 90% of their wages while on leave. californians earning more than $63,000 can collect 70% of their wages. >> the new year can be a great

time for a fresh start, and if you're looking for a way to detox and recover after the holidays, participating in dry january might sound appealing. fox's chanley painter takes a closer look at a growing number of people who are taking part. >> dry january is a challenge where people choose not to drink alcohol during the entire first month of the year. >> the acceptability of low and no alcohol beverages is on the rise over the last five years. >> but amidst their growing popularity, there's still some hesitancy surrounding these types of drinks. that's according to new research from heineken and university of oxford professor charles spence. >> many people still report being called out or judged on their decision to choose a nonalcoholic beverage. >> after surveying roughly 12,000 adults across the u.s, u.k, spain, japan and brazil, researchers found members of gen z that are over the legal drinking age, especially young men, are a main group feeling pressured about alcohol consumption. >> they still feel a need to

justify their choice of a low or no alcohol beverage, particularly when they're in social situations. >> if you say, oh, i'm not drinking, so why not? like what's up? >> but some herd mentality could help with the study. finding 38% of men in this group said they would be willing to try nonalcoholic drinks if their friends did so, too. >> if they can have a social time and just be just as fun sober, then why? why the need for drinking? >> meanwhile, with roughly 25% of study participants identifying people who don't drink as respectable, it could be a sign that more people may feel confident choosing these drinks in the near future. >> 3 or 4 years ago, you probably would have tried to hide the fact. now you just order a nonalcoholic and crack on. >> still, experts say about 51% of people who said they wouldn't drink wound up consuming alcohol, mostly because of peer pressure. i'm jan paynter, fox news. >> well, dry january has grown in popularity. there's another term gaining traction these

days. it's called damp january. it's where people reduce their alcohol consumption for the month. experts say it can be seen as a more achievable goal for those who aren't fully committed to going a full month without drinking. some studies show those who participate in dry january can see health benefits for at least six months after, and the researchers say people can experience better sleep, more energy, even improvements in smell and taste. after just one month of not drinking. i like the damp drink. the damp january. at least like only on the weekends. or maybe only at that party. >> i'm going to start out slow like that, slow with the damp, and then work your way. >> make it achievable. >> yeah, exactly. that's what they're saying. >> more realistic is means that you might stick to it. >> i mean, the niners are out of everything, so their sundays are fine. yeah. >> well, so the question is, do you just stop drinking like a new year's new year's eve at midnight? once the clock strikes 12, you stop. >> right. so pound it down before midnight and then.

>> not recommended. but. no, i see what you're saying. >> you'll have to ask someone else about that. >> andre. yeah, right. right, right. >> you can now stream ktvu news anytime. [music] fox local, available on all your streaming devices, as well as your android and apple phone to scan the qr code on your screen right now or search for fox local, then select ktvu. you can watch us there any time. thank you so much for joining us. be sure to join us again for our next newscast coming yo way at noon. >> three, two, one... it's showtime! >> ♪ we're gonna have a real good time ♪ ♪ feel good time ♪ ♪ spreading love and joy and laughter all over the place ♪ ♪ we're gonna have a good time ♪ ♪ we're gonna have a good time ♪ ♪ it will be so legendary ♪ ♪ sherri's got you feeling good ♪ >> announcer: and now, your host, sherri shep!