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more on the new charges facing tiffany alston. >> she was just elected in 2010. she now faces two separate indictments. the latest thing -- the latest accuses alston, a democrat, of giving salary to an employee of a law firm. she arranged for the employee to go on the payroll of the general assembly. the employee was paid about $800, but did no work for the state. she made her mark as a rookie legislator earlier this year, switching her position on the same-sex marriage bill, to reading to its failure. she is also charged with allegedly using campaign funds to pay for a wedding dress. she will likely join state senator ulysses currie on ethics charges. he was acquitted of federal charges, but has been referred to the legislators ethics committee. a biweekly review has been ordered on alston's legislative account, and a takeover offer employee time sheet. -- a takeover of her employee time sheets. >> police shoot a man after a high-speed pursuit. the authorities loaded the suspect in three medivac chopper around noon. he was driving a car that matched the descript

live in san bruno, john alston, abc news. >> thank you. >>> a couple more items about the utility. pg&e is trying to figure out exactly what caused a blackout that left customers without power in daily city, brisbane and san francisco's visitation valley. the lights went out just aver -- just after 6:00. pg&e hopes to have all of the power restored sometime during the next hour or so. >>> meantime, pg&e has shut off power to three customers in santa cruz county who replaced their smart meters with non-wireless models. they hired an electrician to remove the meters without pg&e's permission believing they are a health hazard. they returned them to a payment center last week. the utility said it warned customers that their power would be shut off if they removed the smart meters on their own. but that's only if they removed the meters claiming it was a public safety issue. >>> tonight agencies around the state are trying to figure out how to fill the holes left by a billion dollar budget cut announced by governor brown. >> these cuts to the university and in support of services and t

live in san bruno, john alston, abc news. >> thank you. >>> a couple more items about the utility. pg&e is trying to figure out exactly what caused a blackout that left customers without power in daily city, brisbane and san francisco's visitation valley. the lights went out just aver -- just after 6:00. pg&e hopes to have all of the power restored sometime during the next hour or so. >>> meantime, pg&e has shut off power to three customers in santa cruz county who replaced their smart meters with non-wireless models. they hired an electrician to remove the meters without pg&e's permission believing they are a health hazard. they returned them to a payment center last week. the utility said it warned customers that their power would be shut off if they removed the smart meters on their own. but that's only if they removed the meters claiming it was a public safety issue. >>> tonight agencies around the state are trying to figure out how to fill the holes left by a billion dollar budget cut announced by governor brown. >> these cuts to the university and in support of services and t

live in san jose, john alston, abc news. >> thank you. >>> it is the biggest loan to a public agency for any stadium in nfl history, and it is being debated in santa clara tonight. three financing groups are willing to loan the 49ers and the city $850 million. tonight the public weighed in on this. lisa amin gulezian is live with the story tonight. lisa? >> dan, the public comment hearing ended an hour ago, and there will be another one on thursday night! but tonight people heard details about the specific funding and they had a chance to sound off about the details. >> yes, it is exciting. it could be considered a huge gamble. but it is worth it. >> so it is any -- an egregious bait and switch we are witnessing here. >> tonight the taxpayers heard details about the latest finance plan from goldman sachs, u.s. bank and bank of america. the three have agreed to loan the city's stadium authority and the 49ers $850 million. >> we are creating a finance structure that will go over tonight to show that we are basically lending it to a financing vehicle and lending the money down into both

live in san jose, john alston, abc news. >> thank you. >>> it is the biggest loan to a public agency for any stadium in nfl history, and it is being debated in santa clara tonight. three financing groups are willing to loan the 49ers and the city $850 million. tonight the public weighed in on this. lisa amin gulezian is live with the story tonight. lisa? >> dan, the public comment hearing ended an hour ago, and there will be another one on thursday night! but tonight people heard details about the specific funding and they had a chance to sound off about the details. >> yes, it is exciting. it could be considered a huge gamble. but it is worth it. >> so it is any -- an egregious bait and switch we are witnessing here. >> tonight the taxpayers heard details about the latest finance plan from goldman sachs, u.s. bank and bank of america. the three have agreed to loan the city's stadium authority and the 49ers $850 million. >> we are creating a finance structure that will go over tonight to show that we are basically lending it to a financing vehicle and lending the money down into both

. >>> a grand jury is charging tiffany alston with theft and misconduct. she's accused of adding a law firm employee to the payroll. that worker was paid $800 as a clerk while working for the firm, not working for the state. alston is facing charges she used her campaign funding to pay for her wedding. >>> more trouble for marian berry. he has taxes with held from his paychecks but he failed to file his 2010 income tax returns. the irs is placing a lien against barry. he has a long history of not filing taxes. he owes tens of thousands of dollars. according to an agreement with the irs, $1300 are with held from his salary every month. millions of americans have problems filing taxes. he blamed the latest problem on irs beaurocracy. >>> also in the district, d.c. councilmembers are come iing un fire for using their controversial funds to pay thousands of dollars for their holiday party tonight in a downtown hotel. >>> some urged the council to get rid of those accounts because they are too often misused. tom sherwood is here with the story. >> who doesn't l

the charges accused tiffany alston, a democrat, of using state funds to pay an employee offer private law firm to it -- of her private law firm. in september, she was accused in a separate case of using campaign funds to cover running expenses. energy giant constellation energy and exelon agreed to sweeten the deal to gain at the governor's blessing in their merger. exelon will make concessions valued at $1 billion, including the development of more natural gas, wind, solar power in maryland did exelon will not devote more money to help low- income customers. it will not extend any more rate increases to bge customers. it is subject to approval by the maryland public commission. ravens fans are not letting the busy holiday season keep them from the sunday game. about 50 fans boarded a flight this morning bound for san diego. more fans will travel through b.w.i. thurgood marshall airport tomorrow. many planned trips to san diego whenever the ravens played their trade you can catch the sunday night game right here on wbal- tv. coming up, a warning for consumers waiting on packages to be

john alston, abc7 news. >>> 5:37.y officials are considering banning woodburning this coming weekend after soot from holiday fires caused unhealthy air over the bay area. more than 400 people called in tips to the bay area air quality management district saying neighbors were lighting wood fires in their homes on christmas eve and christmas day. officials tried to discourage woodburning by issuing several spare the air alerts in recent weeks air quality was so poor monday it -- rivalled conditions of 2008's major wildfires. the fine is $400. >>> let's look at our forecast. >> clear and quiet on the weather front temperatures are coming didn't a little because we don't have as much cloud cover, a few more 30s, upper 30s, much more comfortable. 39 in redwood city, 37 mountain view being one of the cooler spots. pretty cool in napa 38, novato 39. these areas and ports -- parts of the north bay we might see patchy fog nothing like the widespread dense fog we saw the last couple of mornings. chance of showers in the north

john alston, abc7 news. >>> schools and social service agencies are trying to figure out how to fill holes left by a billion dollar budget cut announced by governor brown. >> these cuts to the university, services, schools, to prosecution, they are not good. this is not the way we would like to run california. but we have to live within our means. >> the systems will lose 200 million dollars each, 100 million slashed from services for the disabled. school bus services will lose 248 million. cuts were part of the budget authorized in june triggered by a shortage in revenue. cuts take effect january 1st. >>> new york artist wants to highlight the bay bridge, literally. all he needs is approval from the state and seven million dollars. plans to build a bike path on the bay bridge keep rolling along. amy hollyfield is live along the embarcadero with an update. >> reporter: there it is, already lit up, some think it is beautiful. there's an artist who thinks it needs more. he's already got computer software so you can see the 25,000 flickering lightbulbs he wants in the cables. leoville s

john alston says it was a big night for fans and arena employees. >> reporter: better late than neverput on a show for basketball fan. chris and his 12-year-old son -- [ inaudible ] >> there was a time we were starting to get negative on the league and the players. but the game is back. and we are happy to be here. now it is all positive. >> reporter: is all forgiven now? >> yeah, we are starting to feel good. >> reporter: because of the labor trouble the regular season was slashed by 16 games. fans poured into the arena perhaps no one was happier than the employees who lost money while players and owners fought over millions. >> i'm making $20 an hour. if i've lost 30, 40 hours you can figure it out from that. >> it is good to be back. any time you are working and making money during this economy the way things are, it is good to be back. >> reporter: there was a party atmosphere outside, reindeer were brought in. fans could get pictures taken with santa. they were lining up to spend money in the team store. >> waiting for the season to start it didn't start when it was supposed to,

with this thing people passing their breaking point they were just so angry i get back very quickly alston tightness. in the crowd we're not sure exactly what that thing off but everyone's just trying to get out of the way you could see people by the riot where there was . almost you left all of that. right from the very beginning we wanted to. get a good story from a different angle we were much more interested in getting the social side of what was going on i hope for everybody to become and. try to get out of the crisis if that was what was always important to us is getting you know the people in greece getting their opinion across the case i think a lot of their voices really have got lost in the whole political economic talk kind of forget what it's all about which is about you know the people who were there and you're talking to and so were the lucky and that's amazing people i mean every single time i've gone back there just a welcoming. will continue to bring you personal reflections from our correspondents worldwide on the headlines of twenty there and if you missed any they're av

and very quickly alston tightness. in the crowd we're not sure exactly what that thing off but everyone's just trying to get up and you could see people by the riot. almost you left all of that. and much more. right from the very beginning we wanted to see. the story from a different angle we were much more interested in getting the. what was going on i hope for everybody to be calm and. try to get out of the crisis if that was what was always important to us is getting. the people getting their opinion across to the kids i think a lot of their voices really have got lost in the whole political economic talk kind of what it's all about which is about you know the people who are there needs . and then. in that's amazing people i mean every single time i've gone back they just say well. we're going to bring you the personal reflections of our correspondents worldwide on the stories that shape the year and if you've missed any of them you can always find them again at our team dot com. russian court has ruled that a russi

hello broadcasting live from moscow you're watching our carriage alston well on this day two decades ago the world's largest country ceased to exist before all of the soviet union meant the end of the cold war and the birth of a dozen new states but twenty years on the collapse of the u.s.s.r. raises unanswered questions as a country which over explains. even today many generate their own explanations for the fall of the global goliath but some putting it down to the role of just a few. i'll give you two reasons gorbachev and you. the nineteen ninety one august coup was a turning point in the country's history with images of yeltsin standing on a tank creating a new hero yet for most here even that wasn't seen as causing a fatal crack in the soviet union move very sudden and shocking i mean there were people here even months before who were shoring us that this was going to go on forever so all the billions and billions and billions that the us imported into intelligence and forecasting all proved to be completely useless the collapse of the soviet union was not so much a revolution

and very quickly alston tightness. in the crowd we're not sure exactly what that thing off but everyone's just trying to get up and you could see people by the riot. it was. almost you left all of that. and maybe more. right from the very beginning we wanted to see. the story from a different angle we were much more interested in getting the sale of what was going on me. everybody needs. right now there's a chance you might lose everything that we know in this country you don't know what . you're like i hope for everybody to be calm and. try to get out of the crisis it's a good mix of people. still and it was great as well the final result was really were. because if that was what was always important to us it is getting. the people in crates getting their opinion across because i think a lot of their voices really have got lost in the whole political economic talk kind of forget what it's all about which is about people talking and. mazing people i mean every single time i've gone back there just a welcoming. will con

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that can't compensate for the real thing, as john alston reports that vacationers are liking what they this romp in the?" was a last minute plan for the pearson family from richmond. they booked a hotel room not last month but o are last week, but yesterday afternoon. >> better rates on the internet. so it's not too far away, there are plenty of hotels available. >> they found a $65 room right in south lake tahoe. >> love it, it's been great. enjoying the family time. the weather is nice. so it's fun. we're having a good time. >> this holiday week is nothing like last year when tahoe was pounded by storm after storm and hotels were booked solid. today there is a lot of bear pavement and more than few vacancies. >> last year it would have been hard to find a place this late but this year you can find a place. still, it's pretty booked up. >> reporter: there is still skiing around tahoe. heavenly has been making snow almost nonstop since october but only 25 of the 97 runs are open. nail-biter for mike brown that came all the way from indianapolis after booking the trip back in august. >>

john alston was there and says it was a big night for fans and arena employees. >> better late than never. they put on a show at oracle arena. it was a christmas present for chris and his son who had to do without pro basketball for two months because of the lockout. >> there was a time when we were starting to get a little negative on the league and on the players, but the game is back and we are happy to be here, so now it is all positive. >> it is all for given now? >> because of the labor trouble, they were slashed by 16 games. no one was happier than the employees who lost money while they fought over millions. >> well, i am making roughly $20 an hour, and so if i lost 30 or 40 hours, you can figure it out from that. >> anytime you are working or making money and doing the economy the way things are, it is good to be back. it puts some money with your pocket. >> there was a party atmosphere. four reindeer were brought in and fans could take their picture with santa claus. they were also lining up to spend their money. >> the anticipation and waiting for your team to play and it is no

tiffany alston is charged with theft and misconduct while in office. today in anne arundel county, the grand jury indicted her and that claims this she put an employee of her law tomorrow on the state pearl and paid her $800 for working at the tomorrow for eight days. >>> and developing right now, all eyes are on capitol hill. congress is, again, racing against the clock and they're faced with the end-of-the-year deadline and fog 5s tom fitzgerald is back from the hills and -- fox 5s tom fitzgerald is back from the hills with more. >> reporter: time is running out now to avoid not only the government shutdown, but break the long-standing impasse over several critical year-end bills. you know, even though there was still a lot of tough talk between the democrats and republicans today, both sides are now saying that they're optimistic that they can meet the dead oiliness. the first signs of a thaw -- deadlines. the first signs came thursday morning, they hinted at progress. >> we hope we can come up with something that would get us on the of here in a re

tiffany alston is accused of adding an employee to the payroll to pay for work at the law firm. the worker was paid $800 while working for the firm, not the state. she's facing charges she used campaign funds to pay for her wedding. >>> the fbi launched a new campaign to catch one of washington's most notorious rapists. he's called the potomac river rapist. he's known for at least a dozen attacks in the '90s. pat collins has more on the blitz to track him down. >> reporter: they have the sketch. they have the website. they have the billboards. they have dna evidence. a full court press by law enforcement to find the man they call the potomac river rapist. >> these acts occurred throughout the region. horrible, despicable acts. so many victims and their families. it's time to bring it to closure. >> reporter: he's responsible for eight rapes between 1991 and 1997. he's also linked to the 1998 rape and murder of a 29-year-old woman dragged into the woods off canal road, sexually assaulted and killed there. >> with your help, we can identify and apprehend and bring to justice the p

while that can't completely compensate for the real thing, john alston found vacationers are liking what >> reporter: this romp in the snow was a last minute plan for the family on the busiest holiday week of the year they booked a hotel room yesterday afternoon. >> it wasn't hard we called they said the better rates were on the internet we found good rates. plenty of hotels available. >> reporter: they found a $65 room in south lake tahoe. >> love it. it has been great. enjoying the family time and the weather is nice. the snow is here, the kids are enjoying themselves it is fun. we are having a good time. >> reporter: this holiday week is nothing like last year when tahoe was pounded by storm after storm and hotels were booked solid. today there's a lot of bare pavement and more vacancies. >> last year it would have been harder to find a place this late. i think the lack of snow has opened up for people still booked up. >> reporter: there is -- still skiing and snowboarding. heff haven'tly has been making snow nonstop since october. only 25 of the 97 runs are open. nail-biter for visit

john alston has more. ♪ >> santa isn't the only one coming to town.hoplifters are making eight season to remember. stephanie got to see a show. >> the shoplifteding they are waiting and they started here running. they tackled him and put him in hand kuvs. >> stores around union square have hired extra security to keep an eye on the crowds. its subject that managers don't like to talk about, but clerks can spot trouble a mile away. >> you can tell, look on them, they are looking around. looking around more the area to see who is watching. >> according to national estimates, shoplifters made off with more than $1.8 billion in the month leading up to this christmas. that is an increase over the $1.7 billion over the same period last year. >> unfortunately there are those that don't get it and do things they ought not to do. we put the offers where we put them and community supports each other by looking out for one another. >> they watched over crowds during the holiday season is big time for shoplifters that can take advantage of distracted sales clerks

in san francisco, january alston, abc7 news. >>> retail sales are expected to jump nearly 4% this year and shopper track is predicting the day after christmas, called mighty monday, will see 60% more customers in the stores compared to last year. many stores like target and best buy will extend their hours and offer big promotions like we saw on black friday. one item in particular brought shoppers out in droves yesterday but in many places it ended in chaos and violence. here's what all the excitement is about, a pair of sneakers. the new air jordans caused shoving matches fights and in one location a gunshot. >> gunfire at hilltop mall in richmond when a 24-year-old man in line for the newly released air jordan 11s fired his weapon. >> it's in the infancy stages of the investigation but it appears it may have been a negligent discharge or accidental. >> the ambulance arrested and in this case no one was hurt. at a mall in fairfield two were arrested, one for assaulting a police officer after more than a thousand shoppers showed up early and pushed a mall door off the hinges. >> the c

. >> john alston reporting. the disappearance of the monkey is very upsetting to people who worked at the zoo. a penguin worker tweeted, he says, you will get caught, too many people know you did it, and all this press. return him. no questions asked. that's from zoo keeper anthony brown. >>> in other few weeks governor brown's proposal to raise taxes has managed to rake in $1.2 million. the funds to promote the temporary increase on the sales tax and tax on wealthy were raised from just nine donor and they include blue she would and california association of hospital and health systems. >>> outdoor enthusiasts have launched a campaign to save two popular pops in the santa cruz mountains threatened by state budget cuts. the volunteers plan to raise $500,000 in the next few months. the money will go to the state to keep portula redwood state park and castle state park open. meantime they will try to raise money to help the state parks stay open. taylor state park was targeted for closer as part of the state's bud

as john alston reports there is concern over his health and safety. >> there are about 24 monkeys at the san francisco zoo biden banana sam is not one of them. >> it's really tragedy that the animal may be by himself. it's important to get him back. >> someone cut the chain on the back fence and cut their way into the area where the zoo says there is no surveillance cameras. >> at this time we don't know what the motive is. it could be an animal rights group. it could be someone who does want to make a profit off this animal. >> reporter: on the web we didn't have any problem finding squarely monkeys for sale. having pet monkeys is legal in some states but not here in california. we did find some for sale in oakland and sacramento. one person familiar with it is suzy carey who residents sanctuary in san diego county. >> there are people that breeds monkeys to sell. unfortunately they take them out of the wild for laboratories and probably for pets also. >> reporter: the squirrel squirrel monkeys at the zoo arrived after funding ended. banana sam is one of oldest at age 17. they norma

. >> john alston reporting. the disappearance of the monkey is very upsetting to people who worked at the zoo. a penguin worker tweeted, he says, you will get caught, too many people know you did it, and all this press. return him. no questions asked. that's from zoo keeper anthony brown. >>> in just few weeks governor brown's proposal to raise taxes has managed to rake in $1.2 million. the funds to promote the temporary increase on the sales tax and tax on wealthy were raised from just nine donor and they include blue shield and california association of hospital and health systems. >>> outdoor enthusiasts have launched a campaign to save two popular parks in the santa cruz mountains threatened by state budget cuts. the volunteers plan to raise $500,000 in the next few months. the money will go to the state to keep portola redwood state park and castle state park open. >> republican presidential candidate ron paul is at or near the top of the policy in iowa. -- top of the polls in iowa. with that ranking comes

in san francisco, january alston, abc7 news. >>> retail sales are expected to jump nearly 4% this yearnd shopper track is predicting the day after christmas, called mighty monday, will see 60% more customers in the stores compared to last year. many stores like target and best buy will extend their hours and offer big promotions like we saw on black friday. one item in particular brought shoppers out in droves yesterday but in many places it ended in chaos and violence. here's what all the excitement is about, a pair of sneakers. the new air jordans caused shoving matches fights and in one location a gunshot. >> gunfire at hilltop mall in richmond when a 24-year-old man in line for the newly released air jordans fired his weapon. >> it's in the infancy stages of the investigation but it appears it may have been a negligent discharge or accidental. >> the ambulance arrested and in this case known hurt. at a mall in fairfield two were arrested, one for salting a police officer of a more than a thousand shoppers showed up early and pushed a mall door off the hinges. >> the crowd pushed it