andrea nakano has more. >> reporter: this community was destroyed by the tubbs fire in 2017. many here point to that fire as the one that forever changed this community. this looks like a new housing development. that's because the tubbs fire in a matter of hours burned down every single home in the neighborhood. >> we went to work that night not knowing the fire would destroy our homes. >> reporter: this is what paul's home looked like before the fire. this is what he came home to. the only recognizable thing left on his property was the frame of his new truck. he's the santa rosa fire marshal and was working to alert residents about evacuations that october night. he then started hearing the fire was approaching the streets in his neighborhood. >> we diverted to this general location and could tell the neighborhood was completely destroyed. >> reporter: while the community still feels the devastation of the destruction five years ago, the tubbs fire forever changed how residents protect their homes by creating defensive space. the fire department also changed how they respo

andrea nakano is here with more on how bay area families who have lost loved ones are coping this time of year. andrea? >> reporter: sarah, i spoke with one mother tonight, and she says the holidays are the worst. she lost her partner and father of her son in 2014, and she says life hasn't been the same sense. >> every holiday, every father's day, his dad's birthday. his birthday, you know? the dad will never be there again. >> reporter: for the last eight years, lori valdez has dealt with the pain of losing a loved one. she attended a vigil where students were urging action on the mental health crisis in santa clara county. >> it's been really hard. my son has grown up without his dad. he's cried many times. still now, he'll, like at random just shut down and start crying. i just want my dad. >> reporter: valdezless partner antonio died tragically in an officer involved shooting when her son was just eight years old. >> he makes up stories of stuff they did that they never did. i guess that's his way of trying to keep his dad's memory alive. >> reporter: in a study done around the wor

andrea nakano. kpix5 . >>> two days after the elections are over, we still don't know who the next mayor of oakland will be but we have some idea. wilson walker has the u in numbers tonight and what they mean. >> reporter: we have received more votes in oakland. not many votes but they tell us quite a bit. we will show you the first place votes in the oakland mayoral race. lauren taylor not only continues to lead, but his margin against his closest challenger has actually grown a fraction of a percent. we flip over to the rank choice voting totals. his lead in that regard continues to expand as well. this is not just a path toward victory, but an increasing margin of victory. we will not get numbers here in oakland. they are taking the day off for veteran's day. we are expecting a substantial vote total to come in on monday night. >> tuesday, election day. we were focused on the early votes we were able to prep. before election day. and the in person votes that were cast throughout election day. and

doesn't seem like it in this short term. >> reporter: andrea nakano kpix 5. >>> it is starting to feel closer to something of the holiday season. the ski season is officially here. a week ahead of schedule thanks to the recent storms. opening up this weekend to welcome the first guest of the year, which a few weeks ago seems highly unlikely. >> right, all it takes is a couple of decent snow events and we have that base to ski on and the promise of, well, a little bit more snow. >> the injuries probably. >> yes, likely. it's one of the risks you run when you're hurdling downhill. but let's take a look at how much is expected in the high sierra. the same system that will bring us a chance for showers over the weekend will bring in a few inches of snow and maybe approaching 6 inches from some of the highest elevations just enough to freshen up the slopes on saturday for the sunday skiers when the sun is going to reemerge. clouds will increase, but those will be few and far in between. light showers more likely, but far from likely overall. north of the golden gate on saturday afternoon. l

. >> i'm andrea nakano.lon musk is letting former president trump back on the platform. 15million counts voted with yes winning with just under 52% of the vote. 24 hours later, musk said the people have spoken. trump will be reinstated. he added a latin phrase that means the voice of the people is the voice of god. >> twitter suspended trump's account at the wake of the capitol riot saying his tweets would likely encourage and inspire people to replicate the violence. >>> turning to the oakland mayoral race. looks like city councilmember shinning tao will pull out the victory. but her rival lauren taylor says it is to early to concede. the elections office released the latest results showing tao with 50.3% of the vote. she leads taylor by just 680 votes. election officials say there are very few ballots left to count. kpix5's da lin

. >>> good evening, i'm andrea nakano.t may not look like much in our skies right now, but the sierra is welcoming more snow as we speak. and, for more on that, we join darren peck in the weather center. it looks like it is coming down pretty well right now. >> the snow in the sierra will be about half a foot. that sounds a lot more dramatic in terms of what we will experience. but you see why we talk about this. another weak cold front dragging light rain our way. most of that is weakening as it gets here. we woke up bay area wide. ground was damp. got a couple of hundredths of an inch of rain. that was in the first cold front of the predawn hours of saturday morning. this is the next one now. if we look at the futurecast, the models want to hold this together and give us a drop of rain. the bigger impact from this system is how cold it will be tomorrow morning. when you talk about the possibility for fog. and, yes. there is more snow coming to the sierra. we'll look at that as well. coming up in the complete first alert

. >> and i'm andrea nakano. today was a big day for small businesses across the bay area hoping a busy holiday shopping season will make up for the losses they've seen thanks to rising inflation. >> shoppers were out early looking for deals while supporting local businesses. >> between pandemic slumps and now the slowing economy due to inflation, owners say the support means everything during these times. this small business saturday was the boost many needed, especially as we head into the most critical time of year for retailers. >> honestly from a morale point of view it's a big deal. it really gives us energy for the rest of the holidays. >> small independent stores really add to the flavor of the community. >> while most stores in the bay area have seen a boost in business this busy weekend, not everyone has been so lucky. >> betty yu caught up with a store owner who says things are slower than ever. >> reporter: ambience clothing boutique has been here nor union street for more than 20 years, and the manag

. >> i'm andrea nakano. battling side shows, going after everyone involved in these massive dangerous events rather than those just driving the car. >> and the hundreds of citations were issued. coming with some hefty fines. >> reporter: san jose police have never written this many tickets at one side show. in the past, they've gone after those doing the donuts. but last night they detained and ticketed all the spectators. this is drone video showing san jose police blocng all the side show participants and spectators from four different directions, so they couldn't drive off. san josece wrote everyone a ticket. we'll come back to this massive crackdown. let's go back to the beginning. started around 11:20 saturday night. hundreds of cars and people blocked off the intersection of virginia and 7th streets. it was a chaotic scene with fireworks, laser beams, four cars spinning donuts all at the same time. after a while they left this intersection and made their way to the intersection of monterey highway. >>

. >> i'm andrea nakano. the holiday travel rush to get home after thanksgiving is in full swing with a tsa saying it's one of the busiest days of the year. >> kpix 5's da lin is at sfo where it's a bittersweet day for a lot of folks heading home after thanksgiving. >> reporter: sfo's expecting abbeys evening as thanksgiving travelers arrive home. the local airports say the numbers are not quite 2019 pre-pandemic levels, but they're getting closer. a lot of hugs and tears at the dropoff area. >> i'm going to miss my family. >> reporter: families saying good-bye to their loved ones after thanksgiving gatherings. >> it doesn't get easier. t it's always tough. yeah. we have a hard time and there'll be some tears but not right now. >> reporter: the rojas family sending their son back to college after the short holiday break. [ sirens ] >> a lot of tears. and a lot of tears. >> reporter: health care worker says all happy tears when she finally saw her mom for thanksgiving. >> i just got back to colorado springs fr

. >> i'm andrea nakano. election day is just over 24 hours away. millions have already voted with talk of building a red wave. >> betty yu with what that means for california. >> reporter: brian, california is dominated by democrats, which means the party is taking blame for a range of problems like high taxes, gas prices, and the homeless crisis. now these grievances could be a potential benefit for republicans. there's an all-out effort to get out to vote on the campaign trail. from florida to pennsylvania. >> it's a choice, a choice between two vastly different visions of america. >> reporter: the truth and facts and logic and reason and basic decency are on the ballot. >> if you want to stop the destruction of our country and save the american dream, then this tuesday you must vote republican in a giant red way. >> reporter: pennsylvania and georgia are among the five tossup races that could decide control of the u.s. senate. >> the california voter who is sort of trying to figure out why this is relevant. well california matters one because it

. >>> i'm andrea nakano. your wedding photos are meant to be a memorable occasion, but not like it was for this local couple. their photographer was violently attacked when someone tried to rob him at the palace of fine arts, and everything was caught on camera. there were plenty of witnesses around, but that didn't deter the attackers. da lin has been following the story, and tells us attacks like this have become pretty common at this popular photo spot. cameras, and they know there are a lot of opportunities at the palace of fine arts. from weddings to engagements, a lot of cameras capturing beautiful memories at the world famous palace of fine arts. >> that's so cute! >> reporter: but one recent photo shoot turned dangerous. it happened on wednesday around 4:40 p.m. the victim refused to give up his camera. the attackers repeatedly threatened the victim with their guns. one of the guns has an extended clip. they hit him and pistol whipped him. >> just watching the struggle, i really felt for him and the c

andrea nakano, kpix 5. >>> the flu, covid and rsv all have similar symptoms. fever, chills, cough and everything else as did hear. because they seem so similar the best way to tell which one you have is to go out and get tested. it can also become harder to buy cold and flu medicine this winter. some northern california stores including innocent governmental area are having trouble just stocking up. >> we have definitely seen a change in our product lines for cough and cold medications. we are seeing things we have normally ordered not being available and is trying to figure out other product lines to bring it to the pharmacy. >> reporter: if you cannot find your usual medicine you can try finding a replacement by comparing the active ingredients but you might want to check with your doctor or first. at the same time, covid rebound cases may be more common in people who take paxlovid to treat it. a new study out of san diego found 14% of people who took paxlovid tested positive again after a negative test. >>> if you live in contra costa county, you can order

. >> i'm andrea nakano. >> da lin at sfo with how bay area airports are doing compared to pre-pandemicng at sfo as thanksgiving travelers arrive home. local airports say the numbers are not quite 2019 pre-pandemic levels, but they're getting closer. a lot of hugs and tears at the dropoff area. >> i'm going to miss my family. >> reporter: families saying good-bye to their loved ones after thanksgiving gatherings. >> it doesn't get easier. t it's always tough. yeah. we have a hard time and there'll be some tears, but not right now. >> reporter: the rojas family sending their son back to college after the short holiday break. [ sirens ] >> a lot of tears. and a lot of tears. >> reporter: health care worker terea ester says all happy tears when she finally saw her mom for thanksgiving. >> i just got back to colorado springs from seeing my mom and brother and it was -- phenomenal. i did not see them in 2020 or 2021 because of covid. so that made the reunion that much sweeter. >> reporter: many travelers noticed

. >> i'm andrea nakano, we begin in the east bay where union city police need your help after a shootinglex. it happened just before 6 plop this morning on lunar way. investigators say a gunman opened fire hitting the 25-year-old victim who's expected to be okay. if you have any details about the shooting, call police. >>> climate change and wildfires are making power cutoffs a more common occurrence and that tends to impact working class neighborhoods most. but as kpix 5's john ramos shows us, a church in oakland has developed an electrifying solution. >> reporter: these days, it feels like no matter what kind of weather we're having, something is threatening to cut off the power supply. and that's why there's a growing need for people in low income neighborhoods to have some place safe to go. take a drive through east oakland and you know what you don't see? solar panels. these kinds of working class neighborhoods pay the price as affluent people become more energy independent. at faith baptist church, pastor curtis robinson saw that coming and raised the money to get solar about seven

andrea nakano talked to people in union square about whether or not they feel safe. >> i just want to enjoy life. we get one. >> reporter: jennifer and latrice spent wednesday night soaking in the holiday spirit. >> it's like let's get out and feel the spirit of the holidays. >> reporter: they scoped out presents for family and lights were turned on the 83-foot tree at union square. [ cheering and applause ] >> tonight is an example of our resilience. it is an example that when we are down, we are not completely out. we bounce back better and stronger than ever before. >> reporter: impacts were twofold. more people turned to online shopping in san francisco with the rest of the bay area and saw up tick in incidents like these. this smash and grab happened in november 2021. more than a half dozen stores were hit as hooters smashed doors and forced their way in. this won't deter some though from coming out and enjoying the holidays. >> they are out there. i am not going to get up my happiness for people who will take advantage of me so i try to be as safe as i can be. >> reporter: she's

andrea nakano stopped by marin to check on hospital capacity. >> they got sick at school, got rsv. the older ones brought it home to the rest of the family. >> reporter: rachel davey has seen how respiratory infection rsv has impacted her family. >> they are still just staying to themselves. her birthday was yesterday, and we had to just stay home and do face time celebration. >> reporter: santa clara county is seeing unusually high levels of the flu and rsv prompting healthcare officials to send out this morning. >> don't send your child to daycare or school and please don't go to work. this is the easiest way to spread the infection to others and increase burden on healthcare systems. >> reporter: what has healthcare providers concerned is how early the winter viruses are hitting. the reason why? it is believed it is because of the pandemic. kids isolated and masked didn't catch it until now. >> we are seeing rsv not just in kids a year old or two years old but in kids less than three years old all at once. it is the case that the first infection tends to be most severe. >> repor

such a way that they are different but don't allow them to take our livelihood already that was andrea nakano reporting. we tell you this every year. try to keep your eyes ahead of you and not on your phone while shopping. if someone demands your purse, wallet, or packages, just hand it to them. try to shop with a friend. that's especially true after dark. >>> rican star bad bunny as their only winner. last year they honored three artists for the same award. this became apple music's highest streamed album of 2022 and biggest latin album since launching service in 2015. i think this is worth saying again. the fact that we have latino artists taking this award, that speaks volumes. he is not ashamed of where he comes from. he speaks spanish. >> a second ago, you were asking our favorite song. what's yours? >> i have too many. that one that was playing is a very popular one. i've got too many. do you have one? >> i'll think about it. >>> while thinking, we are going to break. ski season started even earlier in the sierra. the resorts about to >>> welcome back. this man is accused of attacking p