it has traveled to nearly 4,500 miles from california. nine days ago it arrived here in our dedicated grounds crew went to work decorating it. they did a fantastic job. let's give them a round of applause. [applause] our ground superintendent who have the task of fixing -- picking mystery out of the many beautiful trees available for him in the forest. next, it is my honor to introduce diane feinstein. she has been serving the people of california since 1992. i have had the pleasure of working with her in 2009 as she served up a chair of the joint congressional committee. [applause] >> thank you. john boehner, members of congress, ladies and gentlemen, it is great to be here to see this tree. i would call it slim and narrow. however, i must tell you that when it was harvested it was 118 years old and 108 feet tall. it is now 65 feet tall and weighs, believe it or not, at 8,300 pounds. it has come across the united states through a number of communities and it comes from the great national forest. this is a 900,000 acre, in northern califo

the-- stanilaus national forest in california. it is about 20 minutes. >> good evening and welcome to the christmas tree lighting ceremony. i am the architect of the capital and i am honored to be your master of ceremonies as we carry out this wonderful tradition which began right here in 1964. i asked you remain in your seats until the conclusion of the ceremony. each year, i look forward to this event to kickoff a holiday season on capitol hill. nothing says christmas more than the playing of festive holiday karos. i would like to expand and thank you to the army band under the direction of caption richards for being here and helping us create such a festive mood on a rainy evening. [applause] >> behind me stands the united states capitol christmas tree. a wonderful, 65 foot sierra from the national forest in the great state of california. [applause] in keeping with tradition, the speaker of the house, john boehner, will extend his greetings to you and officially like this tree in just a few moments. before we get to that moment

the people of california are ready to end the death penalty. a couple of weeks ago we were able to do a poll on the question of the governor converting all of these 713 death sentences to life without possibility of parole, and a change would save the city california $1 billion in five years. 63% of the voters support this idea across the entire state. every region of the state had a majority of support. a majority of republicans and democratic voters support this idea. 63%, ready for the governor to take everyone off of death row. this is an important change from where we used to be on this issue, because for a very long time, politicians have been afraid to talk about reasons for ending the death penalty and this has been seen -- been seen as an issue that would run political careers, as the former district attorney has shown, the death penalty is no longer of liability and the voters are ready for candidates who will say that we need smart criminal- justice policy, to keep the community safe and that will hold the offenders accountable, and

this is lettuce grown in california, blue cheese produced in point reyes california, and local california walnuts, and there you have it, our butter lettuce salad. point reyes blue cheese, sliced apples, and candied california walnuts. >> that salad looked great, and if you liked the recipe, you can visit our web site at californiacountry.org, and stay tuned for more "california country" coming up next. >> at his placer county ranch, john schwartzler remembers every one of his 19 cream draft horses by name and can tell each of these magnificent animals apart. >> this is bucky. he's the youngster. >> the cream draft horses seem almost regal. although they were historically used for farming and hauling freight, john believes they can be traced back to the royal hanoverian horses used by the britisroyal family. but there's no fancy castle or palace for these horses. home is 60 acres of open pasture at greenwood ranch just a few miles away from auburn. royal blood or not, 22-year-old ben made sure we knew that he was a media star, and he kept interrupting our interview to make sure we gohis g

for a couple of weeks, it will perhaps agree on carving up california -- out california. president goh: i don't know, but it's an idea. >> and the appellants that are only concerned about those locations would be free to withdraw their appeals. commissioner fung: commissioners, we have a process and we have an appeal. a one issue that i was trying to give -- and to get at, all of the forms are submitted. it is not fair to provide an indication of where the board is going to go with this. >> if, in fact, i am pressured to make a decision -- being withdrawn by these folks and it is not being withdrawn, -- are they going to withdraw 101? >> we won't know until we had a hearing. where my existing business is today, versus a future. >> of the settlement was offered and is -- i will agree to the withdrawal because i can't risk my current business. i feel pressured to do it. >> shall we give them five minutes? why don't we take a break for 5 minutes and let them -- we're going to adjourn for five minutes. [

tonight, we honor the philippine nurses association of northern california. [applause] >> in our human moments of weakness, vulnerability, and need, the care provided by our filipino nurses remains unparalleled. for 50 years, the philippine nurses association of northern california has served our nurses through professional development, education, information, and providing a support system that has given them strength and visibility. in its golden years, the philippine nurses association of northern california posted the philippine nurses association of america, bringing in hundreds of philippine nurses from all over the united states into san francisco, treasuring the legacy of our health care's industry was the finest philippine nurses. the san francisco bay area philippine american community salutes this milestone, a legacy of nurturing and a passion for life. >> representing the philippine nurses association of northern california are board members of the philippine nurses association of northern california. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. >> much of

[captioning made possible by california farm bureau federation] >> so we all know that california is king when it comes to growing citrus. and when it comes to growing lemons, no one is bigger than this ventura county farm. and with over 7,000 acres of lush lemon trees, limoneira isn't just the biggest lemon grower in california, but in all of north america. based in santa paula, the farm is a testament to what hard work and determination can do. founding fathers nathan blanchard and wallace hardison first bought the land way back in 1893 and named the ranch limoneira, which means "lemon lands" in portuguese. >> and at the time, they wanted to bring about the first full-scale commercial operation citrus ranch in the u.s. and from there, we added, throughout the years, over the last 115-16 years, 3 other families have come into the fold, and that's where we've grown today to be our 7,000 acres that we are in california. >> once called the home of the lemon, it actually took 15 years before those first farmers even turned a profit at the limoneira farm. but they persevered, and as they

i want to thank everyone from california. i want to thank everyone from the forest service that is a part of this every year. it is a great honor to be a part of it. thank you for letting us be a part of your christmas. [applause] >> thank you so much. just nine days ago, this tree arrived here and our crew went to work decorating it. did they not do a great job? our grounds superintendent had the tough task of picking mystery out of the many beautiful trees available to him in the stanislaus national forest. it is my honor to introduce senator dianne feinstein. she has been serving the people of california since 1992. i have the honor of working closely with her in 2002 as she served as chair of the congressional committee on ceremonies. ms. feinstein. >> thank you very much. speaker boehner, members of congress, ladies and gentlemen, it is great to be here to see this tree. i would call it slim, tall, and narrow. when it was harvested, it was 118 years old and 108 feet tall. it is down 65 feet tall and it weighs 8,300 pound

. >> grupos defensores de inmigrantes con nuevas propuestas en california y otros estados para protegersus derechos. >> terminÓ dividida una familia hispana en california tras ser vÍctima de la deportaciÓn. >> autoridades federales recomiendan que todos los estados controlen el uso de telÉfonos celulares mientras se conduce un vehÍculo. >> Éste es noticiero univisiÓn ediciÓn nocturna. >> muy buenas noches, el gobierno del estado de guerrero en mÉxico presentÓ un vÍdeo de la protesta de estudiantes de ayer en el que se ve a quiÉnes podrÍan ser policías federales golpeando y sometiendo a los manifestantes. el vÍdeo ha levantado mÁs polÉmica. >> efectivamente, es un hecho por el que solicitaron una investigaciÓn completa para determinar cÓmo ocurrió la muerte de dos estudiantes. hay dudas sobre la capacidad de la policÍa para controlar a los manifestantes sin incurrir en relaciÓn violación a los derechos humanos. >> 200 estudiantes corren hacia donde pueden. buscan refugiarse atrÁs de los vehÍculos, en las viviendas cercanas. bloquearon con autobuses ambos sentidos de la autopista. segÚn e

over 5 miles of wind watches and warnings covering california and nevada. we're out of the wind warning criter criteria, we started to see things weakening a bit. still expecting the worst to be in those hills about 1,000 feet tonight. some of the top wind gusts over 90 miles per hour in mt. hamilton. los gatos oakland and livermore winds in the 40 mile per hour area. for tonight, still breezy for the valleys, gusty in the hills, with winds that could top 40 miles per hour, and more power outages are likely. we'll have more on your bay area forecast coming up in minutes. >> thank you very much. >>> four people are injured, two of them in critical condition after flames rip through a san francisco apartment complex early this morning. part of the roof chanced during the fight. fire fighters were able to put out the flames within an hour. one man jumped from the building, another had to be pulled out by firefighters. both of them are in critical condition tonight. two women who were also inside were treated for smoke inhalation. everyone who lived in the comp

i can tell you that a recent poll in california found that about 58% of california voters agree with protesters under lying reason for being out there in the streets. questions of income, inequality, and insufficient funding for government services and so on and so forth and we have a new poll out this week which shows that the middle class in california has shrunken enormously over the years. the poorer has gotten poorer. the gap between rich and poor has widened, all of which we sort of knew but the numbers are kind of striking and that provides fuel for the fire for jerry brown's tax initiative. >> in kansas they sort of em brassed the basic idea of the occupy wall street. jerry brown has said nothing about the occupy wall street movement. is there any evidence when you look at the plan, is there evidence about what was in there and what wasn't in there to suggest that it really did have an impact on him? >> like i said, i think this was his plan all along. and whether he's embracing occupy or not, if his rhetoric is the same, it's kind of hard to tell the difference between, you

california. we'll get the state's financial forecast. depending on the results, governor jerry brown may pull the trigger on more budget cuts. he will announce his team's forecast for the fiscal year on thursday. if revenues fall from $1 to $2 billion short to an estimated $4 billion in revenue, the governor will make the first tier cuts, $600,000 from universities, social services and safety programs. $1.9 billion in cut backs for kindergarten through 12th grade if they fall back even more. >>> a loud bang and a pop yesterday afternoon. then they saw a ferris wheel carriage swaying back and forth. a box attached to the arm of the ferris wheel broke loose, impact breaking a piece of fiber glass off that carriage roof and sent the carriage rocking side to side. nobody, fortunately, was hurt. new safety measures are being take taken to make sure this does not happen again. >>> members of the u.s. military and homeless veterans are among hundreds of victims of a grand theft scam at lucky supermarket

cu ---esta semana, ser crucial para el estado de california... gobernador jerry brown, publicara los resultados de un analisis realizado por su equipo de colaboradores en el que hacen sus predicciones sobre el futuro de la economia del estado. ---si california no logra recaudar por lo menos 2 mil millones de dolares adicionales de 4 mil millones, el gobernador, implementar la primera ronda de recortes presupuestales. ---esto incluira una reduccion de 600 millones de dolares a las universidades, servicios sociales y programas de seguridad publica. ---si se recaudan menos de 2 mil millones, habria recortes escolares desde kinder hasta la preparatoria. cu ---el servicio de recaudacion de impuestos quiere devolver dinero, que no ha sido reclamado. take vo ---la entidad federal esta tratando de enviar mas de 150 millones de dolares de reembolsos fiscales que no fueron originalmente entregados por errores en los domicilios de los beneficiarios. ---se calcula que este aÑo, cerca de 100 mil contribuyentes no han recibido sus reembolsos y en california po

the people who bought it, moved from california. >> we'll stay here in texas and we visit california a bit. >> reporter: bill moved his family and computer consulting business from california to austin they traded in a one bedroom apartment for this four bedroom home. >> if we would have stayed in california, in order for us to make it in an area where we would want to live, we would need to be a two income family. >> reporter: but with the lower cost-of-living and no personal income tax in texas, bill's wife jessica now stays home with their daughter gwen. >> we go to gym, we go to swimming lessons. we do it all. and if we lived in california, i couldn't do that. >> reporter: yet they do miss that california weather and the ocean. >> my very first surfboard, i can't get rid of it. >> reporter: but for now they'll trade blue waters for greener pastures. ben tracy, cbs news, austin, texas. >> mitchell: facing bankruptcy, the u.s. postal service will announce major cuts tomorrow. the agency plans to close half of its 500 mail processing centers next spring. a move that will slow first

together, we can end the death penalty in california. [applause] >> thank you for having me here today. i would like to close by saying i have had the opportunity to view this issue from every point of view, having been the warden at san quentin state prison. i am absolutely impassioned about the fact that it is time to end the death penalty in this state. life without possibility of parole is the real sentence. hold people accountable and gives them the opportunity to change within the prison system, and they can give back by working within the prison system, giving restitution to family members and working on behalf of the state of california on a variety of projects that go on inside prisons. i also want to echo what the process said -- please join, please help -- i also want to echo what natasha said. talk to 10 of your friends, send e-mails, send letters. thank you. [applause] >> 1985, when i was sentenced to death for a crime i did not commit, i thought right away that this would be rectified. i was convicted of two different crime

cu --por otra parte, la universidad de california en san francisco ....alado cinturones de seguridad en todos sus autobuses internos de traslado, aunque estos no son requeridos para este tipo de transporte. --en el pasado mes de julio, uno de sus profesores de la facultad de siquiatra, falleci en un accidente de uno de estos autobuses que entonces no tenian los cinturones. --tambien se hicieron cambios en los itinerarios de los choferes para darles mas tiempo en sus rutas. cu ---con la celebracion de las fiestas decembrinas, tambien aumenta el numero de accidentes causados por conductores brios. take vo ---es por eso, que hoy la patrulla de caminos informo, que realizaran operativos especiales para detectar y detener a las personas que conduzcan despues de haber ingerido alcohol o estupefacientes. ---cifras recientes del gobierno federal, muestran que california es el segundo estado con mas muertes en accidentes automovilisticos, ya que el aÑo pasado mas de 2 mil 700 personas, murieron en ls carreteras del estado. vo --la agencia de seguridad nacional del

it's like the hotel california.e you check in, you can never check out. >> as to what happened to the old headquarters in palo alto, the lease was up in one of the buildings, but the company hopes to hold on to the other building. we hope to get a look at menlo park sometime tomorrow morning. >>> as the housing market in california continues to struggle, there are many vacant homes available to rent at bargain basement prices. now, some surprising new tenants are moving in. nbc's george lewis reports from merced. >> reporter: university of california merced political science major gerald brandon concedes he and his roommates are living the good life. >> it probably would be a pretty good party house. >> probably? >> it probably would be. >> reporter: merced, california is in the milgd ddle of a depre market, where home prices have collapsed and rents are low, even for well-appointed houses. >> this home shared by brandon and his roommates boasts six bedrooms. each of the roommates pays about $600 a month for rent. c

together, we can end the death penalty in california. [applause] >> thank you for having me here today. i would like to close by saying i have had the opportunity to view this issue from every point of view, having been the warden at san quentin state prison. i am absolutely impassioned about the fact that it is time to end the death penalty in this state. life without possibility of parole is the real sentence. hold people accountable and gives them the opportunity to change within the prison

in california, half of the people who commit murder are not caught. we need to catch the people committing murder. this is what she means when punishment must be firm, if people get away with murder, they learn that they can and the community learns that they can. this is really the fundamental problem. we can do much better job if we were actually to replace the death penalty to life without parole and invest the money saved in solving homicides. every victim's family should have some justice. >> i wanted to ask you to perhaps tell the audience about the controversy related to the death qualified jury. many people did not realize that when we select a jury for the death penalty case, this is comprised of different members of the city. >> people look to california as we continue to send a lot of people to death row every year, with the highest number of new death sentences. people look at the state and they see how many people in california are moving away from the death penalty, who favor replacing the death penalty and how can you have so many peopl

the california dream act was signed by the governor. what about wonderful? [applause] in my previous life, and you know this as a fact, i used to be a civil rights attorney before i started working in government, and it means so much, especially now since carlos and i are from is burt -- immigrant families, and now we have to be leaders of immigrant families to seek good legislation and promises that really start filling the challenges of our youth. not to be able to fill the stream all over the country is the incredible challenge we have before us. we made a great statement in the state of california. i want to make sure we build on that. that is why i came here today. i rushed to make sure i congratulate all of you to be part of alas, which means wings. people will take off because of what you do with us. i want to make sure you enjoy yourself while you are here because we brought the sun for you as well. i know you are all here to join government leaders at all different levels to really get going on innovative ideas, best practices, because guess what, b

and welcome to "this week in northern california."oining me for our year in review are paul rogers, reporter with the "san jose mercury news" and managing editor of kqed's "quest" series. john meyers, kqed sacramento bureau chief. tom vacar, consumer editor. and carla, senior political writer for the "san francisco chronicle." carla, as we face the new year, we look back and we see the rise of the occupy movement becoming a real force while our congress continues to battle it out. so where have we been and where are we going? >> well, i mean, you are absolutely right, belva. you know, this wasn't just a -- 2011 was the year for discontent. maybe capping off the decade of our discontent. it's no mistake that "time" magazine talked about this protester as the person of the year when you talk about the latest polls showing 75% of americans saying they want to put this year in the rear-view mirror as quickly as possible. a lot of big themes drove politics on a national scale. and, obviously, the economy. we're going to talk about the econ

the university of california system will now lose another $100 million. state republicans won't budge on raising taxes, so governor brown wants californians to vote next november on whether to raise taxes for people making more than $250,000. >> you either cut or you tax. there's no third way. there's no alternative. >> reporter: and governor brown warned of even more dramatic cuts come january because california is still facing a $13 billion long-term

i want to thank everyone from california. i want to thank everyone from the forest service who is part of this effort every year. it's a great honor for us to be part of the. thank you so much for letting us to be part of your christmas year. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much, tom. well, history has been on a tremendous journey. in fact, it's traveled nearly 4500 miles across the country from california, and just nine days ago it arrived here in our dedicated capitol grounds crew went to work decorating it, and didn't they do a fantastic job? let's give them a round of applause. [applause] ted bechtel, our ground superintendent who has a tough task of taking this a tree out of the many beautiful trees that were unavailable for him in the national forest. next, ladies and gentlemen, it's my honor to introduce senator dianne feinstein. senator feinstein has been serving the people of california since 1992, and i've had the pleasure of working closely with her in 2009 as she served as chair of the joint congressional co

debra keene is with california cavor company.th of a growing number of caviar purveyors trying to provide an environmental source of fish eggs. only source from sturgeon can be called cavor. illegal poaching created a huge black market for the delicacy. >> all of the imported wild caviar is banned in the united states. >> keene was part of a movement that started to bring domestic caviar back. she turned to farm raise ad fish. >> when i started in the industry there was six farms around the world producing caviar and only a couple processing caviar and growing the sturgeon. now, there is about 20. >> most of the u.s. production happens in california's central valley. the region produces an estimated 85% of all of the white sturgeon caviar in the country. >> white sturgeon is native to the california coast. >> reporter: it farm is owned by san francisco based zar nick coli caviar. the fish are raised in huge tanks and carefully monitored by biologists. >> we raise them until they are 6 to 8 years old. >> in the wild they can weigh

so highs today mostly in the 50s across northern california.loser to home we are going to warm up slightly. you can see a couple 60s out there, mainly in the south bay. 61 in san jose. 62 out in mountain view. and again, we do have a chance of rain for all of the bay area. it looks like about a 20 to 30% chance but those percentage chances bump up quite a bit north of the golden gate. your five-day forecast, rain for today and then we're looking dry for the new year's eve and new year's day holiday. dry this weekend and it looks dry for the next several days with pretty seasonable temperatures even slightly above average by the middle of next week. we'll have more weather coming up. in the meantime, let's update traffic. here's gianna with more. >>> with the rain comes slick surfaces so use caution. also dealing with some foggy conditions this morning for three bay bridges or three bay area bridges, rather. the bay bridge, san mateo bridge and the dumbarton bridge. now here's a live look at the bay bridge. the shot now is facing up the incline

one of the lowest levels since california -- california resainted the death penalty in 1978.rosecutors may be -- seek more life sentences in light of the long appeals process surrounding death penalty convictions and the six year moratorium imposed on executions. >>> final dash in iowa. tuesday night voters will make their choices in the iowa caucuses will they stay with front-runners mitt romney, ron paul or surprise the nation and choose another candidate? tahmon bradley as the latest. >> i'm running for president. if you get a chance to caucus, remember the name mitt romney. >> reporter: romney is benefiting from the remarkable collapse of the gingrich campaign. according to a new poll, romney tops the republican field in the hawkeye state with 25%. ron paul comes in second with 22%. rick santorum has surged to third place with 16%. now in fourth place, newt gingrich, who just three weeks ago topped the feel. >> -- >> reporter: gingrich and nominee dealing with a threat from the right. first santorum, who has been winning over conservatives, spending more time in iowa. >>

for a couple of weeks, it will perhaps agree on carving up california -- out california. president goh: i don't know, but it's an idea. >> and the appellants that are only concerned about those locations would be free to withdraw their appeals. commissioner fung: commissioners, we have a process and we have an appeal. a one issue that i was trying to give -- and to get at, all of the forms are submitted. it is not fair to provide an in