. >> i'm eric thomas.

abc 7 news also with eric thomas hosting that.e you'll join him for that. >> in other news today alameda county authorities are investigating a suspicious package in castro valley. that was found near the quality auto parts store at somerset at the 2800 block of castro boulevard. authorities closed down the streets and evacuated several buildings. we're trying to get more information and will bring it to you as soon as we get it. >> in oakland police are investigating the death of a four-month-old baby as a homicide. authorities say the baby had been suffocated early yesterday morning and then revived with chp at a home on 6th avenue. the infant later died after being taken to a children's hospital for treatment. police aren't saying if anyone has been arrested in connection with the child's death. >> the man charged with sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl is back in court this morning. eugene ramos is expected to enter a plea in alameda county superior court for charges last week in a union city dollar store. ramos assaulted

abc 7 news also with eric thomas hosting that.e you'll join him for that. >> in other news toy alameda county authorities are investigating a suspicus package in castrvalley. that was found near the quality auto parts store at somerset at the 2800 block of castro boulevard. authorities closed down the streets and evacuated several buildings. we're trng to get more information and will bring it to you as soon as we get it. >> in oakland police a investigating the death of a four-mon-old baby as a homicide. authorities say the baby had been suffocated early yesterday morning and then revived with chp at a home on 6th avenue. the infant later died after being taken to a children's hospital for trtment. police aren't sayi if anyone has been arrested in connection with the child's death. >> t man charged with sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl is back in court this morning. eugene ramos is expected to enter a plea in alameda county superior court for charges last week in a union city doar store. ramos assaulted the toddler after s

i'm eric thomas.e begin in oakland where a fire devours an apartment building on 82nd avenue. there are injuries. some of them are severe. terry mcsweeney is live at the scene with details. terry? >> yeah, three people are in what fire officials are calling critical condition and two others injured after they jumped out the second floor before trying find safety out here. pictures from the scene, again three people in very critical condition. according to firefighters this began 2:00 this morning, and by the time they arrived here, the apartment building, the front of it was fully involved. people in the upstairs in back jumped to safety but they have leg injuries. but three people in a front unit upstairs were trapped by the fire. firefighters got in, searched, found them. we are told that it was a man, a woman, and a little girl. all were taken to a hospital and those are the three in very critical condition. there was also in the building a single mother of four in that house. they had arrived just

i'm eric thomas in for eric thomas.e careful if you're shopping for a car through an ad on craigslist or other sites, oakland police are carrying out an investigation of cars that went to get cars in person. terry, has anyone been hurt in these robberys? >> there have been two beatings out of the six robberies and the most severe took place just this past sunday, people looking for a good deal and all they're getting is ripped off. take a look where this began. it's on craigslist where a lot of people go for all kinds of items but when they look for a deal on a high-end car, they bring their cash to buy that car but there's no car, just thugs who take the money and beat the would-be buyer and they have done that beating twice. the crimes all happening in oakland. people from sacramento, stockton, all losing their money. police have advice for people thinking about buying the deal of a lifetime, getting on a good used car deal don't meet the seller in a secluded area. don't carry large amounts of cash. if someone or some

i'm eric thomas. kristen is off today. >> supervisors could take a key step tomorrow in deciding whether to charge a toll to drive in from the peninsula. san mateo county is saying two can play that game. terry mcsweeney is live near the border and the drivers would be caught in the middle? >> more than a thousand dollars a year in some cases, imagine paying three dollars every time you go from san mateo county into san francisco and then three dollars every time you come out. on top of that, $6 to come in and come out, it could be a reality a few years down the road. checking our media partner, an article about the board of supervisors acting as the transportation authority on whether to study the toll plan. if it's approved by the city and state leaders, it could be in place by 2015. not tomorrow but it would require drivers three dollars from entering or exiting san francisco from the south, via highways or major streets. that is $80 million a year for san francisco. bad news is that $1500 per year

. >> december 24th, 6:00, i'm jenelle wang in for eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. thanks for joining us. for the first time hearing from the construction company whose equipment allegedly clogged sewer pipes causing two spills in marin county. also learning one of the spills is a lot worse than anyone imagined. terry mcsweeney is live in greenbray with the latest. terry? >> how about 2 million gallons of raw sewage spilled out here on wednesday morning. we have seen crews coming out of the construction area behind me trying to get the job done before that storm moves in on christmas day. take a look at the work they're doing out here. they've been trying to deal with it since the break of that pipe on wednesday morning. this is the second spill we're talking about here. more than 2 million gallons of raw sewage in the creek and the marshlands here near marin catholic high school. caused by a break in the pipe made out of material popular in the '70s. now everyone nationwide is finding out it doesn't last. it's being replaced as it is here. the first sewage overflow

. >> i'm eric thomas. chris is off today.dding insult to injury for thousands of drivers who trieded to avoid a police standoff and a huge backup on the bay bridge last month. they'll be getting a ticket for taking one particular detour. terry mcsweeney is live at the toll plaza. terry, those folks a little angry about this. >> yeah. ard could go to the san francisco examiner, drivers are getting an unwanted souvenir, a $36 fine. that is because that morning the chp was turning drivers around here at the toll plaza and fast tract which collect tron nickly includes all vehicles recorded them as toll cheats and sent out a ticket. craig carlos valentino of antioch parked his vehicle on the up her deck about 7:00 in the morning and threatened to blow up the bridge. he had his daughter with him. he is charged with felony kidnapping, child endangerment and making a false bomb threat. nobody was injured. he is in court next week. the examiner article says it's an undetermined number of tickets that went out that morning. the metropo

. >> i'm eric thomas. an oakland man is hospitalized in critical condition with severe burns from an explosion and fire at his home last night. fire investigators want to know exactly what caused it. terry mcsweeney is live near the scene. any clues? >> an entire duplex worth of clues or what remains of a duplex worth of clues. what is left of this house after that explosion and only the first part of this investigation into what brought this duplex down has taken place. take a look of pictures at this building. you get an idea how devastating this was. a gas explosion 8:00. the building's owner, leon spencer, had been renovating the house, working on it. but some say they were smelling gas out here three days ago. whatever caused the blast, it was a big, loud explosion. >> i felt the rumble first and then i seen like the explosion. you could see it and feel the heat from inside the house. >> when crews arrived on scene the fire was actually out. so we did have a partial collapse of the building. the secon

some businesses are bringing on extra workers for the holidays bus as abc 7's eric thomas reports they are hoping that things will pick up. >> if the number of seasonal hires packed into the basement offense is any indication the paper business must be booming this holiday season. >> we hired over 100 seasonal 18 customeriates and 178 service representatives. >> the san francisco headquarters of the online san francisco studio minted. they help turn designs into holiday cards, invitations and the like. the pay is $15 to $17 an hour. it has been like a gift from heaven if you have been out of work for a year and a half like this woman. >> now, i'm in this new world as everything works. >> this man came on out of college and worked into a staff job. that is not the way it worked for many of his college classmates. >> a bunch of his friends didn't have jobs. i was lucky to find this place. >> we are in a unique position to offer the seasonal design associates not only the ability to earn a very fair hourly wage but also to contribute to our organization through submitting their original p

i'm kristen sze. >> i'm eric thomas.he bay area's biggest city today could soon become the biggest city in california to ban disposable plastic bags. the ordinance involved here contains other controversial provisions. terry mcsweeney is live in san jose with more on the story. and, terry, there's some legal questions here? >> oh, there's some big legal questions. san jose on the verge of banning plastic bags and putting a fee on paper bags. they know that lawsuits are coming. it hopes it is ready. this ban on plastic bags will go into effect in january of 2012. no more plastic bags at retail stores, though it could be used for takeout at restaurants. also there would be a mandatory fee for paper bags, 10 cents per bag that first year and 25 cents per bag after that. opponents say, hey, number one the bags that are being handed out are recyclable. and it says right on the bags please reuse these bags. only 13% of these bags are recycled. opponents of the measure say that's not their fault. there are programs available to

i'm kristen sze. >> i'm jenelle wang in for eric thomas.ain's been falling all night across the bay area. that means you can expect ponding on the roadways. this is the entrance to the bay bridge and slick streets as you head out this morning. >> as rain falls here, the sierra is getting more snow. look at this gorgeous picture, right? the highest regions have seen more than 10 feet of new powder in the last week. you can believe it looking at this picture. right now chains are required on interstate 80 and we're told 88 is closed down now. we'll talk to megan and get more in a bit. >> our issues are nothing compared to southern california where heavy rains and fears of landslides are forced hundreds of evacuations near los angeles. >> things are getting kind of quiet around the bay area as we're dealing with just one lone shower as you saw how much worse it could be in southern california. marin county, you can see san rafael and some of the hills around there. that is our best radar return as things are starting to quiet down with the col

thanks for joining us. >> similar jenelle wang in for eric thomas.verflowing sewage in marin county is turning out to be a lot worse than first estimated. now the rush is on this morning to clean it up before the next round of storms move in. terry mcsweeney is live in greenbray with the cleanup and the investigation what caused this mess. terry? >> merry christmas eve to you. keep in mind it's not that merry a christmas eve to sanitation workers trying very hard to get this pipe fixed out here before the next rainfall because if they don't have it fixed by that next rainfall and the rain comes down hard, there could be a third sewage spill in the very same area out here in marin county. take a look at the workers trying to get things right. this is video from yesterday. they're trying to replace a pipe that gave way wednesday morning pouring perhaps 2 million gallons of sewage into the creek and the marshlands at marin county high school. crews were looking to replace that pipe when it gave way. a much larger controversy is the spill last friday of

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm theresa garcia.e go with a sickening story of a man accused of sexually assaulting a two-year-old girl this week inside of a dollar tree store in union city. the suspect makes his first court appearance this morning. terry mcsweeney joins us live from the fremont hall of justice with more. terry? >> 36-year-old eugene ramos has been down this road before. back in 2003 he was convicted of sexually assaulting a seven-year-old girl in hayward and now the age of his new victim is two years of age. take a look where the incident happened on wednesday. the dollar tree store on dakota road in union city. what has police upset it happened at 1:00 in the afternoon, broad daylight right in the aisle of the store. the grandmother of the girl tells police she was separated from her granddaughter maybe a minute, maybe not even that long. she found ramos on top of the girl. his pants were down and her pants and diaper were off. the grandmother screamed, ramos ran but he didn't get far. >> i looked at the baby and

i'm eric thomas. topping the news, parents may be a little jittery as they bring their kids to a san leandro elementary school. a man tried to lure a young girl into his car at the school. jenelle wang is live in delray elementary in san lorenzo with more. >> the school district notified parents of this incident by automated phone call last night. right now the alameda county sheriff's department has not released a suspect or vehicle description yet. authorities say a man tried to lure a young girl into his car around 2:45 yesterday afternoon just outsidel ray elementary school. the girl told school officials the man drove up to her and told her to get in. she fortunately did not and immediately went and told school officials. this is one of several frightening incidents involving young children in the east bay this month. last friday nearby san leandro police arrested a 28-year-old man for attacking an eight-year-old girl shopping with her family inside a wal-mart store. as you may remember earlier t

. >> i'm eric thomas. these chilly mornings air quality officials are urging us to stay away from the fireplaces and wood stoves. it's a spare the air day, the first of the winter and those with breathing problems need to take precautions. terry mcsweeney is live in san francisco to fill us in. terry? >> yeah. if you look out here from twin peaks, you are tell this is not a crystal clear day and when it's this cold, you take a look out here you can see it's not real super clear. i hope you can see from that picture. those downtown lights should be far clearer than they are. doctors are saying they're seeing more patients because of the bad air and most of the bad air is from wood burning or from burning wood. at first look you might say what is the harm in a backyard fire or maybe get the fireplace going. it's a seasonal thing, it's a wonderful part of the season but there are almost 1.5 million fireplaces where wood stoves in the bay area and this becomes a health hazard. over the holiday 30 monitoring st

i'm in for eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze with jenelle wang. topping our list of stories, two dangerous pit bulls that ferociously attacked a woman getting in her car last night are on the loose in san jose. police are warning everyone to watch out. terry mcsweeney is live in east san jose at the scene. terry? >> yeah. two gray pitbulls attacked a woman out here on white sand drive about 6:20 last night and if not for the help of a good samaritan, this bad story could have been far worse. take a look at the pictures of the street where it happened. police are saying that a 42-year-old woman was just getting into her car about 6:30 last night when two gray pit bulls came after her and attacked. she was screaming as they bit her and ripped her up. a neighborhood heard those screams and came out. that neighbor threw rocks at the pit bulls and sent them scurrying down white sand towards aborn. the regional medical center is where the woman was taken. i was talking to san jose police this morning and they were saying that the woman was seriously inj

i'm eric thomas.s you saw kristen is off today. >> likely cleaning up to do this morning following the wet and windy storm that passed through the bay area on sunday. the quick and heavy downpours flooded interstate 880 in oakland near the broadway exit. the highway patrol responded to more than three dozen accidents that were weather-related. public work crews spent a couple hours outside the oakland museum where there was minor flooding caused by a clogged sewer. pg&e worked to restore power to a few dozen homes after several branches blew through power lines in woodside. a look at our forecast today. >> hey, jenelle. good morning to you. i found another gutter that needed to be cleaned during the weekend. i guess that was a benefit of the heavy rain. a look what we're seeing from fremont all the way through the sunol grade up to pleasanton, livermore, altamont pass one batch of rain and about palo alto, sunnyvale into the south bay deep into the santa clara valley, that's where we're seeing rain no

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm in for kristen sze. thanks for joining us.veryone in australia, this is a live picture from sidney. you can see the harbor there and the fireworks going on. it's now 2011 down under. more than a million people have lined the harbor in sidney, the first major city where the new year arrives. they are ringing in the new year with music as you can hear and tons of fireworks. one tourist from brazil says sidney has a bigger and better party than anyone else in the world. the harbor bridge. that's beautiful! other cities may be disputing that. >> even at this early hour in san francisco, city crews are putting up barricades as part of the effort to maintain order in tonight's new year's eve party. police will be out enforce to handle the hundreds of thousands expected to squeeze in for a good look at our fireworks show. terry mcsweeney is live along the embarcadero with more. terry, police have some tips for you if you come in, right? >> yeah, they do. let's keep in mind that loving, touching and squeezing is okay on new year's eve

i'm eric thomas. >> then just wet. >> we'll tell you more. i'm kristen sze.tudents of an east bay high school after a football player was stabbed to death just off campus. did it happen because he was trying to be a good samaritan. jenelle wang is live with the latest. >> kristen, police don't have a motive but friends of 17-year-old justin say he may have been targeted after intervening and breaking up a fight last week. he was stabbed to death just after school around 3:30 yesterday afternoon as he waited at this bus stop on cedar boulevard and birch street. this morning we found a small memorial there. he was a senior at newark memorial high school and a member of the football team. he was well liked and they'll be wearing black to school to honor the young man. >> he was gentle giant. like he was the sweetest person i know. i mean, he's big and all. he was huge. i was scared of him at first, also. but he was one of the sweetest persons i ever met. he was nice. like he had your back 24/7 if you ever needed him. >> the school will have grief counselors on h

eric thomas will host a live web cast on our site. >>> governor schwarzenegger is set to unveil his plan to close the $6 billion budget deficit. his spokesman says it contains some ugly cuts to state spending. the latest deficit emerged a month after the governor signed this year's budget. the called lawmakers into an emergency session in hopes of hammering out an agreement before the leaves office. jerry brown is inviting lawmakers to beat with financial officials and will be discussing a 19 bill deficit project for next year. >> in washington, senior lawmakers on both side of the aisle say they're optimistic about extending bush-era tax cuts. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> reporter: the vote preventing democrats from ending bush era tax cuts for the wealthess americans had both sides working on a compromise. >> today's vote cannot be the end of the discussion. >> what the negotiators continue working on, the length of possibly stepping all push bush era tax cuts and help for americans who have been out of work for a longtime. >> the recipe would include at least an extension of une

i am eric thomas. >> i'm jenelle wang in for kristen. the highway patrol is cleaning that area up. >> hi, jenelle, eric. we have video now from the scene. this is southbound 880 so you can see visibility is a factor as well. we're hearing actually that the three left lanes are blocked. this is it actually a shot of the bay bridge. sorry we don't have that video for you but you can find fog across the bay bridge as well. let's go to the maps and let me tell you about the accident. southbound 880 at 238, three left lanes blocked. we don't know when they're going to be reopened but this accident may have actually been two separate accidents. there was one that started and the person may have gotten out of their car. that's what we're hearing. and then that person who got out of their car, the female was then hit and then ended up lying in the roadway and then that turned out to be fatal. this is the hot spot for the morning, southbound 880 at 238. however we're hearing about a new injury crash southbound 880 at a street. just to give you an

live in san mateo, eric thomas. >>> yahoo is laying off hundreds of employees this holiday season fourth round for the sunnyvale based company. that is going to add to the sky high unemployment rate which is at 12.4%. terry? >> yahoo says 6750 people were laid off this morning, that represents approximately 4% of the company's international work force of 14,000 people, most of those layoffs and most of them in yahoo's product group. now, this is note a surprise to insiders. it's been discussed on couple of popular blogs but that speculation has a number much higher today. it was not a surprise to look at yahoo's number, revenue was up minimally. yahoo stock was down over that time. they say the buck stops at ceo that was ceo at auto desk and never a hit at yahoo. >> she came from a company that sold software engineering to engineers. yahoo is completely different. it's like apples and oranges. >> yahoo's official statement is this, they are evaluating expenses to align with the company's financial goals. beyond that we don't comment on rumors or speculation. this is no longer rumor or sp

i'm eric thomas. kristen is off.ews conference in santa clara today to discuss the firing of head coach mike singletary. the announcement came last night gist hours after the team's 25-17 loss to the st. louis rams. that loss ends any chance san francisco had at making the playoffs and the loss -- and before he had been told he was fired, the coach took the blame. >> a personal failure. if i'm the head coach of this team and obviously wanted us to do better, felt that we could do better. but there are some obvious question marks that, you know, i had hoped would be answered as the evening went on. and i'm not going to go into that right now, but obviously were not answered. and, you know, when that happens, you end up out of the playoffs. >> now, that was before the announcement was made. afterwards the coast says that -- he says one of the greatest experiences in his life was having the opportunity to coach the 49ers; that the players were what made it special. he also thanked the fans and apologized for not giving

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm jenelle wang for kristen sze.he forecast today, a little wet but not going to linger all day. >> we'll focus in on live doppler 7 hd. good morning. notice the radar returns are few and far between but it's very damp this morning. that westerly flow continues to inject moisture into the air and it can't hold it all. it's forming as fog. more radar returns offshore so we may get a sprinkle or two in the north bay over the next couple hours but the big story is the slick streets and how the visibilities are much lower than they have been. the reporting stations seem to be okay but when i came across the bay bridge it was pretty tough to see. novato 3 miles, santa rosa 1. half moon bay to half a mile. that reporting station we see the lowest visibility. it's causing problems as far as the commute. here's frances with the details. >> starting with an overturn crash in vallejo. it's going to be blocking the wilson avenue on-ramp for at least the next half hour until about 5:30. apparently five people injured, two critic

and eric thomas will host a webcast starting at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow right here at abc7news.com. >> governor schwarzenegger is calling an emergency special session of the legislature on monday to address the state's budget deficit. he says the state cannot wait until the next imor, -- governor, jerry browrntion brown. >> take office. >> i took an oath to serve until january 2011 so why stop working in december. >> alan: the state faces a possible $6 billion deficit. the governor says the bottom line is, have to make more cuts. >>> after yesterday's stalemate in the u.s. senate the future of your tax rates is still in limbo. saturday's vote, which prevented democrats from ending bush era tax cuts for the wealthiest americans, has set the political stage for the next round between own expoab the -- between obama and the republicans. >> the motion is not agreed to. >> the vote preventing democrats from ending bush era tax cuts -- >> now it's time for the games to stop and progress to be made. >> reporter: what the negotiate you'res continue worki

live in san mateo, eric thomas. >>> yahoo is laying off hundreds of employees this holiday season fourth round for the sunnyva based company. that is going to add to the sky high unemployment rate which is at 12.4%. terr >> yahoo says 6750 people were laid off this morning, that represts approximately 4% of the company's international work force of 14,000 ople, most of those layos and most of them in yahoo's product group. now, this is note a surprise to insiders. it's been discussed on couple of popular blogs but that speculation has a number much higher today. it was not a surprise to look at yahoo's number, revenue was up minimally. yahoo stock was down over that time. they say the buck stops at ceo that was ceo at auto desk and neve a hit at yahoo. >> she came from a company that sold software engineering to engineers. yahoo is completely different. it's like apples and oranges. >> yahoo's official statement is this, they are evaluating expenses to align with the company's finaial goals. beyond tha we don't comment on rumors or speculation. this is no longer rumor or specation, been

. >> i'm eric thomas. this morning democrats are doing all they can do get "don't ask, don't tell" repeeled before the end of the year. yesterday they passed a billna would end the scan on openly gay service members. >> the motion is adopted. >> and it passed handily, 250 to 175 votes. house speaker nancy pelosi celebrated after the vote. >> it is a happy day fighting for description nation and have the power to do so. >> we've been disappointed before. >> dick manning isn't going to pop the champagne yet. the vietnam veteran was discharged from the air force after a fellow airman outed him. >> i'm an 11 year veteran but i can't collect veterans benefits. i can't go to the veterans hospital. i'm disqualified. >> he'd like nothing more than to see "don't ask, don't tell" repealed but don't want to get too excited since it has to get through the senate and he realizes this will be the last chance for a while. >> what is not clear to me, amy, is what is -- what the impact of gays in the military will be on th

. >> the proceedings will be broadcast tomorrow live and eric thomas will host the web cast coverage starting at 10:00 a.m. on abc7news.com. >>> and tomorrow governor schwarzenegger is going to call an emergency session of the legislature to address the budget deficit. he says the state cannot wait until the next governor jerry brown takes office .'s -- takes office. the plan includes some ugly cuts. >> as governor it is my responsibility to take action. i took an oath to serve california and that's until january 2011 and not until december. why would i stop working until december? you cannot solve problems by waiting and let's be honest. that's not my style anyway. >> the state is facing a possible $6 billion deficit. the governor says the bottom line is they will have to cut more state programs. >>> injured hiker who spent six freezing nights with no food in the mountains will be released tomorrow. deborah collins was found yesterday by a man and his son. she was walking on an unmarked trail when she fell into a ravine and hurt her ankle. the man who found her is a neighbor. his wi

i am eric thomas. >> i'm jenelle wang in kristen sze. >> the east coast blizzard forced airlines to cancelearly 7,000 flights. thousands of passengers are still trying to get home and still may find themselves stuck in airports today. >> the snow is no longer falling but its problems continue to try to show up. this snowstorm of 2010. >> people of north carolina to maine are digging up to 3 feet of snow. south of boston the storm swells the ocean causing flooding and fire. >> new york city shows only five worse storm since keeping reports 150 years ago. >> i realized how bad it was. >> snow fell 2 to 3 inches an hour trapping more than 500 sub sway passengers. >> no, no eat no nothing. >> three airports reopened last night though it's easier to move tons of snow than passengers stranded nationwide by nearly 7,000 cancelled flights. >> i came from milwaukee to cleveland and looks like i cancelled after i came here so now waiting for a flight to chicago. >> supposed to come out here 11:00 now it's thursday. >> it could be friday before every stranded passenger is rebooked. >> almost like ver

i'm eric thomas. begin with breaking news out of san leandro where a fatal accident has three lanes closed on 880. frances, you say this is kind of a gruesome accident. >> yeah. eric, it was reported right around 3:15. they said there was a female lying in the roadway blocking a lane. right now the three left lanes are still blocked southbound 880 right near 238 approaching washington. and they say at this point there's no estimated time of reopening; however, it usually takes several hours to clear so this could be the hot spot likely for the morning towards hayward. outside real quickly, you're dealing with a lot of fog for your drive to work. fog, rain and more for mike. >> we do. frances, thank you very much. the radar returns are showing up in the north bay but santa rosa at least at the top of the hour at 4:00 said it's not raining but it is rather foggy. the radar returns are more impressive over the ocean and this is all going to move into your neighborhood as we head through the next half hou

on this monday after christmas as i'm eric thomas. kristen is off today.opping our news, the san francisco 19ers with a news conference in santa clara today to discussing firing of singleteary. the announcement just hours after said the niners are in the market for a new general manager. the g. m. will have direct input who replaces him. the rams eliminated the niners from the playoffs. >> a personal failure. i'm the head coach of this team. i wanted to do better, felt that we can do better. but there are some obvious question marks that i hope would be answered as the evening went on. and i'm not going to go into that right now but obviously were not answered. and, you know, when that happens, then you end up out of the playoffs. >> now, that was before the firing announcement. afterwards singleteary released this statement. he said one of the greatest opportunities in his life was to coach the 49ers, that the players is what made it special. he apologized to the fans for not giving them more. a powerful blizzard caused all kinds of problems throughout th

. >> eric thomas with your abc 7 update. >> good evening, everyone. >> on air, mobile device or on thead, abc 7 news has your world covered. >> the i-pad being such a popular device for bay area residents, we're really excited to offer this. >> the best thing is the abc 7 news app is free. just search the app store for abc san francisco to download it. >> next at 5 a.m. why the 49ers will be calling candlestick park home for a few more years. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in marin county where a lot of people want just one thing for christmas and that is a good solid cleanup of two raw sewage spills because if they don't get one by tomorrow, they might get another one. the story in a live report. >> all part of this as well, absolutely. >> and a new take on an old idea. new at 5:00, "7 on your side" with a twist on gift cards,

i'm eric thomas. >> good morning. i'm theresa garcia.olice are investigating a homicide in the richmond district. officers found a man shot to death inside an apartment building on 23rd avenue. this happened around 9:00 last night. several neighbors had called police to report hearing gunshots in the areas. the victim is between 20 and 30 years old and no word yet on the circumstances surrounding the shooting or information on the suspect. >> prosecutors on the peninsula are charging a bookkeeper with 'em -- for embezzlement. he gave kenneth mccall power of attorney. mccall was supposed to pay all his bills for two years but when the soldier got home he noticed charges in stores like petco and best buy totaling $30,000. >> take advantage of somebody who you place your trust in and, number two, the reason the person is absent is they're fighting for their country. that strikes me as deplorable on an extra high level. >> most of the these expenses were for the household and the kids. >> mccall's attorney says his clients was authorized to

i'm eric thomas. crews will do mopup this morning following a rain storm that came down hard and fast last night. it created a sudden buildup of water on 880 south near the broadway exit in oakland. drivers had to slow down quickly to get through the huge puddles in the middle of the freeway. there was minor flooding in front of the oakland museum. city crews had to clear a storm drain that had backed up and san mateo county branchless crashed through power lines. that stopped electricity to a few dozen homes for part of the day. mike is here with a look what to expect for today. >> live doppler 7 hd. good morning. south of 580 and the san mateo bridge, still health radar returns but still brief bouts of light to moderate rain over the next hour or so. the north bay, a radar return. that may just be the radar bouncing off some of the clouds there. but drizzle and light rain is still possible over the next couple hours. you can see over the last three hours the tapering of these showers and that will b

i'm eric thomas. kristen is off today. man will appear in court for the first time to answer charges that he sexually assaulted a two-year-old girl inside an east bay discount store. union city police say eugene ramos raped the girl after she got separated from her grandmother for less than a minute on wednesday. officers credit two men with capturing the suspected predator moments after the attack. laura anthony explains. >> it happened in the aisle of a busy store near the christmas section. the two-year-old was assaulted by a registered sex offender, an act interrupted by the toddler's grandmother. >> i have to do something. >> heard a woman scream and saw a man running toward her at the dollar tree store in union city. >> i got to the -- i was fighting, we were going around because i thought i could take him. >> thomas couldn't hold on but when the suspect ran outside he was tackled by two men. >> i looked at the baby and the lady standing there asking me to help. so i just tackled the guy and sat on him. >> he gave up

. >> i'm eric thomas. thanks for joining us. she'll get me later.t should be quite a sight this morning when caltran begins move a huge chunk of the eastern span but caltrain and the chp would rather you didn't watch. terry mcsweeney is live on treasure island. terry? >> hundreds of tons of steel are being to be lifted in place by this giant crane and caltrain and chp are saying if you could not be distracted by it that would be good for road safety. not going to be easy. what you can do is now take a look at the steel we're talking about as it's lying on a barge. take a look now. unless you have a tv in your car. hope you don't have that. it's going up this morning during the morning commute and when it's all said and done, all the steel is in place. it will be done at christmas eve. 4 million pounds of steel will be in place. we're going to have a third of four segments to create that massive bridge tower. but as early as this morning it could mean your eyes are going to be distracted. they want you to keep your eyes in front of you. >> there coul

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. looks like we just beat the rain into the station. picking up in intense thank you now. >> real rain. >> absolutely. especially the north bay first. you see pretty health radar returns through marin county. the northern two-thirds of sonoma and napa county. scattered light rains even out towards the coast. the last couple hours these have been moving more in a west to east direction but the entire line is going to slowly sink and develop across the bay so we're going to have light rain pick up in intensity for the morning commute. probably even heavier during the evening commute. note escaping it today. here's frances. >> a new crash just reported in oakland westbound 580 in grand so chp on its way but no other details on that. the bay bridge toll plaza, possibly look out for pondings later on. i had to use my wipers throughout san francisco on the drive in. we'll check out another live shot for you. san mateo bridge. light traffic and the road work between hayward and 880 he's been picked up so the connection ramps now open. >> franc

. >> i'm jenelle wang in for eric thomas. the worst of the storm is over.see sunshine on the horizon. >> here's mike nicco to talk about it. >> we will see some sunshine. your commute home much easier than this morning where we have rain heavy at times along the coast and peninsula, the coast there and san mateo county coast. that is all going to move to the northeast. you can see the heavier rain now hanging around in the east bay and down into the south bay with the north bay seeing lighter amounts and the santa cruz mountains. big picture. we show you the back end. here's the cold front. you can see is right now moving closer to the coast. it will move through here about 10:00. we'll see sum for a few days before the rain comes back this weekend. first here's megan with your commute. >> a little extra time this morning if you're taking the bay bridge into san francisco. we have ponding at the toll plaza. also a wind advisory in effect for the bay bridge. if you're taking the bay bridge out of san francisco eastbound 80, we've had two spinouts in the lowe

i'm jenelle wang in for eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. oakland police are searching for a 4th suspect after a high-speed chase that ended with the police killing one of the suspects, arresting two others and finding an .1847 in their car. the police will hold a conference later today. here's allen wong. >> police say the suspect's vehicle smashed into a fence. four young men bailed out. a pursuing patrol car in the top portion of the screen also crashed into the same fence. >> two of our officers was following one of the people inside the vehicle. that person did have a handgun, and he was shot. he was pronounced dead on the scene. >> i was told by phone calls that it was my son, and the police won't deny or confirm it. >> okay tav va edwards told us she identified her son at the coroner's office. the 19-year-old. this all started when police spotted four men in a vehicle matching a description to one connected to a shooting last week in oakland. they spotted them at sycamore and chased them down i-580 where it all ended at 33rd street an

. >> i'm eric thomas and i've always been amazed by the fact people drive faster on a bridge in the rain>> we're going to check with mike for a look how long this is going to be with us, mike. >> i didn't pass you, did i? >> i never saw you, buddy. >> once you get the after-burn, gone! just kidding. drizzle falling all night in just about all our neighborhoods and such a low level with the fog that the doppler radar tends to overshoot it so trust me it's wet just about everywhere this morning and visibilities to almost a quarter of a mile, especially when i came across the bay bridge. that's where i found the thickest fog on the peninsula and also into san francisco and the north bay valleys. over the next couple hours you can see the currents pushing more radar returns into our neighborhoods. it's going to be a wet commute and we still have scattered sprinkles in the afternoon so we can't quite shake the wet weather yet and that's probably going to cause problems with your commute. >> definitely a few problems on the roads. one in vallejo. the wilson on-ramp currently blocked with an ov

. >> i'm eric thomas and we're just at the start of things. the weather's where we start. contra costa county, the chp is investigating whether wet roads caused a big rig to crash on highway 4. >> the truck crashed into a chain link fence at laurel road about 12:30 this morning. paramedics treated the driver for what appeared to be minor injuries. it spilled motor oil. the chap wants drivers to be especially careful with the storms arriving. >> just about everybody's seeing a little remain during the overnight. probably 75% of our reporting stations are seeing it now. you can see holes in the northern part of contra costa county and also around as you're heading into the south bay. but we have light rain in the north bay along the coast and as you head deeper into the south bay towards the monterey bay. and also light snow starting to develop up in tahoe. so heading that way you're going to have a wet commute until you climb in elevation about 6,000 feet. it's call coming from the west and this is just the beginning. here's megan with your traffic. >> thanks, mike. good mo

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm kristen sze. what did i say tuesday about wednesday? rain?> yep. >> it's here. >> we had that dry spell. monday and tuesday. no rain after sunday's downpours but it's back. >> it is. here's the leading edge of it all the way down just now knocking on the south bay. this is very light. in fact san francisco the national report light rain. that's like the appetizer. the real deal is still up in the north bay and then it's going to be sliding to the south throughout the day. if you look at the last three hours you can see how it's coming straight off the ocean so these storms are scooping the moisture off the ocean and they will deposit it on our neighborhoods and this moist flow will be here all day. no getting away from it. just about all of us are going to get some rain. i'll show you the amounts, how long it will last. first traffic. >> mike, with the rain being so light we're not seeing a lot of accidents but major road work going on in san jose. the highway 87 connector ramp to southbound 280 from both northbound and southbound 87 is close

eric thomas and our legal analyst dean johnson host aid web cast this morning. >> three people who tortured a tracy teenager will spend 30 years or more in prison. michael shoe macker and the boy's legal guardian were sentenced this morning in stockton of a dozen felony charges. the teenager escaped after being beaten, starved and burned for a year, ran to a fitness club with open, bleeding wounds and a chain padlocked to his ankle. four suspects were found guilty. >> and there are new developments tonight in the murder of a psychiatric technician in napa state hospital including a revelation about her accused kill year california public health department launched an investigation into the october murder of psych tech donna gross. this unit met last week with a union representing nurses at napa state hospital. >> they've heard what is going on. security here is nonexistent. they want to hip make sure that no more fatalities occur. >> union representative mindy muse took a tour of the unit. the section housing criminally insane and most-violent patients. >> and my first walk through i was as

eric thomas will be hosting the live webcast. >> coming up next, changing the policy on gays in the miracle. retired general wesley clark weighs in on don't ask and don't tell. >>> president obama has promised to end don't ask, don't tell the policy about gays in the military. a pentagon study made public last week, it will prevent no problem but wesley clark said wants the military wants is a decision. >>> basic stand, what i got out of the testimony, if you are going to make the decision, get it over with, take us out of the middle of the game and give us six months or so to do the training so the leadership can handle this. >>> well despite a general consensus to move forward, they are loud and clear opposition from conservatives. great britain lifted the gays on the military a decade ago. as the leaders point out, all has gone well. >> they will process their own raw uranium, says iran. with the built to en rich its own uranium, they are self sufficient. their government is going to meet with world leaders on what an international attempt to freeze their work. >> two people have died an

. >>> we want to check in with eric thomas and get the details. >> a lot of people worried about what will happen after the temperatures drop and turned to ice. the beltway at connecticut avenue -- salt trucks are staged and ready to go to make sure they will be able to take care of the icy patches. not a lot of crashes so far. we are seeing a lot of improvement on the beltway. connecticut avenue. this is the focal point. the inner loop coming of of virginia from the american legion bridge, the left side of your screen, very slow. the surprising part is on the right side -- no delays coming spur.7off the 270 the pace on the outer loop is improving, if you are in the area of 29. let's take a look at 95 south and springfield. no good news here. >>> thanks, eric. it is not just people on the road to are dealing with the snow. as you venture out in the blistering called, lisa fletcher continues our live team coverage from northwest. >> the district is always crowded, but on the first snow of the season, people have visions of snowmaggedon. what happened is it got more congested and crowde

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm jenelle wang.he countdown begins 19 and a half hours from now people in the bay area will be ringing in the new year. here in san francisco hundreds of thousands of people are expected abeing lo the embarcadero to watch the fireworks show and police will be out in full force. abc 7's terry mcsweeney is along the embarcadero with more. >> police have a lot to do tonight. it's no holiday for them. of course they're watching out for people drinking and driving and the barricades out here ready to be fastened together later today in anticipation of a quarter million people for the fireworks show down here. take a look at the people who also are working on this new year's eve bringing out the barricades down here. they started about 9:00 last night. they've got a whole lot to bring out. they're going to be locking them together about 4:30 this afternoon. shortly after the fireworks end, they pack 'em up again. >> ordered about 2,000. a scale of the world series. it was 7,000 for the world series. >> 2,0

i'm eric thomas. >> i'm jenelle wang in for kristen sze. a san jose police officer has shot a person while responding to a call about a robbery at a home near the children's discovery museum. they got a 9-1-1 call on locust street late last night. and officers arrived they confronted a person and at least one officer hoped fire on that person. both the officer and the suspects suffered non-life-threatening injuries. >> other our big story, the small, let's say short but powerful storm that rolled through the bay area. >> let's check with lisa argen. >> much of the bay area has quieted down but in the wake some very gusty winds. morgan hill, highway 101 where we have showers that begin to pull on out. look at our totals, santa rosa, 1.76, mill valley over 2 inches. san francisco nearly an inch. livermore more three-quarters of an inch. san jose an half inch. a pretty impressive system. not much rain left but you didn't ask me about the rest of the year. i'll tell you about that a little later. >> good morning. allow some extra time if you're

. >> i'm eric thomas. it's just about 4:31. kristen is offtoday.opping our news, a fatal accident on highway 101 in burlingame caused for lanes to shut down this morning. >> the man may have been walking on the freeway when he was hit. chp heard reports of a person on the ground in the fast lane of highway 1 just north of broadway and happened about 1:25 this morning. a black bmw and a pickup truck was involved and one driver was injured. >> police are pleading for more information on a crash that put a high school girl in a coma. this is carolyn hanson star water polo player who was critically injured while driving to a match. amy holly feed has the story. >> the first accident 17-year-old caroline hanson got into saturday was minor. but it knocked her sideways on highway 280 and since her car was perpendicular to traffic, it sounds like she was doing what she could to get out of there are. >> she had her seat belt on. after the original collision she took her seat belt off and the then she had her seat belt on. >> she was broadsided by a lux sus