live in morgan hill, kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >>> thank you.san francisco volunteers are working their 11th annual christmas eve toy drive. firefighters, police, and lefty's all team up to collect toys for san francisco's neediest children and organizers say there are 2500 kids whose only christmas presents will likely be donated toys. they hope to beat last year's numbers when they collected some 10,000 presents. >> now is the time. tomorrow is the day. make happy kids all over the world. >> 333 gary street. pull up in front and we'll have santa's helper. even santa might come out and help. >> oh, yeah. i'll be there. come on down. >> how do you say no to that guy? volunteers will be collecting until 2:00 in the morning christmas day. elves are out on the sidewalk on geary street to collect your donations. if you're unable to make it to union square yourself you can call luxor cab and a taxi will come to you to collect donations. more legal troubles tonight for a bay area steel company. pacific steel and casting is the subject of a just filed

kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >> thank you kimberly. >>> unhappy with the payroll extension passed yesterday, house republicans are threatening to kill the deal. they want a long-term fix but senators have already gone home for the holidays and unless a compromise is made, millions of americans could still yet see smaller paychecks beginning the first of the year. nbc bay area's brian mooar has the story. >> reporter: the senate ended its business for the year on a bipartisan note. voting to extend the payroll tax cut for two months. >> the ayes are 89. the nays are 10. >> reporter: it was just a temporary fix, but it ensured that 160 million americans wouldn't be seeing a sudden tax increase on january 1st. >> have a happy holiday everyone. >> reporter: but now house republicans are saying, not so fast. >> two months of just kicking the can down the road. the american people are tired of that. frankly, i'm tired of it. >> reporter: the senate's bill extends long-term unemployment insurance, which democrats wanted and gives the president two months to make a decision on the canada

in antioch, kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >>> we still have more ahead. coming up, a $10,000 bet is the headline of last night's gop find and whoe m it and who turned it down. >>> and a strong earthquake rocks mexico. reathe. [ male announcer ] a fast, non-drowsy antihistamine plus a powerful decongestant. [ woman ] after allegra-d, i have it all. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. you could get two things for $4 and one for $2. or five things for $2. or one for $6 and two fo$2. [ male announcer ] with denny's 2-4-6-8 value menu, we're open to all new ways to save you money. [ imitates explosion ] [ male announcer ] denny's. >>> good morning to you. looking live at 880 rolling on through oakland. a warmer start

kimberly tere, bay area news. >>> thank you the a's effort to build a stadium has hit another roadblo roadblock. the city failed to perform a proper environmental review of the land committed to the team. they violated citizens rights by not putting the land deal to a vote. they must still wait for approval to move from oakland by baseball commission bud selig. >>> this was a deadly start on the cal train tracks. the southbound train hit and killed man in palo alto. an hour later, a southbound train kill add person on the tracks near the menlo park station. investigations is underway into both accidents. there's been 16 fatalities this year. >>> hundreds of people gathered to remember a 19-year-old college basketball player who died two weeks ago. the public funeral was held at the gym of gavilin community college in gilroy. his teammates and friends shared what they will miss most about him. >> everything about him. how he could just light up a room all the time. he was the most positive and welcoming person i've ever ne known. >> he was driving home after leaving a san francisco hom

live in mountain view tonight, kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >>> the news isn't much better when it comes to housing. experts say the slump will likely last to 2012 and beyond. the standard & poor's index shows prices dropped in the 19 of 20 cityies tracked. and even the low morg rates haven't helped lift and many are delayed because of a year-long investigation into morg lending practices. the bay area has seen a drop between 2010 and 2011, of 4.5%. nationally, prices are much worse, down 32% from the high in 2006. >>> not one but two hit-and-run drivers are on the loose after hitting and killing a 56-year-old homeless man in fremont. it happened monday night just south of highway 84. police say the man was crossing the busy street when he was hit by a mid-size suv. then the second car behind the suv also ran over the man and also kept going. anyone with information is urged to call the police department. >>> any found speeding on vasco road, between 580 and livermore and walmart drive in brentwood will be a double fine zone after several major accidents along the heavily travel

live in oakland, kimberly tere, bay area news. >>> they blocked protesters in a raid at 4:00 this morning. policemen moved in and arrested protesters for illegal lodging. they say they've been warned over a 24-hour period that they would be arrested in they didn't leave the area. >> you may have won the battle this time, whoever is sending out the attacks, police force, the mayor. it's like we won't quit. there is no reason to quit. >> police say no one was injured during the raid. today's arrests come after at least 85 people were arrested early wednesday when police cleared a second occupy encampment in nearby justin herman plaza. >>> also in san francisco, many people who live in noe valley are on edge tonight after two rapes. police say they believe one man is responsible for both, and they want to catch him before he finds another victim. nbc bay area's elise kirschner joins us. elise? >> this is a very busy street. the woman was dragged down fair oaks behind me, and that's where she was brutally raped. >> this is where i guess some of the blood spilled from the victim. >> it happene

live in san jose, kimberly tere, nbc bay area news. >> thank you very much, kim. >>> this past thursdayhe war in iraq officially ended. in the nine years since it began nearly 4500 lives were lost and $800 billion spent. now the last of the troops are heading home just in time for the holidays. just what that looks and feels like, from nbc's richard engel. >> reporter: a last roll call before going home. the u.s. military command closed last week in baghdad but troops are still leaving iraq, crossing the border, coming here to kuwait. >> real nice to finally be able to leave the country and hopefully not have to come back. >> reporter: kuwait is the official out processing center where the war began nine years ago is where it is ending. kuwait's lot 58 is now being described as the world's biggest parking lot. it's packed with $8 billion worth of vehicles. >> it's coming all here. it's getting put on the property book and making sure we can account for all equipment. >> reporter: but not quite everything is going back. the military estimates about $220 billion worth of equipment is stay

kimberly tere, bay area news. >>> thank you very much. serious worker violations the state investigators have cited the fire didn't for safety violations in the death of two of their own firefighters. investigators say firefighters lost track of lieutenant vincent perez after he entered a burning home. investigators issued a report saying the firefighters failed to respond quickly to the radio call for help and failed to have the number of required firefighters on standby outside of the home in order to assist. investigators are recommending the fire department pay a fine of $21,000. >>> a man survived a burning building. this is map showing and a view from above of the fire. crews tell us the man is injured, but not seriously after jumping out of the second story window. they say today's strong wind made it difficult to contain the flames. >> we did encounter some problems with the wind. the wind drove the fire through the roof pretty good upon our arrival. we were able to contain it. >> reporte >> firefighters say it's too early to tell