kristen ayers is live in berkeley hills tonight. kristen. >> and ken, here's what we are up against. gusty winds expected. little to no moisture in the air and brush so dry, you can actually hear it snap. these conditions could be devastating if a wild fire happened. the winds were so powerful in berkeley today that they snapped this tree. knocking it on to a house. the guts are expected to pick up again tonight. >> the fuels we have around here are depleted from moisture because of the drought. >> the drought has defecated brush. sparking something that deputy fire chief, avely web, has never seen in flee decades of fire fighting. >> first time in my career that i remember us having red flag warnings in january. >> fire season typically runs from june to november. but this year, it is still going strong in january and firefighters think it could overlap into next june. >> i have never seen that before, but this may be one of those times where it occurs. >> nosels different size. >> fire crews are carrying this around, the lightweigh

that's where kristen ayers is stationed tonight. kristen. >> reporter: yeah, and tonight if you take a look over my shoulder and look very close, you can actually still see the glow of some of those flames across the delta. the good news is, the fire is under control and no one was hurt. but firefighters are letting the heavy brush on the island burn out to try and cut down on the fire danger at a time when it is unseasonally high. by evening, chopper 5 showed the fire on kim ball island flaired to several acres, fueled by an overgrowth of tender, dry brush, george watched it raging from across the delta in antioch. >> it spread bigger and late l bit bigger andin' and eventually it was down to the island. >> and people on this island had to be evacuated as the fire formed a ring around structures. >> the lack of rain and the unseasonally dry conditions just makes fire conditions just as bad as in the middle of fire season. >> the intensity of the fire, a direct result of severe drought conditions that caused fire season to wear on mo

in san jose, kristen ayers, kpix5. >> tickets for the freedom train cost $15. proceeds benefit the martin luther king, jr., association scholarship fund. if you want more information or to buy tickets, go to our website, kpix.com. >>> they make an unusual political pair. an actress teams up with a california tea party candidate. >> i want a gun in every california's gun safe. >> why some people are so upset about this ad and how it is affecting the actress' career. >> mother nature dug a significant hole for us. that hole is a foot and a half rain fall deficit just for this water year on the north bay and 10 inches in san francisco. any relief, any rain fall in sight? i have the answer coming up. >> and contact lenses that do more than correct your vision. how these can help people with diabetes. ,,,,,,,, for the new mattress models but sleep train's huge year end clearance ,,,,,,,, is ending soon. for a short time, save hundreds on tempur-pedic mattresses. get the most highly-recommended bed in america at closeout prices. plus, get interest-free financing and

. >> kristen ayers tagged along with an oakland woman determined to fix the city's cat problem. >> itrap about three nights a week and sometimes more often. >> trying to lure a colony of cats to safety. >> i saw this kitten. i sers like, this poor little baby. >> the kitten was part of a pack of ferrel and abandoned cats. so kathy called the woman who has no problem describing herself this way. >> i'm truly the crazy cat lady. >> a real estate agent by day, traps and thieves cats by night. >> first on her own, then as a part of a nonprofit called fix our ferrels. been abandoned and moved and left to fend for themselves. the cats on this block are a few of thousands of abandoned cats. her goal tonight is to trap them, neuter them, and release them. it doesn't take long. first she captures this kitten and then a cat. the feline is flustered for now, but fed and fixed and if possible, put up for adoption. >> i see the cats spay and newter and a safe place to live their lives, i feel good about it. >> in oakland, kristen ayers, kpix5. >> one out of every four cats are not fully ferrel an

. >> kpix's kristen ayers on the series of events and the safety measures parents are demanding. >> richard his wife, christine, are worried their daughter isn't safe after a man exposed himself to a group of cheerleaders. >> a naked man comes into a high school gym. how is that allowed? >> that's what the berella's and other parents came to ask the school board this evening. >> we have a right to know when our children are in danger. we have the right to know when there's an active predator in our community. >> parents worry there are several predators prowling school campuses. a naked man was seen on the playground at sprews elementary and a trespasser showed up nine days later. school board members say they are already making some changes. they built a locking fence at one of the elementary schools and here at the high school, they started locking the entrance to the locker room as soon as school is out. >> we will embark on discussion. we will put this item on our agenda. >> parents say they want changes now. starting with placing surveillance cameras throughout this school. >> cameras

kristen ayers shows us how they went after one employee. >> protesters rush one of google's private shuttle buses, leaving the workers on board stranded. they blame text for driving up the cost of living in san francisco. but yesterday morning, the google protest went a step further and quite literally hit home. a group calling itself the counter force targeted this man at his house. >> i don't want anyone to interrupt. >> the engineer behind the super secret google ex. the bro tester surrounded the home with banners and watched him leave. the protest lasted about 45 minutes and when it was done, the group left behind these fliers accusing him of bringing evil to the world. he did not want to talk to us on camera tonight, but he told us, i'm a nice guy, i'm just an engineer who likes robots. one of his navy base was more vocal. in berkeley, becky says what counterforce did crosses the line. >> there is absolutely no reason to go after people in their home no matter what you think of their job or their politics. >> in berkeley, kristen ayers, kpix5. >> we reached out to google, but they had

in pittsburgh, kristen ayers, kpix5. >> experts estimate that u.s. crude oil production will reach 8.5 million-barrels per day by the end of this year. >>> three men robbed an elderly couple in a home invasion this morning. it happened just before 11:00 a.m. on palo alto avenue near waiverly street. one of the victims says someone knocked on their door and she heard a man asking for directions. she opened the door and that is when the men barged into the house. one of them carrying a gun. >> i do sort of think i could take him. >> the couple was forced to lie on the floor for 15 minutes while the robbers went through the house. they left with cash, wallets, and other valuables. police are working on sketches of those men. >>> violent crime spree landed a marin teenager a life sentence today. a high school newspaper photographer snapped these pictures as max wade learned his fate. wade showed little emotion as the judge sentenced him to life in prison, plus 21 years. the teen was convicted in october of numerous crimes, including attempted murder in a

kristen ayers looks at what is left of it. >> this is what is left of the memorial that was built in tribute to andy lopez. you can see the charred alter that was the center piece of this memorial and just behind that bags of debris. these all damaged in a fire that started around midnight today. firefighters are telling me it's unclear whether this could be arson. it's too early to know. but community members say tensions have been boiling since that shooting happened on october 22. they believe that the fire was set intentionally. >> it wasn't just a candle that fell over or lights. it was intentional. you can tell it's intentional and it's just sad that somebody would do this. >> we have to be careful on any fire investigation that we make assumptions. we have to try and gather all the facts that we can and then draw our conclusions from those facts. >> organizers of the memorial say there have been threats on social media sites to burn the memorial. that's something we have not been able to confirm. however, the organizers say they will be back here on saturday at 11:00 a.m. they

kristen ayers tags along with one cat lady's mission to fix the problem. >> reporter: on a dark street in west oakland ellen lynch is doing what she's done most nights more than two decades. >> i trap about three nights a week and sometimes more often. >> reporter: trying to lure a colony of feral cats to safety. >> i drove by on my bike and saw this little kitten and i was like this poor little baby out on the sidewalk over there. >> reporter: the kitten was park of a pack of feral and abandoned cats just off the port of oakland, so kathy buckley called the woman who has no problem describing herself this way. >> i'm a truly crazy cat lady. >> reporter: lynch a real estate lady by day traps and feeds oakland's feral cat population by night. >> i'm feeding about 100 cats in oakland. >> reporter: first on her own, then as part of a nonprofit called fix our ferals. the traps have off been abandoned and moved. her goal tonight is to trap them, neuter and release them. it doesn't take long. first she captures this kitten and then a cat. the feline is flustered for now but will be fed and f

in oakland kristen ayers, kpix5. >>> as if last night's 9ers loss to the seahawks didn't sting enough postgame interview with richard sherman certainly sealed the deal. >> reporter: the final play, take me through it. >> well, i'm the best one in the game. when you pair me with a sorry receiver like crabtree, that's the result you're going to get. >> you've got to wonder what do his parents think? >> people really misunderstand my son. my son off the field is probably one of the best -- better people you want to know. i mean everything he does is for other people. >> sherman's parents say they didn't learn about the outburst until they returned home to compton. betty yu is at sherman's alma mater stanford and i'm sure this rant has a lot of people fired up. >> reporter: it sure does. we got a lot of mixed reactions tonight on campus. some students say this kind of trash talk just goes with the game and it was nothing more than an angry statement. others say sherman's behavior was appalling, rude and classless. >> reporter: broken up, picked off. >> between his game saving play and exp

we sent kristen ayers to find out if what you see is what you're getting. >> art knew exactly what he was getting when he found these nike's on sale. >> these are $30 and a 30% sale off of that. >> but you're not going to expect those to last. >> he told me other shoppers, the stuff you find in an outlet store isn't sold in the main store and the quality of the merchandise doesn't stack up either. today, bay area representative, anna, and three other members of congress wrote the federal trade commission pointing out the merchandise found in outlet stores is lower quality. urging the ftc to investigate unfair marketing practices at outlet stores. >> it's not clear that consumers can't understand what's going on. >> retail expert says outlet stores started out selling goods that were over stocked or defective, but began manufacturing their own lower quality products to meet demand. >> i think they figure out what that place printed and work out as hard as they can to produce product at the price point. >> the outlet stores could stand to be more transparent. if not, they risk losing sh

kristen ayers shows us, girls as young as 7 years old are learning to build their own websites. >> like most 9-year-old girls, they love dolls. >> it shows the condition, the price. >> but unlike most kids their age, butterfield created an app for doll lovers like herself. it's called doll finder. >> you can sell and buy doll products. >> butterfield is a member of black girls code. an oakland nonprofit that teaches young, african american girls to build websites and create apps and computer games. like the one rebecca taylor made. >> a game about if i were a rubber duck named larry that teaches you manners. >> the brain child of electrical engineer, kimberly brian. >> we like to think of ourselves as the girl scouts of technology. >> bryant did the research and black women receive 3% of bachelor's degrees in computer science. >> we hope to be able to tap into changing the ratio for women of color and making a difference in what the face of technology looks like. >> the nonprofit has taken off. there are branches all over the country and one in south africa. some of the girls apps are a

kristen ayers is in west oakland where there was a memorial for that girl this evening. >> reporter: yeah, ken, that memorial is still going on tonight. tonight, there are candles and flowers here at this scene and a small, silent gathering here, but on many notes on this stretch of the port of oakland, this area looks more like a scene out of the "fast & furious." last night a young girl was killed in a wreck as drivers were leaving the scene. twisted sign and shattered glass against a backdrop of lit candles. this is where caitlin benson, a 17-year-old from san jose lost her life. >> we made a little deal. i won't go if you don't go, you know what i'm saying. i didn't go. i was at work. she broke the rule. >> reporter: caitlin's boyfriendricky ramos said he didn't want her out last night in this part of west oakland, an area that's become notorious for late night drag racing, but caitlin didn't listen. she did not race, but like ricky she enjoyed the drag racing sculpture. >> this -- culture. >> reporter: it turned deadly around midnight when cops showed up and there was a mad dash

but kristen ayers shows us there are serious concerns about the contractor who has been hired to do it. >> do i support a surveillance center? yes, i do. >> the surveillance center is talking about would be headquartered here. a network of video cameras and social media thieves from all over oakland, fed here where law enforcement can keep a close eye on it. >> civil liberties are important to me. at the same time, you know, sometimes i may have to sacrifice one or two to be able to protect my grandmothers and my children and my families and my neighborhood. >> at tonight's public safety meeting, council members were set to green light a contractor called schneider electric to finish phase 2 of the surveillance center. but opponents showed up to say there's one serious problem with schneider. >> they are directly and intimately involved with nuclear weapons. >> and that would be a violation of oakland municipal code. brian, a lawyer with the oakland privacy working group found out about schneider's nuclear involvement with a google search. >> all the evidence is right there on the webs

. >> kristen ayers is in the east bay hill where a rare red flag warning just took effect. >> reporter: we've just learned this red flag warning will continue until thursday. we're talking gusty winds and brush so dry that it could make a wildfire situation devastating. the winds were so powerful in berkeley today that they snapped this tree on bonita way knocking it onto a house. the gusts are expected to pick up overnight and that's not the only problem. >> the fuels around here are already depleted from moisture because of the drought. >> reporter: the drought has left the east bay hills parched and brown and sparking something the deputy fire chief airy webb has never seen in three decades -- avery webb has never seen in three decades of firefighting. >> red flag warnings in january. >> reporter: fire season typically runs june to november, but this year it's still going strong in january and firefighters think it could overlap into next june. >> i've never seen that before, but this may be one of those times where it occurs. >> different nozzle, different size for different size h