reporting live from cupertino this morning, i'm marla tellez. >> thanks so much, marla. >>> 6:03 right now. more than a year after the deadly san bruno explosion, pg&e is admitting it is liable for the disaster, defending itself against dozens of civil lawsuits related to the blast. the utility preparing for a hearing on friday with attorneys for the victims. >> this is made at the request of the judge presiding over the cases. again, in the hopes that this will make the proceedings move more quickly and more efficiency. >> in fact, what they're trying to do is escape responsibility. >> one of the lawyers for the victims says pg&e's admission is nothing more than a legal strategy. he plans to argue pg&e's safety record should be made public in court. pg&e set to go to trial for the san bruno blast sometime in july. >>> san bruno pipeline disaster just one of several accidents that prompted federal legislation which won final approval in the u.s. senate yesterday. the bill doubled the maximum fine for pipeline safety violations and adds penalties for obstructing safety investigations. i

good morning, brian. >> hi, marla and jon. so everybody there in the bay area, did you get what you wanted for christmas? after speeding around the globe to deliver all his gifts on time ♪ jingle all the way >> reporter: santa and his friends spent time surfing in cocoa beach, florida. and the man in red did a good job this year. foul weather left ups scrambling to get tens of thousands of packa packages delivered on time. it's now crunch time for the presidential candidates. this is, of course, the season of giving. and many spent their christmas day doing just that. 18 # 0 meals served at a church in north carolina. 22,000 in atlanta. and in florida, volunteers delivered boxes of groceries to this their needy neighbors. now that christmas is over, it's a big time for sales. >> it may not be this out of control hitting the malls today, but if you're hitting for bargains, you know you're going to pay a price. the national retail federation say they got gift cards for returns. something tells me there will be a lot of those tod

. >> and i'm marla tellez. let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >>> it doesn't matter because you can't see much. throughout the morning hours, you saw bob redell. as you look above his head. you can see the rain showers coming down in the light. watch for that. but that's actually drizzle because the fog is so thick. flight delays out of sfo. upwards of an hour. expect those to ripple throughout the day today. we'll tell you where the visibility really drops off. the north bay in particular. that will continue to drop off. right now back to today's top stories. >> christina, thank you very much. grab a pen and a note pad for this one. it also means young ring in brand new laws. live with a look at what the changes could mean for you and everyone out there. >> good morning. happy friday. we're talking 745 new laws. i took a look at the list. it is long. there really is something that will affect everyone starting at your local supermarket. no more bringing your beer, wine and alcohol up

jon, marla? >> bob, thank you for the update on that. >>> east bay police are looking for a driver who hit a pedestrian trying to get away from officers. they tried to stop him 4:00 yesterday afternoon near 98 in oakland. police say rojas took off in a white suv hitting a pedestrian during the getaway. the suv was found abandoned in oakland, but police are still looking for that woman. >>> police are also looking for the man who rammed a san francisco police car. sfpd officers are looking for a kidnapping and assault suspect at 45th and international boulevard in oakland last night. now the suspect spots police and rammed their car as they made a get away. no officers were hurt. >>> oakland police are keeping an eye on a vacant lot to make sure occupy protesters do not reoccupy that site. officers raided the cypress triangle encampment last night. one man was arrested. 14 others cited for trespassing. the owner of the lot complained to police about the camping, and they moved in. nobody during th

good morning, jackie. >> good morning, marla. the futures are essentially flat on this final trading day of the year. as for the year the s&p 500 is roughly flat in 2011. the worst was bank of america, down to 59%. mortgage rates are closing out just above record lows hit last week. freddie mac says the average rate rose to 3.95%. the 30 year has been at or below 4% for the past nine weeks. wasserman was 77 when he passed away yesterday. then he was elected to the city council. he was major since 2004. the cause of death has not been made public. he is survived by his wife and their son and daughter. >> the story of harvey milk has been in the spotlight most recently as of interest. they say no longer ghost like, directed by jonathan himself. he will run through mid-february. he was only 14 years old when his father was murdered with milk in 1978. >> it will be interesting to see. it's 5:19. a winter trip for bay area high school trips involved in a confrontation with police. we'll tell you what happened coming up. >>> plus a ver

. >> i'm marla tellez in for laura garcia-cannon. let's get straight to that forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning, guys. it's wednesday, two more days before we have yet another holiday weekend. we have showers coming through. we have major changes actually on the way. as of today, we're not talking about frost this morning. we are talking about fog, not yet so much of a factor when it comes to your visibility on the actual highway. but i think that will become a factor during your mid morning hours. you can see showers developing in the north bay. i think that's where they'll stay. by noon, 55 degrees inland. up to 57 degrees as you make your way home from work. i'll tell you through that forecast. i think the greater bay area will see some shower activity. i'll tell you when coming up. we want to cheng the drive with mike. >> in that case your reports always queue mine. looking at the roadways, a queue of how busy it is, the bay bridge toll plaza, shows a mild backup at the bottom of your screen. those are c

good morning, i'm marla tellez.oming up. >> reporter: i'm bob redell. i'll tell you why uncle sam wants you to hang up the old cell phone for good while you're behind the wheel of your car. >>> pg&e takes legal responsibility for the san bruno explosion. find out why survivors of the blast are skeptical. >>> we give you a live look outside, the golden gate bridge. it's early.

marla? >> good luck is right. 6:42 now.g up, santa clara is looking to take advantage of the power outages at candle stick park. we'll have a live report up next. [ female announcer ] help i need a holiday party idea. mmm... pillsbury crescent wrapped brie just unroll, wrap the brie and bake. it's so easy. now this might even impress aunt martha. pillsbury crescent wrapped brie. holiday ideas made easy. in 15 minutes, [ female announcer ] you call that bread? you can serve some warmth with your bread. and some flavor with your bread. and some layers with your bread. if you're serving bread honey, then serve it. grands! dinner ideas made easy. [ female announcer ] this time of year you have a lot of festive meals. and safeway helps make every holiday meal a special occasion. so you can make all of your gatherings, just as merry as can be. get a boneless beef loin ny strip roast for just $4.99 a pound. pair it with a nicely priced malbec. we have thousands of wines. and we'll help you find the right one. safeway. ingredients

. >> and i'm marla tellez. it's becoming harder and harder for middle class families to send their kids to college. the university just unveiled a first of its kind program, designed to help. christie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, marla. a group of students shrinking here at urch.c. berkeley. that's middle-class students. this program puts a cap on the amount that their parents are expected to contribute to that student's education at 15% of their income. specifically targets parents between $140,000 and $180,000 a year. in the past, the u.c. system has seen a 9% drop in middle income students. tuition went up 8% in the fall and seems to keep rising. it sparked student protests over the amount of student loan debts students are taking on. undergraduate tuition alone is $13,000 a year. that's more like $32,000 when you include room and board and all the extras. this new scenario offers new aid but some students are still a little skeptical. >> our ambition is that not only will it be ongoing, but ass

good morning, marla. all the volatility is telling us social conservatives are still shopping around here. you can see mitt romney has jumped out to 25%. just ahead of ron paul at 22%, who is the leader. rick santorum at 16%. he's jumped in the past couple of days alone. that could put him as high as 20%. romney as well as 21%. you can imagine a quick size mik shift here in iowa could put santorum as an upset winner. santorum and paul and the others, michele bachmann included are canceling each other out among the social conservatives. >> brian, what is new hampshire looking like? >> new hampshire is looking like romney all the way. he has a commanding lead there. 44% compared to ron paul's 17%. romney is looking like he's going to take new hampshire. that's 12 days away. a lot could happen there. then we're onto south carolina. not looking good for him either. if the social conservatives could not get behind one candidate, romney could sweep sfwlchlt that could prove beneficial for him. brian mooar, than

. >> and i'm marla tellez in for laura garcia-cannon. we want to check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren because it's warmer. >> it's definitely easier to get going this morning. it's not as cold. your heater might not be working as hard this morning, especially if you wake up in san jose, 47 degrees, because we start out so mild. mid-60s today. we're expecting the upper 50s by noon. we'll take you through the forecast. also have a little bit of rain forecasted in some portions of the bay area. we'll tell you if your city is included. we want to check your drive and tell you how busy it is. we get the mail today. >> we do. we'll look out to the bay bridge toll plaza. not a lot of either. we're looking at a nice flow of traffic. cash lanes, a few cars as far as the backup goes. we're looking at more folks heading back to work today, but a light week overall. we'll check key spots coming up. >> mike, thanks. it's 6:01 now. new this morning between 100 and 120 sears and k-mart stores will close. the stores' owner made this ann

good morning, marla. >> laura, good morning.get to that, i want to point out we are along highway 237 in sunnyvale directly above 101. the traffic you see behind me is 101 traffic. and both directions are moving just fine. so the winds not affecting traffic here. the big story this morning are power outages in the most widespread area, the santa cruz mountains affected. right now close to 18,000 people are without power because of downed trees and power lines. here in the heart of the bay area, it's not as widespread. 900 people are without power. 700 powerless in the east bay. get this, from eureko to bakersville, a total of 56,000 customers are currently affected because of the winds. so the winds are not just a factor in the bay area. still, keep in mind as you get ready to head out the door this morning, a wind advisory is in effect for most of the bay area until 6:00 tonight. the higher elevations will be hit the worse with sustained winds of 55 miles an hour. >> hold onto something. you're a light little thing. >> so are y

. >> good morning to you, marla.his is something we've been seeing for some time where you see tech going one way and other industries being status quo f not actually on the decline. but with regard to tech, companies in silicon valley are predicting to hire 5% more people within the next year. this is according to a study just released by nova, an economic development agency out of sunnyvale. if you look at the real numbers, that would come up to be 28,000 new jobs in the next 12 months. nova surveyed 50 tech companies. they found the majority do intend to hire more people within 12 months. about a third plan to maintain the status quo. only a certain percent are looking at layoffs. three-quarters of those hiring say it's getting harder for them to find people. in part because of the new technologies. they're newer, which means people are commuting with them. cloud technology is just one example. we're talking about the divergence between tech and other industries. here's the prime example. unemployment is around 3%

the time is 6:29. >> and i'm marla tellez.s nice to have you back. >> all play no works makes jon an old boy or something like that. >> he was getting cabin fever. >> that will keep people indoors this morning. seems to be the case for damien trujillo. doesn't have a lot of foot traffic headed into that wal-mart. thank you for being out there. it's 33 degrees in san jose 27 in gilroy. 37 in santa cruz. we'll warm up nicely. the clouds will keep your overnight lows slightry more mild. we'll talk about rain in the forecast. whether or not your city is fair game for that. now bart is looking to the future to see how it can radically change and improve service for the riders. christi, good morning. >> good morning to you, marla. hard to believe that bart's opening day for passengers was way back in 1982. this would really nil in the gaps in service. they're talking about maybe adding express trains, service out to places like livermore and brentwood. crockett and ocean beach in the city. these are the changes that bart is eyeing i

. >> reporter: good morning, marla. the smoke pollution got so bad over the holiday weekend across the entire bay area that it created some really unhealthy conditions lingering even today. this is especially true for people who have asthma and other breathing problems. so today the bay area quality management district is asking people not to burn wood in fair places or wood stoves to try to help the bay area skies recover from all in. it's not necessarily illegal today if you do. but that request is tout there to go ahead and try to help your neighbors who have those conditions. what they're saying is that pollution levels are similar to what we would see with a major forest fire nearby. there's not a lot of wind going onto move it along. there are warnings and fines up to $400 on a spare the air day. today this is more of a request but certainly an important one. that's the latest from here. reporting live in oakland. i'm christie smith. john and marla, back to you. >> thanks, christie. >>> bullets hitting one man in

i'm marla tellez. jon kelley is off today. >> let's get to the forecast with christina loren. it is a cold start to the morning. >> it certainly is. yesterday warmer was 10 degrees warmer than now. we have 20s back on the map in napa and gillry. we'll drop off over the course of the next couple of hours. the key of the day is to dress in layers. first we want to check your drive. any drama, mike? >> no drama, christina. no full freeway closures overnight. here's 880 past the coliseum. you see the arrow is moving folks to the left. that's what is going on now passing north or south between fruitvale and the coliseum. back to you for now. >> you're so important. thank you, mike. 4:31 now. usually when one customer goes without power, it's not a newsworthy event. but it changes when it's candle stick park. yes, the lights are on. the power went off twice last night. once before kick off. it shows the staid jum going dark. and now san francisco's mayor is promising a full investigation. mayor ed lee says i have directed fire chief joanne hayes white and sfpuc general manager ed to

i'm marla tellez. jon? >> marla, thank you very much. for the most up to date weather forecast in your neighborhood including an interactive radar tool, visit nbcbayarea.com and click weather. >>> a former contra costa county youth counselor will go to prison for child molestation. thomas joule pleaded guilty to charges he molested three boys. he'll serve a 30-year prison sentence. a federal judge could add more time to his prison term in january. he'll be sentenced for these charges in march. >>> police investigating an attempted child abduction. it happened around 7:00 last night near the marin brewing company. a 7-year-old girl was standing with a group of children when a man walked up and grabbed her by the arm. anybody with information can call twin cities police. >>> thousands of people gathered to honor a vallejo officer killed in the line of duty. nearly 3,500 officers attended the memorial. among them governor jerry brown and the entire vallejo office. >>> it is 5:04 now. a danville marine laid to rest. hundreds turned out to sa

marla? >>> okay, bob, thank you. 6:04. foster city police are looking for a suspect involve d with a mysterious death. lst last friday police found the body of a man at a home. the death was initially caused suspicious. but investigators later say the man was murdered. there are no details. anyone with information on this case is asked to call the foster city police department. this is the first murder since 2006. >>> a convicted sex offender who police say kidnapped and raped a woman is behind bars this morning. 45-year-old steven clark was taken into custody saturday after he was shpotted in san francisco. he has been booked into jail on kidnapping and rape charges. >>> public programs will lose some $980 million in mid year state budget cuts, and one of the programs that will see big changes affects california's youngest lawbreakers. christie smith joins us live with more on the story. good morning, christie. >> reporter: good morning, la a laura. the governor came up with a plan to house more juvenile offenders in stat

marla? >> thank you, laura. 6:24. in just minutes the head of san francisco's zynga will ring the opening bell on the nasdaq and launch the first day of trading for that company. scott mcgrew joins us now. now you've known mark for more than a decade now. >> pinkus is a long-time entrepreneur. he will turn the latest company into a publicly traded company early today. here's mark from earlier this year. with believe in social gaming. we believe this is the way that more than just us in the building, but everyone around the world are going to embrace play. in their lives. and now you are seeing a live picture out of the nasdaq. >>. >> i think i'm the most guilty of that. i'm going to internalize that. hoi ep you do. i hope you all get a moment. >> he's talking to troops, getting them fired up. trading in a new company doesn't necessarily start at the bell. speaking of hot companies, task rabbit to hem you find people to runner rands raised $17 million in funding i point out to her, connecting strangers on the internet

want to check in with marla tellez. she's live in a san jose neighborhood where people are waking up to a lot of noise this morning as they're attempting to clean up quite a mess. good morning. >> they've made so mush progress as you as you can tell. it's rather quiet now. the woodchiper has been turned off. this crew has done their job. they've done it well. you can see the tree that snapped. it's about 50 feet tall. we have video to show you. it snapped. it fell right on top of this jeep cherokee. if you're the owner of this jeep, you're certainly not happy this morning. it's been chopped up and oon to be hauled away. this is north 17th at julien in downtown san jose. the south bay took quite a be beating because of the high winds. we came across several neighborhoods where trees are down, power lines down. 2,000 people in the south bay are currently without power. pg&e is dealing with a major transmission problem. take ha listen. >>> it is highly unlikely that the transmission outage will be complete id by tomorrow.

reporting from downtown san jose this morning, i'm marla tellez, laura, jon. >> marla, thank you very much. may want to get yourself some ear plugs. for the most up to date weather where you live, log onto nbcbayarea.com and click on weather. >> it is 5:31 now. the woman accused of killing an east bay nursing student is expected in court this morning. 27-year-old giselle esteban is expected to enter a plea. she's charged with killing 26-year-old michelle le. she disappeared in the middle of her shift on may 27th. her body was found in mid-september. is this. >>> police think they found the suv used to run down a san francisco firefighter. it was a rental car that was never returned. they found it in the bay view neighborhood. there was front end damage to the suv. ed doe is accused of using the vehicle to ram and critically injure albert bartall. the two got in a fight at a restaurant earlier in the day. >>> this morning the family of an attorney killed during an evening jog is hoping a reward will encourage witnesses to come forward. in struck and killed 63-year-old don casper while

marla? >> a lot riding on that.cie, thank you. >>> north korea is shifting away from a sij ruler and will be governed by a collective group for now. reports say kim jong-un, his uncle and the military will take charge of the isolated country. analysts predicted this saying the older establishment in north korea isn't ready to give full support to the much younger kim jong-un. the group will have the same goal of keeping the regime alive. >>> today japan will release its lengthy roadmap to cleanup and decommission the nuclear plant that suffered a meltdown when the tsunami hit in march. the government says the job may take up to 40 years. under the plan, the plant operator will begin removing spent fuel rods within two years, after that they'll begin removing the melted fuel. that process is expected to be completed 25 years from now. fully decommissioning the plant would require another five to ten more years after the fuel debris is removed. >> this morning, lawyers for the man who allegedly orchestrated the bigges

bob, good morning. >> good morning, marla. the overall goal today is to shut down the port of oakland. right now occupy protesters are meeting here at west oakland bart where we are right now. you can see there's a small crowd of them starting to show up. they've been trickle in for the past 15 to 20 minutes. there's maybe 50 to 60 of them. and what they'll do within a half hour is march down seventh street to the port of oakland to try to shut it down again. just like they did on november 2nd. occupy groups in the western united states are going to be trying to shut down ports up and down the coast and in hawaii in what they are calling wall street on the water front. they hope to hurt the 1%, the big corporations that make money imports and exporting these goods through the ports. protesters did seem to have the support of workers at the port. this time around not so much or not as much. the leadership of the warehouse union, which represents many port workers, is not supporting today's shutdown. what if you're costing union

i'm marla tellez. jon kelley is off today. we begin with the sentencing of barry bonds in the long and storied steroid scandal. the legendary giants slugger is in a san francisco courtroom right now. nbc bay area's christie smith joins us live from the hearing where bonds will learn his fate any moment now. christie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, marla. about an hour ago, former san francisco giant barry bonds got out of a black suv with his legal team and walked past reporters, right into the federal building here in san francisco today. as you said, he will learn his fate. he is facing the same federal judge who showed mercy to two other sports figures, who were in a very similar predicament. the question is whether this judge will do the same for bonds, who has, of course, a much higher profile. he was convicted in april with obstruction of justice in the investigation of steroid distribution for being evasive to the grand jury. the jury dead locked on three other counts where he is accused of lying. prose

jon, marla? >> all right. we'll check back with you later in the day and with all the updates. >> and protesters will rally demanding charges be dropped against those arrested during occupy protests. dozens of people are expected outside oakland's courthouse just before 9:00. the rally coincides with a court date for 39 protesters arrested at the uc berkeley campus on november 9th. >>> the sidewalk in front of san francisco's federal reserve building is cleared out after a police sweep over the weekend. 55 occupy protesters were arrested early sunday morning. police say demonstrators were warned on an hourly basis before the 24 hours leading up to the crackdown. police say no one was injured during the raid. >> this morning warning flyers cover a san francisco neighborhood after a woman was raped. according to a neighborhood e-mail sent hours after the attack, a man grabbed a wok from behind, broke her neck, raped her on fair oak street and then robbed her. she's now being treated at a nearby hospital. neighbo

. >> i'm marla tellez in for jon kelley. meteorologist christina loren joins us. >> good morning to you. it's cold out there. that cold air will hit you in the face when you walk out in the front door. that will wake you up in gilroy this morning. 28 degrees there. i love to be the bearer of good news, especially this time of the season. we'll hit about 50 degrees by noon and a gorgeous, gorgeous second half of the day shaping up. about 57 degrees inland as you make your way home. i'm table you through your forecast and tell you when we might get some rain. first, we'll check your drive with mike. >>> throughout the bay area, a relatively light volume of traffic. looking at a new accident involving a big rig, a big concern. the update comes in. this is northbound 680 at el sarah road. no injuries and the truck is on the shoulder. it looks like no lanes are blocked. we have other spots slowing down as the commute builds. i'll show you those coming up. >> 6:01. one of the bay area's most well known athletes is in the headlines

bob, good morning. >> good morning, marla. we're out 55 and 56.rying to shut down three central parts of the port. this being one of them. there are easily two, maybe 300 people out here to gather this morning at west oakland bart. some marched from here. others took a bus here. just moments ago alameda county sheriff deputies showed up in riot gear. there was a little scuffle. but as far as shutting down the port goes, protesters seem to secede in the sense that there are trucks lined up who cannot get into get in to do their job. they're very frustrated. if he doesn't get in, he's telling us this could be somewhere in the neighborhood of $250. he'll be behind a day. this is a greater effort with occupy in the coast and in hawaii, trying to shut down the ports in the respective locations. they it it down on november 2nd. this time a leader is not supporting this. protesters will tell you that they do. the teamster's unit is in support of this. you have alameda county sheriff deputies that formed a line behind protesters over there. the mayor, the

. >> i'm marla tellez. jon kelley is off today. let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning to you. we're a little bit warmer. quite a bit warmer. 25 degrees warmer in santa rosa. mid-50s. that means as the sun comes out and continues to warm you up, if we continue to hold onto the winds, we could be talking about the 70s in dis. yeah. before we hit christmas. we'll tell you how probable it is in your city. first we want to check your drive. any problems out there? >> just construction picking up. we'll show you 880 past the coliseum. we see the flashing lights picking up the cones as they have been over the last few mornings. no slowing past the scene. the southbound side may have a crew clearing as well. we'll check other spots in a few minutes. >>> the standoff between occupy berkeley protesters and police may be coming to a head. the city issued an eviction notice from civic center plaza to the occupiers. a handful of them remain. damien trujillo is live with an update for us. good morning. >> g

marla, over to you. >>> be jojon, thanks. handing over control of saddam hussein's palace to the iraqis. the palace, known as camp victory, has been under u.s. control for nine years. u.s. military leaders used the palace to direct strategy and communicate. it was originally used as a country club for the baghdad elite. iraqi government has not announced what it plans to do with the complex, but it's certainly prime real estate in a country lacking in parks and public spaces. the iraqi military is using some parts of the complex and there's talk of turning saddam's jail cell into a museum. >>> time for another check of the weather. meteorologist christina loren tells us it looks like we're going to get an early christmas present for this weekend. >> you were going to get a big lump of coal for me, jon, but -- i know, i know, do what i can. holding steady for the time being. from time to time, the camera gets knocked around a little bit from that wind, which is still occurring in the higher elevation and some cities throughout

. >> i'm marla tellez in for laura garcia-cannon today. we have a lot to get into, but first let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. >> good morning. good news is we're just about as mild as yesterday. no temperatures this morning below freezing just yet. gilroy, you've got the best chance of seeing the freezing mark. we've got changes on the way. i am bringing in a little rain even to the south bay. i'll tell you when coming up. first, we want to check that drive. people slowly but surely getting back to work. >> the construction crews are back to work overnight. because of the rain fell off, they were able to do that around sycamore valley road. a tarp reported across lanes northbound 680 as you're coming up past el costa. if i get more details from chp, i'll pass it on. >>> it is 4:31 right now. after being kicked out of a list of locations over the past few months, this morning, occupy oakland has set up a brand new encampment, this time in west oakland in a vacant lot on peralta street. this one called the cypress

. >> and i'm marla tellez. no rain in the forecast, but it's cold. >> it doesn't take a weather nan to tell you it's cold. we'll see numbers in the low 30s. novato, santa rosa, napa so an interesting spread of numbers. patchy frost. but this morning, another thing we're watching is patchy fog. mike? >> we'll watch for that and for the esks on your driving. now a live look at the golden gate bridge. reports came in of someone driving the wrong way on the bridge. there's word there may be a traffic break on the hayward side, stopping westbound traffic. this is the reason i'm monitoring the san ma the,teo b so carefully. >>> developing news this morning in the south bay. san jose police say an officer shot and killed a man in self defense overnight. so far it's unclear why police targeted the man or if the man was armed. the ambulance rushed the suspect to a nearby hospital where he died early this morning. >> 5:02 now. is baseball's home run king headed to prison? that's the big question today as a judge prepares

>> yeah, good morning, marla.his is a much less visible location than the one they had set up in front of city hall at frank ogawa plaza where they had more than 100 tents. in fact, we drove by this location this morning and had a hard time finding it. they're set up behind the fence there. i just went behind that fence and counted about 13 or 14 tents and spoke with one of the october priors who said he considers this a good location out of the way here in west oakland along mandela parkway at peralta and kind of a next step, he said, unused property, a vacant lot. in fact, he wasn't sure who the actual owner of this property is. after police broke up the main encampment at ogawa plaza november 14th, a handful of smaller encampments popped up but they were dismantled to. they found this location and set up quickly this week. >> once we find a place and then we talk and say let's go. a bunch of people go. like an advanced -- they establish and say this is going to be. there have been several different, snow park a

. >> i'm marla tellez in for laura garcia. first we want to check the forecast with christina loren. >> it's cold this morning. 26 in fairfield. 26 in napa. 28 in livermore and gilroy. we can't escape the frigid temperature fs. we had a little bit of cloud cover overnight. that kept us mild and then the clouds cleared as a result. it is freezing yet again. grab a jacket. we're headed to a really nice day. lots of sunshine. temperatures in the 6 #s. we'll get the forecast with rain to talk about. most shoppers will be spending their gift cards they received for christmas. very good day after christmas to you. >> customers driving up as we speak. retailers are cautiously optimistic. they think they'll do better this year compared to last year. the big thing to look at as you mentioned today is the gift cards. waiting to be spent in the next few days. that adds up to a $5 million gift from shoppers to the retailers. in california, most gift cards come with nothing. and stores are supposed to reimburse you can wash if the balance

>>trace: thank you, john and marla. quite a christmas for a 15-year-old in kentucky. right?ebody stole all the gifts his father bought. but as word spread a group of pro wrestlers pitched in to save the day. you need to see this. and it's next. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! >>trace: flying to the rescue on christmas, professional wrestlers donating gifts to a seven-year-old after someone stole the family presents from a shed and they met with the boy in kentucky to give him the gifts and put him front row for a local day match. >> it is christmas day. and people like to play with the toys so this is lucky. >> we can be the baddest guys in the world inside the ring but it is christmas, bro'. >> they donated we from action figures, to a brand new bicycle. then there is this before we w

marla? >> okay, bob. thanks. >>> 5:32 now. a surprise ending for church goers leaving a late night service in hecules. a van crashed into the side of if full gospel fellowship on willow avenue. this happened at 10:00 last night. witnesses say the driver was speeding away when he slammed into an empty children's nursery area. it was a mess inside. toys and books were tossed around. many were destroyed. luckily no reports of any injuries. fire crews arrived a short time later and checked for any building hazards. police are still investigating this accident. >>> this morning investigators are trying to figure out what caused a cessna plane to crash into a the airport. no word on any injuries. only three will be on the plaza as a symbolism of the movement. the city council earlier offered to drop charges against demonstrators if they didn't pitch tents for the next two years. protesters say the latest move is a compromise. >>> the world's largest social networking site is changing its address. damien trujillo joins us live with m

. >> good morning, marla. the fire ripped through two homes. this one there and another behind the trees. i just spoke with firefighters on the scene. they say they're making sure the homes are security and no flare-ups overnight. this started at 8:30 on miller avenue. more than a dozen homes were evacuated. it quickly jumped through three alarms and burned through power lines. one neighbor said it moved so fast he had to do everything he could to get out of the way to the next door fire. >> try to get water on the fire. i saw sparks and grab the dog and ran. four firefighters were injured. i'm christie smith. marla and john, back to you. >> east bay police looking for a driver who hit a pedestrian trying to get away from police officers. they ran off striking a ped on a sidewalk during a getaway. the police are still looking for the woman. >>> police are also looking for a man who ran san francisco police car. it happened in oakland last night. plain clothed officers got a tip that an assault suspect was in an oakland neighborhood. we're happy

. >> i'm marla tellez in for laura, garcia-cannon. we have a lot to get to. first, let's check the forecast with christina loren. you look nice and springy today. >> we're going to see almost a spring like afternoon. i know y'all noticed a different. courtesy of cloud cover. we'll see the dry trough through the bay area. and we are going to talk about your air quality as well. we vice president had any rain. a little bit in the forecast. he is back. hey, mike. >> good morning, christina. i missed you all, but not the alarm clak clock. we had early activity. the activity has cleared. now we should be have two westbound operating. we don't see slowing either direction. we'll talk about issues in the south bay coming up. >>> you could call it a sort of spare the air day. >>> christie smith is live in oakland with the latest. it's been cold morning after morning after morning. the stagnant air we've had is creating unhealthy. 43 micro grams per square foot of air. coupled with the thunderstorms that sent smoke our way back down here to the bay area soot levels th

indeed, marla. there's construction going on. the earlier shot for oakland is coming up. >> it was supposed to be one day only. bob redell is live in oakland now. the latest for us. bob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. most protesters have packed it up and called it a day. they declared victory and announced an end to their shut down of the port of oakland. that means that the port should return to full operation. later this morning when the next shift of dockworkers are scheduled to show up at 8:00 a.m. and before 4:00 this morning a couple of hundred occupiers who were blocking the apl terminal we're at received word that their tactics paid off. that the 130 long shoremen scheduled to show up at 3:00 a.m. were going to be staying home because of the blockade. protesters discussed the entire shutdown indefinitely. they decided against it. they felt docking the day's pay was already enough and they made their point. >> when working people come together there's power. that's the message. >> this movement is only th

i'm marla tellez. jon kelley is off today. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. let's welcome back christina loren from a couple days off. >> a lot of kids off for winter break. 48 in oakland. 48 in san francisco. we're not talking about the 20s and 30s. we will later on this week. first we want to check your drive. mike has a serious crash. >> overnight there was a deadly accident. the onramp. farm hill boulevard off southbound 280. just the off ramp is blocked by the activity. there is a closure of the one off ramp, 280 itself is slow a bit past the scene. that's probably just a distraction from flashing lights. we'll follow this on the peninsula and more coming up. >>> this morning the death of north korean leader. right now they are referring to kim jong il's successor. his third son is in his 20s. in the meantime, the south korean president is holding emergency national security meetings to monitor the situation and asking people to continue with business as usual. kim jong il died suddenly while traveling from a heart attack. for two decades he defied leade

. >> and i'm marla tellez in for laura garcia-cannon. first, let's check the first with christina loren. >> good tuesday morning to you. we have two fs to deal with. patchy fog and patchy frost. we may see freezing fog in the north bay. give yourself ample time. we have a lot of moisture leftover. and fog and frost are the aftermath this morning. we'll tell you when the sun will come out later today. i think you'll be pleased. first, let's check your drive with mike inouye. >> christina, freezing fog, maybe frosty windshield. we're looking at this accident over the shoulder. this is westbound 237. it is off the roadway. no major injuries. we have 75 feet of fencing that needs to be prepared at some point. there's the distraction for 27. and a new accident on 238 that i have to check out. back to you. >> thanks very much. >> it is 4:32 now. occupiers are declaring victory. >> they are packing up and heading home after shutting down another work shift at the port of oakland. bob redell is live in oakland with the latest for us. good mornin

christie smith is live with the latest for us. >> good morning to you, marla. i spoke with a sergeant out of. then investigators in southern california got a tip, got information that a suspect may be there. apparently they were following the cell phone pings of their suspect, 45-year-old steven clark. the victim identified him earlier as the person who bound, gagged and raped her and threatened to kill her with a gun and two hunting knives. apparently officers located clark at a rest stop along interstate 5 southbound. he saw the officers and jumped over a fence and was with a female companion at the time, describeas an ex-girlfriend who was with him. shs confused and did not run. instead she told officers she didn't know his history, including some offenses out of texas and thought they were going to san diego to visit some beaches there. apparently that's what he told her. i do have calls to the contra costa sheriff's department. he's still on the the loose in southern california this morning. as soon as i hear from local detectives i'll tell you what they h

i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm marla tellez. check the forecast with christina loren. >> you can get away with summer at tire in some cities. we're three days away from christmas. the 70s on your forecasted high map for today. this morning enjoy the 20-degree increase in temperature. 58 by noon. some cities in the 70s. and i'll show you where coming up. the winds are warms us up. also having an impact on your drive. >> watch that. be prepared for gusty winds in san jose. not really sustained winds, but gusts. sounds like it affected the light rail or the service through the area. the arms are up as the road crosses the light rail tracks around lincoln avenue. the arms are stuck in the up position because of a high wind gust that happened. the lights will flash. you'll hear the bells. the arms will not come down. light rail is supposed to stop there. no delays reported. if you have to stop every time you cross the intersection, some minor delays. be careful. there might be a train. >>> thanks, mike. 6:30 thousand. berkeley police

marla? >> thank you, rob. >>> after-christmas sales had moisture competition from mother nature today in san diego, where nature had absolutely nothing to do with the north pole. december 26th was winter in name only at the beach where temperatures were in the 70s and the surf was up. visitors say the sunny skies were the best gift they could get after escaping frigid climates in places like chicago and new york. >> very jealous. looks so nice. >>> still to come at 6:00, california wine growers are not in the clear just yet. the latest challenge facing central coast vineyards, next. >>> are the contamination concerns over? what new tests reveal about a an infdet's ath.la linked to an infant's death. at >>> the makers of a baby formula suspected in a newborn's death say new tests show it is safe. the infant was fed enfamil brand formula, manufactured by made johnson. the company tested that specific batch of enfamil, both before it was sold to consumers and after the baby's death. mead johnso

i'm marla tellez. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon in for jon kelley. the world is reacting to death of north korean leader kim jong il. >> many nations are concerned over the country's direction and who is in control. north korean state tv is pointing to the late dictator's third son, kim jong un as the country's successor. he's believed to be niz his 20s and has been greemed to take over the country. he died of a heart attack on saturday. news of the death prompted north korean embassies around the world to lower their flags to half staff. western countries weren't as kind. the u.s. bam bas dambassador to korea says they're watching this situation cautiously. >> south korea's military has been on high alert since learning of kim jong il's death. >>> construction on the new bay bridge hit a new milestone today. crews are starting to install the suspension cables for the eastern span. this is actually aerial video taken over the bay bridge this morning. our own christie smith is on the ground with more on what this means for the project. good morning. w

i'm marla tellez. >> good morning, everyone. i'm jon kelley. >> we begin with what protesters are calling wall street on the waterfront. coordinated effort to shut down ports up and down the west coast. in oakland, occupy protesters started marching before the sun came up. and they succeeded in their mission, shutting down at least part of the port. nbc bay area's bob redell has been following the development since early this morning. he joins us now with the very latest. bob, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, marla. because of that, that's why hundreds of protesters that were out here, not too long ago, have left, because they did succeed after they learned shutting down two of the main terminals here at the port. most of them have marched out of here, though there are a few still here. long shoreman showed up to get in for their 8:00 am shift. they were blocked by protesters. at 9:00 am, they called it a day and went home. other parts of the port are up and running but two main terminals are shut down. at one poi

. >> and i'm marla tellez. sears announced it is closing more than 100 sears and kmart stores after a lackluster showing over the holidays. nbc bay area's christie smith is following the story and joins us live from oakland now. christie, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, mar lachlt i just went inside this sears store here in do downtown oakland. i have to tell you, they seemed pretty busy with after-holiday stores, a lot of people in the store. i guess the holidays just weren't what they hoped for, for many sears and kmart stores. they're going to be closing 100 to 120 of them. exactly which ones, we don't know. they haven't said yet. i've been speaking with a couple of workers here at the oakland store and they told me off camera this is the first that they've heard of it and they're certainly hoping that this one near 19th and broadway won't close down. it's the big retailer downtown. according to the associated press a memo from the ceo went out saying these actions will help us better serve o

i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm marla tellez. let's check the forecast with meteorologist christina loren. trz a cold one. >> a cold start will make way to a nice afternoon. just like we saw yesterday. let's get right to your temperatures. show you where the coldest cities are across the bay area. by noon we'll be in the mid-50s. warmer than seasonal averages this time of year. 63 in livermore. we have your holiday forecast coming up. we want to check your drive with mike inouye. >> i have changes as well. 880 we have the disabled vehicle blocking one lane, that is clearing up and getting off of the roadway as we speak. and no slowing past the scene. and a smooth drive approaching the bay bridge. it's 5:30 now. the city of oakland wants to turn police loose on protesters who try to shut down the port. a full house is expected. >> yeah, good morning to you. i checked the occupy oakland website. they're telling people to come down here to the city council meetings in big numbers at 5:30. this happened more than once. occupy oakland

marla, laura? >> okay, bob. thank you.ant to check the forecast with rob mayeda in for christina. >> good morning, we have rain pushing through south bay and eventually clearing skies. but right now our temperatures, thanks to the rain, not quite as cold as the last few mornings. we're waking up to 47 now. san jose, 43. 45 in santa rosa. that's 15 degrees warmer than the last few mornings. the winds generally out of the southeast. 9 miles per hour there. into heyward. the weather system is going on by. we're getting an onshore push. but that moisture is dropping in the form of raindrops. through noon today and by 3:00 and 4:00 what's left of the showers should be south of san jose. speaking of the areas being impacted by the rain right now, you can see another band moving into san jose in mountain view over to fremont. right up to sunol. you're seeing light rain showers and around 680. alamo and danville, you're seeing light rain. and right around the golden gate bridge, you're seeing mainly light rain this morning. all th

i'm marla tellas.for kris sanchez. >>> 680, as i drove in, about 25 degrees as i made my way into san jose. 29, livermore. gilroy, 21 degrees. nothing but 20s as you head north of the golden gate into the north bay. 42. san francisco, 34. oakland, now that the sun has come up, we are going to see some warning. the freeze warning is going to start to expire around 9:00 or 10:00 this morning. then, by noon, we should see some 50s around the bay area. we should still see 50s and 60s for highs today. a real chilly start. nice rebound for the afternoon. coming up, we will let you no he what you can expect for christmas day. changes finally coming back. have a look at that coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you, rob. >> 7:30 now. gunshots, smashed windows and unruly crowds, thoses of people in the bay area and around the country are trying to get their hands an feet on a pair of shoes, not just any shoes, though. we are talking air jordans. michael jordan hasn't played basketball in almost nine years. his