. >>> a group of san lorenzo high school students have stepped up to help some of their peers in need this christmas. today they saw the fruits of their labor as hundreds of toys were packed up for distribution. >> reporter: arroyo high school is closed up for the holiday and the students who left here this afternoon were feeling pretty good of course. but not just because they have the next two weeks off. on their own, students of san lorenzo's arroyo high collected toys and gift cards for needy families. they are contributing them to fire department holiday toy drive. >> in these tough economic times, we have the general understanding of how one gift can make a difference in anyone's life. >> we have collected $720 in gift cards. >> reporter: all told gifts and cards are valued at more than $3,500. >> this is hundreds of families that are going to be positively affected by you guy's hard work. >> i gave them a goal three weeks ago, and they brought it together with little direction. >> a lot of them are coming from their family, friends, a lot of their own hard work from their own p

the unofficial weather watcher and keeper of the rain date for the san lorenzo valley, said it picked up a little over an inch of rain in the past 24 hours ending at noon on friday. and a typical year ben lomond and other mountain communities to receive 50 to 60 in. of annual rainfall. it even more in el nino years, forecast for the next several days are calling for at least 10 in. along with high winds. caltrans, pg&e as well as local residents are bracing for the inevitable down trees, power outages, washed out roads and mudslides that often accompany such weather. locals here will also be keeping a close watch of the nearby san lorenzo river, about 3 1/2 feet but it has a reputation of coming up fast. and ben lomond brought kron 4 to >> is. but the recent storms or giving california the best early season if water supply out like a long time. in years, as a result cities can expect more water this year. probably almost twice as much as expected. if this bill back as well above normal and reservoirs are releasing water to make storm ready. in national news, the pentagon said it's pre

john sasaki is live in san lorenzo with more on this. john? >> reporter: if you take a look around out here, you can see this dumped refrigerator, that wall of graffiti and all of that and more is leaving this place from a field of dreams. >> the ashland little league is celebrates -- celebrating it's 50th year of operation behind the middle school in san l orenzo. >> we find condoms, used c ondoms. we find hypodermic needles. we find garbage, we find alcohol bottles. >> reporter: just a week and a half ago someone set fire to one of the dugouts. >> there's still some people that want to come out and ruin it for the good people that are in the community. it's a real shame, you have young kids that want to play baseball and have a nice facility. some people won't let that happen. >> reporter: graffiti pops up here constantly. >> say, you um come here saturday and you -- say you come here saturday and you come here and repaint and by sunday morning. it's all graffiti again. >> reporter: for people like this 12-year-old, this kind of damage just

. >> people in sultan are keeping an eye on the san lorenzo river if it floods dozens of homes are at risk. in ben lomen homeowners are stocking up on sand bags. >>> the storm is still dumping a lot of snow in the sierra a look at highway 50, ski run boulevard south lake tahoe chains required twin bridges to meyers and also on interstate 80, kingville to 11 miles west of nevada state line. winter storm warning also in effect through the weekend, sierra above 5,000 feet, areas above 7,000 feet could see 6 to 8 feet of snow plus strong winds in the forecast in reno snow levels expected the drop to 6,000 feet so west side of the biggest little city could see 2 inches of snow today. >>> well, these problems peal in comparison to wintery wait inner western rue crop. >> blizzard conditions are causing widespread flight cancellations. as elizabeth palmer reports this comes during a season of heavy travel. >> reporter: now this is winter weather as europe seldom sees it heavy snow has blanketed italy, belgium, germany, scandinavia, northern france and uk throwing people's travel plans into ch

this most recent incident here in san leandro, san lorenzo is an important reminder that parents should keep an extra close eye on their children, especially when they're going to and from school. reporting live in san leandro, jenelle wang, abc 7 news. >> thanks a lot. bay bridge drivers are getting a warning this morning, keep your eyes on the road and off the massive construction job that's hard to a void. caltran installing another part of the eastern span. terry live on the span to show us what's happening. >> keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel because the work's going to begin coincidentally during the commute this morning. looking at that tower, you can see it's kind of a distraction as it is. it's all lighted up, looks fantastic out there and just a little bit they're lifting a lot of steel into place, the decks the commuters are going to be driving on but the word is don't look. please. that's the word from caltran and the chp. their main concern is safety and if you're watching what construction crews are doing, they're going to be doing a lot and it's ve

community where in the santa cruz bonds, a lot of people are keeping a what close watch on the san lorenzo river. it does have a history of flooding. neighbors are especially worried because the grub is already saturated from the previous bombs. now there's more rain on the way. >> is stressful, you have to make sure that everything is new. you know what it to get. >> as of saturday night the level was 60, what should we just 14 ft., that is when this river floods nearby ft. with several more days of late, the neighbors said they are not out of the woods yet. >> as the santa cruz bouncy several inches of rain tonight other violence of the bay area saw heavy parts of the dublin that started last night continued in today. talking to storm into some of the hardest-hit areas. >> after fighting by stretching rain fall saturday sporadic showers became a day of recovery. the flooded sections of a 80 in oakland that held up traffic, a traffic backed up once again at a stretch the crew struggled backlog of burns storm drain. the maintenance in oakland had homeowners concerned about the next bout of

. >> reporter: residents in felton are keeping an eye on the san lorenzo river. it can flood into nearby homes. >> what happens if you get a tree that falls into the river, what happens is it gets a bunch of logs coming down from boulder area, gets in here and gets a log jam and if we are not in that area to see it and it starts building up, and that's what happened to us last year. >> reporter: he says he will be getting up in the middle of the night again and hopes the impact of this storm will be a little less than anticipated. >> you get worried? >> yes, because 3 or 4 feet could do it. >> reporter: he is stocking up on sandbags before it is too late. >> it prevents it from coming into our garage. so we try to divert it so it goes out the storm drains. >> reporter: back here live on the 17. the chp says in terms of driving in these conditions, check your tire tread and your tire pressure, ann. in these conditions it is really easy to lose control especially at highway speeds. >> thank you very much. >>> the stormy weather caused power outages on the peninsula

and bent san lorenzo river is on the rise. it's been a while since residents have any problems with it as far as flooding goes. a live look at highway 17, where visibility has gotten significantly worse in the last hour, but so far, traffic still moving very smoothly, and we have not heard of any problems. california highway patrol does want to remind people to be extra cautious and to avoid distractions while driving in this kind of weather. live in the santa cruz mountains, kimberly terry, nbc bay area news. >> thank you. >>> now to our other big story, the landmark decision in the senate today over the military's don't ask, don't tell policy. senators voted 65-231 toover turn don't ask don't tell. this means gays will be allowed to serve openly in all branchs of the armed forces without fear of being kicked out. the president praised the move, saying the policy did nothing but undermine american national security and violate the ideals that members of the arms services risked their lives to defend. many senators stepped for

the san lorenzo river is moving along swiftly and is on the rise. residents say it's been a while since they've had any problems with flooding with that river. there have been some reports of downed power lines, falling trees. a couple small accidents here in the santa cruz accidents. so far, no major incidents. high 17 moving very slowly despite this heavy rain and wind. live in the santa cruz mountains, kimberly terry, nbc bay area news. >> heavy rain is also hitting the sacramento area leading to lots of water on the road. there's a flooding advisory in effect for the area. let's bring in nick o'kelly. everyone wants to know right now just how much we're going to get and how long it's going to last. >> a nice little break in the stor track through the day st today. with some us seeing dry weather at times. the radar is starting to show the rain filling in offshore. we're in for round two of a multifaceted storm system that's going to affect us for several days. i want to zoom out and show you what's headed our way, about 250 miles out there in th

. >> reporter: residents in filton are keeping an eye on the san lorenzo river. >> what happens if they get a tree that falls into a river, what happens is it gets a bunch of logs coming down from boulder area, gets in here and gets a log jam and if we are not in that area to see it and it starts building up and that's what happened to us last year. >> reporter: row says he will be getting up in the middle of the nitrogen tonight to check the water levels and like other residents he is hoping the impact of this storm will be a bit less than anticipated. >> you get worried. >> yeah, we get worried because three or four feet will float that trailer line. >> reporter: and manny is not taking any chances. heavy rains mean portions of his home can flood so he is stocking up on sandbags before it is too late. >> every year we got a lot of water that comes down the hill and if we divert it from the highway we divert it so it goes down the storm drains. >> reporter: in terms of driving in these conditions the chp says it is also a good idea to check your tire treads and tire pressure. at the su

. >> reporter: residents in filton are keeping an eye on the san lorenzo river. it can flood over the creek and into nearby homes. >> what happens is if we get a tree that falls into the river what happens is it gets a bunch of logs coming down from boulder area, it gets a log jam and if we are not in the area to see it and starts building up, that's what happened to us last year. >> reporter: rose says he will be getting up in the middle of the nitrogen to check water levels and he is hoping the impact of this storm will be a bit less than anticipated. >> you get worried? >> yes, we do. because 2 or 3 feet will float that. >> reporter: manny is not taking any chances either. heavy rains mean portions of his home can flood so he is stocking up on sandbags before it is too late. >> every year we get a lot of water that comes down the hill and if we divert it from the driveway prevents it from coming into the garage and also our neighbor's yard and stuff much so we try to diverge it so it goes out the storm drains. >> reporter: in terms of driving in these conditio

school officials in san lorenzo are warning parents about a man that tried to lure a child outside anlementary school. a girl from delray elementary school reported that a man drove up to her and told her to get in. she refused and immediately told school officials about it. the district notified parents about the incident through automated phone calls last night. >> the berkeley city council has delayed a vote whether to honor the military whistle-blower who claims to have fed classified information to wikileaks. some council members want more time to look into the issue. here's abc 7's allen wong. >> he did this for us, the nation. we have the responsibility to return the favor to him. he is a hero. he needs our support. >> the proposed resolution would honor private bradley manning for leaking sensitive information and causing an international embarrassment for the u.s. >> i'm urging you not to vote for this resolution to call this trader, bradley manning a hero. if he has done what he's accused of doing, he has endangered his fellow troops is manning is in a military jail facing a

reporter: in the nearby town of felton this resident is preparing for the possibility that the san lorenzo river will overflow at the covered bridge. when that happens, that means tense times. >> when the river fills up it goes into that ditch and comes straight up here. >> reporter: so when you see the weather forecast -- >> the guy comes by with a bull horn and says you need to evacuate. >> reporter: now, for residents in mountain communities, obviously one of the big concerns is power outages. so emergency workers say now is the time to stock up on those alternative cooking sources, water and obviously a radio, anything to get through what could be happening over the next few days, allen. >> got to be prepared. all right, mark sayre in santa cruz, thank you. >>> in the east bay, people are also loading up on sandbags. while pg&e crews do what it takes to keep the wind damage and the flooding to a minimum, sherry hu in oakland with what's being done. >> reporter: allen, wouldn't now it's been drilling all day and within the past half hour, it's really starting to come down. the city has

the san lorenzo river that has a history of flooding. neighbors are worried this time does the ground is already saturated from the previous stores. and more rain is on the way. >> in a stressful, you gotta make sure the lawyers that this move. or you could come home from work and everything is flooded. so you really have to think about it before you leave huge paper work. >> as a saturday night the level was about 6 ft., once it reaches 14 ft. that is one this river floods nearby streets. with several more days of rain the neighbors here know they are not out of the woods yet. i and all lin kron4 news. >> you can get the weather any time at our website. just log onto kron4 dot com a click on the weather tab. >> it appears to do that ask don't tell will be overturned. in a recession that set it voted to repeal this controversy all measure. and that's not all the lawmakers worked on, shall be lin take a look a congress's last minute session. >> the house resolution 2965, is adopted. >> stated ends a military policy of but discrimination,

and in the san lorenzo valley, rob fladeboe, kron 4 news.the more californians are traveling over the holidays than last year and that is been reporting from aaa with 12 million will travel over the holidays. that is up 3% from 2009. 10.6 million are expected to get behind the wheel. and the number of travelers flying is also increasing with 478,000 californians. and with the increase on the economy that is good news for business. >> what the senate republicans blocked the dream act. it would have allowed several emigrants to gain legal status if they had college where military status. that just happened moments ago. the dream act has failed to move on. congress is in a special session, today. 7 7? charlie, zach and jb have a reputation at st. jude children's research hospital. we're 'the three musketeers'! three friends... each with a brain tumor. they came from across america to st. jude where we've helped raise their survival rates to as high as 85%. do you wanna be the fourth musketeer? oh, do i! one for all and all for fun! give thanks

children in san lorenzo trying to play baseball are having to deal with vandals and a trashed playingfield. the field is covered with junk like a refrigerator along with graffiti, even in some cases condoms and needles. the little league is constantly having to clean up. >> this is for the kids. they are taking the field away from us. >>> the league is asking members of the community to keep an eye out and to call police when anyone suspicious comes on to the field. >>> following some developing news right now, a brazen robbery at an east bay drugstore. the one clue police are already looking at. the culprit is on the lose. >>> and we have the computer model behind me, and rain is headed our way for tomorrow afternoon and evening. >>> at&t beefs up it's coverage with the new wifi hot spot. where a new wifi hot spot will soon be open to all at&t users. >>> we're following developing news right now. at about 8:00 this evening a masked gunman entered the walgreens not far from lake merit. the gunman pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money. one witness said he walked into the stor

is still looks good after early morning problems on the nimitz through san lorenzo were before the wellhed this morning but no residual effects there now. a golden gate bridge ride is fog be narrowed to but you can see no fog advisory has been issued for the golden gate bridge. muni metro have been early morning problems they say now they have just cleared. it affected only inbound trains they had the destruction at 21st and judah for while were substituting shuttle buses but we just checked with me a few moments ago and they say there may be residual delays but otherwise things should be back to normal there fairly quickly. that is really the only mass transit problem reported so far this morning. keeping an eye on wall street now from the kron 4 newsroom here is james. >> keeping our eye on the big board as i expected stocks are positive the dow was up 4 1/2 the s&p is up 3.9 nasdaq up 7.6 at this hour. so far so good better than expected labor department report on jobless benefits last week. the outlook looking better on the jobs front we are following the latest out of london for th

children in san lorenzo trying to play baseball are having to deal with vandals and a trashed playing field. the field is covered with junk like a refrigerator along with graffiti, even in some cases condoms and needles. the little league is constantly having to clean up. >> this is for the kids. they are taking the field away from us. >>> the league is asking members of the community to keep an eye out and to call police when anyone suspicious comes on to the field. >>> following some developing news right now, a brazen robbery at an east bay drugstore. the one clue police are already looking at. the culprit is on the lose. >>> and we have the computer model behind me, and rain is headed our way for tomorrow afternoon and evening. >>> at&t beefs up it's coverage with >>> we're following developing news right now. at about 8:00 this evening a masked gunman entered the walgreens not far from lake merit. the gunman pointed a gun at the cashier and demanded money. one witness said he walked into the store, saw what was going on and quickly left and called 911. >>> tonight a bicyclist is

reporter: in the nearby town of felton this resident is preparing for the possibility that the san lorenzo river will overflow at the covered bridge. when that happens, that means tense times. >> when the river fills up it goes into that ditch and comes straight up here. >> reporter: so when you see the weather forecast -- >> the guy comes by with a bull horn and says you need to evacuate. >> reporter: now, for residents in mountain communities, obviously one of the big concerns is power outages. so emergency workers say now is the time to stock up on those alternative cooking sources, water and obviously a radio, anything to get through what could be happening over the next few days. >> mark sayre, you this. >>> in the east bay, people are also loading up on sandbags and pg&e crews are doing what they can to keep the damage do a minimum. sherry hu in oakland with what's being done. >> reporter: maintenance crews have been out and there are pickup points throughout oakland so folks can get their sandbags tonight and throughout the weekend. >>> reporter: mike patterson and alan goldberg two

bart kron 4 news >> hear the santa cruz mountains residents of ben lomond and other communities in san lorenzojor. it is much as 10 in. of rain perhaps more will come down here in the next several days. that means folks will be keeping a close watch on the salmon runs a river. it's about train have the right now but has a reputation of rising fast. caltrans, pg&e and public works crews are also gearing up for the inevitable down trees, power outages and washed it roads that often results in such a storm. in the santa cruz mountains rob kron 4 news >>. in vallejo police raided this house yesterday morning and arrested 30 year-old samuel cal are from the backs with at least two young girls. the house is being used as a day care center for children. live in the house with his parents who operated the day care center. police say he took a new photos of an year-old girl, police also say that he inappropriately touched another girl who for four years stand. he said a county jail and nearly $1 million sale and a suspended the day care license. in vallejo kron 4 news. >> and another big story the tax

. >> if you've got a roof that is problematic you come to a place here and buy what we call san lorenzo roofing. >> in boulder creek the fire chief isn't worried about the rain but one two punch the storms bring. >> we're concerned with roads closed. >> whit comes to wet roads there is a standard warning. slow down, give yourself more time and allow for more breaking distance. >> this yes. i've just got my license. it's nerve wracking driving in the rain. >> many businesses and homeowners have generators. and there is a rite of passage you have to deal witness. it runs newcomers out of the value yeechl they realize they don't have power and so it's a net gain. >> and highway 17 behind me can be a bad commute in weather like this so far has been accident-free. abc 7 news. >> and now going inside. >> yes. please. >> city of oakland is offering free rain gear to people volunteering to maintain a drain. you have to keep your debris out of neighborhood storm drains. find out how to sign up just go abc 7 news.com. >> and also on the web site there is live doppler 7 there if you want to track

. >>> a san lorenzo little league baseball team wants help in cha catching the vandals who keep trashing trashing their ball field. the field behind edenfield middle school is covered with garbage, graffiti, condoms and needles. they spent most of their saturdays repainting and c leaning up. but days later, the field is usually trashed all over again. the league is asking residents in the community call the police if they see anything suspicious. >>> drivers in from montwon't be able to use part of one road today. stevenson boulevard will be closed between civic center drive. the closure begins at 9:00. the work is expected to be finished by::00 this afternoon -- 3:00 this afternoon. while the road is in place, place. >>> it's been pretty quiet but sal tells us there is a problem in hayward. sal? >> that's right. southbound 880 on "a" street there is an armed car that g ot -- armored car that got in an accident. the armored car has leaked about 10 gallons of diesel on the side of the road there and now they have to get out there with the fire crews to put some absorbent on the roadway. f

there's a slowdown souf san lorenzo and san leandro. 238 going through hayward is an alternate.nison. there was an accident turned into a car fire, now it's still an accident, the fire is out. still in lanes. that was a considerable distraction for the south bay commute, rob. >>> weatherwise, distractions might be patchy fog around the bay area right now. the rain still up on the north coast. that will slowly slide further south. today not a bad day, upper 50s and low 60s around 2:00. cooling as we head towards 4:00 today. our evening temperatures, again we'll see 30s and 40s tomorrow morning. for the north bay showers late thursday. for the rest of the bay area as we head into friday. more news after the break. >>> temperatures are down but the surf is up so the annual maverick surf competition could happen at any moment. the famous surf contest could happen any time between today and february 28th. the newly named jay's at mavericks big wave invitational is known for 20 to 40-foot waves a half a mile from pillar point harbor. the event only takes place when there are ideal con