. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi, i'm sara donchey. >>> the first few hours of the new year are supposed to be about hope for a fresh start. it is a celebration of better things ahead and it is safe to assume the thousands of people who were out in new orleans' french quarter were looking to do just that, to celebrate, when something happened this morning that would cut multiple lives short in an instant. a man rammed a truck through crowds on bourbon street and we know at least 15 people died as a result. police say the driver was shamsud-din jabbar. he lived near houston, texas, where police swarmed in today to try and get answers. people in new orleans when this happened say they saw the truck crash into the people and them flying into the air. >> there was a car that went through the crowd. >> hit a bunch of people, came back, got out, started shooting right there in front of the door. a bunch of people started screaming and my husband shoved me. >> it is now considered to be the deadliest car ramming incident in u.s. history. iva

we switch over to sara donchey. >> welcome back from vacation, paul. >>> at 6:00 vallejo names its newice chief and it's the man who has been in charge of the embattled department the last two years. >>> plus it's been two weeks since part of the santa cruz wharf collapsed into the ocean and now we know when it's set to reopen, or at least part of it. >>> they've trained thousands of people in self-defense classes, but now the owners of a local nonprofit need help themselves after their gym flooded twice. the news at 6:00 is coming up in about ten minutes. >>> now let's head to vern for a look at sports. >> kpix sports is powered by kia, movement that inspires. >>> nfl up top and the 49ers, one more regular season game left. the pro bowl committee couldn't wait. four 49ers named nfc alternates, four more as nfc starters, fred warner, nick bosa, george kittle, and kyle juszczyk selected. it's the ninth straight trip for juice, the most ever by a fullback. >> it's something that you don't want to take for granted even though it's been nine years in a row, to still have that recognition a

. >> for kpix5, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hello, i'm sara donchey for the second night in a row, parts of california look like a hellscape. multiple times we heard from fire officials, seasoned journalists. long time residents. that they have never seen anything like this. multiple fires including a few new ones are burning across la county. these are pictures of another fire that popped up a little while ago in the hollywood hills. the sunset fire. just above a very densely populated area. there were mandatory evacuations in this area. another fire broke out in the hills of studio city. this is about five miles or so from the fire we showed you in the hollywood hills. flames engulfed multiple homes. one of them collapsed on live television. just unbelievable. the palisades fire is still burning. it has burned almost 16,000 acres and hundreds of homes. they are tallying up the damage and the number will surely climb. the eaton fire has taken entire blocks in both altadena and pasadena where not just homes burned but businesses like a bank, a martial

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey. >> hi, i am sara donchey alongside chief meteorologistul heggen, we are watching a major disaster playing out in parts of southern california. >> this is essentially a worst case scenario, when it comes to wildfire conditions. there are now multiple wildfires burning out of control. it has already been a long night there. unfortunately things are only going to get worse overnight. >> yeah, we are seeing that happen right now, we will run down the absolute wild video we have seen today and tonight, these are live pictures courtesy of our stationed in downtown los angeles, this is the palisades fire burning alongside a site. this fire has exploded over the last couple of hours, well, as you can see, not really what firefighters want to see, given how strong the winds are right now. >> right, the wind is a huge part of the problem. the fire want to burn uphill and you can see that play with his life video. but the wind is actually pushing the fire downhill in a direction it doesn't want to go , including places that are ordinarily out of the

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi. i'm sara donchey. >>> to say there has been debate about policing in the bay area is a pretty big understatement and one of the many controversial topics has been how and when police can go after suspects in their patrol cars and people in oakland are weighing in on its police department's chase policy. this comes weeks after the governor himself said the city's policy is just too restrictive for police. right now oakland police can only chase suspects of violent crimes or of gun offenses. oakland crime dropped by more than 30% in 2024, but many people feel unsafe in their communities still. andrea nakano spoke with people who have mixed views of the pursuit policy ahead of a town hall. >> end no chase! end no chase! >> reporter: the group of ralliers wanted police to take a more aggressive approach to fighting crime. >> the word has gotten out that oakland is a great place to commit crime. >> reporter: pursuit policy has received a lot of criticism from residents in oakland where off

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi. i'm sara donchey. >>> just like that, the bay area political scene has totally shifted. san francisco is getting a new mayor with a new mandate on wednesday and things are already looking very different in oakland. three new oakland city council members were sworn in today, but despite the new faces they're dealing with some very old problems. the biggest one? a $129 million problem, the budget crisis, which we'll get to in a minute, but this is what the newcomers said after taking the oath of office today. >> we're at our best when we focus on the pragmatics of problem solving and our worst when we attempt to locate ourselves within larger ideological movements. >> every move i make i promise i'll do it in the best interest of oakland. >> yet my heart is overjoyed for the opportunity to work alongside all of you to really help uplift oakland. >> also today the council selected a second interim mayor since sheng thao was recalled. kevin jenkins was chosen to be interim mayor. barbara

i'm sara donchey. >>> we are starting off with some breaking news. a huge fire is burning at a battery storage plant in monterey county. this is where that fire is burning. it's at the moss landing power plant just off cabrillo highway south of watsonville. we covered this facility back in 2022 when pg&e first cut the ribbon on a new power storage project. it was at the time the utility's largest storage facility. it is now operated by texas-based vistra energy. andrea nakano is live near the plant for us tonight, which is still burning. what do we know about what is going on down there? >> reporter: details are still coming in on this incident, but i'm just outside the moss landing power plant and as you can see behind me, there is quite a bit of smoke still going up in the air and that bright orange glow has become a little bit calmer as the evening has gone on. it was much brighter about an hour ago, but it's been a very chaotic night for nearby residents watching this fire burn and getting orders to evacuate their homes. >> just fear fire and smo

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi. i'm sara donchey. >>> we try to think of a word to describe the catastrophe that has been unfolding in southern california over the past few days and relentless comes to mind because as one fire starts to come under control, another one pops right up. this is the kenneth fire that was burning in the hills near calabasas. it has already burned 1,000 acres across two different counties and led to a whole new set of evacuation orders and warnings tonight. it is 35% contained. so they are making some progress on that front. we just learned not too long ago that ten people have died as a result of some of these other fires burning in l.a., but that number will probably go up. two confirmed deaths are from the palisades fire. cadaver dogs have been working in malibu where it seems they may have located a body or some human remains. in the aftermath of the eaton fire 83-year-old rodney nickerson's remains were found after his home burned to the ground in altadena according to his daughter wh

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi. i'm sara donchey. >>> it is a new day in our country and for some people that is something to celebrate, but for others it is a deeply scary thought. no matter what side of the aisle you're sitting on, we all got to witness this administration hitting the ground running. president trump signed almost 200 executive orders, memos, proclamations. some of those include pardoning the 1,500 people involved in the january 6th capitol attack. he declared a national emergency at the southern border, signed an order reinstating the federal death penalty, pulled the u.s. out of the world health organization and paris climate accord and signed an order to try and rename u.s. landmarks, including changing the gulf of mexico to the gulf of america. the president is working to undo what was done by previous democratic administrations, which is probably pretty jarring for largely blue state like ours. >> the question for people in democratic states and progressive areas is how much states will want t

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi. i'm sara donchey. >>> if ever a city needed a crisis pr team, oakland certainly might. the city has no shortage of well publicized problems like crime and blight and that has become part of its brand , not just here in the bay area, but really all over the country, but if you ask people who live in oakland, a lot of them will tell you pretty enthusiastically they're city is so much more than its bad reputation. it is beautiful, for one, and its incredible food scene is one of the most exciting ways to celebrate its many cultures and that's what restaurant owners are banking on when it comes to changing people's ideas about the town. our kelsi thorud talked with several business owners who want oakland's new reputation to be dining destination. >> reporter: what better way to showcase the energy and joy of a city than through its food? that's the newly launched oakland restaurant collective's vision when they hope their brand, savor oakland, will inspire. >> the one thing that is arcan

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi. i'm sara donchey. >>> a father is trying to find answers tonight after a shooting in a san francisco neighborhood. a man died and his girl friend is fighting for her life. their son was hurt but is expected to be okay. andrea nakano spoke with the family members about what happened. >> a year and a half, yeah. he's going to have to grow up without the dad and everything. he's going to have to grow up without the dad. >> reporter: anthony thomas mourning the loss of his son as he arrived at the home where the shooting happened. >> he took his life for some strange reason. >> reporter: thomas says it was his son that shot his girl friend and turned the gun on himself. >> today, my birthday, and what a present. so i just tell people to stay away from guns and just try to work out your problems the best way what you can. >> reporter: investigators have been on the scene trying to piece together what happened inside this bernal heights home. police say they got a call of a shooting just af

. >>> hi, i'm sara donchey. bribery, conspiracy, corruption, a political pay to play, and prosecutors say oakland's former mayor was at the center of it all. sheng thao is in some serious legal hot water. she was hit with a slew of charges and turned herself in to the federal courthouse in oakland today. she was silent at the time. her lawyer has insisted since she's innocent. thao and three other defendants all entered no plea. >>> thao and davis and andy duong's are named in the indictment. they run callaway solutions, a recycling solution. stemming from a period before and after thao took office two years ago. oakland voters recalled her a monthing a. >> we are not just up here. i'm not your traditional politician. >> reporter: the illegal conspiracy began around october 22 before the november 2022 oakland mayoral election. weeks before that election, thao made commitments to take official actions, as mayor, that would benefit the duong's. >> reporter: from there, patrick robins gave a brief tour of the gover

. >>> from kpix, this is the late news with sara donchey on cbs news bay area. >> hi, i'm juliette goodrichra is off tonight. new developments in the case of a 24-year-old woman found dead more than two years ago. alexis gabe was discovered in amador county after an intense search. she had been abducted and murdered by her ex-boyfriend in 2022. the oakley police chief at the time said the search for gabe was the biggest case in the department's history. and for almost three years, gabe's family has been fighting to get justice for their daughter. but now they say there isn't enough evidence to make the case they'd hoped. andrea nakano spoke with the family and their attorney, who says the system failed alexis gabe. >> smiling. >> reporter: january 26, 2022, changed the gabe family forever. 24-year-old alexis left to hang out with friends and never came home. three years later, their hope to find justice for their daughter comes to an abrupt end. >> we are very disappointed. you should see my wife, she was just, you know, so mad. >> reporter: evidence eventually pointed to her boyfriend mars

. >>> hello, i'm sara donchey, on a very difficult friday night.en southern californians were hoping things might get better, the winds die down there after all. things seem to be getting worse tonight with entire neighborhoods that have been nowhere near these fires that are having to evacuate because the palisades fire is spreading towards a very populated part of los angeles. let's go ahead and take a look at some of these live pictures as it's burning right now, courtesy of the helicopter from our sister station in los angeles. a brand new flare-up is burning towards both brentwood and incino. the palisades fire has taken out 11,000 structures, many of them homes. it's only 8% contained, but again this is the problem and where the fire is advancing is incredibly concerning for first responders. now the eaton fire has burned more than 13,000 acre. it's only 3% contained tonight. a curfew is in place right now. but earlier a lot of people did get to go back to check on their homes or survey the damage. our katie nielsen was in altadena along with

i'm sara donchey in for juliette tonight. >>> we start in vallejo where the police department's new leadership is not so new, after all, after what the city called a robust national search. it officially named interim police chief jason ta as the new permanent chief. ta will formally take over a department where officer conduct has made international headlines, most notably, the high profile police shootings of willie mccoy and sean monterrosa that happened before ta joined the department. the killings resulted in firings, multimillion dollar settlements, and oversight from the state attorney general. the department is also dealing with a staffing shortage that prompted calls for the governor to intervene. as kara st. cyr shows us, the city manager has full faith this ta, but some critics are expressing doubt. >> reporter: after seeing firsthand high crime rates in vallejo, arthur joyner is looking for serious change in the police department. >> we're not giving good responses to the crime that's happening around town. it's kind of hard to get an officer out there to investigate. >> reporter:

>>i'm >>> i'm sara donchey.t 6:00, a life saving message that is impossible for travelers to miss. how local families affected by overdose deaths are trying to prevent others from suffering the same fate. plus a new canine in the richmond police department is not there to solve crime, but officers say her job is just as important. those stories and more coming up at 6:00. >> thank you, sara. >>> ice skating if your best beach wear. that's how some people rang in the new year. it's a knob to a popular canadian tradition. people are encouraged to wear their most inventive beach attire to the ice. you can see only a couple of people are actually participating here. a lot of people are not getting the memo there. but yeah, there were some cool prizes for people awarded on theme, originality, and overall appearance. >> i love this city. i want to support anything that could help this city revitalize. i love downtown s.f., and i love union square. this is one of the things i can do to help support downtown. >> well, t

baseless," and today's federal indictment is sending shock waves through the city of oakland as sara donchey follows some of the reaction coming in. >> after this big announcement today, some of sheng thao's political opponents were very quick to condemn the former mayor, perhaps totally unsurprising news there. former oakland city councilman loren taylor lost to thao in the 2022 mayoral race. he was one of the targets of all of those negative political mailers allegedly sent to try and boost thao's campaign. he said today," it's clear the alleged corruption had an impact on the outcome of the election." >> it's about oakland voters, their choice, their ability to have real representation being stolen and we have to restore the system, restore faith and trust in the system and we have to start working for oaklanders. >> and also organizers of the effort to recall sheng thao which was successful, as we all know, also talked today. they have been vocal throughout this entire process and now they're saying the charges justify that recall which again already happened. thao faces up to 20 years i

. >>> i'm sara donchey in for juliette goodrich. a live look at the french quarter in louisiana.e learning about the driver behind the terror attack and why investigators think he acted alone. a father in mourning after a tragic start. >> i did not get a chance to make it here on time to stop it. and, now, he is gone. >> what we are learning about the deadly shooting that also injured a toddler. >>> plus, starting today, south bay leaders have new authority to clear homeless encampments from creeks. how the lack of housing can keep them from using the power right away. >>> in tonight's project earth, looking back at president jimmy carter's green initiatives that were ahead of his time. >>> a new year is bringing a new crack down in san jose. they can enforce a ban on encampments near waterways like coyote creek. the goal is to deal with trash and other safety issues. they are still trying to figure out where to house people that are kicked out. >> so, i have another, a red thing right there, that is my shower. and that is my tent where i sleep. under the other gray tarp. >> repo

. >> from kpix, this is "the late news with sara donchey," cbs news bay area. >> i'm juliette goodrich is off tonight. >>> wind- fueled fires burning in southern california. the hughes fire burning 30 miles north of the palisades and eaton fires near castaic. 31,000 people are under evacuation orders. but there's good news about where the fire is burning compared to the palisades and eaton fires. >> we're not dealing with a large population and a large amount of residential homes as we saw with those two fires. out here, it's more sparsely populated. however, out here, we are dealing with high winds which we also saw with the other fires, along with thick fuel bed, very receptive fuel bed, and a steep topography again. >> the hughs fire's already burned more than 10,000 acres across los angeles and ventura counties, but fire crews are hoping to gain some ground if the winds subside overnight. it is 14% contained at last check. >>> at least 23,000 people are under evacuation warnings from the fire. an elementary school in castaic was part of earlier evacuations today. people nearby said

. >>> hi and happy new year, i'm sara donchey, in tonight for juliette. attention grabbing for sure. the photos belong to people as young as the 1-year-old who lost their lives to fentanyl. advocates say campaigns like these are a part of the reason that overdose deaths dropped by 17% nationwide from july of 2023 to july of 2024. in san francisco, overdose deaths are down nearly 23% through the most recent data released in november. one of the families behind these billboards has been fighting fentanyl for half a decade. the tragedies motivating them. and to make sure no one else suffers that same fate. >> i knew it would be hard, but they hit differently than to see them where they should be there. >> reporter: lisa marquez is talking about her son, fernando, who died in 2020 at 17 years old from an accidental fentanyl overdose. >> there are so many young people over there. >> reporter: it is a part of the fentanyl awareness campaign, where the picture of 31 young people are featured on the digital billboard off 101 near the san jose airport. >> they're

>>>>hi, i'm sara donchey. we have made it to the final few hours of 2024 here in the bay area, and whether this year was a great one for you, or if you are ready to leave it behind, 2025 is just around the corner either way. in fact, it is already here for the people on the east coast. this is what it looked like in new york city's times square just about an hour ago, when they rang in the new year. for us, our fireworks shows have not started just yet. the big one, of course, is in san francisco, along the embarcadero, where people have been streaming in all evening to get a good spot to watch. our kelsi thorud is there. >>>>reporter. >>the chilly weather didn't stop too many. started off with some charcuterie. charcuterie and a little bit of brut, and we're about to go to the water bar and just have some oysters and have a good time. pete little told >>>>us >>he grew up in >>>>martinez, >>moved to san francisco. he says this will be >>>>his >>first time ever taking in the city's new year's fireworks. i'm ver

>>>>hi, i'm sara donchey. we have made it to the final few hours of 2024 here in the bay area, and whether this year was a great one for you, or if you are ready to leave it behind, 2025 is just around the corner eitheray. in fact, it is already here for the people on the east coast. this is what it looked like in new york city's times square just about an hour ago, when they rang in the new year. for us, our fireworks shows have not started just yet. the big one, of course, is in san francisco, along the embarcadero, where people have been streaming in all evening to get a good spot to watch. our kelsi thorud is there. >>>>reporter. >>the chilly weather didn't stop too many. started off with some charcuterie. charcuterie and a little bit of brut, and we're about to go to the water bar and just have some oysters and have a good time. pete little told >>>>us >>he grew up in >>>>martinez, >>moved to san francisco. he says this will be >>>>his >>first time ever taking in the city's new year's fireworks. i'm very