good evening. washington could be just a vote and a presidential signing ceremony away from ending don't ask, don't tell. the house passed a bill that would end the military as -- military's ban on openly gay members. amy hollyfield has more. >> democrats are doing all they can to get it repealed by the end of the year. starting january 5th republicans will have control of the house and the speaker in waiting, john boehner, says he will not bring up the repeal of the ban while the united states is at war. >> the motion is adopted. >> and passed handily.

260-175 votes. house speaker nancy pelosi celebrated after the vote. >> it is a very proud day for this congress when we are fighting discrimination and have the power to do so. >> we are all very excited. but we have been disappointed before. >> dick manning is not going to pop the champagne yet. the vietnam veteran was discharged from the air force after a fellow airman outed him. >> i am an 11-year veteran, but i can't collect veterans' benefits. i can't got to the veterans' hospital. i am disqualified jie. he would like nothing -- he would like nothing more than to see don't ask, don't tell repealed, but it still has to get through the senate. and he realizes this will be the repeal's last chance for awhile. >> it is the best time because if we wait it is not going to happen unless it happens now. >> what is not clear to me, amy is what is -- is what the

impact to gays in the military will be on the national readiness. >> retired brigadier general from alameda says he understands these tense on the part of legislators. he has changed his mind on the issue and he says he has been confused by it. but he trusts the military will handle whatever comes its way. >> the military, i believe, is big enough and the command authority of the country to make this work. if it doesn't and we are wrong in my guess about it, we will have to take -- we will have to go back to "don't ask, don't tell." >> they got enough votes to get this through the senate. the senate has a full agenda before the session ends, but senate majority leader harry reid has promised to bring this to a vote even threatening to call senators back after christmas if he has to to get it done. dan? >> amy, thank you. amy hollyfield reporting. bay area house members are lining up against the extension of bush era tax cuts that was overwhelmingly

approved by the senate today. >> at some point are we ever going to talk about living within our means? >> the senate supported the measure 81-19 today, but in the house few liberal democrats support it. they argue a provision to cut the estate tax would give $25 billion to 6600 of the nation's wealthiest families. >> think of what you could do with that $25 billion. first of all, you could reduce the deficit. >> the house could vote as early as tomorrow. president obama wants the bill to pass unchanged so he could sign it quickly, without a deal. taxes for nearly all-americans will go up january 1st. tonight police are investigating the stabbing death of a newark teenager. his friends are calling him a good samaritan. the stabbing happened after 3:30 this afternoon at a bus stop at ceder boulevard and birch street. they believe 17 -- 17-year-old intervened and broke up a fight last week. he was a senior at newark

memorial hospital and a member of the football team. friends say he had a kind heart despite his imposing stature. >> yeah, he was a gentle giant. he was very nice. he was the sweetest person i know. he was big and all of the he was -- big and all. he was huge. i was scared of him at first, but he was one of the sweetest people. >> justice was my bfg, my big, friendly giant. he had my bag and never saw him mad. always smiling and saying what's up and an occasional hug here and there and always helped me through little problems. >> students at newark memorial hospital plan to wear black tomorrow to honor him. police say two people wearing dark clothes and hood des ran from the scene. so far there have been no arrests. the family of an unarmed man shot to death last month by oakland police is in favor of the possibility of an independent investigation by the fbi. derrick jones was shot by two officers responding to a domestic dispute. according to police they

opened fire as jones repeatedly reached into his waistband as he ran. it turns out he was reaching for a small scale and marijuana. the police chief is asking for an independent federal probe. >> there must be an objective view point of what really happened. right now there is too much bias and too many contridictions going on. >> they are already looking into another high-profile police killing going on, the killing of oscar grant. a new push to legalize marijuana on-line. supporters say they will actively back the candidates to be taxed, regulated and legalized. lisa amin gulezian met with south bay supporters tonight. >> we have a long way of hiding those people. >> a small group met to talk about a growing movement. it is called the tea pot party, a political effort sparked by musician willie

nelson after being arrested for marijuana possession last month he said, quote, there is the tea party. how about the teapot party? our motto, lean a little to the left, tax it, legalize it, tax it. a facebook page popped up marking december 15th, the first official meet up day. people in more than 500 cities across the country planned events. >> i think it is a good idea. i personally believe that marijuana is not just forgetting high. >> much like the tee party who backs specific ideals, the teapot party backs candidates who believe in legalizing marijuana. >> i would love to see this getting to the point where we have a marijuana movement party. an actual political party that supports marijuana in general. >> if it is going to be here,

there might as well be regulation and taxation. >> san jose city councilman believes in the tax it, regulate it, legalize it idea. but he is not affiliated with the teapot party. still on monday, the council voted to tax pot clubs 7%. he has always opposed the idea and doubts the movement will change things. >> i don't think it has a lot of popular support, and i don't think the mainstream politicians will be attracted to it. >> the next meet up is scheduled for january 18th. in san jose, lisa amin go legion -- lisa amin gulezian, 10 news. sky 7hd was overhead after the accident on alameda boulevard. the car smashed through a barricade and hit a tree before barreling into the laundry room. the family wasn't home when it

happened. >> i don't know what -- the family was at home when it happened. >> i heard a noise, just like an earthquake. and then all of a sudden i saw the car in my terrace. >> witnesses say the driver didn't appear to have suffered major injuries. police are still trying to determine what caused him to lose control of his car, whether it was speed or perhaps an accident on the freeway. crews are working around the clock tonight lifting four mammoth pieces of steel into place on the new eastern span of the bay bridge. you are looking at time lapse video taken by cal trans showing one of the pieces being lifted 40 stories into the air. the work was supposed to begin tomorrow, but crews got an early start because of an approaching storm. all four segments are expected to be in place by the end of next week. they weigh a total of about $four million pounds. -- four million pounds. >> so far we haven't had an issue with traffic throw downs on the bridge. but the higher we go, the more noticible it is.

so again we would ask motorists to please be safe when driving on the bridge. >> more steel pieces are arriving in february. the tower will eventually rise 525 feet above the bay. >> remarkable. an east bay man says he caught intruders in his house going after his dogs. >> all the raccoons were in the backyard and running up the fence and tree. >> next, why the raccoons in alameda are much more brazen than those anywhere else. >> and a major honor for mark zuckerberg. he is the man with 500 million friends. >> and a study shows overweight people get less pleasure from foods with the most fat. and then later on "nightline,." >> i'm cynthia mcfaden, up next on "nightline" heroic actions at a board member. -- board meeting. and freezing to stay fit. @ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ@ñ= =t

>> closed captioning brought to >> closed captioning brought to there is an alarming number of raccoon attacks taking place in alameda.

why alameda? there is a difference between raccoons on the loose there and other parts of the bay area. abc7's alan wang explains. >> over here raccoons were heading toward this way. >> an open dog door lead to an all out battle at 3:00 a.m. in the kitchen. >> i have always known they were around. >> four full grown raccoons, a 15-year-old lab mix and sophie, a four-year-old chawini. >> i also started doing stuff and you can see where they tried to bite hold of her arm. >> sophie found herself out matched. >> they had a hold of her and was pulling back and off like this with a little dog in her mouth. >> it was an intense 45-second fight. it grabbed sophie by the

shoulder in its jaws. it is the 10th raccoon attack in alameda this year. most involve attacks on small dogs while they are being walked. at least four of the pit owners were bitten. >> we would like to inform the public not to walk the dog after dark. >> the alameda county health department requires locking your dog door at night. the raccoons are losing their fear of humans because too many people are feeding them. they have also noticed that raccoons living on the island city of alameda are more aggressive than mainland raccoons. if you have animals -- if you have animals that are stressed and they are more concentrated. it means more concentration for the meal. health officials say controlling the raccoon population is not the solution. it is controlling the human population that feeds them.

in alameda, alan wang, abc7 news. "time" magazine named its person of the year, mark zuckerberg. he was chosen for changing how we all live our lives. >> the communication between my parents and the rest of my extended family, it is much, much easier now. grandparents and aunts and uncles all get involved. >> zuckerberg started facebook in his harvard dorm room several years ago when he was just 19. today facebook has 500 million subscribers, that's one and a half times the population of the united states. and they have yet to penetrate brazil, china and india. >> all in seven years. remashable. a nice break from the rain, but big changes coming. >> brace yourself for that. sandhya patel is here with what's in store. >> we will see another dry day before we see an extended period of some rain here in

the bay area. substantial rain and snow in the sierra nevada. take a look at this. savor it. this is what today looked like. you will see similar conditions tomorrow. then we won't be seeing sunsets like this for quite some time. we are looking at a stretch of six days of rainy weather. numbers right now looking that it is really getting cold outside. 36 degrees. the numbers are really falling. livermore and napa under clear skies. half moon bay, 39 degrees. cold and frosty in the valleys. stormy period from friday through wednesday with heavy rain and gusty winds at times. tonight we are expecting the temperatures to bottom out below freezing under clear skies. 29 degrees in santa rosa. down to 30 in napa. downright freezing cold in livermore at 32 degrees. these areas you will likely wake up to frost. fairfield, 33.

in places like santa rosa we are already seeing some fog forming. here is the satellite and radar. so we enjoyed a nice, dry day. tomorrow you will have one more dry day with partly cloudy skies. and then as we head toward the next couple days, some real changes are coming. as we head toward 5:00 a.m. on friday, the morning commute is wet. most of the rain is light for friday. it is just a garden variety kind of storm. 5:00 a.m., the evening commute is definitely on the wet side for friday, and then the heavier rain begins. you notice around 1:00 on saturday morning, the santa cruz mountains, also around livermore, these are guidelines for computer models that are showing heavy rainfall in those areas. the early morning hours will continue to be heavy at times and also once again in the afternoon around ukiah you will start to see some heavier rainfall coming in. in the sierra nevada, a winter storm goes into affect friday

afternoon to saturday afternoon. it is rising to 7,000. we are expecting three to six feet of snow above 7,000 feet. heavy, wet snow with the gusty winds will make for some road closures. you will need the chains if you decide to tough it and get up there. saturday is expected to be one of the heavier time periods for rain and snow. so it is going to be mixed precipitation as the snow levels rise. highs for your thursday in the south bay, in the mid50s. 56 san jose, campbell on the pawinsula, similar to today. half moon bay on the coast, downtown san francisco, daily city in the -- daly city in the low 50s. in the north bay, starting out dry, but it could become wet as we head toward friday early morning. 56 in santa rosa, 54 vallejo. east bay communities, low to mid50s for oakland, san leandro. head inland, concord, danville, 54 degrees. around the monterey bay, 55 in monterey. here is your accu-weather

seven-day forecast -- morning frost giving way to a rawn knee friday. heaviest rain expected saturday and tuesday which is the start of winter at 3:38 p.m. sunday some showers. monday morning a brief break, more rain in the picture. you notice it just keeps going all the way through wednesday. so basically starting on friday and continuing until wednesday. >> okay, thanks, sand jaw. well, coming up, they believe fast-food doesn't have to be fat food. >> the san francisco entrepreneurs honored for their eaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaea

research on overeating in the brain shows heavier people get lessen joy meant from rich foods. they find overweight or dimed response on tasty foods like milk shakes. this quality people gaining weight suggest that the award center is overstimulated. >> what if be took the noodles

you wnt and made them port -- want and made them portable. >> a san francisco group won a contest for coming up with a name of a new fast-food. it is a contest that presses social issues. they will receive prize money to use as start up funds. we want to show you how giants fans decorate for christmas. he sent this picture to you report powered by youtube. these lights are on a home at 39th and huh see yuan daw street in san mateo. we want to see what's happening in your neighborhood too. up load your pictures or video to you report at abc7news.com or e-mail us at you report at kgo-tv .com. thanks for the photo. >> good looking giant photo. >> and i can guarantee you if brian wilson pops up out of nowhere in one of the videos, it will be on.

outstanding. we'll show you what sharks coach mclaughlin called unacceptable tonight, fact. the sharks meltdown

frustration rising for the sharks. another third period lead evaporates. nashville comes from behind with three minutes left in regulation. get your camera ready, my man. in music city, rip it and rip it. what a blast. 1-0 men in teal. dan thorton who gets a stick on it. and it finds the net. heatly's 14th of the year. a high angle view. three minutes left and that's when things went terribly wrong. the predators scored twice. first it is sirgay and where is the shark defense? colin wilson wins it with the

game winner and the sharks with a 3-2 crushing loss in nashville. the nfc west may be one of the worst divisions in history, but the niners can still win it. they have to beat the chargers. some 9er fans would prefer a loss and that would trigger new coach, new quarterback. but he is playing for his career at this point. he wants to show 31 other teams he can play. if the niners can win their last three games, they can capture the nfc west at 8 and 8. >> that's what we are talking about. it was all last week our focus,, our mind set. and a short week helps that. >> tickets going fast and furious for the kraft fight the hunger bowl. he lead the wolfpack to a 12 and 1 record and they will play boston college january 9th at at&t park. he was a terrific baseball player before turning to football. psyched about playing a bowl game in the home of the world champ yn giants. >> yeah, it sets the fuse off

in you as far as being out here president whating to play. especially seeing the baseball stadium, it is a great feeling to be out here. >> given the a's injury they will take another chance with rich hardin. the once thought to be ace was hampered, but he agreed on a one-year, $1.5 million contract. he has to pass a physical. he was 5 and 5 with texas e.r.a over five. nba tonight and spike lee and the donald courtside for the knicks and celtics. stoudemire playing out of his mind and this is with authority. paul pierce jumper over amare and nate robinson almost kills himself celebrating and sets up two. last chance here and stoudemire for the win and yes -- no, not so fast. the clock hit zero and the ball was still in his hands. a great shot though from about 27 feet.

no basket. celtics win it 118-116, and that is their 11th straight victory. >> what a game. >> what a killer for them. >> unfor natalie. >> thanks, larry. >> that's what is making news. >> for larry beil and sandhya patel, thanks for joining us. >> appreciate your time and hope to see you again here tomorrow. good night. >> good night, everyone. lightning fast. lightning strong.

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