ew year. that's what's making news in america this morning. >> more on "good morning america" or anytime at abcnews.com. ♪ the attorney general decides the lab technician that took down the san francisco crime lab won't be charged in the case. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live along the embarcadero in san francisco where the barricades are out in anticipation of maybe a quarter million people coming down here to watch the fireworks on new year's eve. i'll have the story of barricade bart and what not to bring to san francisco. coming up in a live report. >> and look! it's already 2011 new zealand, the first place to ring in the new year. >> thickening clouds bringing rain for your new year's. >> good morning. it is pretty much new year's eve

light on the roadways. we'll check areas of construction coming up in a few minutes. >> that's sue hall over there doing traffic. you'll hear more from her throughout this newscast. it's 4:30 on the last day of 2010. i'm eric thomas. >> i'm jenelle wang. the countdown begins 19 and a half hours from now people in the bay area will be ringing in the new year. here in san francisco hundreds of thousands of people are expected abeing lo the embarcadero to watch the fireworks show and police will be out in full force. abc 7's terry mcsweeney is along the embarcadero with more. >> police have a lot to do tonight. it's no holiday for them. of course they're watching out for people drinking and driving and the barricades out here ready to be fastened together later today in anticipation of a quarter million people for the fireworks show down here. take a look at the people who also are working on this new year's eve bringing out the barricades down here. they started about 9:00 last

night. they've got a whole lot to bring out. they're going to be locking them together about 4:30 this afternoon. shortly after the fireworks end, they pack 'em up again. >> ordered about 2,000. a scale of the world series. it was 7,000 for the world series. >> 2,000 you're putting up tonight? >> yeah. >> wow! it's a lot of work and this is what's drawing all these people down here, a quarter million people down to the embarcadero. the fireworks should be spectacular. if you can see 'em. if you are coming down here you are advised not to drive down here. parking is at a premium. bart has an elaborate schedule for tonight. if you want to know more go to abc7news.com and click on "see it on tv."

police watching out for people who get a little too intoxicated, a little too high and they're going to be cracking down. police are going to be working tonight, no doubt about it. don't bring your cars down to san francisco near the embarcadero and there's something else police want you to not bring down here. tell you about that in half an hour. terry mcsweeney, abc 7 news. >> yeah, you can drive but you won't be able to get out. hours to get out. i've been in that before. >> something else to think about if you're one of the quarter million people who will go along the embarcadero to see the fireworks, you may have to bring your umbrella. lisa has the forecast. >> right now it is freezing cold out there with the clear sky partly cloudy in some areas. inside the bay a little warmer. 44 san francisco. look at these numbers and it's not even 5:00 in the morning. we'll drop further perhaps into the upper 20s in some of our protected valleys. 32 napa 33 livermore with 43 san jose.

once again a cold start. the clouds remain offshore but throughout the day today we'll see thickening clouds. that will help keep us a little warmer tonight but look at the timing of the rain. by 9:00 it's offshore. looks like just in time for the new year's. your full forecast in a minute. >> lisa, thank you very much. we're still coming down to the new year. it's already 2011 in other parts of the world. new zealand prides itself on being the first major country to see 2011. thousands welcomed the new year with fireworks and cheers. >> the former san francisco crime lab technician who admitted to taking cocaine evidence will not face state charges. deborah madden still has a pending felony possession charge for a small amount of cocaine detectives say they found in her home. but as for her role in one of

the biggest san francisco stories of the year it is now a closed case. cecilia vega reports. >> the technician at the center of san francisco's drug lab scandal admitted to investigators she took small amounts of cocaine evidence home with her. more than 600 drug cases were tossed in the fallout. san francisco's police chief ordered the crime lab shuttered but the state attorney general is not filing criminal charges against deborah madden and it's a decision that baffles san francisco police and public officials. >> this case had a great deal of complexity to it. we feel very comfortable ms. madden was certainly -- she committed the acts being alleged. i don't want to second gets the prosecution in this case. >> the decision by state attorney general jerry brown's office was made weeks ago but madden's attorney just found out today. the attorney general's office said there was not enough evidence to prosecute the

veteran lab tech. >> she unfairly became the face of the crime lab problems. it definitely was not an issue with my client. what we've seen is that the crime lab and the san francisco police department had serious problems. >> san francisco district attorney recused her office from the case in april and asked the state attorney general to investigate. harris is set to be sworn in as the new attorney general on monday. the a. g.'s office pushed to resolve the madden investigation before she took over. the decision was called outrageous. >> this is the kind of situation where the public scratches their head and say is this a double standard. is this a situation where a police employee who admitted to removing drugs from the crime lab gets off the hook. >> we asked the attorney general's office why this nearly month's old decision is just being made public. a spokeswoman said the agency's duty was only to notify the

district attorney's office because that is the agency that requested this outside investigation. madden's attorney says she has been on pins and needles waiting to find out her fate. abc 7 news. >> san francisco police continue to face questions over whether they should carry tasers two days after officers shot and killed a man inside his home. the family of vin bwi and since they tried to tell officers he suffered from mental illness, the officers opened fire on him after they say they ordered him to drop a knife but he apparently kept moving towards them. george gascon answered questions at a community meeting last night. >> the officers and one gentleman home. the first with the knife. >> he raised the weapon. the officers gave him orders to drop it and to stop. and he was assaulting the

officers when an officer-involved shooting occurred. >> gascon wants his officers to carry tasers but the police commission hasn't authorized them to do so yet. >> a woman escaped from a violent attacker in a convenience store yesterday. here's a photo of the suspect taken just before the attack at a 7-11 on laurel street. he struck the 47-year-old woman several times and then dragged her by the dumpsters and tried to sexually assault her. that's when she got away and ran back into the store for help. we want you to take another look at the suspect. santa cruz police are unsure whether he knew the victim. >> it is 4:38. caltrain will ring in the new year with fare hikes and service cuts. all fares will rise by 25 cents per zone. that means a trip between san francisco and san jose will cost 75 cents more each way. caltrain will shrink its weekday

schedule from 90 to 86 trains. but it's trying baby bullet trains on the weekend. that makes the trip from san jose in san francisco about an hour cutting about 30 minutes off the trip. >> san francisco muni operates hammer out several labor issues. the transport workers union and city officials plan to meet behind closed doors twice next month to discuss contract negotiations. the current contract expires in june. this marks the first time the two sides will negotiate since voters passed measure g in november. the new law gives management more leverage in setting worker conditions while eliminating automatic raises for muni employees. >> it's 4:39. we're gonna ring in the new year tonight probably with showers in the area. >> yeah. let's check in with lisa argen. >> freezing temperatures so it's a tradeoff. warmer night tonight. a slew of temperatures near freezing. 32 napa, 33 livermore.

37 oakland and with more clouds down around san jose and mountain view we've got low 40s there. we'll look at the clouds thickening throughout the day today. sunshine still on the cool side with temperatures today in the 40s for some areas. and so for tonight the rain will begin near midnight. if you're headed out yeah good idea to take the umbrella and know the roadways will be kind of slick out there. the sierra nevada, just a few snow showers here and there. low 30s over the weekend, mid-30s on sunday. we will be looking at the chance of showers coming in right around midnight with temperatures in the mid to upper 40s around pier 14. so planning your day, still in the 40s, temperatures low to mid-50s this afternoon. here's sue with a check on your traffic. good morning. >> good morning. thank you very much. as you can see behind me the bay bridge toll plaza, it's very light out here. new year's eve light.

we've got traffic heading on southbound 680 moving at the limit through walnut creek and driving westbound 24 through the caldecott, that's moving at the limit as well. let's take a look at your drive times really fast. they are pretty good. moving along 92 westbound from 101 to 280. and dumbarton to the tolls is looking good. eric jenelle. >> sue, thanks so much. time 4:41. >> a decision is expected today on where the next america's cup yacht race will be held. is san francisco still the front-runner? >> historic wind down on the farm. stanford ends the l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l

l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

the morning this friday. you're looking at a live shot of the embarcadero, the ferry building. it is going to be jam packed tonight along the embarcadero. a quarter million people expected to watch the big

fireworks show to ring in 2011. we'll get an update on your forecast what it's going to be like with lisa argen. >> here's a hint: bring your rain gear. san francisco should find out whether it will host the next america's cup yacht race. the decision is in the hands of last year's cup winner larry ellison, the ceo of oracle. the deal is all but done in the city's favor. initially it looked like clear sailing for san francisco but things went adrift over differences about which pier to use as a base. ellison reopened talks with newport, rhode island but newport says it needs more time to come up with an offer. >> the new year's eve celebration started a bit early for stanford women's basketball team. (cheers and applause) >> the cardinal women ended connecticut's winning streak at 90 games in front of a sold out maple pavilion.

yukon had won more games in a row than any one division college basketball team men's or women's until the cardinal notched their 71-59 upset. >> it was amazing. such a great atmosphere to play in. >> i'm really proud of our team. the atmosphere was phenomenal. and i think our team really stepped up for that. >> the last time u.conn lost before last night also came to stanford back in april 2008 in the ncaa semifinals. u.conn has won the final four the last two years. it was wonderful. >> how likely are you to win the jackpot? one seven-time winner shares his winning formula. >> a new year brings new weather problems. take a look3q

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. good morning. waking up to some cold temperatures here at home with numbers near freezing. but the big story is in the nation's middle where we're going to see a mixed presip with some snow moving out of the rockies. thunderstorms closing airports already and some thunderstorms moving into st. louis today. get set for a few delays around the nation's midsection and we have our own rain moving in later on tonight. a look at that and your 7-day forecast coming up. more information and to track your flight check out our website at abc7news.com. >> thanks, lisa. rescuers found the body of the missing snowboarder at alpine meadows. the 25-year-old was about 400 feet from a trail in a wilderness area at the back of theal apine resort. she was stuck in snow at the

base of a tree and deputies believe she crashed there when she was snow boarding in near blizzard conditions. >> this morning's blizzard conditions continue in the sierra. ski resorts reported hurricane force wind gusts yesterday. mammoth mountain clocked winds up to 105 mph. it claims to get the most snow of any ski resort in the world at least 17 feet has fallen in the past two weeks beating all records. >> the northeast may be one of the few regions across the country to enjoy good weather this new year's eve but another blizzard is taking aim at the midwest and northern plain states today with phoenix expecting a rare freeze and the south ready for severe weather. emily has the latest. >> on the eve of a new year the weather is beginning to feel a little old. >> we know that the weather is gonna be bad, but we didn't think it was gonna be like that bad. >> snow fell in arizona's grand canyon and in seattle the roads were so icy small hills turned

into insurmountable obstacles. >> one shrubs jamming rocks under the wheels and leaving cars behind. >> i started sliding down the hill. >> the storm system causing all these problems is huge. more than 1500 miles from top to bottom covering roads in 15 states. >> i'm sure glad i bought snow tires this week. >> terrible. long hours. a lot of calls. everybody just running nonstop. >> montana say they've been swamped. denver drivers tried to navigate in 3 feet of snow. and fargo had a 100 car pileup along i-94. californians are dealing with rain damage from last week. >> my insurance company's already denied any help whatsoever. a letter. >> and more damage this week. mudslides caused a boulder to block the main entrance to yosemite national park yet. people putting together floats for the tournament of roses

parade says the forecast looks good. >> everything is going fantastic and we are going to be ready to go. >> in new york city's time square a place slammed by a blizzard, things are looking up for when the ball drops. a predicted 40 degrees at midnight. >> here we are gonna have some rain tonight. it's going to be a lot or just a little what you call nuisance rain. >> yeah. i think that's a good way to play it because we're not going to have the wind and won't have the heavy downpours, just make things kind of messy and keep it kind of damp out there. a live look outside this morning and it's quiet and dry and very cold out there. it's another about three hours with cooling temperatures. and we'll see numbers dip below freezing in some areas this morning. good morning concord. 34 for you. 33 livermore. you woke up to 29 degrees yesterday. you're on your way to another just as cold morning but we have clouds south ends of the bay.

mountain view, 42. 44 san francisco. so we will be looking at the freezing cold temperatures for the next several hours. not warming up until after 8:00. really towards 10:00, 11:00 we'll be mainly in the 40s. clouds will continue to thicken this afternoon and rain arrives with the new year around 11:00 or so tonight. so dry for pretty much the entire day as high pressure hangs on for another oh 12 15 hours or so and then eventually these clouds and rain begin to spill over into the bay area. so we will look for the rain later on this evening. so heading out early that's fine. 11:00 this morning you'll notice we're dry. and then by about 9:00 the rain is in the north bay sonoma county marin county, still hanging off the peninsula. but through the latering evening hours and 3:00, 4:00 in the morning still wet weather and a cold system too coming from the gulf of alaska.

not a lot of moisture but still precipitation in place in the north bay. light rain towards midnight with temperatures mid to upper 40s downtown san francisco pier 14 kind of wet out there and we will be looking as eric said maybe a little more snow in the mountains of southern california. no big storms slated for that area which is good but he talked about the 17 feet of snow. isn't that crazy. previous 140 inches. so with a lot of wet weather, definitely a welcome break out there the past couple days. 52 in the south bay campbell, cupertino, redwood city. along the coast about 50 with increasing clouds pacifica. 51 downtown and in the north bay still upper 40s. a cool afternoon with just 48 calistoga. concord with pleasanton around 50.

monterey bay 53 today with increasing clouds. a look ahead after rain new year's day. scattered showers through monday and then a drier and warmer forecast. good morning sue. >> good morning. let's take a quick look at your traffic. very holiday light. new year's eve light i should say. this is san jose, southbound 280. a few headlights. let's take a look at southbound 101 through marin county. that's lucas valley road upper left and that's southbound towards san rafael light. the bay bridge toll plaza, very light as well. a quick rundown of your mass transit this morning. bart is going to be running its holiday schedule and it will extend service until 3:00 this morning. golden gate transit on holiday schedule. everything is running on time. for up to the minute traffic you can check out our website at abc7news.com. >> all right. sue, thank you very much. it's now 4:54. how would you like to ring in the new year this way.

tonight's megamillions jackpot is expected to be worth $242 million. so what are your odds of taking it all home? ryan owens is doing the math. >> before you wait in that long line to buy a lottery ticket, this man sails you should do your homework. richard is a self-described lottery expert with a pretty impressive resume. he's won seven jack pots. that's more than a million dollars. and he even wrote the book learn how to increase your chances of winning the lottery. >> i started coming up with ideas. some worked, some didn't. >> recipe for lottery luck? first pick your own numbers. >> do not play quick pick. >> second do your research. >> going online and making sure the sets of number you play have never come up before. that's pretty important. >> third, pick your numbers and stick with them. >> you have to learn what numbers to play and how often to play them and so forth. >> not everyone is buying his theory or his book.

we found these comments in an online forum for lottery players. don't waste your money. there is no method. bottom line, spend as much as you can afford, play every day and don't change your numbers. still, what did i have to lose except maybe 20 bucks. so i asked richard to pick numbers for me for friday night's megamillions jackpot. >> so let's take 7, 20 -- >> and i followed his advice religiously. >> 7, 20 32, 45 46 and a megaball of 28. >> hope he knows what he's talking about. >> never mind that statisticians say it's better to be elevated to the supreme court or heaven help us elected president of the united states. you can improve those odds and if he's right about mine i will not be here to tell you about it

next week. >> don't pick those same numbers or else you have to split the jackpot with that reporter. we're going to tell you about a local man who hit the jackpot of his own. this is retired firefighter dale valentine. in the middle he won more than $8 million playing slots when he hit the jackpot at the twin pine casino in lake county on tuesday. those other smiling faces around him are tribal leaders. >> congratulations cousin. i'll be calling. 4:57 now. next on abc 7 news at 5:00, a surprising decision by the state attorney general's office. why charges will not be brought against a san francisco crime lab technician accused of stealing drugs. >> police try to explain why officers were forced to shoot and kill a man inside his own home. >> i'm terry mcsweeney live in san francisco. barricades along the embarcadero can only mean one thing and that is new year's eve. fireworks tonight, folks. it's going to be a wild scene

but let's not make it too wild. we'll hear from the cops find out about