downed trees and power and travel delays are whipping across the bay area. >> and the advisories are ahead on most bay area bridges. the drivers of trucks and trailers are urged to use caution. i'm carolyn johnson. >> i'm dan ashley. fierce wind is causing problems in the bay area. >> crews are working as quickly as possible to get to every call just as soon as they can. abc7 is live in hayward for us tonight. >> carolyn and dan, i am here and every once in awhile the wind will die down, but it whips right back up again. sadly somewhere there is a poor tree that probably isn't going to survive.

pg&e and clean up crews have their hands full as the bay gets battered by strong wind gusts. the sausalito street, one of the early areas to lose power. >> a tree blowing in the wind and had a branch break and pushed them together and fell down. >> about 30 customers were in the dark. >> they have the energy transformer that feeds it and they are putting the wire together and putting the wire back up in the air. they will probably have the power back on in about a half an hour. >> do you think it will get worse later on? >> it seems like it. it seems like it has been picking up steadily all day. we are ready. >> the highway patrol got into the action responding to northbound 238 and 880 in castro valley where another tree fell victim to the winds. the road was clear, but cal trans needed to come and deal with the tree. in hayward, this crew has been working over time. >> it has been crazy. we get off work at 3:00 and we came in at 3:30 in the

afternoon and were non-stop. there are trees like this all over the city. >> especially along hisperian boulevard where there is more than one tree to chop up, and the night is not over yet. >> we will just make the best of it. >> the crew had already been out on about eight calls. i called them to see where they were, and they say they are at the yard standing by, but it will be a long night and they will be out there again. abc7 news. >> it will be a long night. the high winds are causing damage all-around the bay area. in sonoma county, pg&e crews worked to clear downed lines in an unincorporated area. and in calistoga a downed power line started a fire at a winery, and no one was hurt. th -- here is a picture of the scene. thousands of customers are without power. the central coast is getting hammered. that's where most of the 29,000 customers without power

are located. that's down from 42,000 earlier in the evening. locally the east bay is receiving the brunt of the wind, but hundreds of east and south bay customers as well as some on the peninsula are also affected. a wind-related power outage at los angeles international airport is affecting flights in oakland. a camera caught the power coming back on at l.a.x. where lights were knocked out in the terminals and the nearby streets. a few runways were shut down because fierce cross winds and blowing debris. two southwest flights from oakland international to l.a. have been canceled. two more have been delayed by more than an hour. and it is going to get windier tonight. >> meteorologist sandhya patel is here with a look at that. sandhya? >> carolyn, dan, right now the wind has just begun picking up. it is 60 miles an hour at hawk eye, about a 2,000-foot elevation in the north bay area. it is certainly getting windier. let me show you a live picture from the east bay hills camera. as you lock back toward san

francisco this camera is just shaking. you can see at times it is violently. very windy out there. please be careful. let me show you some of the other wind gusts being reported around the bay area. the north bay mountains gusting to 45 miles an hour. east bay hills, 40 mile-an-hour winds. diablo range gusting northerly to 46 miles an hour. the current wind speeds, oakland airport gusting to 47. it is 39 in livermore and 32 in fairfield. santa rosa, gusting to 37 miles an hour. sfo is gusting to 38 miles an hour which is why be -- we still have a high wind warning until 6:00 p.m. thursday. fwuss to 70 miles an hour down to the ridges. downed strees and power line are out of the question. i will be back to let you know when the winds will finally drop off. carolyn, dan. >> thank you. there is encouraging news tonight about a little boy shot in the head. >> he is still in bad shape, unfortunately, but his family

says he is showing signs of improvement. a vigil was held for him tonight. alan wang is live at children's hospital oakland with the latest there. >> dan and carolyn, this is a traumatic brain injury. the boy is far from out of the woods. tonight's glimmer of hope raises the spirits of the community de demoralized by years of violence. >> keep praying for everybody. we appreciate all of the support. >> after holding a vigil over their son for three days, the parents who turns 2 in december stepped out from the hospital with some positive news. >> >> he tried to move his feet and arms. the voices he recognizes and you have to keep praying for us. >> the boy's father says the swelling around his son's brain has gone down too. >> the stuff he used to say to

me like da-da, juice, stuff he said to me. rubbing his feet, he responds. i just have to keep on pushing and stay strong. >> the father and son were walking out of a store in west oakland on monday night when three men opened fire on a group of people in the parking lot. hirum lawrence, senior was shot in the hand while holding his son and the toddler shot in the back of the head. his mother showed us pictures of him. >> he was on his way down the side with his big wheel. he is something else. he's strong. he was going to go down the slide with that bike. >> a group of people battling the wind were determined to keep their candles lit for hirum, junior. >> sick and tired of the killings, of the murders, of the kids and violence. we are here to say the boys,

the girls, to stop it. >> hirum's grandmother who drove them to the hospital went to thank everyone. >> jesus, i pray to -- pray for this family. >> i keep praying for high baby. just keep on praying. that's all i got. >> in all seven people were wounded in this shooting including a man and a woman who were also in critical condition. oakland police say they are looking for specific people in connection with this case. but so far tonight no arrests. reporting live from children's hospital in oakland, alan wang, abc7 news. >> all right, alan, thank you. the governor and thousands of police officers from around the state were in vallejo to pay tribute to an officer killed in the line of duty. he was remembered as a dedicated officer and a devoted father and husband, and the heart of his community.

a robbery suspect shot and killed him during a chase. the memorial took place where he coached girls' basketball. the former marine leaves behind a wife and three daughters. >> i now plan to take care of my precious mom and my two sisters for the rest of my life dad, i will forever have your back now. you rest in peace. i will be seeing you and i love you. >> there is a trust fund set up for his children. we have information at abc7news.com if you would like to contribute. tonight members of occupy san francisco insist they are not going anywhere, even though the city says tomorrow is moving day. they would not tell abc7 news that police action is planned. last night occupy yes, sirs voted down the city's offer to move them to the mission district. and there is a move to

lower borrowing costs in an effort to prevent another global credit crisis. right now stocks are up across asia and australia with the hang sang leading the pack up sex%. >> up 6%. that comes after the biggest gain on wall street since 2009. the dow soared 490 points today to close above 12,000. we shall see what happens on wall street tomorrow. well, a touching tribute tonight. hundreds turn out to remember those who lost their fight with aids, and how they are hoping to give the world a virtual way to honor a lost loved one. >> and a state law that forces parents to pay back their children. >> and catching the view at joy -- yosemite national park. and then late other "nightline." >> we will bring you behind the scenes of a police investigation. cops are cracking down and paying big bucks for the raw ingregients. and they say they can

>> closed captioning brought to >> closed captioning brought to on this eve of world aids day, 500 people gathered on the national aids memorial

grove at golden gate park. >> as leslie brinkly reports, the beauty of that setting was stark contrast to the disease causing so much pain. >> they were real stories and real people remembered here. >> i think it has been 20 years since he passed away. >> i was 15 when my dad died of aids. it was tough to go through it, but it is amazing to see something like this come out of the whole process. >> this is a magical place of healing for those who lost loved ones to aids over the last three decades. this memorial grove was created on seven acres in golden gate park in 1991. it was 10 years into the aids epidemic when 17,000 san francisco citizens died. >> they were going to more

funerals in a year than birthdays. they started to come here and plant trees. 1 twenty,000 volunteer hours later and 20 years later we have not only the most revered part of this park we feel, but also a federally designated memorial. >> on thursday they will honor bill clinton for making this a national monument. on this night though, the honoree was the first openly gay u.s. ambassador. >> how can we individually and collectively move forward so that world aids day will not become a permanent tradition? >> the dream is by next year to create a virtual grove on-line where people around the world can take refuge. it gives comfort to the marcus family. >> we think he might be looking down and seeing all of this happening right now. >> golden gate park, leslie brinkly, abc7 news.

dozens of people in a san jose retirement community are recovering from a norovirus outbreak. the senior citizens started getting sick about two weeks ago, and six had to be hospitalized. the common areas in the facility have been closed since the intestinal outbreak, but they are expected to reopen later this week. tonight california's department of social services is being sued for trying to get money back for overpaid welfare benefits from kids. the lawsuit wants the state to stop trying to get funds from the children whose parents or guardians received the money. critics say it means people trying to get out of poverty are being further driven into it. >> the parent or grand parent, but there is nothing in state law that says you can take money back from a child. >> one woman's money has been cut until she pays back the money since her mother was pregnant with her. they go after adults when

seeking a refuntd of benefits and -- refund the benefits. >> and a combination of equipment failure and high use has slowed the university's e-mail system frustrating thousands of students. a uc spokesman says equipment problems actually started last week but things got worse when they returned from thanksgiving break. at one point there were more than 10 million e-mail messages waiting. they blocked the access from the mobile devices including the cell phones to help the system recover. as we said at the top, strong winds are causing problems across the bay tonight. >> check out this video that was taken outside the embark dare yo hyatt in -- hyatt in san francisco. you can seat christmas trees here and other decorative things toppled over because of the strong winds. >> and now sandhya is here with what we can expect. >> things will remain strong

into the overnight hours. the winds gusting in the hills 50 to 60 miles an hour. with the windy day in santa clara, this submitted by june. you can see the fall colors and the leaves on the ground due to the wind. this is is a dramatic shot captured by scott. this tree branch just snapped out of the winds. here is how gusty it was. these are the peak wind gusts. mount diablo, 71 miles an hour. hayward 51. rio vista 49. livermore got up to 44 miles an hour, and san jose, 36 miles an hour. here are your currents wind speeds. gusting to 36 right now at sfo and out of the north. look at oakland international, gusting to 43 miles an hour. same with livermore. 35 in fairfield. gusts to 35 and mountain view and hayward reporting gusts to 30 miles an hour. so certainly windy out there. he tweeted and he is from san

francisco and he said it is not that cold outside in san francisco. well, look at the ind with. 60 right now. most areas are in the 50s and the 60s. the wind is certainly holding the temperatures up this evening. the strongest winds overnight. the winds will ease up tomorrow afternoon. we are looking at a dry pattern into next week. here is the satellite and the radar. watch these isobars as they get closer and closer. there is a large pressure difference between this area of high pressure and this area of low pressure. because of this large pressure difference we are caught in the middle. that's why we are seeing the winds here. it is not just a bay area event. we have seen strong winds around the state. it is reporting gusts up to 100 miles an hour, and same thing in southern california. whitaker peak up to 100 miles an hour. stronger winds overnight as this area of high pressure starts to sink southward. do expect the gusty winds as we head into your morning commute. by tomorrow afternoon, things will start to ease up.

the high wind warning remains in affect until 6:00 p.m. the gusts to 70. the downed trees and power lines are still not out of the question. and for the lore elevations we are looking at a wind advisory to gusts 50 miles an hour. overnight readings were held up by the wind. we are looking at all 40s, but the morning drive could be a rough one. you will have to hang on to the steering wheel. tomorrow afternoon, windy in the hills to start things off, and then later in the afternoon, the winds will drop off. 66 in santa rosa and 64 an tau rosa and 63 in livermore. mid60s san jose, palo alto, half moon bay. we don't have to worry about the fog. when the winds started kicking up, the colder air came in and the fog was blown away. clear tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon. a 70-degree day in santa cruz. really a mild thursday for you. here is a look at the accu-weather seven-day forecast. the wind will keep things mild. once the winds drop off tomorrow afternoon, we will start to see a slight cooling for your friday and into the weekend.

really, carolyn and dan, no rain. none of the computer models are indicating rain for the next seven days. >> thanks, sandhya. coming up here, a new view of yosemite. >> oh my goodness. all you need to see it, good

animal rights activists are warning of the imminent slaughter of horses for human consumption. 12 days ago congress lifted the ban on funding horse meat inspections. the u.s. department of agriculture says there are no slaughter houses in the u.s. that butcher horses for human consumption. if any were to open, inspections would take place to make sure federal laws are followed. pro slaughter activists say there is a big market for horse meat in europe and asia. talk about nerves of steel. 23-year-old mish walked a tightrope 3,000 feet in the

air at yosemite national park. he even paused to pray for a moment. the rope is one inch wide. he walked across three times with a safety harness. but now what you are watching here, he then walked uh across without the safety equipment, but waited for a crowd of tourists to leave first just in case. they don't need to see that. >> wow. that's some nerve. >> a real man would do it on a half inch rope. come on. that's ridiculous. before lebron james gets back his real job in the nba, he had one thing he needed to do, walk on a tight -- no. a flag football game showdown. scary to think what lebron james would do on a football field for real. sports is next.

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can be short. the former raider defensive

lineman died of a heart attack at age 42. he was a huge man, 6 foot 4 and dominated. he joined the raiders in 1992 and spent 12 years in the nfl and made the pro bowl four times. he spent the past two years coaching at stanford and working with jim harbough and the 49er defensive line this past training camp. >> i want people to know that chester is a good man. he was doing the right thing and helping a lot of people. we are really going to miss him. >> so sad. on the field the 49ers are on the verge of clinching their first playoff appearance since 2002. all they need to do beat st. louis. the niners coming off their first loss. at 9 and 2 they could wrap up a week in the nfc west. in previous years the niners talked about winning the west, but they never made a run at it. he and his teammates are focused on the division title. >> i don't know why our team wouldn't. for every team in the league it is the first goal to win

the division. that's what every team wants to accomplish. now to have it right there at our feet, absolutely we are talking about it fnlt. >> the raiders hit the road to play the dolphins on sunday. moore is back on the field today, but not able to practice. moore missed last week's game with a foot injury. hugh jackson says a win in mim me is important. >> it would be a huge step. to have the opportunity to be 8 and 4 after a long trip to miami would be unbelievable to this football team. >> buffalo receiver johnson did his burris impersonation, and the nfl was watching, and not laughing. the price for that act was a $10,000 fine. johnson also called burris and apologized. football at washington state just got a lot more interesting. the cougars hired mike leach as their new head coach.

he turned texas tech a power house with the spread passing attack. he was fired over a dispute over a discipline of a player. he is back and back in the pack 12. kevin durant plaids a flag football game at oklahoma state and challenged lebron. that game was today in akron. referees and everything. they dualed back and forth. lebron's team was victorious 70-63. does that guy look like a tightened in the envelope or what? -- in the nfl or what? the heat and the thunder #r* happy no players got hurt. that's your toyota sports report. >> she good. >> she 260. >> and fast. >> "nightline" is up next. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm carolyn johnson. 1r* a great

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