right now he evacuations underway at an apartment complex after boulders started sliding toward a billing. >> the latest on this breaking story. >> reporter: the fire department responded quickly after getting a call about several boulders falling from that hillside.

let's go to the video. the boulders fell on a car parked in that parking lot. the residents closest to that side of the hill have been asked to evacuate. a few firefighters are up there now assessing situation. residents who tried to enter this apartment complex are being told to stay clear of that area. we don't know for sure, but we can assume that perhaps weather or the rain has something to do with this. here's what the battalion chief told me a short time ago. >> i think we are waiting for a different assessment. somebody from bpw to tell us with are to go if here. -- right now i just want to get the people out that would be effective if any more rocks came down. >> reporter: now, that's the department of public works he's talking about. they are waiting for them to arrive so they can assess the situation. fortunate, no one was injured.

what you are seeing right now are small rocks. the concern is if those rocks fell that far out and that's what the chief told me, if they managed to fall that far out it is some concern because they are worried that apartment facing that hill may be in danger. that structure behind me. we'll have more for you later on during the broadcast. for now i'm live on montgomery and pwafrd low ann melendez, abc7 news. >> in napa officials say an escaped inmates about been found after nearly a 14 hour search of the hospital grounds. before 9:30 last night the unidentified patient scaled the fence and escaped. the patient was on the loose inside a 7 acre secured area of the -- a 77 acre secured

area of the hospital. he was never a threat to the general public. the hospital has been the site of several high profile problems in the past few years including an inmate attack that took the life of a staff member in 2010. many staff members have called on the hospital to do more to improve security. san francisco mayor lee wants to talk with the embattled sheriff about his job. he wants to know if ross mirkarimi can give his full attention to the office while battling domestic violence charges. >> reporter: ross mirkarimi was in court this morning as a defendant. he didn't have anything to say about the matter. after appearing here he went to city hall to do his job as sheriff, that's the job the mayor is worried about. he wonders if mirkarimi can stiller is of the people of san francisco. with ross mirkarimi making his second court appearance mayor lee is questioning whether this case is taking too much time from the job as sheriff.

the hair says he plans to talk to mirkarimi -- the mayor says he plans to talk to mirkarimi about the with situation but won't publicly ask him to step down. >> it is up to him. i will do my due diligence. but i think it is appropriate to ask him to make that consideration his own. it is his duties for the public. >> reporter: the sheriff did not answer questions about whether he could still be effective in his job while fighting criminal charges. he has said in the past, he will stay on the job. mirkarimi's wife did not attend this morning's quick hearing. a couple of supporters were here with a sign and t-shirt showing their allegiance. they believe the charges are politically motivated. >> ross is standing for the people the disinfranchise. the power breakers want this for the rich only. >> reporter: prosecutors say eliana lopez went to her neighbor's house and told her about a fight she had with mirkarimi on new year's eve. lopez had her neighbor

videotape a bruise from where she says mirkarimi grabbed her. according to police, lopez says, this has happened once before. lopez is refusing to cooperate with police and says she has no complain against her husband. mirkarimi's attorneys says the evidence against his client is weak. >> i've had a chance to review the materials that have been provided to me. one of the moreover blown cases i've seen -- of the more overblown cases i've seen in the 28 years i've been in the build withing. but we will proceed to trial and be ready. -- >> reporter: prosecutors say they don't comment on pending cases. today's hears was preparing for a february trial start date a few hearings coming up in the next few days -- few weeks. he wants to fight or get a stay away order lifted to keep him from seeing his son and wife. amy hollyfield, abc7 news. opening argument began

this morning in san francisco for an alleged gang member accused of gunning down a father and two sons. prosecutors say edward ramos is part of the ms-13 gang. he alleged shot the man and his sons in 2008 after mistaking them for rival gang members. another son survived and identified -- i've identified ramos. the murder trial is expected to last several months. a stand off ended peacefully this morning. before 2 a.m. officers responded to the report of a dispute in a home near brookdale avenue in the fruitvale district. the suspect barricaded himself in the residence with his 3-year-old girl. s.w.a.t. team members were went in to rescue the child. >> the suspect did give up.

he came out and the year old was unharmed. >> that little girl has been safely reunited with other family members. it is not clear what led up to the disturbance. police took the man into custody without incident. supreme court decision limits rights of police officers. high court ruled officers must get a search warrant before using gps to track down criminals. the justice reaffirmed an appeals court ruling which threw out the drug conspiracy conviction of a washington, d.c. nightclub owner. police installed the gps without a warrant he was sentenced to life in prison before the lower court overturned that conviction. two more bodies recovered interest the wreck of an italian cruise liner. officials in charge of the search effort report divers discovered the remains of two women inside the costa concordia's internet cafe.

that brings the number of confirmed dead to 15. 17 others are still missing. those numbers may increase because it appears there were unregistered passengers onboard. today arizona congresswoman gabby giffords plans to finish a political event that was disrupted by gunfire a year ago. it will be her la last day on the job. she announced yesterday, she is giving up her congressional seat to concentrate on her recovery. >> i have more work to do on my recovery. so to do what is best for arizona, i will step down this week. i'm getting better everyday. >> doctors an say the congresswoman has made great strides in her recovery since being shot in the head a year ago. the man charged in that shooting has been found mentally incompetent to stand

trial. it is a new ballgame in the republican race for president. the four left are pocusing on florida. the site of the next primary next monday. it is newt gingrich's turn in the spotlight after a surprising come from behind win in south carolina over the weekend. mitt romney came in second, 12 points behind. romney who days ago was being called the inevitable gop candidate is looking for ways to bones back. he will debate in tampa -- and agreed to release his tax return tomorrow. the 49er player who made a crucial fumble in the game is getting death threats today contained in twitter post about receiver kyle williams it was a tough defensive battle to decide who would go to the super bowl. williams was returning punts in place of injured receiver and had ball stripped during a run back it lead to this giant's field goal and 20-17

giants' win. officials say there was a steady stream of fans ejected from the game only one serious incident after a fan assaulted a police officer. the story has marked a bit of -- has sparked quite a bit of conversation on our facebook space age. go to facebook.com/abc7news. before you -- mail another letter, the price of a first class stamp just up again. we'll let you know how much. we'll show you how san francisco is preparing to celebrate the new year.

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richmond is the prefered site for a new second campus. the new campus will work in conjunction with the main lab on the uc berkeley campus and will specialize in bioscience programs. the richmond field station is located off 586 miles northwest of the uc berkeley campus. the site must win final approval from the u.s. energy department. >> the lunar new year celebration is in full swing. twepbl 12 is the year of the dragon -- 2012 is the year of the drag again. china's province local village -- -- it is a tradition to parade the bench drag again around local villages and pray

for blessings and good fortune. mayor lee kicks off the first day of a of the spring festival celebration. katie marzullo joins us with more on that story itch >> reporter: happy new year everybody. it is the -- first day ofñ3 the lunar new year the mayor was here for what was an energetic and colorful ceremony. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> reporter: it is the year of the dragon. you're looking at a new 150 foot golden dragon created especially for the celebration here. they say it brings good fortune. the mayor says the dragon is the most powerful of all zodiac animals and brings a good message. >> be bold, be innovative. don't be afraid and take the chances necessary for success and celebration.

what's what i think our city is doing with our great good fortune. >> reporter: also, the mayor is dedicating the year of the dragon postal stamp that also happened this morning. there are a lot of new year's events going on. we've posted a link to our website so you can check out the locations and days. all of this culminating with the chinese new year parade which is on february 11th, 5:15 the largest parade of its kind outside of asia. for more information about to abc7news.com click on see it on tv. katie marzullo, abc7 news. before you head to the post office, you might want to check your wallet, rates have gone up one cent, a first class stamp now costs 45 cents. officials hope it will raise additional 888 million dollars

in annual revenue the hike come as the postal service fights to save by cutting back on hours and closing some retail outlets. >> forever stamps are the solution. >> yes. >> mike nicco ahead with the forecast. >> we were hoping the rain could last forever but it is over, we need more, but maybe not all at once you will see damage photos i received. we'll talk about how warm, sunny and dry it going to get. yes there's finally fresh snow in the sierra. but is it enough to make up for the slow start to the season excitement.

d the water is back on for dozens of homes in the oakland hills after a roadway collapse saturday. a chunk of the road collapsed when the saturated ground crumbled on to the street. the collapse left more than 100 in the area without power and water for a while. crews say it could be days or weeks before the road can be repaired. folk moss make a living in

sierra ski resorts are a hill -- folks who make a living in the sierra ski resorts are a little happier. they are hoping to see up to 30 inches in higher elevations by in afternoon. resorts say they are not likely to make up for the lost business of the holidays even now the snow pack is 25% of average majority of ski runs are closed. could that change? we hope so. >> meteorologist mike nicco is here. once they get snow up there it is gone for a while, right? >> they may be out of the running for more. one storm possibly next week that slides towards them that could bring more snow otherwise they will be in a prolonged dry period like us. remember last fry -- friday we talked no more brown. let's hope everybody gets a chance to enjoy it. let's come back here at home.

as we look from emeryville clouds look angry a few showers still possible this afternoon. doppler seeing a few drifts if in the hills to the east of fremont and milpitas out of the sunol grade and san jose, santa clara, campbell towards los gatos and in the diablo range that's about it as we take the bigger picture storm moving away socking sierra hard right now with heavy snow watch out if you are heading up that way here's the rain totals that is from 4:00 thursday morning to 4:00 this morning. 6 1/2 inches in santa rosa, 2 1/2 san francisco, 2 oakland same in concord nearly an inch in san jose. these storms lived up to their billing. peninsula this morning, i got a tweet and this is her backyard you can see some of the wind damage from the winds this morning. in danville sickmore valley

park the bochy ball -- courts are full of water. sometimes she fills in for frances in the morning. winds calming in most areas west wind gusting 30 sfo. in -- and the trend will be for those to continue to wane this afternoon. mid to upper 50s around the monterey bay and!qx inland. i don't think we'll see much of a change in the temperatures stray shower this afternoon, clear and foggy, dry pattern through the weekend. mid to upper 50s with the sunshine not much of a change monterey bay temperatures in the low to mid 50s as you head inland mid 50s possibly upper 50s as the rain will taper quicker this afternoon. mid 30s inland to 40, upper 30s, mid 40s bay shore to the coast, five to 15 december cooler than this morning front pushing through we will have a

few high clouds through tonight that may stop the initial push of fog but it will be there. look at the storm track, heading back north again that's why we are going to be çó a couple of weeks. at noon everything fades into the afternoon sun overnight clear early and then here come the high clouds and the fog for our morning commute going to be damp tomorrow by tomorrow afternoon i think the fog fades and we'll have sunshine for the afternoon. heading to the sierra, the storm is not finished until 4:00 we still have winter storm warning another 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 feet above 7,000 feet. we had chain controls earlier, we'll have them one the sunsets again up there so be careful. fog in the morning the next several mornings, crowd is really saturated, high pressure, calm conditions that fog will lead to sunny afternoons low to mid 60s by thursday and through most of

the weekend. this morning, most of hollywood is wondering if silence is going to be golden. >> unorthodox movie getting the biggest buzz as the academy gets ready to announce the oscars early tomorrow

coming up at 4:00, another bird hits a plane at a california airport. wildlife experts talk about why this happens so much this time of year. that and more at 4:00 and 5:00. right now we are 24 hours away from the announcement of the academy award nominations. one film getting the most

buzz is a silent movie. >> it was shot in 35 days in black and white. harkens back to the silent film era. >> i looked at the artist and thought we are missing something now where everything is shoved in our faces. >> "the artist" has won several golden globes. the lead actor says hayes agent told him he would never star in a movie because his face is too expressive. >> we'll have the nominations live tomorrow morning at 5:30 you can watch the oscars sunday february 26th. >> tomorrow morning at 5:30! >> you will be here. >> we will be here live with that. >> from all of us here at abc7 news, thanks for joining us. >> who wants to be a millionaire is next. >> keep track of the latest on twitter. abc7 news bay area. ctatatatatata