but california will see heavier rains than us. what they're doing to prepare for the wave of el nino storms. ((brian loftus)) > plus.. a judge has sentenced strip shooter ammar harris to death. what other additional charges he's facing from the 2013 shooting. ((kirsten joyce)) > and is this the droid you're looking for? how this man is showing his appreciation for the new star wars movie. /// < welcome to a brighter morning, this is 8 newsnow with kirsten joyce, sherry swensk, demetria obilor and brian loftus > ((kirsten joyce)) > thanks for joining us, i'm kirsten joyce. ((brian loftus)) i'm brian loftus. ((sherry swensk)) and i'm sherry swensk. we're expecting lots of rain and snow this week for portions of southern nevada... and it's all thanks to an el-nino storm coming off of california. ((kirsten joyce)) people in california are getting ready for the first series of these types of storms.. and it's expected to bring plenty of heavy rain. ((brian loftus)) chris martinez spoke with a few people in

who are bracing for floods and landslides. glendora homeowners like eric erby are gearing up for potential floods -- (nats) loading up on sandbags to protect their homes. ((sot: eric erby/ glendora resident)) "i just bought a new residence, so i'm preparing. i'm not sure what's going to happen at my home. so i just wanted to prepare myself." the first storm showered parts of california with light rain. but a stronger storm tuesday is expected to dump up to 2 inches of rain in los angeles and bring as much as 4 inches to mountain and foothill communities. ((sot: josh rubenstein/ kcbs/kcal chief meteorologist)) "when you have a city that's not used to getting rain on regular basis, you get a heavy downpour in a short period of time at high rainfall rates, and it's a mess." (8 sec) ((stand-up: chris martinez/ cbs news/ glendora, ca)) "meteorologists say communities like glendora with hillsides scorched by wildfires are at risk of flash flooding and mud flows. this year's el nino is predicated to be one of the most powerful ever recorded." the storms this week are just among the first effects of el nino. ((sot: josh rubenstein/ kcbs/kcal chief meteorologiit)) "january and february during these el nino years will be our busiest time. and so far, if this is any indication this first week, yeah, i think we're going to be

headed our way." (11 sec) residents are bracing for a deluge with storms forecasted to last all week in southern california. chris martinez, cbs news, glendora, california. ((sherry swensk)) northern california could get as much as 15- inches of rain over the next 2 weeks... along with 2 feet of snow in the sierra nevada's. /// let's get to sherry with a look at today's weather. sherry swensk skies are cloudy and the ceiling is about 2000 feet this

temps are mild with the overnight clouds. right now we have a lot of 40s again. .................. the humidity is high now after we've had a few round of light showers that started early yesterday morning. this first system is now exiting east... and making way for a larger and more potent system hitting california. ............ heavy rain is slamming the coast and there are lots of winter storm warnings and flood watches for california today and tomorrow. ............

to pile up in our local mountains as well. ............. ((sherry swensk))

< > > that's a look at the roads... back to you./// ((kirsten joyce)) > today, rooftop solar company solarcity will announce their job cuts... after the public utilities commission decided on the rate structure for solar companies. solarcity installers will also begin dismantling their las vegas training center that opened last month. solarcity says the p-u-c effectively shut them down.. with the plan to raise rates over a 5 year period. governor sandoval has previously slammed solarcity... calling the actions a bullying tactic in an attempt to influence the decision. /// ((kirsten joyce)) > meanwhile, electric rates for n-v energy customers went down..

the overall rate decrease is just over 5- percent... due to decreases in costs associated with fuel production and the company's generating stations./// ((brian loftus)) > our 5th annual super recycle event is happening january 23rd at the thomas and mack center. republic services will be on hand accepting commingled recyclables. care coalition will also collect and safely destroy unused and expired medicine. goodwill will be there to collect household, and clothing items and the blind center of southern nevada will take your unused or outdated electronics. and shred-it will be available to destroy your documents./// ((kirsten joyce)) > a sheriff in oregon says it's time for protestors to leave a government building. ((brian loftus)) why the demonstrators say the issue is much bigger than the family

((kirsten joyce)) > and a lawyer says the 18 year old, who used the "affluenza defense" after allegedly killing four people in a drunk driving accident... will be in mexico for some time.. before returning to the u.s... we'll explain why.///

shooting on the las vegas strip was formally sentenced to death yesterday by a judge. in november.. a jury suggested ammar harris

punishement for killing three people on the strip. karen castro spoke with the victims' family following the verdict. ((per the jury's decision, you will receive um, dea--death as prescribed by law.)) ((karen castro)) ammar harris looked stone- faced as the judge re- affirmed a jury's decision to sentence him to death. his lack of remorse struck a nerve with a family member of one of the victims. ((tehran boldon - victim's brother: the death penalty meant nothing to him. all it means is that he gets to go back to court and he gets to talk to people. he gets to talk, he gets to visit, he gets to breath. he should be dead.)) ((karen castro)) tehran boldon is the brother of michael boldon. the cab driver and his passenger, sandra sutton, were killed in the 20-13 fiery crash on the las vegas strip. harris first shot and killed kenneth cherry... whose car then slammed into the taxi. ((tehran boldon - victim's brother: he's a thug and he needs to be put down like a dog. he's a dog and anybody else who does that needs to be put down.)) ((karen castro)) this is the first time tehran saw his brother's killer since the

harris decided to skip the verdict... as well as the death penalty phase. ((tehran boldon - victim's brother: i thought i had closure. i don't have no closure --- i'll have some closure maybe when he's dead.)) ((karen castro)) the judge gave harris the opportunity to make a statement but he declined. ((tehran boldon - victim's brother: he took three people's lives. the whole, the whole situation is just bad. he should have shown some remorse. i miss my brother every day.)) ((karen castro)) karen castro, 8 news now./// ((brian loftus)) harris was also given additional time in prison on other charges in connection to the strip shooting... including attempted murder and discharging a firearm into a vehicle. he will join 80 other inmates on death row in nevada. /// ((kirsten joyce)) > it could be a couple of months before 18 year old ethan couch... who fled to mexico with his mom.. is returned to the u.s.. he's the teen who, two years ago... police say drove drunk, crashed into a car killing four people... and when he was sentenced to probation... claimed his wealthy parents coddled him into a sense of irresponsibility - a condition

"affluenza." ,, and that drew a lot of ridicule. couch and his mother were found in mexico... after disappearing in early december. prosecutors say they left after video surfaced showing couch at party with alcohol... which violates his probation terms. /// ((brian loftus)) > the force continues to be strong week after week at the box office... breaking so many records. ((kirsten joyce)) and one star and one star wars fan is using his talents to recreate popular characters. the droids he's made to honor the movie. ///

_____"titanic" as the second highest grossing film. but one fan took his love for the movie to the next level. jeff barnes put this yellow droid together.. which is actually a replica of an r2-d3 -- similar to r2-d2.

of a group of movie fans that build these droids for fun. it weighs about 100 pounds and took him a year to build it: (( jeff barnes, droid builder: "i've been a fan forever you know? the opportunity presented itself and i was like why not?" "now that the new movie is out there's probably going to be more." )) ((brian loftus)) barnes takes the droid across the country to comic cons and fan gatherings. he says he's in the process of creating an r2- d2 replica. /// let's get to sherry with a look

sherry swensk .................. temps are mild with the overnight clouds. right now we have a lot of 40s again. .................. the humidity is high now after we've had a few round of light showers that started early yesterday morning. this first system is now exiting east... and making way for a larger and

california. ............ heavy rain is slamming the coast and there are lots of winter storm warnings and flood watches for california today and tomorrow. ............ then we are expecting the snow to pile up in our local ............. a winter storm warning for our and lasts until tomorrow morning. ............. rain lasting through the week with a mostly sunny weekend coming and cooler temps.

las veags boulevard at planet hollywood is wide open. < > < > > that's a look at the roads... back to you./// ((kirsten joyce)) > federal law enforcement officials made no move to re- take a federal building from armed protestors in oregon. as jennifer dowling reports.. the local sheriff says it's time for them to go. the group that seized this national wildlife refuge in eastern oregon gave itself a name. (nats: the citizens for constitutional freedom) their

protestors began their armed occupation saturday following a march to protest the re- incarceration of two ranchers: 73- year-old dwight hammond and 46- year-old steven hammond. (ammon bundy/protestor) "we have a lot of work to unwind the unconstitution al land transactions that have taken place here." the hammonds checked themselves back into prison monday after a federal judge ordered they had not served the 5-year federal minimum for a fire on their property that spread to government land. they were convicted under an anti-terrorism law. (karyn gallen/hammond family member) "my uncle and my cousin are the farthest thing from domestic terrorists." the hammond family has distanced itself from the protests. monday night, the local sheriff had a message for the occupiers. (david ward, harney county sheriff) "the hammonds have turned themselves in, it's time for you to leave our community." (jennifer dowling, cbs news, burns, oregon) "but protestors say this occupaaion is bigger than the hammonds. they accuse the federal government of persecuting landowners here in the west for decades." ammon bundy's father's cliven was involved in a dispute over grazing rights on federal

turned violent. ammon bundy says he has no intention of using violence against the police but he's asking others to join his cause. jennifer dowling for cbs news, burns, oregon. ((kirsten joyce)) ammon bundy has given the federal government 5 days to explain why the ranchers' prison sentences were extended. the f-b-i says it's monitoring the occupation.. and the white house says president barack obama is aware of what's happening. /// ((brian loftus)) > governor brian sandoval was in town.. seeing off hundreds of national guard members. they were at the mandalay bay events center... as family and friends sat in the audience for the "mobilization ceremony." the 17th sustainment brigade will be sent to the middle east.. with a main focus in kuwait: ((sgt. christopher cargill: i'm feeling great, a little pumped up, a little anxious i've never been deployed before but everything should go smoothly we have a great unit we all get along really well. )) ((brian loftus)) the national guard members.. who are mostly from the reno area.. say they were surprised by the welcome they received here in

((kirsten joyce)) > all sorts of tech companies and gadgets in las vegas this week... for the consumer electronics show. ((brian loftus)) coming up at five... we'll be live from the convention center... with a sneak preview of some of the technology showcased at the event.///

college graduates with their student loans. the state launched a loan forgiveness program called "get on your feet". the program would pay up to two years of student loan bills for those struggling. to be eligible...

earn less than 50-thousand dollars a year... and have graduated after december 2014 from a college or university in the state. you must also be enrolled in an income-based loan repayment program with the federal government. the program only covers federal loans... not private. /// ((kirsten joyce)) > four new periodic elements will soon be added to the periodic table... and that means chemistry textbooks will need to be updated. elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 have been formally recognized by the international union of pure and applied chemistry. those elements now complete the 7th row of the periodic table. this is the first time the table has been updated since 2011. /// ((brian loftus)) > rare identical triplets born last home. the three girls were a big surprise for mom and dad. doctors told them they were expecting twins. they were born 10 weeks premature.. and are strong and healthy. but there's still one big dilemma: (( stephanie harris/ mother: "we got ankle bracelets and we're

hopefully, they don't get mixed up." )) ((brian loftus)) the parents say they're up for the challenge... and with four females now in the house, dad says he's way

shot )) )) ((brian loftus)) > metro police releases new

of a deadly police shooting.