sinkovitz. we have two reports tonight from the neighborhood in east oakland dealing with the tragedy that should not have happened. an apartment fire killed three people, the youngest just a toddler. the fire happened on 82nd avenue in east oakland. nbc bay area's christie smith shows us that an extension cord left investigators with a pretty good idea of what happened. >> reporter: flames rolled out of an upstairs window overnight with people trapped inside, including a man who was able to hand off a young girl to neighbor, eric dominguez. >> i just take the girl out of there. i just called another person and they put the little girl inside the house. i tried to go back, you know, and i say i can't do nothing. >> reporter: he says the smoke was too much for him to help the others. three people died, a mother, a 3-year-old girl and the man, a family friend. two others were hurt when they jumped from a second story unit of the four-plex, others barely escaped.

>> i got scared because i see the fire coming out from upstairs. >> reporter: on 82nd avenue in east oakland, firefighters say it only took about five minutes to knock the fire down and then they noticed another hazard. >> i just talked to the investigator and they seemed to think that it was an accidental fire, probably caused by an extension cord. >> reporter: firefighters say the power had been shut off to the upstairs unit on december 2nd and that they were running extension cords to another unit and there were no smoke detectors. the tragic circumstances, a huge blow for neighbors. >> the lady was really nice. i would see her and she would smile and say hi sometimes, so it was kind of sad. >> reporter: with 2011 just around the corner, these are the city's first fire-related fatalities of the year. in oakland, christie smith, nbc bay area news. . >> people close to the victims are dealing with their grief tonight. the fire left a 7-year-old girl alone with no one to take care of her, and, according to family

and friends, the only relative she has in the united states is scheduled to be deported in just a few days. nbc bay area's tracy grant is live in oakland to tell us more about that. tracy. >> reporter: well, tom, friends of this family are struggling to come up with solutions to help the little girl who made it out of this house alone. and they're also asking questions about who should share the blame for this tragedy. >> she didn't have a lot of money or she wasn't working a full-time job. >> reporter: erica says ruth munoz was struggling to make ends meet for herself and for her daughters, 3-year-old yvonne and 7-year-old allison. she even took in a subletter nicknamed memo to make a little more money. everyone except for allison died this morning in a fire that ravaged the upstairs apartment where they lived. erica was sleeping downstairs.

>> they cut her electricity a couple of days ago, i guess. i guess they decided to get some electricity from downstairs. >> reporter: oakland fire department says the extension cord probably caused the fire and something else was disturbing. >> we did not find any working smoke detectors anywhere, so that could have been a contributing factor there. it's very, very important that people have them. >> reporter: a tenants rights association says the building was sold in foreclosure in august of 2009 to bank of new york trust. preston says when a bank takes over a building it assumes the role as landlord. state law dictates that a landlord is responsible for placing smoke detectors and alarms in a building. the girl's father is being detained right now by immigration and customs enforcement, scheduled to be deported on monday. >> he is going to be deported on

monday and there's one of the little girls that survived. so all i want is for him to be released so he can come and get her. >> reporter: now, we tried to reach bank of new york trust in both their east coast and west coast offices but we had absolutely no luck in finding someone who could talk to us about this building. live in oakland, tracy grant, nbc bay area news. >> that is a tragedy all around, tracy, thank you. now let's make a difficult transition here and talk about a record which is on the line tonight at stanford. the women's basketball team has a chance to do something no other team has been able to do for the last 90 games, and that is to beat the university of connecticut. the uconn women now hold the record for the longest winning streak in college basketball history. nbc bay area's lawrence scott is live at stanford where the game is just starting. lawrence. >> reporter: hey, tom, how ya doing. when you say they hold the

record, that's both men and women, eclipsing those john wooden teams of the early '70s that ucla had. we're talking 90 games. just how long is 90 games? that's two full seasons plus back-to-back national championships plus the games this year. let's take you inside and show you the scene here. things very exciting for stanford fans really because they get to see the lady huskies, one, and two it's a measuring stick for the cardinal. but when you think about this, stanford was the last team to beat uconn and that was the '08 final four. i tell yyou something, stanford has had a big week. the head coach got win number 800 last wednesday. the cardinal then beat fourth-ranked xavier, but these huskies are number one for a reason and are still undefeated. stanford fans feel this could be bookends for uconn's streak. >> i think they now have the confidence to beat them. they have come so close, they have knocked on the door.

it's not a david versus goliath anymore. tonight they have just got to knock that door down. i think it can happen. >> i believe in miracles, and we're at home and it's sold out and we've done it before. >> reporter: pat believes in miracles. i don't know, where's al michael at this point. i tell you this, if it does come down, of course we'll be here tonight. they are just under way. we'll come back in sports and keep you updated, but history could be unwrapped tonight. tom. >> well, if memory serves me correctly, lawrence, it was notre dame who did the great ucla team what stanford is trying to do to uconn, so maybe it will happen. >> reporter: you're exactly rye, it was notre dame. >> all right, lawrence scott at stanford tonight. lawrence will let us know what's going on this evening. police in hayward are investigating a police shooting that left an armed suspect dead. it happened this morning in the 2600 block of depot road. authorities say the officer shot and killed a suspect while

responding to a disturbance call. hayward police say they found a large hunting knife next to the victim's body. an investigation continues tonight. a high-speed chase after aat stolen car was spotted ended with one woman dead and a man in custody. last night sanly r leandro poli chased a stolen car where it crashed. after the crash a man fled the scene but the driver revved the motor and refused to get out of the car. >> the officer gave numerous commands for the driver to stop. those requests were denied. our officer then discharged his weapon, striking the suspect. >> the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. the man who ran away was arrested and is in custody. the search for a snowboarder lost at the alpine meadows ski resort has ended as friends and family feared it would. rescuers today found the body of

25-year-old shonte willis. willis was reported missing tuesday at an advanced area of the resort. david is live at alpine meadows to tell us where the search ended. david. >> reporter: tom, good evening. yes, one of the rescuers told me today that the longer these mountain searches go on, the more the crews themselves become emotionally invested. this one went into a third day and so when the bad news came, everyone felt it. on skis and snow shoes, 40 searchers headed out at alpine meadows ski resort first thing this morning, trying to take advantage of the first clear weather since snowboarder shonte willis disappeared on tuesday. >> we've had blizzard conditions, 105-mile-per-hour winds and no tracks and no clues. >> reporter: in the end, it was a helicopter that spotted willis about 400 feet off a trail where it looks as if willis crashed into a tree, then fell into a

hole that had formed around the tree's trunk. >> the opportunity for just someone to see her earlier is very, very slim. >> reporter: rescuers say willis, who was 25, apparently took a wrong turn and concede out of bounds. her family says she was a good skier and knew what she was doing. >> and she is a beautiful human being and i want to say that i love her with all of my heart. >> reporter: news of willis's disappearance did not stop huge crowds from hitting the slopes today at alpine meadows. >> i've never seen this many people here before. >> reporter: most said they planned to stick to the groomed trails. very few carried beacon devices that send out a short distance radio signal if a skier or border becomes lost. >> i have my cell phone on me so i guess if i got lost, i could call someone. >> reporter: now, often when these mountain searches end successfully, the focus afterwards is the cost for taxpayers. in this case, the placer county sheriff's department couldn't

immediately come up with an estimate but did tell us that most of the searchers were volunteers. in alpine meadows, now back to you. >> thank you very much, david. a san mateo county bus struck and killed a woman in palo alto today. it happened at the corner of university avenue and webster street. the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. the bus driver was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. passengers on the bus were not hurt. tonight the incident is being investigated by several agencies. a roofing crew getting rid of debris accidentally severed a gas line in san jose today causing a shelter in place order for the neighborhood. pg&e says roofers working in a home on new jersey avenue accidentally dropped materials onto a meter on the side of the building severing that meter. the fire department and pg&e crews arrived to turn off the gas and no one was hurt. firefighters get some strange calls.

kittens in trees, a cow in a well. it happened today. somehow this cow wandered into a well on her home ranch off east castro valley boulevard at about 9:00 this morning. the fire department drained the 12-foot well while the farmer helped the cow keep her head above water. crews then strapped a harness on the cow and a crane hoisted her to safety. her happy calf had been waiting anxiously nearby. a barrier is now up around that well. next up at 6:00, a little courtroom about to make a lot of history. >> being a role model comes the responsibility to be a good one. >> how one of the newest junction in the east bay is using her gender to break ground for the transgender community. putting a little more express in one of the south bay's busiest expressways. the new plan for a makeover that some say is long overdue. and good evening, i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. it's still breezy out there and temperatures dropping already to

the mid-40s in the north bay. we're setting ourselves up here for another cold night with plenty of 30s returning and, yes, we are tracking more rain. i'll timeline shis all coming a upo n for your new year's eve in just a few minutes.

traffic is flowing smoothly this evening after a deadly crash held up things on northbound 680 near benicia. a woman died when she was thrown from the truck. another person inside the cab was taken to the hospital. investigators are not sure what caused the crash but it only involved the truck. the traffic was blocked for about two hours this afternoon. traffic in one of the most congested areas in the south bay is expected to get better in the coming year thanks to a new $8.1 million project. if you've ever driven near highway 85 and blossom hill road

you know why it needs work. nbc bay area's mary ann favro is there to show us what is in the works. >> reporter: right now traffic is a little congested, especially during the evening commute. in fact it took me about ten minutes just to go a few blocks and that's why many motorists are very happy to learn that relief is in their future. ask most drivers and they'll tell you there's nothing express about almaden expressway. costco, whole foods, oak ridge mall, this area may be a shopper's mecca, but it's a motorist's mess. >> the congestion, trying to get out over on blossom hill from here, you have to go out and u-turn to get back on. >> reporter: forcing drivers to wait and wait and wait. >> it can be as irritating as,

you know, 20, 30 minutes. >> reporter: but a new project may give drivers a break from hitting the brakes all the time. the $8.1 million makeover is set to start this spring. engineers say one big improvement is the addition of a fourth northbound lane so drivers headed south and north on highway 85 won't have to share lanes. crews will also widen the expressway to four lanes each way. improvements are also expected to reduce delay times here at cherry avenue nearly in half. getting into major shopping centers should be smoother too, thanks to a fifth turn lane. and signals will be retooled to respond to traffic changes throughout the day, hopefully preventing drivers from getting stuck in the middle of intersections. >> it would be a big help for everybody. >> reporter: but drivers will need to put up with a little more pain before enjoying the payoff on the pavement. the project isn't expected to be completed until next holiday season. the $8.1 million project is

being funded by federal grants and measure d funds. >> free at last, thank you, mary ann. former bart officer johannes mehserle will not be free on bail while he appeals his conviction. mehserle was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the murder of bart rider oscar grant on new year's day 2009. the state court of appeals has denied his request that he be released during the appeals process. the court also threw out the gun enhancement part of the case. the d.a. said the enhancement did not affect the conviction. san francisco police want people to know that they are going to be out in force on new year's eve. about a quarter million spectators are expected to crowd the embarcadero for the fireworks display at midnight. police warn that your spirits can be high but other spirits will be closely watched. police will be looking for open

containers, underage drinking, public drunkenness and dui around the fireworks area and everywhere else in the city. >> it is not a measure of success for us to make a large number of arrests. again, the measure of success is not having accidents involving people that are drunk. >> the chief is encouraging people to take public transit if possible. riding on muni and bart will be free with special schedules and we'll have that part of the story after the weather just a little later in this broadcast. well, flooding in southern california continues to take its toll. officials in bakersfield estimate that the recent onslaught of storms caused $7.5 million damage in its roads. a voluntary evacuation order is in effect. work crews are doing what they can to prevent more flooding in the aftermath. >> there's a couple more canals that are handling a little more water than it's normally had. those are some concerns but we're watching those. >> repairs are expected to take

between six months and a year to finish. kern county is paying the bill but may be reimbursed by the state. thousands of people are expected to greet the new year in reno for the annual street celebration, but a storm there is causing hazardous conditions for people trying to get around those streets. roads were covered with ice making conditions dangerous for some drivers, as we see. many resorts are reporting bookings this holiday season are up, giving the local economy a much-needed boost. apparently they're a captive oz yens rig -- audience right now, jeff. >> all that slipping and sliding on the ice is from our storm system on tuesday and temperatures are so cold back behind the system that drivers headed up there possibly even tomorrow are still going to be slipping and sliding before another system moves in in the next 48 hours. let's get a look here. it is blustery on the coastline with winds 25 to 35 miles per hour and it's a dry

northwesterly wind right now. still keeping it breezy throughout the south and the east bay, helping those temperatures that were in the low 50s today feel like the upper 40s for a good part of our afternoon. so while we did have the sunshine out there, if you got caught in a little bit of a wind gust, it was kind of uncomfortable, at least for our bay area standards. we had 52 in san rafael, 55 in santa rosa. 46 in los gatos. that cold pocket up in the higher elevations tucked away. los gatos one of our coldest spots with conditions in the upper 20s to near 30 throughout that region. meanwhile right now we're already dropping into the mid and low 40s. 45 in napa, 41 in fairfield, 45 in livermore and 48 in san jose. with these low 40s already on the map, i do think tonight could be one of the coldest nights in the next four days. we have a few clouds offshore but these are all heading off towards the south and staying just off the coastline. so that's going to keep us mainly clear tonight. then we're tracking our new

system here for new year's eve that will once again bring us some rainfall. not a strong storm but enough to keep that umbrella handy with a quarter inch from the east bay back into the south bay. the wind looks light right now which is good news with a lot of trees saturated. we'll start off tomorrow morning low to mid-30s in all of our interior sections. by 11:00 a.m., not much warming. if you're headed to the airport, the biggest delay tomorrow no doubt will be denver. look at this, anywhere from 6 to 10 inches of snow for total accumulations. temperature right now minus 8. today is going to be blustery. we'll get our own weather here for new year's eve. i'll timeline that rainfall for you coming up. >> all right, jeff, thank you. there is a vehicle recall to tell you about that affects ford owners. the detroit automaker is recalling nearly 15,000 trucks and crossovers because of problems with electrical systems that can short and cause a fire. the recall includes some 2011 models of the f-150, the f-250,

the f-350, the f-450 and the f-550, the ford edge and lincoln mkx vehicles. to check if your vehicle is involved in the recall, contact ford at 866-436-7422. winter storms bring a crumbling cliff dangerously close to homes. we know where that is. plus 2011 already starting off on a high note. the new economic indicators that couldoipoint t a strongejob market nexyear.

some good news on the economic front. the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week while home sales rose in november. but not everyone is sold on these upbeat, end of the year statistics. jennifer johnson has our story. >> reporter: with the economy still struggling, some good news to end 2010. the number of people applying

for unemployment benefits fell sharply last week. the labor department says jobless claims dropped by 34,000 to 388,000, the lowest number since july, 2008. >> it's certainly encouraging news. you'd rather have it go this way rather than the other. >> reporter: but some are skeptical this is any kind of trend. >> we have to take these particular numbers with a grain of salt, because one you have seasonal factors associated with the christmas season and retail hiring. two, you had a pretty massive snowstorm that might have prevented people from filing jobless claims. >> reporter: two other positive economic reports, factory activity in the midwest grew in december at its fastest pace since 1988. and the number of people buying homes rose in november, the fourth increase since june. >> the sales activities are now pointing about 20% higher from the low point that we saw a few months ago, so it's encouraging, but nonetheless we still need to

see an additional increase to reach the level which i would say would be considered healthy. >> reporter: realtors say existing home sales will rise in 2011 only if more out of work americans get back on the job. jennifer johnson, nbc news, washington. when the ball drops on the new year, everyone wants to know if our taxes will rise. when new tax laws kick in on saturday, the rich stand to benefit more than most. after a tough fight in congress, the bush-era tax cuts will remain in place for rich and poor alike. if you make less than $150,000, you'll be paying about the same to uncle sam. financial analysts say despite any looming taxes, your best bet for 2011 is to learn from the past. >> remain very cautious about your spending. invest carefully, don't throw the hail mary pass. if you've got a job, keep it. >> now, the tax laws are so new, the irs is scrambling to make changes so it can finalize the tax forms. the clock is ticking, you

have less than a kay to make any charitable donation that could impact your 2010 filings. experts recommend consulting watchdog organizations like the better business bureau, wise giving alliance, charity navigator and the american institute of philanthropy. financial experts stress when making monetary donations you should pay by credit card or check instead of by cash and receipts are a must. checks have to be mailed and postmarked by tomorrow. well, making history in the courts, but it's happening behind the bench. next at 6:00, a judge's decision about her own sexuality makes judicial history. and we are checking the bubble index. what tracking this year's champagne sales can tell us about how the economy is flowing. plus making the skies friendlier. how virtual reality just might e sm.there a om le oother.

we've been talking about

this all week, bad weather leading to flight delays and cancellations and a lot of frustration, but some amazing technology may soon come to the rescue. our business and tech reporter, scott budman, is here to show us what we're talking about. scott. >> reporter: well, tom, the faa says more than 4,000 flights were cancelled last weekend out of new york alone, and more than half of those were because of bad weather, making it difficult for pilots to see where they're going. check this out, a new way to help pilots see and get you where you need to foe. you're getting a peek into the future of airline travel. by seeing what pilots will see, thanks to some new technology coming to an airport near you. it's a mix of advanced gps and virtual reality, making the skies more friendly so airplane that say would normally be grounded can take flight. >> which enables people to --

pilots and airplanes to more efficiently use an airport and uses technology with gps coupled with the technology on the airplane to efficiently approach airports, especially in bad weather. >> reporter: honeywell calls it the synthetic enhanced vision system. you'll call it a better chance of getting home. >> a ground-based augmentation system actually takes a set of gps signals, makes a number of corrections to those and then broadcasts those back to the aircraft, the corrections, to whatever errors might be in that and then gives the aircraft 26 different types of approaches that it can fly into that runway. >> reporter: so pilots can get a computer-generated look at what's ahead of them, and then supplement the technology with realtime images captured by advanced sensors. the result, a better, safer way to fly, even in bad conditions. >> we're looking with fresh eyes and with fresh technologies on how we do that. navigation systems have

improved, communications systems have improved. >> reporter: it's technology that's gradually coming on board to help guide you and your plane in the future. honeywell says the blending of the virtual and the real is gradually being rolled into planes so when future winter storms hit you won't see quite as many cancelled signs going up on flight boards. >> boy, that's phenomenal. scott, thank you. >> reporter: you bet. we are learning more about a police shooting that killed a stabbing suspect in san francisco. tonight the police department has revealed the suspect had a long history of mental illness. the shooting happened yesterday afternoon in the portola neighborhood. officers responded to reports of a stabbing in a home on bacon street. inside the house officers encountered a man with a knife. >> they gave the suspect directions to drop the weapon. the suspect was assaulting the officers. an officer-involved shooting occurred. my estimation is that the officers acted lawfully and within the scope of their work.

>> well, the victim who originally record the stabbing was taken to a local hospital. he is expected to make a full recovery. a cliff hanger tonight in pacifica. this week's storms have taken another chunk from under two apartment buildings hanging on a crumbling cliff. according to a building manager, the storm swept a large amount of soil into the sea, leaving a building a third unsupported and hanging over the ocean edge. residents of thr320 and 330 wer evacuated last winter after a series of storms, coupled with surging waves which washed away as much as 20 feet of bluff l e line. state parks have begun mping area closings helping to deal with the recent round of budget cuts. >> our budget for the last 20 years has been going down and our deferred maintenance going up, so we continue to be a park

system that's on life support. >> well, don't assume your favorite parks will be open for business as usual. check their website. while park officials assume governor brown will be a friend of the park system, the state's deficits will make getting more money very, very difficult. the biggest new year's eve celebration is ready to go. crews tested the ball drop at times square in new york city today. millions of people in person and on television will watch it fall again tomorrow night. meanwhile, the confetti is ready to go. security barricades are being prepped. almost all the snow from the 20-inch storm is gone. by the way, the ball is filled with more than 30,000 energy-efficient l.e.d. lights. in an hour, those lights only consume the same amount of energy it takes to run two home ovens. just a reminder that bay area transit systems will work late for new year's eve in san francisco. muni will be free from 8:00 p.m.

until 6:00 a.m. on saturday. bart will extend service until 3:00 a.m. trains will run at their normal intervals during the three extra hours, and there will be special service in and out of san francisco. pittsburg, bay point and richmond line trains will stop at montgomery street station and the dublin, pleasanton and fremont line trains will stop at the embarcadero station. vta will also be free in santa clara county starting at 7:00 until 4:a.m. and some bus and light rail routes will end at some points so check out the website to see exactly how you can get around. well, adding to the likely traffic mess in the city, a monthly critical mass bike ride is set for tomorrow. critical mass is part of a national movement to get cars to share the road with bicyclists. it started on the streets in san francisco and often huge groups of riders bring traffic to a stand still. the ride is set to begin at 6:00 p.m. at justin herman plaza

tomorrow night. beta breakers will celebrate its 100th anniversary new year's day with a special ceremonial run. the event was first held back in 1912, called the cross-city race then. runners from some of the original groups like the olympic club, st. mary's college and the ymca are going to be commemorating the anniversary. the run will begin at 10:00 a.m. at the intersection of the embarcadero and market street. the run will also kick off registration for this year's official race, which happens, as it always does, in the month of may. and still ahead at 6:00, does your children's behavior in school set them up for obesity later on in life? the surprising new research. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. it was dry out there, we had a lot of sunshine, but that wind b it quite brisk outside with low 50s from san jose to san francisco and temperatures are dropping and quickly already. low to mid-40s in the north bay.

needless to say we'll start off with a cold morning but tell you all abou'smeorve ft ecasngcomi . year's eve forecast coming up.

there appears to be a link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity later in life. researchers at duke university did the study and they say hyperactivity and impulsiveness were the most influential risk factors with a 63% increase in obesity rates when kids had just one of the symptoms. the findings could be the key to finding out why people who struggle with their impulses struggle with their weight too. a new year is bringing a new law to make sure children with pre-existing medical conditions can get health insurance coverage. insurance companies must offer child-only policies making every california child eligible for coverage. insurers who refuse to sell policies exclusively to children

will be barred from the broader individual market for five years. the new law also limits the amount insurers can charge for covering children with serious health conditions tooor me than twice what they would charge healthier children. well, it's the end of an era for photographers across the world. the last kodachrome film processor is shutting down. that processor is located at dwayne's photo in southeastern kansas. today the wheels will stop grinding. kodak stopped making the processing chemicals about a year ago and the folks at dwayne's don't have any anymore. kodachrome was famous for its strong primary colors and how long the slides kept those colors intact. it was a favorite of professional photographers for decades. well, how would you like to start the new year as a mega millionaire, because no one matched all six numbers in tuesday night's mega millions drawing. the jackpot for tomorrow night's

draw has swelled to $242 million. the estimated cash option for tomorrow's draw, $154 million. if tomorrow's jackpot is won by a single california ticket, the $242 million will be the third largest lottery jackpot ever won by a californian. all right, history could be made tonight. let's check back in with lawrence scott who is at stanford's maples pavilion. how's it going there, lawrence? >> reporter: it's pretty good, stanford really taking this very seriously. i've got to give you a lot of credit, you're right, notre dame ended ucla's streak at 88 back in the '70s. now tonight stanford trying to end uconn's streak at 90 straight wins. unbelievable. the scene inside is great. we'll bring you inside in just a bit. and good evening, i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. a chilly christmas down there in san jose but we'll track big-time changes for your new year's eve. i'll timeline it all for allf you partiers coming up.

a bay area judge-elect is about to make history. she'll be sworn into office next week. nbc bay area's joe rosato jr. shows us how she's breaking ground for the transgender community. >> reporter: department 105 in oakland's courthouse is as plain as any other courtroom in america, but starting next week, it will play a small role in history. >> this is department 105 and

this is where i'm going to be starting my career as a judge. >> reporter: it's not the courtroom that's historic, it's the judge who will occupy it. when victoria kolakowski slips into her robes, she'll become the first transgender trial judge in america. >> it sounds a little cliche, but i'm very humble and very awed by the responsibility of the people's trust in me. >> reporter: this past november voters elected kolakowski to the superior court. she'll be sworn in tuesday. >> although there's a lot of attention being placed, i think rightly, in the fact that i'm going to be the first openly transgender trial court judge in the country, that wasn't what the campaign was about. >> reporter: kolakowski has spent a long career in law, most recently serving as an administrative judge for california's puc. although she'd prefer all the buzz be over her qualifications, she understands why her gender is drawing attention. >> the reason i am talking to everybody is because of the fact

i do think that i can be both a role model and also help people to better understand what it's like to be a transgender person. >> reporter: kolakowski says she won't use the bench to advocate for transgender rights, but she figures her mere presence sends a message to other outsiders. >> it certainly is making a lot of people feel more like this is someplace where they can feel like they can get a fair shake, and if that helps in that way, then i'm glad. >> reporter: joe rosato jr., nbc bay area news. >> well, the new judge will be sworn in at 5:30 p.m. tuesday. it's new year's eve eve. >> that's right. >> and it's very cold. >> yeah. >> but at least it's not raining, as it might be tomorrow night. >> that's good. we do have those showers coming on in, so get ready, you guys. it's not going to be the clearest new year's eve but it's not going to be heavy rainfall either. let's take a look out here in

the san francisco skycam ra. this cold weather makes for nice shots. right now absolutely clear, wind west at 14 miles per hour. while it's 49 right now in san francisco, we have some much colder air right now across the bay area. radar is also dry right now, but once again we'll see that rainfall returning as we head throughout the next 18-hour period. let's take you to the coldest spot, los gatos. current readings right now already in the 30s. 38 right now at one of our particular sites here. winds out of the northwest at 7 miles per hour so it's not too blustery but still just a little bit of wind with temperatures in the 30s. we are getting a slight windchill throughout los gatos so bundle up because temperatures no doubt will drop into the 20s as we head throughout tonight. also some other cold spots with 41 in fairfield, 45 in napa and 46 currently in santa rosa and down towards san jose we're looking at 48.

through tonight we'll find some patchy areas of frost mainly in the north bay. also some showers we've been talking about there as we head throughout new year's eve. for this weekend it's going to be a mix of some rain and some sun. let's take a look at our satellite/radar. we do have some cloud cover offshore but it all continues to push to the south. that's what's going to keep us mainly clear for tonight. however, that new storm system is already developing offshore. it's about a thousand miles awi but it's going to get here quickly as we head throughout tomorrow night. once again we'll see our pattern shift from this cold blast of air to this new system arriving. it's not a big storm system but it is going to produce some showers here as we head into your new year's eve and also those showers lingering right into new year's day at this point with temperatures generally staying in the 50s. let's get a look at the timeline. as we start off on the day before new year's at 11:00 a.m. we're looking at dry conditions. as we head throughout 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, we'll see about a

quarter inch of rainfall. so at midnight when we turn over to 2011, we're looking at temperatures in the mid-40s. we're looking at conditions in the low 40s and a chance of showers lingering. for tomorrow morning in the east bay, low 30s, a cold start. also upper 20s and low 30s down here in los gatos. that's our coldest area on the map. for friday we're looking at temperatures in the upper 40s to near 50. how are you studio visitors doing? you doing good? all right. they're kind of quiet but we do have some guests in the studio tonight. 52 in half moon bay, 51 in san francisco, 50 in richmond. that was your chance, guys, to make some noise. >> happy new year! >> all right. 52 in napa, 48 in calistoga. on the weather channel on cable. not too bad. >> no, not too bad at all. nice dry beginning to the year. >> it looks good. >> jeff, thank you very much.

well, lawrence scott is live now at stanford university. lawrence. >> reporter: how you doing, tom. you know we love streaks here in this country. we love seeing teams going off on long streaks. we also like the team that sometimes can end those streaks. uconn coming in with 90 consecutive wins here tonight at stanford. the team that last beat them back in '08 trying to end this streak. geno auriemma the head coach of uconn doesn't want to see his streak come to an end. he wants 91 and counting. tara vand veer just got to 800 womens in her career. what a scene. this place is going wild. stanford knows they're going to need a lot of points to beat uconn so it's been bomb as way. the cardinal have a healthy lead and they will need it because uconn is a fantastic second half team. right now it is a 13-point lead for stanford, 32-19, just before the half.

i've got to tell you something, it feels like winter out here on the farm. you can just feel the history. the ghost of leland jr. riding his horse across the plain there. it's something in the air. it's winter, winter break. the kids are gone. so's the football team. they're in south florida getting ready for the orange bowl. and when you think about who they're going to take on in that orange bowl, you're thinking the virginia tech hokies. they're going to wear orange helmets, by the way. they're very special under head coach frank beamer. they don't have andrew luck but they have an exciting quarterback, tyrod taylor. going for their 12th straight win. the orange bowl january the 3 r. today at yankees stadium in the bronx, the first ever pinstripe bowl. yes, this is real. some harsh reality for kansas state facing syracuse. k-state scores with just over a minute left, but on the touchdown bringing the score within two, adrian hilburn

salutes and is flagged for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that's 15 yards back, so the two-point conversion attempt failed. syracuse goes on to win by two. you saw some saluting today at the armed forces bowl where army beat smu, but it didn't cost anybody the game. all right, let's talk a little bit more about what we're seeing here with the raiders. now, zach miller has had an opportunity to show his stuff, right? but now he may be a pro bowler. here's what we're thinking. antonio gates having been put on the i.r., a foot injury has plagued him all year long and now zach miller is very likely to get the spot. when you think about zach miller, wow, he came to the raider, stuck with jamarcus russell and now much more than just a safety valve. may be on his way to the pro bowl. also you'll have to decide if this is fair or not. the jets given their fine today

for the tripping incident where strength coach sal alos s sy trimmed the player. the jets owner is having to cough up $100,000 for the wall that alosi helped build. the jets lost that game 10-6. oh, no, we just lost some lights out here. we'll turn it back on and tell you about the sharks. what we have with the sharks is a lead right now in chicago 2-1 in the second period. and, wow, you've got some other streaks. talking not just about uconn, but you're talking sidney crosby of the penguins. he had a streak of scoring in 25 straight games snapped last night. pittsburgh facing the islanders. it went to a shootout. it ended the 11th longest stream in nhl history. winter classic on new year's day, crosby can start a new streak against the capitals. they had a skate-around at heinz

field for the media in pittsburgh but i'm going to play the role of jeff ranieri. the league is concerned. warm weather and rain could delay the game. it is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. in pittsburgh, that would be ten:00 our time, make that, but the game could be pushed back as far as 5:00 our time because of the warm weather in pittsburgh. >> are you okay, scott? >> reporter: i'm feeling okay. >> you're not hallucinating anymore. all right. >> reporter: i'm fine. >> thank you, lawrence. >> reporter: tta ee how stanford does. >> we'll talk to you later. back in a minute. nf

tonight at 11:00 -- >> you really want to stand out and point to things that are specific to you as a professional that no one else has. >> new year, new job, but not without a new resume. think it doesn't make a difference? think again. a whole new resume could mean a whole new you, and just a few simple tricks might make the difference between a dream job and a dead end. learn how to remake yourself when you remake your resume tonight at 11:00 after "the office" on nbc bay area news. well, with the new year just days away, this is the biggest day of the year for champagne sales. it turns out the bubbles have not burst. after several flat years,

champagne sales seem to be getting their fizz back. many of the most exclusive labels are flying off store shelves. dom p echl erignon -- sales fro france are up 12% and sparkling wine is up 8%. here a distinction sure to make people think, the city ranks third on the list of america's drunkest cities. the website the daily beast looked at three things in putting the list together. average alcohol consumption over a month, levels of binge drinking and the percentage of the population suffering health problems connected to drinking too much. milwaukee tops the list. fargo, north dakota, is number two and ours is just about enjoying yourselves and having fun. >> exactly. taking a free muni ride. >> that's a different category. good night, everybody. see you at 11:00.