right now at 5:00 a 5-year-old boy was shot and killed last night in the east bay in front of his family's business. we'll have the mayor's reaction. also, many new laws take hold at midnight tonight including one in the south bay that will affect the way you shop. and we'll take you around the world and peek in on a few new year's celebrations plus give you important information on how you can make your new year's eve a little bit safer. the news at 5:00 starts right now.

good evening. i'm diane dwyer. on this new year's eve while many people are getting ready to celebrate the start of a new year, one family in oakland is getting ready to bury their 5-year-old son. another victim of violence. the little boy was shot last night while he was with his father at his family's taco truck in oakland. and tonight there is a vigil for all the victims of violence in oakland. nbc bay area's kimberly tere is in oakland with the latest. >> reporter: that service just wrapped up at st. columbo church where the 110 lives lost to violence in oakland this year were honored. among that number are three children who were shot and killed in separate incidents in the last five months. the most recent one just last night. oakland police say 5-year-old gabriel martinez jr. was outside the taco truck on international boulevard which his family owns when a man opened fire there. this was just after 8:30 p.m. gabriel died at children's

hospital less than a half an hour later. family says gabriel's father is inconsolable. the boy was just a few feet away from him when the shooting happened. >> he was there with the little boy and little boys just playing around. and out of nowhere he heard gunshots and my dad was like don't get scared and when he checked it was a little boy there, little brother. >> after the shooting the gunman took off in a car with a woman. police are still trying to identify the suspects. police say the motive is unclear right now but they do not believe that the boy was targeted. gabriel, again, is the third child killed by gun fire in oakland this year. both mayor gene kwan and police chief howard jordan were at today's service and both of them say this is unacceptable and are calling on people to step up and take responsibility for their community. jordan says he visited with gabriel's parents just this morning. he also says he has called in extra resources to help find

those responsible for the shooting. the police chief says there were a lot of witnesses last night and if you are one of them he does want to hear from you. oakland police say you can call them or you can text them and both of those can be done anonymously. live in oakland, kimberly tere, nbc, bay area news. >> thank you for the update. in san jose today a woman is dead and another one injured after they were allegedly attacked by another woman in their home. this has been a particularly violent year in san jose with the highest number of homicides in 14 years. in the most recent killing police arrested 40-year-old sigel sedik of san jose accused of attacking the two women around 11:00 last night with a machete type weapon in the willow glen neighborhood. one of the victims died at the scene and the second one, a 40-year-old woman, was treated for nonlife threatening injuries. police have not released information on the relationship between the suspect and the two victims or a motive at this point. this is san jose's 39th homicide

of the year compared to 20 last year. and the highest number since 1997. in san francisco, police are still searching tonight for the monkey who had stolen from its enclosure at the san francisco zoo. the monkey is known as banana sam and is a 2-pound, 17-year-old squirrel monkey similar to the one you saw. yesterday morning zoo keepers discovered someone had cut a hole in the exhibit's back fence and stole the monkey. they even say the monkey is cute but has very sharp teeth and is known to bite so could be dangerous to humans. the monkey napping is also dangerous to banana sam. >> he needs to come back to the zoo. he's on a specialized diet. they are fed mostly a fortified primate chow and again, highly social. he should not be alone and probably very stressed. >> the $5,000 reward is being offered for monkey's safe return to the zoo. the start of a new year brings with it new laws including one that will affect

the biggest city in the bay area and it's also considered the toughest plastic bag ban in the country. so starting tomorrow, retailers in san jose will no longer be able to give plastic bags to customers. the ban is aimed at creating a cleaner environment but opponents say it will hurt small businesses and inconvenience shoppers. san jose is urging people to remember to carry those reuseable bags with them for purchases. retailers will also be able to use paper bags but they are required to charge ten cents each for those bags. just three days until tuesday night's iowa caucuses nan that state the ads are nonstop for the republican candidates. as nbc bay area's steve handelsman reports many people there say they still haven't made up their minds. >> we'll get it. >> it's the final push to win over iowa republicans like jennifer buyer. >> we are getting constantly bombarded with candidates, phone calls, mailers, everything you can imagine.

>> reporter: rick santorum's first ad joined the air war. >> rick santorum, a trusted conservative who gives us the best chance to take back america. >> reporter: so-called independent groups have put up more than $12 million in ads here. >> ever notice how some people make a lot of mistakes? >> probably a mistake. >> i made a mistake. >> reporter: negative spots by a pro mitt romney group helped push newt gingrich from front-runner to fifth but newt's hanging in. >> we do need you to go tuesday night to the caucus. we need you to get all of your friends and neighbors to go. i think this is very much in flux. >> reporter: polls find 40% of iowans like these today in a mall near des moines are still undecided. sue and jeff say they'll go to a caucus tuesday night and listen. >> we want to really hear who can beat barack obama. >> i would like to see a change in the white house. >> reporter: they once backed rick perry. he is still here. >> if you'll go to the caucuses on tuesday, and have my back,

i'll have your back for the next four years in washington, d.c. >> reporter: mitt romney was in new hampshire and iowa flaunting his front-runner status in both by focusing on barack obama. >> and i think it's time to have somebody who will get the job done. >> reporter: the campaign is soon done in iowa. >> four days from now no one is going to know where iowa is. we'll just be another "i" state in the middle. >> reporter: today in the middle of the race for the white house. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, des moines. coming up next at 5:00 we'll take you on a new year's eve tour around the world including the biggest party in the nation. you can guess. also, being responsible on this new year's eve. we'll show you a few ways to help you have a safe celebration in the bay area and some of them are free. over a hundred years of tradition came to an end today in san francisco's japan town. we're seeing a pretty nice evening so far around the bay area. oakland is still 55 degrees. we've got high clouds coming on in right now but will the clouds toss any chance of showers as we

head into the new year? ve'l hal a look at that plus your complete new year's eve forecast. ha

it is a little after 8:00. the countdown is on in times square as the hours tick down to midnight. here is a live look at times square right now.

hundreds of thousands of people have gathered to watch the ball drop and bring in the new year with lady gaga and justin bieber and it's a little chilly out there, too. nbc's wendy gillett has a look for us. >> reporter: hundreds of thousands of new year's eve revelers started arriving in times square hours ago, ready to say good-bye to 2011. >> really excited. >> we're stoked. >> you have to do it once in your life. >> to say i've been here to watch it. >> 2012! >> reporter: they're waiting all day and into the night for the world famous ball drop. at least they're enjoying mild temperatures unless you've been sitting outside all night long. you look freezing. >> i know. it's really cold. we've been here since 10:00 p.m. last night, so it's been an experience though. >> reporter: why are you waiting so long? >> we're waiting for lady gaga. ♪ there ain't no other way >> reporter: lady gaga is the one to see as she headlines the night's entertainment, but the younger set may argue about who

is the real star as justin bieber also takes the stage. >> justin bieber! >> for sure. >> oh, yeah. >> what do you like about him? >> his beautiful face. everything. >> reporter: one of the biggest concerns for those waiting in times square is not being able to leave to use the bathroom. if you do, you risk losing your coveted spot. this group from north carolina has a solution. >> last night, you know, i had my last coke. give tt last hurrah and then haven't been drinking anything since. we woke up this morning. a bunch come out from north carolina by way of hawaii and here to see the show. 2012. >> and hoping not to go to the bathroom for 18 hours, huh? >> got to hold it. do what you got to do. >> reporter: in times square, wendy gillett, nbc news. >> that may be far from home but hundreds of soldiers in afghanistan had plenty of new year's spirit. ♪ >> about 400 soldiers gathered

for a special new year's celebration at nato headquarters in kabul. many of them say they miss home but were also glad to celebrate with their second family. >> i guess being away from family it's a little bit sad but we learn to cope with our jobs and our careers and with what our lives entail, so i'm used to it. this is my first time away from home for the holidays. this is my fourth deployment. it's my air force family and by all means my nato family as well. >> u.s. troops are scheduled to leave afghanistan by the end of 2014. asia rung in the new year with a bang. that was seoul, south korea there where a 20-ton copper bell was rung 33 times at midnight. nice fireworks. in taipei a massive crowd gathered in front of the world's second tallest building and farther south in bangkok people celebrated at the central world

plaza in the heart of that city. and in beijing, thousands watched the city's first official new year's eve countdown. still to come at 5:00 it was an end of an era. in san francisco's japan town today as the century-long family tradition shut its doors for the last time.

people in the bay area in california have several new

incentives not to drink and drive this new year's eve. starting at midnight getting a dui gets even more complicated for repeat offenders. a new law means three or more drunk driving arrests could get your license suspended for up to ten years. bart will help people also by adding service tonight with trains running until 3:00 a.m. the embarcadaro fireworks show is expected to lure a lot of folks so certain trains actually won't be stopping at the embarcadaro station and other trains won't stop at montgomery. the goal is to keep things moving smoothly. drivers who overdo it can now call tipsy tow sponsored by triple-a. just dial aaa-help and it's free. also sf muni, cal train and vta in the south bay are offering free rides for much of the evening as well. in san francisco today the new year came a little bit early for children who visited the walt disney family museum in the presidio. it was the museum's first ever noon year's eve celebration. the two-hour event included many crafts and games, free

beachballs and frisbees for all as well. some guests say they prefer this over tonight's big celebration. >> you don't really have to go crazy in the middle of the day. you can kind of relax. night time is kind of more crazy on new year's eve. >> disney also treated all the children today to a showing of the love bug, the first in a series of comedy films made by walt disney way back in 1968. we're checking in right now with meteorologist rob mietta on the weather and it's been relatively consistent, sort of cold and a little sunny but changing up a little bit tomorrow? >> it looks like it. surprisingly so. for the south bay not talking rain but may 70-degree temperatures. unbelievable for this time of the year. we'll show you in the forecast coming up. right now a gorgeous evening around the east bay. look at the sunset. 56 degrees. notice the wind direction slightly offshore and that is one reason why our temperatures are going to be warming up in a few spots as we kick off the new

year. right now 50s across the board. 62 in santa cruz as the winds warm up as they head down to the coast line and there you see the wind northeast at 12 and the livermore east, 7 into hayward also blowing out of the east around san francisco. so the new year's eve forecast is going to be cooling quickly as we are going to see a mainly clear sky, 30s and 40s tonight. then breezy in the hills and warm temperatures for january. now here is a pin point forecast around the bay area for your new year's eve plans. san jose low 40s as we welcome midnight in. san francisco should be in the upper 40s and mid 40s around oakland. everybody looking at partly cloudy skies. obviously some dry conditions. we have a spare the air alert once again as we're stuck in the dry pattern and it'll be the north bay inland valleys that see the worst of the air quality for tomorrow. right now the gorgeous sunset you saw. those are the high clouds we have drifting over the bay area. notice the radar scan. there is no rain under these clouds even though this next system into sunday and monday may try to toss a few showers on the far north coast but the

problem is we're really just seeing the trailing edges of these systems, dry air below tends to just eat up all the rain drops. the best bet of seeing showers will be on the north coast and this will be on monday, mainly for areas north of yukiah. new year, same weather pattern, dry conditions and you will be surprised i think by some of our afternoon temperatures here over the next few afternoons especially around the south bay. tonight wind protected spots will be chilly as the air has dried out some from 24 hours ago. so some 30s if you don't have the breezes going but in the hills tonight could have some 50s. now look at the highs. gilroy near 70 tomorrow. 65 degrees in san jose. if we can manage upper 60s for parts of the bay area tomorrow that would be a new record for january first so it's never really this warm to kick off the new year. areas south of san jose will see the warmest temperatures. low 60s around the east bay and across the north bay. boy we need the rain but mid 60s and sunshine. that's pretty tough to beat for january 1st.

but we'll watch maybe thursday with the system that could bring a better shot of some showers we think not only here but probably for the sierra because they really need ♪ there in the high country. >> they certainly do. we need it for later and they need it right now for skiing. thanks a lot, rob. let's check in with jim from comcast sportsnet. hello jim. happy new year or happy new year's eve. >> happy new year to you. we'll be here a long time. let's get ready. coming up in sports we got pac 12 basketball action. will diane be happy at the cal store. plus the warriors will be short handed tonight at oracle arena but to what extent? the answer next from the xfinity sports desk.

and good evening everyone. new year's eve one of the busiest days in the sports calendar and one of the new bright lights in the bay area. tries to finish 2011 on a positive note as the golden state warriors play host to the philadelphia 76ers at oracle arena. the ws 2-1 to start the season but short handed as monty ellis is in mississippi to deal with funeral arrangements for his grandmother. curry will play tonight sporting new kicks to protect the twice twisted right ankle. >> i'm not a coach that put restrictions on guys. either you're ready to play or you're not and he is ready to play. i'll treat it that way and as a coach, it's a breath of fresh air to have him back on the floor. >> all right. from the pros to college hoops,

cal hosting ucla. bears looking to stay perfect at home. time winding down at the first half. ucla down three. travis ware there for the putback. bruins down just one at the half. second half, all bears. jorge gutierrez will miss the three but look at this boom rang rebound out to crabb. he'll nail the three. a team high 20 points in the ball game. later in the second cal up 10. gutierrez finds hartford. he'll get the two-hand slammer. camp with ten in the game. cal now up 15 and this is great ball movement. gutierrez to robert thurman. he gets the jam and how about this? eight assists for gutierrez and cal wins, 85-69. stanford taking on usc down at the farm. cardinal looking to go 2-0 to start the conference first half and stanford up one and josh owens lays it in on the drive. under a minute to go. aaron bright goes around the back and gets the layup. cardinal up six at the break. second half stanford up four and

chasen randall drives in, lays it in. stanford a winner, 51-43. when the pac 12 and the big 10 meet in the bowl game it is usually played for the roses but you can now add the craft fight hunger bowl to the mix billed as the bowl to fill all bowls. they provided over 120 meals to bay area hungry this week. to the game we go. played at at&t park. ucla -- that's joe montana in the house. second quarter it's scoreless. kevin prince high lob for robert. we look at this beautiful over-the-shoulder catch, a thing of beauty. ucla up 7-0. later in the quarter, prince picked off by hawthorne. he'll go 39 yards for the touchdown. fighting illini lead it 10-7. fourth quarter now 13-7 illinois. nathan sheelhauss to a.j. jenkins a 60-yard pitching catch. also ran for a buck ten. illinois wins 21-14.

the interim coach. the gatorade shower. never gets old. kraft fight hunger bowl is a very good idea for a bowl game. coming up at 6:00 mindy bock in st. louis will get you ready for the 49ers and rams on sunday. diane is happy about cal state. that's a look at sports. >> i certainly am and my husband is happy about stanford. all is well in the dwyer family household. >> absolutely. everyone is happy. >> yeah. thanks, jim. still ahead at 5:00 after a century of service san francisco's japan town stands by a main stain.

san francisco's japanese community is mourning the closure of a business which has ban constant in the area for more than a century. minutes ago the sekai fish market closed its doors for the very last time. long-time fans kept the lines long all day making their final

purchases and bidding good-bye to the clerks. the family owned business on post street has been open since the great earthquake of 1906. an employee told the examiner the third generation owner wants to retire and the younger family members just don't want to run the business. >> i mean, it's part of japan town. so, you know, when anything closes down here it's not like there's a lot of it. so it's really sad, i think. >> they have the freshest fish. they have the freshest japanese food, and i would, you know, come here. there are other markets in japan town but this is like the family run place that, you know, i've known since i moved here. >> the market's owner reportedly planned to keep the building and will probably lease the store to another business but today is the last day for the fish market in san francisco. thanks for watching nbc bay area news at 5:00. we've got nbc nightly news next and then more local news on the 6 and we'll leave you with another look at the partying going on ates