your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. over 100 people stand together wearing the same shirts, "black lives matter." today public defenders came

together to protest inequality in the justice system. public defenders across the bay area today put their hands up to call attention to what they say are racial dissparseties in the criminal justice system. a demonstration held in oakland this morning similar protests like this in san francisco, san jose, and martinez. >> on a daily basis, we see what happens [ indiscernible ] the system and we want to major sure that that image is conveyed and that the justice system keeps in mind that all need to be treated equally. >> public defenders say they want officer-involved shootings to be investigated in a public courtroom instead of by a grand jury. they also want all officers to have body cameras. more fallout today over sony's decision to cancel the release of the "the interview" after north korean hackers threatened to attack any movie theater that showed it. anne makovec reports. are people angry the movie is canceled? >> reporter: you know, the whole thing has become a sort

of international incident. some people criticizing sony for bending to terrorism. others saying the can be is taking reasonable measures to keep americans safe. >> reporter: the studio said it respected and shared the theaters' concerns. [ chanting ] >> reporter: the comedy is about two american journalists tasked by the cia to assassinate north korean leader kim jong-un. one of the stars was in san francisco last month before the threats. and at that point, he laughed off the possibility. are you worried that there are north korean agents here in the castro? [ laughter ] >> it would be impressive if they were. if north korean agents actually got to america and we were there top priority.

>> i have never seen a studio saying we are pulling the publicity, movie, no video on demand. it's as if "the interview" never existed. >> reporter: federal investigators blame north korea for the cyber attack which has also included the leak of thousands of embarrassing company emails about "a" list stars. but some hacking experts are extent cal. >> that kind of information flowing at one time would have shut down north korean [ indiscernible ] they don't have the infrastructure or technical capabilities. >> you want us to kill the leader of north korea? >> reporter: insiders say the hack could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars making it possibly the most damaging cyber attack ever on an american business. some people are hoping for a delayed theatrical release, some sort of video on demand. but so far it just has no further plans for release of this film. live in san francisco, anne

makovec, kpix 5. >> according to anorth koreans say the allegations are ground less. governments around the world are praising the the opening of relations with cuba. >> reporter: the shift in diplomatic policy helped ease restrictions on imports an idea welcomed by a first generation cuban-american dreaming of finally having cuban-made products in his portland area cuban restaurant. >> chocolate could be from cuba too someday. amazing. >> reporter: margarita chan and her husband left family and friends behind back in 2001. the changes will make it easier for them to finally see their loved ones again. [ indiscernible ] >> reporter: but not everyone is happy about the new diplomatic relationship between

cuba and the u.s. some cuban- americans believe the obama administration has given up a lot for very little. one of the men released in exchange for american aid worker alan gross yesterday was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder in connection to the 1996 attack on a humanitarian mission to help cuban refugees. the attack claimed the life of miriam's son. >> i feel that i have been slapped in the fac by our president. [ crying ] >> reporter: as tensions flared in little havana, this man wore his obama t-shirt with pride. >> it's time for a change. >> reporter: he is hopeful cubans both here and abroad will finally have a better future. marlie hall, cbs news miami, florida. >> as part of the deal, cuba also agreed to release a u.s. intelligence source who had been in prison in the country for more than 20 years. uber is vowing to improve rider safety. the company has been under fire

over the way it screens drivers. almost a year ago, a 6-year-old girl was killed crossing the street in san francisco by a driver who told police he was with uber. yesterday, an uber driver in boston was charged with raping a passenger. an uber executive said the company will look at new safety measures including preemployment background checks and polygraph tests for drivers. a church in redondo beach is mourning the deaths of three parishioners this afternoon. a suspected drunk driver ran them down last night as they left a church christmas concert. police say a woman plowed into the crowd as they were leaving. two women in their 80s were killed as was a 36-year-old mother of three. at least 9 others were injured. two of them critically. >> i just seen the car come through, everybody here, people were flying in the air. >> police charged 56-year-old margo bronstein with felony vehicular manslaughter and dui. some strange acts of vandalism back in san

francisco. take a look at the left side of your screen here. you can see a man ripping a branch off a newly planted tree. city supervisor scott weiner posted the video online yesterday. the crime happened around 5:30 a.m. on last thursday on noe street. tree vandalism has been a problem for years now especially in golden gate park. san francisco mayor ed lee has set his sights on the olympic ring. he spoke at city hall this morning about the city's plan to win the bid to host the 2024 games. boston, los angeles, washington, d.c. are also vying to host th olympics. >> decision howhow to take long- term and local interest and [ indiscernible ] to the olympics. >> the olympic committee is expected to make a decision early next year on which of the 4 cities will host the games. head of the state puc is expected to address allegations of back room dealings during his final meeting as the

president. the commission is meeting in san francisco. this is michael peevey's meeting. he leaves the puc at the end of the year after 12 years as its president. he has been under fire in connection with a series of email exchanges between commission members and pg&e executives. the case involving leland yee could go to trial next summer in a corruption indictment that also accuses raymond "shrimp boy" chow of conducting an organized crime enterprise. also in court today the accused boston marathon bomber dzhokhar tsarnaev. a small group gathered outside the federal courthouse in support of tsarnaev. three people were killed and more than 260 injured when two bombs exploded near the finish line. one of the injured confronted the protestors as he entered the hearing. he held up his prosthetic leg moving it back and forth toward

the demonstrators telling them, that's proof right there. 49ers say they cut lineman ray mcdonald after a pattern of poor decision-making. that decision came after a woman said mcdonald sexually assaulted her. and this is just months after his pregnant girlfriend told police that mcdonald struck her. mcdonald's dismissal just another blow for the already struggling 49er team. >> in that situation, um, not a situation you want to hear about, very unfortunate. >> a wonderful man, he is a kind man. he is gentleman. good christian house. >> that man identified himself as mcdonald's driver. he was one of several people that stopped by silver creek home in san jose yesterday. mcdonald has yet to be arrested or charged. his case will be forwarded on now to the santa clara county d.a.'s office for further review. starting today, walnut creek is banning single use plastic bags. the ban includes restaurants, tellies, cafeterias and even food trucks.

restaurant having exempt from a larger citywide ban until now. retailers will be allowed to offer paper bags for a dime. the u.s. forest service says controlled burns can lower the chance of an extreme fire. researchers studied the "rim" fire which burned 400 square miles in the yosemite national park and found the wildfire burned less intensely in places that had fires recently. the study does say there is a risk involved. once a fire grows quickly, it becomes difficult to contain. well, the lights on the bay bridge are here to stay. a nonprofit raised $4 million to reinstall the bay lights on the western span of the bridge. one man contributed $2 million after hearing the display was going to be taken down. next march, the current lights that are up will come down and those will be replaced with sturdier l.e.d.s the lights will be on just in time for super bowl 50 at levi's stadium in a little over a year. comedy central's the

colbert report officially ends tonight. it will be replaced by the nightly show with larry wilmore starting in january. steven colbert will replace david letterman on the late show in september right here on kpix 5. still ahead it was obvious an east bay trail needed work so this week's jefferson award winner got busy. what he did to make the area safe and help it thrive coming up at 12:20. >> good afternoon, happy thursday. i'm roberta gonzales at whole food markets in san francisco. it may be cloudy outside but it's bright inside. we'll talk about the weather and "food for bay area families" when the news continues right here on kpix 5. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

a welcome sight today......e dow surging now let's get a check on the weather. some are calling it a santa

mark and it is a welcome sight. what a day. up 322 points on the dow. still climbing. all good news. >> it's quite the rally. >> i guess. let's check the weather. >> yeah. kpix 5's roberta gonzales is at the whole foods at potrero hill. how are you? >> reporter: yes. i'm doing great here. i'm doing a little bit of christmas shopping here a little food shopping. and i am here at whole foods market because we are here to collect "food for bay area families." we are going to talk more about that but let's talk about outside what's going on currently. let's head over to the transamerica building and take a look at the current conditions after our hi-def doppler radar. because we have basically nothing on the screen. just a little bit of green over the santa cruz mountains in the form of a little bit of light drizzle. otherwise, transamerica building under a mostly cloudy sky. temperatures we are currently in the 50s across the board. and the temperatures have been pretty much staying put for at least the past two to three hours. meanwhile, your weather headline today what you need to

know is basically the bottom line with sunny breaks, increasing winds late day early evening hours because we have another round of rain moving in the bay area. you can track this storm with us at home. it is our futurecast. and it clearly illustrates that we have a brand-new area of low pressure. it will be pushing into the bay area in the overnight hours clipping the northwestern section of sonoma county before it moves into san francisco by 6 a.m. yes, we are talking morning commute. then it slides into santa clara, the early hours of the afternoon. by the time it's done, generally speaking the urban areas about .25" of rain to three-quarters of a inch. an inch in the highest elevations of the north bay mountains. all right. traveling around the bay area today, we are talking about 50s in throughout the interior section of the state. 40s in the greater lake tahoe

area. sun goes down tonight and increasing winds. once we get rid of this storm, we'll have a dry weekend. we are at whole foods in san francisco. judy lee from the san francisco marin food bank and we have several other guests. welcome. tell me about sutter health. why are you here today? >> we're here today because sutter health is supporting our food bank. it's part of our mission to support the health and well- being of the communities we serve and this is one of the ways we do it. how happy are we? >> we are so excited to be able to see this to feed the hungry families in the community. help me out with the drum roll. how much money do we have to donate?

>> $32,500. >> i think everybody? the store has stopped their shopping so they can clap here. how many people will this feed? >> this is amazing. $32,000 is going to get us 100,000 meals. that's 100,000 meals, folks. we are so delighted that they're here. >> reporter: judy was once employed at sutter health and went on the board of the food bank so she could help those in need. if you at home -- if you to help us, get online and do so by visiting us at kpix.com/give. we'll be right back. right now ... christmas ches be ,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,

district in oakland, a litt piece of welcome back. we are here at whole foods market in san francisco. lisa marie wilson is with whole foods market. if people come in here shopping, what can we do to help? >> yeah, so what people can do to help is donate money at the register or they may choose to drop off non-perishable food to any of the designated donation barrels. all of which goes to local families and "food for bay area families." >> sometimes i find it difficult so i like to make the donation and one dollar helps you can help too kpix.com/give. michelle and frank? >> thank you. in the heart of the

montclair district in oakland a little piece of nature is being restored. it's a project that will probably never be finished. but kate kelly reports thanks to this week's jefferson award winner, it's coming back to life. >> reporter: this neighborhood trail may look like a walk in the park, but richard kauffman will tell you it represents years of hard work. >> it looks vastly different. this was an overgrown jungle this hillside. >> reporter: kauffman lives just up the hill from beaconfield canyon a small slice of city-owned open space in oakland. but it wasn't beauty that inspired him to get involved. >> we saw a fire waiting to happen. there was just a huge amount of debris this had been building up in this canyon four years. >> reporter: it became clear that the vines and debris were thicker than the city budget. he got neighbors' help and rolled up his sleeves. >> we hauled out tires, old sinks, things like that. >> reporter: today, seven years

later, the monthly volunteer workdays he started continue. and what was once impassable is now a golden trail lined with black cottonwoods. brightly colored flags mark the spot where native flags went in thanks to a partnership he formed with the environmental group friends of the creek. >> fire prevention effort morphed into a whole restoration effort of the canyon. >> reporter: and a funny thing happened. life in the canyon returned. >> do we want to pull those other plan? >> no! >> reporter: family, animals and plants are thriving in this urban oasis. kauffman now helps with field trips for local students on trails he helped to build. >> he loves to work with them because absolutely they are the next generation. they are the future. >> reporter: and while he never thought a little fire prevention would lead to this it's a passion he hopes others will start in their own

backyard. >> there are places like this all over the area. we are trying to take care of our little corner of that forest. >> reporter: so for leading the effort to protect his neighborhood and preserve its natural beauty for future generations, this week's jefferson award in the bay area goes to richard kauffman. kate kelly, kpix 5. >> and you can get involved in the restoration project, too. go to kpix.com/hero. we'll be right back. ,,,,,,,,,,,,

okay buddy, what's your favorite kind of cheerios? honey nut. but... chocolate is my other favorite... but apple cinnamon is my favorite too... and fruity... oh yeah, and frosted! okay, but...what's you're most favorite of all? hmm... the kind i have with you. me too.

procrastinators. how to get free shipping deals on your last-minute online orders. that story and more at five. coming up tonight at 5:00, a perk for holiday procrastinators. how to get free shipping deals on your last-minute online orders. that and more at 5:00. and just a reminder you can watch the 49ers game right here on kpix 5 this saturday. pre-game is at 4:30. kickoff is at 5:25. and that's followed by the "5th quarter" at 8:15 p.m. and at 9 p.m. the kpix 5 news special presentation california's green rush. sacred heart community service in san jose has started its holiday food distribution. this is the 50th anniversary. they expect to hand out about 3500 food baskets to low-income families over the next two

days. families will get over 60 pounds of food. next monday and tuesday sacred heart will post the annual toy distribution, as well. and it's not exactly santa sleigh but it will get the job done. this palo alto police cruiser trunk filled up with toys. officers spent $500 of their own money to buy the toys for the kids in need and take good care of them christmas one week away. >> one week. that's so nice of the police officers, too. that's it for kpix 5 news at noon. >> surprise, no rain out there. >> i know. take care. captions by: caption colorado comments@captioncolorado.com

[ door opens ] >> bill: katie! good. you're still here. >> katie: bill, what are you doing he-- >> bill: maybe i'm not too late to stop this insanity. where is he? >> katie: i'm assuming you're talking about ridge. >> bill: yeah, ridge. tell me he didn't marry the dressmaker. i mean, that's what the whole setup was about, right? what, did you have a minister come over? >> katie: actually, ridge isn't here. and he won't be. at least not to live. i broke up with him.