but joe vazquez >>> are you looking to downsize? well, little house st. may appeal to those looking to cut down on stuff. but joe vazquez says they also draw other customers including people that want to keep their regular sized homes. >> i think a lot of people don't need quite as much as they used to think they needed. >> reporter: jay schaefer is building a movement, albeit a quiet one. on a quiet street in western sonoma county he lives in this very small house. it is 89 square feet. >> come on in. >> reporter: the dimensions 8 feet by 12 feet. >> unless you count the porch then it is 14 feet. >> reporter: it has a living room, a cute little kitchen. but check this out. it is just inches from the bathroom. up the stairs is the bedroom right up against the ceiling. >> got to get that way. >> he owns the tumbleweed tiny house company and is founder of the small house society. a growing group with a relatively small membership. he has built some of the homes but mostly he has sold several hundred blue prints around the country. who would own such digs? s

joe vazquez, thank you. >>> bay area headlines. a former b.a.r.t police officer fired in the wake of the oscar grant shooting will get her job back. an arbitrator today overturned b.a.r.t's firing of a female officer. she was one of the officers that helped detain grant before he was shot and killed. b.a.r.t fired her accusing her of lying to investigators about the shooting. but today the arbitrators at the hearing found no evidence that she lied. >>> in san jose police are investigating a series of robberies at pot clubs. they say burglars hit four dispensaries and one marijuana grower this week. in one case a masked intruder knocked the dispenser owner out of his wheelchair then robbed the business. so far no one has been seriously hurt. police are investigating the possibility that the crimes are connected. >>> and a federal appeals court is upholding a decision that strikes down a ban on military recruitment of miners. the cities passed the use protection act two years ago. the government sued saying the cities can't regulate

joe vazquez in san francisco. thank you, joe. >> okay most kids know that christmas celebrates the birth of jesus. we know that. grace lee found ought what some bay area kids know about this famous story. >> reporter: it is a holiday that has lots of meaning. whether it is the lights that bring out your holiday spirit, the butte -- the beautiful. >> wednesday, a long time ago a lady named mary found out that baby jesus was in her tummy. joseph and mary had to stay in a barn. >> so where were they on their business trip? >> baltimore. >> apparently bethleham is so last year so what did bay area children have to contribute to this tale? >> i heard this story and a bunch of animals come to his house. >> does it have anything to do with baby jesus? >> no. >> i'm pretty sure it was like a shed. >> barn, shed or manager. it is a bit hazy. but we do know there were definitely wise men. >> while in the desert the two men were walking for a very long time. >> wait, two. are you sure it is two? >> i'm sure. >> they all had

joe vazquez on why it is still unclear exactly what happened. joe? >> reporter: dana, we are talking about two very young boys. a 4-year-old and 2-year-old. they were playing in the parents' bedroom. they are not sure who shot the fatal shot. friends and family are remembering the child. a small memorial is growing where the 2-year-old was killed with his parents' handguns. his mom had just bought the weapon and his father, eddie carr, loaded it this morning and left it in a drawer in the bedroom. the parents were away. the two children were with their grandmother when shots rang out around 11:30 a.m. this morning. >> the children were in the bedroom, the parents' bedroom. the 4-year-old child walked out and the grandmother and found the 2-year-old suffering from a gunshot wound. >> reporter: the boy was rushed to the hospital where he later died. they are not sure who pulled the trigger. when their parents arrived home police arrested them for suspicion of wreckless storage of a firearm and child endangerment. >> he was a happy baby. >> reporter: he

joe vazquez is standing by in san jose to tell us about the giant blue bladder that could save homes and businesses. joe, what is this thing? >> well, ken, it is actually quite interesting. it is an inflatable dam. look around right now. nobody here is talking about a catastrophic flood. this is santa row. it has been raining off and on. the wind is starting to whip up here. but if they did talk about that catastrophic flood the water district wants folks to know it would employ that temporary dam. here comes the rain with a lot more expected over the next week. are we ready for the worst of the worst? in san jose they are prepared with what looks like a big blue bladder. >> they are inflatable barriers but they are often called bladder dams. >> the santa clara valley water district has three bladder dams each about 85 feet long. in the case of a 100-year flood the worst-case scenario they will be rolled out of storage and inflated each with 20,000- gallons of water from specially placed hydrants. >> this wall here is a masonry wall. >> there are already flood walls up except across

joe vazquez in san francisco. thanks, joe. >>> a controversial chemical linked to cancer and diabetes is now showing up on an unlikely source. as kiet do tells us if you use paper money you could be exposed. >> reporter: controversial chemical found in plastic bottles has now been discovered on our currency. gives a whole new meaning to our toxic assets. a study was released called on the money by safer chemicals and healthy families. an advocacy group. it was tested from all over the country and they found trace amounts of b.p.a. on 21 of 22 bills. >> it means people can't make the safe choices they would like to make for their family because it is everywhere. >> reporter: b.p.a. is not bonded to the paper and so it easily rubs on into the cash in your wallet. your hands, everything. >> we are not going to be living in a receiptless society. we are exposed to multiple receipts every day. >> reporter: cbs5 was told in a written statement levels on paper money were extremely low and scientific evidence demonstrates

joe vazquez is in larksford tonight. joe? >> robert, this is one of the areas lawrence just pointed out getting a lot of rain. he said more than three inches tonight. it has been raining buckets here since 4:00 p.m. this afternoon and that's been the case across the north bay. there are some roads that are closed right now due to flooding. just west of santa rosa we understand from the emergency operations folks up there. they just posted something on their website within the last hour. but for the most part here in the north bay and population centers you know what the fact is that it has just been somewhat inconvenient. >> reporter: the rain is steady and unstopping. pooling happening along parts of 101 to marin although the water is not quite as high. a downed tree in kentfield covered part of the roadway. north bay communities brace for a major rainstorm even though most of those we talked to don't seem to mind. >> i like it. it is really nice. it just makes everything a little more hectic. having to drive for work. >> wh

joe vazquez, cbs5. >>> a judge today denied bail for johannes mehserle. the attorney for the former b.a.r.t officer asked for release pending appeal of his manslaughter conviction for killing oscar grant in 2009. the judge agreed that johannes mehserle is not a flight risk or a threat to the public. to be released on bail after a felony conviction, a defendant must also show he has a good chance of overturning the conviction. >> he thinks that we have a substantial issue or issues that we have raised. he just did not feel sitting at the bench that the substantial issues would necessarily result in a reversal of a conviction. >> we are happy, of course, that he did not get let out on bail. we are still in pain. >> johannes mehserle will likely be released before his appeal is heard. he could be eligible for release in about seven months. >>> getting local high school talent some big time recognition. that's the goal. kiet do in fremont to explain how he puts it all together. >> reporter: travis already has a full time day job but during basketball season h

joe vazquez, cbs 5. >> intrigued. well, joe reports that the procedure can cost up to $3,000. and look at these before and after pictures. they show the difference of the fat freezing can make. it's actually worth a couple of dress sizes. >> pretty good results. >> yeah. >> no surgery needed. >>> check out this next story, a danville family needs help tracking down a very unusual family member. a metal dinosaur was stolen from the johnson home sometime between monday night and tuesday evening. well, eileen johnson bought the skulture in 2006 and dressed it up for different holidays. it even has a name, yes, it does, emily blantsourus and they're hoping the dineo will be returned. >> i know there are a lot of world disasters and i know this is not the worst thing in the whole world, but the dinosaur kind of protected our house and he was a happy part of our lives and of the neighborhood. >> i think she's wearing dinosaur earrings too, did you see that? the sculpture stands five feet tall and is 10 feet wide. missing dinosaur flyers are posted all around the neighborhood, but so

joe vazquez, cbs5. >>> other news making headlines around the bay area. a gathering in oakland this evening in honor of 17-year-old raymond justice. he was gunned down in september a block away from his home. his father says raymond wanted to become someone who could help people. at tonight's gathering community organization leaders offered help for crime victims and solutions for crime prevention. >>> a jewelry theft pulled off by several masked men. police say two diamond dealers were robbed in downtown los altos. they were about to head to the airport when four thieves stole their briefcases with the jewelry inside. the victims were not hurt. similar thefts have happened on the peninsula but police are not saying if the crimes are connected. demolition work has begun on the transbay terminal in san francisco. crews will be using the wrecking ball to smash up the old building. a $4 billion center will replace the new terminal expected to open in 2017. >> getting local high school talents and big time recognition. that's the goal of a former high school

joe vazquez, cbs 5. >>> in san jose, police are investigating a series of robberies at pot clubs. they say that thieves hit four dispensaries and one marijuana grower this week. in one case a masked intruder knocked a dispensary owner out of his wheelchair and robbed the business. so far nobody has been seriously hurt but police are investigating the possibility that these crimes are in some way connected. >>> in palo alto, a man ended up at stanford hospital with some serious injuries after slamming his car into the tree and a light pole. it happened just before 6 a.m. on san antonio road near middle field. police say that it was not really raining that hard at the time so they don't know exactly what caused the accident. the 24-year-old driver was unconscious when they pulled him out of the car. >>> coming up, a big change for californians who get unemployment and disability benefits. why the check won't be in the mail much longer. >>> one week of shopping left before christmas. the freebie you want to take advantage of but it's today only. >>> the outlook at that time was grim.

joe vazquez with the report. >> reporter: you might be able to see me. there are police officers here. going house-to-house. streets are blocked off. taking dogs from house to house. video from earlier today, from chopper 5, a red car crashed into the side of a house. police say that was a car being chased by officers in a high speed chase. police information officer jeff thomas says it started around 2:30 p.m. this afternoon with some undercover cops who were out today investigating a shooting from last week. they said they had information about a week that possibly had guns in it. apparently related to last week's shooting. they started tailing the car. called on the radio. got other officers to follow in a marked unit as well. eventually a high speed chase was underway. the pursuit started in west oakland. ended abruptly here on 13th avenue. >> the vehicle crashed in the 3300 block. there were four occupants in the vehicle and they exited the vehicle and ran from officers. one of the occupants in the vehicle was shot by our officers. we had two office

joe vazquez, thank you joe. >>> it's a rape that captivated the nation's attention. a judge ruled five, not seven defendants should stand trial for gang rape of a 16-year-old girl. but could an unannounced shake up in the d.a. rank but the case in jeopardy? >> reporter: this was the most complicated and complex case of my career, over 25 years. >> dora cashman is wiped out. she's spent the past 19 days trying to convince a judge that seven men orchestrated the gang rape of a student in this corner of the school. 50 hours of video, forensic evidence and uncooperative witnesses led the judge to rule v men ranging from 17 to 45 should face life with probable sentence. >> when were you given word of your demotion. >> last tuesday. >> she's been demoted by the newly elected d.a. >> the case means too much, i've put too much of my soul into it. it breaks my heart i'm not going to finish the case. >> reporter: sources tell cbs5 in the midst of the explosion of violent crimes the new d.a. is gutting the seasoned superintendent. bruce responsible for misdemeanor trials from d

joe vazquez on santa's new mission. >> reporter: santa claus is back at work. can i get a joke? and still trying to live down the sense of humor that got him fired. late last week john toomey to was the macy's union square santa for 20 years after an adult couple complained about a remark he made about naughty girls and boys out of the earshot of children. now he is on the new throne at left eve o'doul's a bar and -- lefty o'doul's at a bar and restaurant on geary. >> say any joke you want. >> reporter: lefty's owner offered santa john a job with twice the salary and bigger throne. >> they are cheering me and shaking my hand telling me how glad they are that santa is work at lefty as and doing just wonderfully. >> reporter: santa's mission now is to use the international publicity about the case to help lefty's collect toys for their annual firefighters toy drive. he kicked that effort off with a parade around the square a parade which happened to pass by his former home. macy's says no comment because it's a personnel matter. >> bring toys for santa. for the firefighters toys p

joe vazquez is in larksburg tonight. joe? >> reporter: dana, i just heard lawrence say three inches of rain here. let me tell you, just lightened up to a moderate rainfall. it has been heavy rain for much of the last five hours. we have driven from santa rosa back down here to marin. at times on 101 we were hydro planing. pretty difficult situation right now. the rain is steady and driving is treacherous. part of the backyard is flooded south. same sort of pooling happening around 101 to marin although the water not quite as high. a downed tree covered part of the roadway. north bay communities bracing for a major rainstorm though most we talked to don't seem to mind it. >> i like it. it just makes everything tougher. >> what was driving like? >> dangerous. it is scary. >> we get some rain. get some snow from the hills. >> the creeks and rivers are still a long way from capacity although the marin municipal res voyeur reservoirs are at 90% full and are usually at 70% this time of year. that should not be a contributing factor

joe vazquez, cbs 5. >>> as joe said, the vallejo police department is concerned there may be more victims. so parents who suspect their children may have been abused should call the number that's on your screen, 1-800-488-4383. the contact person is detective john whitney. >>> it is 5:38. they are calling him armed and dangerous. the search is on this morning for the man who robbed a bank in san jose. he walked into the chase bank on monterey road, held a gun to the terrill and demanded money. the teller complied and the robber took off. no one is saying just how much money he got away with. the man is about 5'5" and weigh about 150 pounds. >>> well, it looks like the u.s. senate will vote tomorrow on whether to end the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on gays in the military. the house already approved the repeal earlier this week. in the senate, those in favor of the repeal appeared to have more than the 60 votes needed to break a filibuster. democrats say they have 57 yes votes with only one, west virginia's joe manchin, planning to vote no. at least four republicans are also expected to

joe vazquez, cbs 5. >>> practically lily pew shan, lawrence. the big weather is over for now, isn't it? >> we have another storm coming in allen that's really going to make things interesting. enjoying beautiful conditions tonight under partly cloudy skies it looks like things going to be dry for at least one more day but yeah, we have that storm gathering at the coast. beginning to see some high clouds from it now. out toward the beaches and the coast you have some of the clouds moving in now but a ridge of high pressure sitting ahead of that will send most of the moisture up to the north. clouds inside the bay, temperatures this is 50s and 50s. but overnight lows chilly down in the 30s and 40s. tomorrow highs should spike. 50s in this area, 61 san jose, 59 degrees in redwood city. all right. looking out over the next few days, here it comes again. another storm coming in looks to pack punch. heavy rain on christmas, strong gusty winds at the coast. won be surprised to see some trees coming down, power outages so be prepared. this is a good on

joe vazquez shows us, this is for people getting rides from the airport. >> reporter: on a rainy day it's not so obvious. but taxi drivers at san francisco international airport are often in a race for time to make what they call a short trip. >> they are flying. they are going 100 miles an hour. that's what they're doing. >> reporter: here's how a short trip works. a taxi driver picks:a fare at the airport, zooms down the highway, drops his customers sometimes all the way in downtown san francisco, picks somebody else up and flies back to the airport. >> when there is no traffic and somebody is going south of market, you make that short with practically not even speeding. >> there's a lot of guys who make the crazy shorts, you know, who do those shorts dropping off people at the marriott on fourth street. that's a real hard short. >> reporter: this is the finish line. if they make their short trip in 30 minutes or less then they swipe their smart card here and go to the front of the line. >> this is smart card. >> the problem coming back so quickly that first off they are speeding i

joe vazquez, cbs 5. >> time now 6:51. we're getting some new information on a fire burning at an apartment in san pablo. >> plus, it failed to prevent the deadly san bruno explosion. how pg&e was able to keep an inspection method many said didn't work. >>> and if you have a story idea or comment would you like to share with you, email that guy right there brian@cbs5.com. ,, lots of lotions promised healing. this one actually does it. [ female announcer ] gold bond ultimate healing lotion. nothing feels like it, smells like it, heals like it. gold bond. this stuff really works. download a song in 4 seconds. rule the air on the fastest 4g network in america. showing us live pictures of a fire at an apartment complex in >>> we continue to follow breaking news. chopper 5 is offering us these live images of a fire at an apartment complex in san pablo. now, the cbs 5 newsroom has confirmed that the fire broke out just about an hour ago. this fire is located near 23rd street and standard avenue. we have been able to confirm that

as joe vazquez explains, the drivers get a special break if they can get back to sfo within 30 minutes of picking up a fare there. >>> reporter: on a rainy day it's not so obvious but taxi drivers at san francisco international airport are often in a race for time to make what they call a short trip. >> they are flying. they are going 100 miles an hour. that's what they were doing. >> reporter: here's how a short trip works. a driver picks up a fare at the airport, zooms down the highway in some cases drops his customers off all the way in downtown san francisco, picks somebody else up, then flies back to the airport. >> when there is no traffic and somebody is going south of market you make that short -- practically not speeding. >> there's a lot of guys to make the crazy shorts, you know, who do those shorts dropping offer people at the marriott on fourth street. that's a real hard short. >> reporter: this is the finish line. if they make their short flip 30 minutes or less, then they swipe their smart card and go to the front of the line. >> this is smart card. >> the problem coming

just their job. >> reporter: joe vazquez, cbs 5. >>> 6:05. let's check traffic and weather. tracy, so far conditions not bad, right? >> so far, so good. forecast here we go, pinpoint doppler, got some light rainfall out there currently. mostly north of the golden gate. here's a look at what we're expecting as we move into the afternoon. pinpoint forecast, this is all based on model data. love it. it does a good job of showing us when we are expecting the heaviest rainfall. through this morning, just some light showers but boy take a look at what happens once you move into the afternoon around 3:00. potential for heavy rainfall moving to the north bay and eventually sinking down to the south and east bay. could see up to 2.5" of rainfall in the north bay when it's all said and done so we do have a flash flood watch in effect for marin, napa and sonoma counties for late this evening through tonight, wind advisory in effect for the entire bay area. winds gusting as high as 55 miles per hour. and a winter storm warning in effect for the sierra. snowfall up to 30 inches. that's a

joe vazquez, cbs 5. >>> the cruise ship that hit very rough seas off south america is safely at port this morning. these are new pictures this morning of the crew arriving safely. 88 americans and a crew of 77 survived the stormy seas with only one injury being reported. the ship was towed to port in southern argentina yesterday. >> we had 15-meter seas, 45 feet. and it was very difficult. >> it would go from side to side, you know? the side to side bothered me more than the going into them, you know. but it was exciting! [ laughter ] >> i got my money's worth. >> i should say so. the 290-foot ship was damaged by large waves tuesday as it traveled through the drakes passage. >> it makes me sea sick just watching it. >> i know, right? >>> 6:26. coming up he is probably the world's second most recognized santa. >> the recently fired kris kringle starts his new job in the bay area today. the request he is making to people who go see him. >> parents, the scare for two kids once they got home from school. >> we're looking at some rainfall. yeah, scattered showers moving into the north bay

. >> thank you, joe vazquez in san francisco. >>> well, a 12-year-old girl from virginia was missing for a week, found today unharmed in san francisco. she was last seen at this wal- mart in salem, virginia, with her mother's boyfriend. now, that was back on december 3rd. 32-year-old jeffrey easily is in custody accused of abducting that girl but he is also accused of murdering the girl's mother. the mother was found dead on monday. no details yet on how or exactly where that girl was found. >>> first it was the pot raids, now protests. a day after a series of police sweeps, bay area pot clubs are fighting back. len ramirez shows us cannabis users are fired up. >> reporter: if there were any other place would you say people were standing around, signature around getting stoned but this is a medical marijuana facility and so the word here is that they are medicating themselves. that's really the difference between this and any other place. they are doing this in defiance of the police right now. they are doing this in front of cameras. they want to send out the message that they are h

. >> is that joe vazquez? >> front man for the band. ♪ [ music ]

joe vazquez shows us police are still looking for one suspect who may be armed. joe? >> reporter: as a matter of fact, you can see behind me police have blocked off 34th street here at 34th and rk

joe vazquez in oakland. thank you. >>> we are learning tonight just how careful san francisco cops are being with their newest assignment and that is enforcing the city's new sit, lie law and we are talking about hours of training on the right way to move along homeless people who are blocking the sidewalks. more now on why the thing will end up with cops in court. >> reporter: in november when voters passed the sit, lie or civil sidewalks law it is pretty simple. sit or lie, block the traffic along the side like this and you're subject to a $50 citation if you don't move on. but you would think that it would take a phd to enforce it considering the training and time cops are putting into it. here's the story. >> we are not going to start any enforcement to any officer's trained. they are planning, starting to tomorrow they are going to start the training of officers and that is going to be all the way down to patrol officers up to captain. >> reporter: boy do they mean train. >> trained twice a day until it