in napa, ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >> the national weather service canceled a flood warning on the russian river. it is forecast to crest several feet below flood state. they opened an emergency operation center incase of the flooding but they closed it. >> to ktvu's lorraine blanco who is live in san francisco where the power has been out for most of the day in the sunset district. >> reporter: right now dozens of people are without power. pg&e crews hard at work trying to restore power. for crews across the bay area, the wild weather left quite a mess. >> reporter: heavy saturation toppled this pine tree today. blocking two lanes and blocking up computers in daily city. firefighters helping the chp. no one was hurt but it has been a while. >> our crews have been working all night. calls been very busy. 30 minutes sleep last night. very busy. >> reporter: in san francisco heavy winds and rain snapped this power pole before sun rise in the sunset district. >> when it happened there were tons of sparks and lightning. >> reporter: at one point 8400 customers lost power here. p

ktvu's ken pritchett joins us live from the carquinez bridge toll plaza on why the crime had a pay out. ken? >> reporter: there have been 10 robberies of toll workers here at this toll plaza at the carquinez bridge toll plaza in the past year and the chp says those responsible did not get away with much. >> reporter: it was happening once a month, a tollbooth worker forced to give it up, sometimes at gun point. and now the chp had a break in the case. >> pleased to announce the arrest of three suspects on robberies on the carquinez bridge toll plaza. >> reporter: the chp arrested robert larry white, christopher lee miller, david joseph morales. >> they would approach the toll plaza and demand money. and they would flee on interstate 80. >> reporter: he says surveillance cameras captured the license places but -- plates but the cars were stolen. the robberies -- >> approximately looking like 5- $6,000. >> reporter: the chp says based on the investigation the suspects, the three men, are responsible for 3-10 robberies here at the carquinez bridge toll plaza. and more arrests may be comin

ktvu's ken pritchett is live to explain why. ken? >> reporter: one reason they feel like they are targeted is because this transmitter is on private property. it is hard to get to. this happened last week and it may knock the station off the air for a month. >> reporter: it is the kind of place where they still spin records. the music is playing but not over the air. >> internet. since our recent vandalism. >> reporter: it was to this wooden shed. to get here you have to drive a bumpy dirt road. he took us on the drive to the mountain top. >> this is what they did the first time. >> reporter: two times since august they broke through this door. david put on an alarm so this time they found another way. >> they took a drill. >> then it appear this used a saw and went -- appears they used a saw and went through. once inside the mystery begins. they left behind valuable radio equipment but they took two devices that charge charge the badries -- that charge the batteries. he is not sure how they got up here but after three times he is co

ktvu's ken pritchett is live near the scene with more on what happened. >> reporter: that intersection is where it meets highway 85, the marine took that off ramp about 1:00 p.m. to find out why his window shatters and now investigators want to know who shot at that car and why. >> reporter: he was driving this car. on one side a window is shatted and you can see on the other side -- shatted and you can see on the other side -- shattered and you can see on the other side, bullet holes. he didn't realize there was shots. >> it was the shattering of glass. there was a loud pop. he gets alerted. pulls over to figure out what is going on and he realized there was several gun shots on the driver's side. >> reporter: highway 85 was shut down for an hour at 2:00 p.m. as they searched for bullet casings. it is unclear where the shots came from, off the highway or from another car, driving in the same or opposite direction. the car with the u.s. government plates was towed to seek answers. >> they will try to get an angle of the bullet holes, see what direction it came in and match it up with e

ktvu's ken pritchett is live where we learned one of the members is a young woman from the east bay. right? >> reporter: right. on the first monday according to federal law, today, first monday after the second wednesday in december they will meet in each state and cast the votes for president and vice president. it is not a secret process but one that goes unnoticed. >> reporter: she was helping to finish what we started on election night, the reelection of a president. she is one of 55 members of the electoral college. on the floor the delegates gathard, each chosen by a- gathered, each chosen by a california member of congress. >> that means everything. >> this is an amazing part of the presidential election process. >> reporter: they are pledged to a certain candidate based on the election day vote and it is rare to break that pledge. >> i am very faithful to president obama. >> 55 yes. no, none. okay? [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: there is no suspence the outcome is all but certain. but that makes it no less historic. >> i am part of history. >> reporter: her ballot will

on treasure island, ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> from ken we'll go to the north bay where debora villalon has been monitoring conditions there and a sinkhole that opened up earlier today. >> reporter: that is right, sewn ♪ [ music ] ♪ marin, napa all counties battered hard by the wind and the rain. and we're looking at one of the after-effects a sinkhole that closed a road here. road crews spent several hours getting stoney point road patched, where it intersected madron road. they just don't trust stoney point from collapsing completely. already the 4' culvert under the roll has failed on both sides and water has erode the soil around and under, it creating the sinkhole about 10' deep. the culvert was already failing due to age and the heavy run- off just finished it off. >> with the last three days, you know, this much rain short amount of time, it just causes a lot of havoc. we have a lot of roads closed right now due to flooding and it's just too much water in a short amount of time. >> reporter: and this is stoney point road, just south of here, in petaluma, there

ktvu's ken pritchett is live with how the sherriff's department is searching for the shooter. >> reporter: you can see highway 85. it was at 1:00 p.m. when the officer heard a noise, his back window shattered. he realized his car was shot, that led to a investigation and a shut down of highway 85 with many questions unanswered. >> reporter: police wouldn't identify which marine was driving this car. shattered windows. you see a car with three bullet holes in the drive side doors. >> he gets alerted, notices there is a pop from his window. pulls over and quickly discovers that he has been shot at. more than once, multiple times. >> reporter: to answer the questions investigators shut down interstate 85. this is where the car was hit. the search was on for evidence. as you can see from news chopper 2 traffic was at stand still for an hour as investigators paced the freeway. while it is unclear where the shots came from the sherriff's department does not believe the driver was targeted because he is a u.s. marine. >> he had a jacket on. his uniform wasn't visible. >> reporter: the car was to

ktvu's ken pritchett reports on the changes being proposed. >> you need a plan. >> call to a suicide hot line called the effort. it is considered a model mental health facility. they receive state money from prop 63. >> it is pointed at treatment and not prevention. >> reporter: in the wake of the newton, connecticut shooting, some say more money should go to treat the mentally ill. >> it shouldn't take an outrageous tragedy to spark a conversation about mental health. >> reporter: he announced a new website to make it easier for people to seek mental health and he called on the government to match states, dollar for dollar on funding for mental health prevention programs. california spends a billion dollars a year through prop 63. >> do we have a better responsibility of preventing these tragedies if we focus on a well funded, smart, cost effective national mental health system? you better believe it. >> reporter: he is sending this letter to joe biden, vice president joe biden, who is leading that panel that was formed in the wake of the newton, connecticut shooting. they will disc

ktvu's ken pritchett is live with the slow steady case that came together for investigators. ken? >> reporter: the chp says it happened this way, a car pulls up, it would stop, someone would get out and threaten the toll both worker. that happened 10 times at this toll lawser in the last -- plaza in the last year. at the carquinez bridge toll plaza with armed robbers hit the location repeatedly. >> they were hard to identify. >> reporter: he says three men have now been identified and arrested. robert larry white, christopher lee miller, david joseph morales. the chp believes they are responsible for 3-10 robberies here at the carquinez bridge toll plaza. the investigation was difficult because they used stolen cars. investigators had help from the police department in finding suspects through the use of record checks on traffic stops. and a series of car burglaries led the sherriff's department to issue search warrants on suspects. evidence found in those homes was linked to the robberies. >> during our search warrants, we found evidence linking them to several crimes. >> reporte

in petaluma, ken pritchett. >>> the couple left citrus height as a major storm was approaching. they were headed home to gardenerville nevada likely taking highway 50 most of the way. roderick cliffton and 46-year- old paula lane had been visiting relatives. police say their cell phones appear to have been turned off. >>> rain right now, a heavy cell just north of sacramento it's going that way. at this point we have moderate to light rainfalling. we have wet roadways for sure. this whole activity is going to spread south so it will have an impact your morning commute. at 4:00 a.m. it's starting to group a up a little bit. so you have wet on your roadways. most of the bay area all nine bay area counties have some rain on them. your morning commute is going to be a little dicey. now steve and sal are going to be here tomorrow morning. this is not a major major rain event but it's enough you know any time you put water on the morning commute you have a mess. so the early morning commute tomorrow pretty darn wet. when i come back, we roll this all the way through. we'll take a look

ktvu's ken pritchett joins us live from san francisco where there is speculation governor jerry brown could make an appearance tonight. >> reporter: he will have his 80 80th birthday party. i talked to a spokesman who says the governor was invited but it is unclear if he will attend but we know that one day after the announcement that governor jerry brown promised he remains on the job. we have seen a slew of announcements over the past few weeks, yesterday they announced he would undergo radiation for prostate cancer. his doctors saying prognosis is excellent. it is the second time he faced a cancer fight with a skin cancer removed from his nose last year. he says politically speaking the health concerns may matter less to voters than the governor. >> if he was considering another term this might say do i want to spend the time and energy to be governor of california or maybe it is somebody else's turn. >>> brown's prostate cancer treatment is expected to be completed in january. that will be a very busy month for the governor. in san francisco, ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >>

in petaluma, ken pritchett. >>> the couple left citrus height as a major storm was approaching. they were headed home to gardenerville nevada likely taking highway 50 most of the way. roderick cliffton and 46-year- old paula lane had been visiting relatives. police say their cell phones appear to have been turned off. >>> rain right now, a heavy cell just north of sacramento it's going that way. at this point we have moderate to light rainfalling. we have wet roadways for sure. this whole activity is going to spread south so it will have an impact your morning commute. at 4:00 a.m. it's starting to group a up a little bit. so you have wet on your roadways. most of the bay area all nine bay area counties have some rain on them. your morning commute is going to be a little dicey. now steve and sal are going to be here tomorrow morning. this is not a major major rain event but it's enough you know any time you put water on the morning commute you have a mess. so the early morning commute tomorrow pretty darn wet. when i come back, we roll this all the way through. we'll take a look

ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >> happening right now at reception for three oakland city council members. here only on 2, what the mayor has to say about this historic event. >> a major sporting goods retail sir pulling guns off its shelves. the move. [ laughter ] [ girl ] wow, you guys have it easy. i wish i had u-verse when i was your age. in my day, we didn't have these fancy wireless receivers. blah blah blah. if i had a sleepover, i couldn't just move the tv into the playroom. no. we had to watch movies in the den because that's where the tv outlet was. and if dad was snoring on the couch, we muscled through it. is she for real? your generation has it made. [ male announcer ] the wireless receiver only from at&t u-verse. get u-verse tv for $29 a month for six months. rethink possible. >>> very intelligent person. he really was. just like the way he acted around other people was just very withdrawn and just really quiet. >> a former classmate of the gunman in the connecticut school shooting is speaking out saying he and other students knew something was different about adam l

ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> officials in contra costa county are looking at a proposal it will connect trails. they be enjoyed walking and biking on the iron horse trail. but the only things that connects them is unmarked streets and path. the hope is they will connect. >>> a community group is making progress on their request to rebuild a city park thanks to a generous donation. they presented them with a $16,000 donation this morning. earlier this year vandals destroyed the taught lot. that is when they stepped in and started raising money to repair the park. they hope to reopen by spring. >> reporter: showns of skiers are crowding ski -- thousands of skiers are crowding ski resorts. here is what it looked like today. operators say the snow fall is above average. people were coming to the slopes in droves. >>> lots of snow in the mountains, lots of rain around here. last night we showed you the percents of average. over 160% of average rainfall. more snow in the mountains and well ahead of last year, 30% of average. we are doing great. more rain on the way. you can see i

ktvu's ken pritchett tells us how democrats plan to use their new power. >> reporter: with that the democrats super majority was set. one party rule. >> i believe that this is the end of one very difficult era in california and the beginning of a new and better era. >> reporter: democrats celebrated. republican still have a voice but no power. >> some call us the super minority party. >> reporter: republicans say they will serve as watch dogs. democrats can raise taxes and more without republican votes. >> this historic super majority and we intend to use it purposely, with purpose, with humility. and with great strength. >> reporter: democrats haven't outlined an agenda but he is proposing a bold change to the proposition 13, to make it easier for voters to raise their own property taxes. >> it allows voters to be able to reinvest in a very under funded educational system. >> more details now. 7 of the 38 represent the bay area. all but one are democrats. jerry hill is leaving his seat to become a state senator. he will over see district 13. >>> the founder of mcafee said he left belize. a r

i am ken pritchett. >> frank and julie are off tonight. we start with a deadly day on the slopes. a snowboarder was killed in an avalanche. kevin oliver has the story. >> reporter: ski patrol raced down the hill where paramedics tried to save the man. the man was buried for 5 hours. his friends left in shock, said the man just moved back to the area and this was his first outing the of season. >> we are missing a guy. missing a guy but they didn't start looking till 2-3 hours later. >> the man was buried in 2 feet of snow. friends said he was snow aboving when the snow broke -- snowboarding above it when the snow broke free. >> looking for him but they didn't find him. he was at the bottom. >> reporter: the ski patrol did a preliminary search. >> they did a courtesy search. concerned for safety reasons because of the unstable ice that is still up there. >> reporter: after more time passed and there was still no sign of the man search crews were called in. the resort was shut down. kevin oliver, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> an accident on highway 84 shut down both lanes of traffic for

in men to, ken pritchett, ktvu news. >>> president obama speaks about chemical weapons. >> there will be consequences and you will be held accountable. >> syria cently moved its stock pile of weapons. the president stole told syria's president the world is watching. secretary of strait clinton called it a red line for the u.s. neither she nor the president said what action the u.s. might take. >>> health experts say the flu season is off to its earliest start in 10 years and it is shaping up to be a bad one. the cdc said except every state except vermont is showing signs of the flu. they recommend getting a flu shot. there is a free clinic tomorrow. >>> scientist meeting in san francisco today unvailed a new technology that could help better predict storms. it keeps track of the pineapple express winter storms. those rivers are monitored by ground moisture sensors and gps. the new technology was presented at the american gee you physical convention today. >>> the results are in from the first test of marsian soil. right now scientists say they have no evidence to support life. it also

in san francisco, ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> today santa claus got some extra help from san francisco firefighters. >> here you guys go. >> reporter: every year the crews go out into neighborhoods in search of young people who's parents may not be able to get them christmas presents. >> we find people that just really need the toys the most. i really don't know what christmas is about or maybe they've forgotten a christmas day and they get a toy from a firefighters. all of a sudden they have a bike, a toy, a doll. >> reporter: organizers say this toy program started 60 years ago and has grown every year since. >>> the u.s. postal service estimates it will handle 18 billion pieces of mail during this holiday season but as robert honda roberts those last minute gifts encards -- gifts and cards get delivered by some very special volunteers on christmas day. >> reporter: it's not exactly santa's sleigh but some san jose postal service workers hit the road christmas day to deliver last minute christmas gifts. >> merry christmas. the postal service delivers on christmas day. >

. >> and i'm ken pritchett in tonight for ken wayne. >> i just hope that it helps you to know that you are not alone in your grief. that our world too has been torn apart. that all across this land of ours we have wept with you. we pulled our children tight. >> and that is president obama as he seeks to comfort the community of newtown community and the rest of america in services this evening recall the horror of the shooting and the innocence of the victims. mr.obama met with the families of the 26 killed. he called on the nation to do more to keep children safe. >>> meantime new information is coming to light about how gunman adam lanza pulled out friday's shooting. he used his rifle to blow the door open. he then killed the principal and school counselor. >> churchgoers in newtown were traumatized once again today when someone phoned in a death threat during services. the saint rose of lima catholic church was evacuated then a s.w.a.t. team searched the facilities for an hour. the threat scared churchgoers who had gone to solice. >> you saw these young children who go to sandy hook

ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the sierra avalanche center warns of significant risk of more slides. on monday, 49-year-old steven mark was killed in an avalanche at donner ski ranch. 53-year-old ski patrol officer bill foster was caught in a suspensionally set varnlg. and two others skiers a39-year- old woman and 16-year-old boy suffered minor injuries in a third varnlg avalanche monday. >>> a fatal accident shut down san pablo dam road in contra costa county for much of this afternoon. the chp said a driver of a chevy suv was heading north when he hit a volkswagen around noon. the woman was killed along with her dog of the chevy driver is in the hospital with broken bones. the road was closed until about three this afternoon. >>> part of the great highway in san francisco is closed right now because of flooding. heavy rains left pools of standing water on the roadway closing portions of the southbound lanes. a spokesperson with the city's department of public works said there is no estimate yet for when those lanes will reopen. >>> as the bay area begins to dry out from a s

. >> and i'm ken pritchett. frightening moments today when a car slammed into a funeral home in concord. the crash sent three people to the hospital including the teenagers inside the car. ktvu's jade hernandez is live in concord with what police suspect the driver may have been doing right before the crash, jade. >> reporter: well ken this impact shook this funeral chapel so hard that everyone inside thought there had been an earthquake. there's deep gashes in the ground. the front of the building is boarded up and there's a pile of debris still out front. but what you can't see is how close one man says he claim to not ringing in the new year. at first glance there was the nose of the chevy nova. it was sticking aout of -- out of the chap -l and debris was everywhere. with the arms around those who had been ushered outside of the side room was inside, they were grateful. >> literally sends after i had been in the side room, the car careened into the building. >> reporter: inside the funeral home the car struck

ken pritchett showed us how long it took to get up there yesterday. it was a mess. saturday, a chance for snow flurries late in the day. shouldn't be a big deal. nice couple days -- nice couple days. be prepared for icy conditions. bay area forecast calls for the fog tonight. it will be extensive. especially in the central valley. everybody is driving around, this is the stuff, especially on the 99, 505. nasty. when i come back the showers for tomorrow. i will see you back here. >> thank you. >>> coming up, what the pentagon is revealing about the number of sexual assaults involving military members. and an arrest and a horrific crime, what a man is accused of doing to a woman sleeping on a bench. look at you guys with your fancy-schmancy u-verse high speed internet. you know, in my day you couldn't just start streaming six ways to sunday. you'd get knocked off. and sometimes, it took a minute to download a song. that's sixty seconds, for crying out loud. we know how long a minute is! sitting, waiting for an album to download. i still have back problems. you're only

in vallejo, ken pritchett. >>> a 40,000-pound fin whale has washed ashore and officials don't know how to remove it. the city of malibu and the county and the state all say it's not their jurisdiction. late today officials said that toying the the caucus to see is no longer an option. >>> arresting a bay area nursing home, the alleged financial fraud and how it was uncovered by an outsider. >>> but >>> the port of oakland could soon be dealing with another strike. but the t's concession workers at the airport threatening to walk off the job during one of the busiest times of year. ktvu's eric rasmussen to explain why the dispute center who are not part of the union. >> reporter: we're told that 1/3 of the service workers are nonunion. and at least half of them have said that they've been threatened or even fired for going to a union. and tonight they made that threat loud and clear. outside port of oakland headquarters. more than two dozen union members demanded what they called justice for about 100 nonunion coworkers at the airport who share their stories with board members upstairs.

ken pritchett, ktvu news. >> and we have a link where you can share your photos. >>> international warnings defied. what we know so far about a rocket launch tonight by north korea. >>> back here in just 10 minutes, tracking showers right now that are moving through the area. how they impact your wednesday morning commute. have a good night. here you go. you, too. i'm going to dream about that steak. i'm going to dream about that tiramisu. what a night, huh? but, um, can the test drive be over now? head back to the dealership? [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a passat. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. >>> there were some horrifying moments tonight for a woman and her 8-year-old son after a molotov cocktail was thrown right through the window of their apartment. the woman told investigators she heard the sound of breaking glass then ran into the living

ken pritchett was in sacramento, and showed us how the unseen, but historic vote took place there. >> reporter: when she took the oath of office, she was helping to finish what we started on election night. the reelection of a president. she is one of 55 members of california's electoral college. >> one in 55 votes is an amazing thing. every four years this happens. i'm one of the lucky ones. >> reporter: on the assembly floor, the delegates gather. miriam picked by pete stark, as a young woman, a democrat, who commits to service. >> that to me means everything. >> this is an amazing part of the presidential election process. >> reporter: electors are pledged to is certain candidate based on the election day vote. it is rare for so-called faithless electors to break that pledge. >> 55 yes, no, none. >> reporter: there is no suspense, but this vote is historic, because we do not elect a president districtly on election night. it happens here. >> their votes count. that's what's most important. >> reporter: her signed ballot will be placed in the national archives after congress officia

ken pritchett was in sacramento, and showed us how the unseen, but historic vote took place there. >> reporter: when she took the oath of office, she was helping to finish what we started on election night. the reelection of a president. she is one of 55 members of california's electoral college. >> one in 55 votes is an amazing thing. every four years this happens. i'm one of the lucky ones. >> reporter: on the assembly floor, the delegates gather. miriam picked by pete stark, as a young woman, a democrat, who commits to service. >> that to me means everything. >> this is an amazing part of the presidential election process. >> reporter: electors are pledged to is certain candidate based on the election day vote. it is rare for so-called faithless electors to break that pledge. >> 55 yes, no, none. >> reporter: there is no suspense, but this vote is historic, because we do not elect a president districtly on election night. it happens here. >> their votes count. that's what's most important. >> reporter: her signed ballot will be placed in the national archives after congress officia

good evening i'm ken pritchett. >> and i'm jana katsuyama. frank and julyly have the night off. beyond the area people have been cleaning up from the weekends storms. and there's more rain headed our way. chief meteorologist bill martin has rain totals and a look at what's to come but we begin with ktvu's jade hernandez in east palo alto where crews try to shore up a levee that gave way, jade. >> reporter: the work continues tonight. this temporary levee hopes to hold the rain until the reconstruction project. but people are unsure with rain expected tomorrow. curtis and his wife left when they saw water bringing tires into yard washing away what was already there. >> we will go through this tomorrow again, you know. >> reporter: with the flood came flood insurance. >> if it does we'll just have to take off and leave again. we can't stay, we have to use common sense. >> reporter: earlier today we spoke to the executive director of joint powers authority. the regional agency made up of three cities and two counties takes care of flood control issues. >> the joint power authority

ken pritchett, ktvu news. >> and we have a link where you can share your photos. >>> international warnings defied. what we know so far about a rocket launch tonight by north korea. >>> back here in just 10 minutes, tracking showers right now that are moving through the area. how they impact your wednesday morning commute. i'll see you back here. >> thieves storm a bay area mall in search of jewels, how police caught up with the suspected robbers. music's, ready ! share the harmony... she'll be here soon ! she'll love this ! share a sweeter welcome... hey, hola, cómo estás ? hello, hey everyone. es un pla-cer co-no-cer-te. encantada. share everything. this holiday get verizon's share everything plan. unlimited talk, text and shareable data... ... across your family's devices, all in one plan. get a droid razr m by motorola for $49.99. saying thanks is a great deals customer appreciation month at subway restaurants. because we're offering $2 six inch subs -- the cold cut combo or meatball marinara. $2 each, all december long. appreciation tastes amazing! hurry in for your $2 sub. subway. e

as ktvu's ken pritchett reports, travelers have to pack snow gear and their patience. >> reporter: it was not that people had to chain up, or simply because the chain control was in effect. the long at times ten mile long backup on interstate 80 had more to do with the holiday. >> things are going very good with the weather and all the plow trucks, graters going. our big problem is the traffic, because we have both east and west traffic at enormous numbers. >> reporter: the gas station was as far as we had time to go. it was as far as some people should have gone. the parking lot was packed as people took a break from the long drive to gas up. and have some fun. after that driving ordeal, hundreds of people played today at a new snow park at nieyak. >> we try not to hit traffic. but everyone had the same idea. >> reporter: george brought his family up from sacramento. he knew what he was getting into in terms of the drive, b b says it was worth it. >> they wanted to play in the snow, so we had to take the ride. >> reporter: this is something we have seen all day here in this parking l

pacifica ken pritchett, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> a lawsuit blames the captain of a sail boat for the deadly accident off the faralona islands. the suit alleges the captain who did not survive, cause dollars the tragedy by cutting corners during the race. the lawsuit is against the owner of the race who did survive. >>> the state has ordered the cancelation of a $10 million book and video contract for the new eastern span of the bay bridge. caltrans had signed a deal back in august with a public relations company called words, pictures, ideas. it was supposed to produce a commemorative book and video of the new bridge. >>> senate democrats proposed a $64 billion disaster aid package today for areas affected by superstorm sandy. president obama made the emergency spending request five days ago, for the area hit back in october. the proposal comes at a time when lawmakers are battling over how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. the red cross is taking heat over the amount of money raised vs. the amount of money spent over hurricane sandy. they pulled in over $180 million in donations.

pacifica ken pritchett, ktvu, channel 2 news. >>> a lawsuit blames the captain of a sail boat for the deadly accident off the faralona islands. the suit alleges the captain who did not survive, cause dollars the tragedy by cutting corners during the race. the lawsuit is against the owner of the race who did survive. >>> the state has ordered the cancelation of a $10 million book and video contract for the new eastern span of the bay bridge. caltrans had signed a deal back in august with a public relations company called words, pictures, ideas. it was supposed to produce a commemorative book and video of the new bridge. >>> senate democrats proposed a $64 billion disaster aid package today for areas affected by superstorm sandy.  president obama made the emergency spending request five days ago, for the area hit back in october. the proposal comes at a time when lawmakers are battling over how to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. the red cross is taking heat over the amount of money raised vs. the amount of money spent over hurricane sandy. they pulled in over $180 million in donatio

in marin county, ken pritchett. >>> marine biologists are trying to find out why giant squid showed up in pleasure point. it's surprising that they are here in the first place because they typically like warmer water. they're advising people not to eat the skid because they could contain toxins. >>> the anti cancer drug avastin does not seem to be effective in treating early stage colon cancer. the fda has approved avastin to treat late stage colon cancer and other studies have found it can add -- >>>ftc ensure that is one brand of phone can call another brand. >>> the san francisco 49ers have reached a deal which will allow fans to play on sony gadgets at the team's new santa clara stadium. the nineers and sony have agreed on the deal. sony will also sponsor a hall of fame at the new $1.2 billion stadium. >>> if you buy your wine in a box you may want to make sure it stays cool. uc davis researchers analyzed wine stored in two kinds of bobs along with wines in bottle with real cork, synthetic corks and screw tops. the chemical composition of boxed wine composed the fastest. they're re

in vallejo, ken pritchett. >>> a 40,000-pound fin whale has washed ashore and officials don't know how to remove it. the city of malibu and the county and the state all say it's not their jurisdiction. late today officials said that toying the the caucus to see is no longer an option. >>> arresting a bay area nursing home, the alleged financial fraud and how it was uncovered by an outsider. >>> but first a noisy rally by airport workers tonight. what they're demanding as they threatening a strike before christmas. -- as they threaten a strike before christmas. [ laughter ] [ girl ] wow, you guys have it easy. i wish i had u-verse when i was your age. in my day, we didn't have these fancy wireless receivers. blah blah blah. if i had a sleepover, i couldn't just move the tv into the playroom. no. we had to watch movies in the den because that's where the tv outlet was. and if dad was snoring on the couch, we muscled through it. is she for real? your generation has it made. [ male announcer ] the wireless receiver only from at&t u-verse. get u-verse tv for $29 a month for six months. reth

as ktvu's ken pritchett reports, travelers have to pack snow gear and their patience. >> reporter: it was not that people had to chain up, or simply because the chain control was in effect. the long at times ten mile long backup on interstate 80 had more to do with the holiday. >> things are going very good with the weather and all the plow trucks, graters going. our big problem is the traffic, because we have both east and west traffic at enormous numbers. >> reporter: the gas station was as far as we had time to go. it was as far as some people should have gone. the parking lot was packed as people took a break from the long drive to gas up. and have some fun. after that driving ordeal, hundreds of people played today at a new snow park at nieyak. >> we try not to hit traffic. but everyone had the same idea. >> reporter: george brought his family up from sacramento. he knew what he was getting into in terms of the drive, but says it was worth it. >> they wanted to play in the snow, so we had to take the ride. >> reporter: this is something we have seen all day here in this parking l

ken pritchett, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> the rain in the bay hear has had a big impact on the snow in the sierra. officials save the content of the snow pack is 146% of normal for this time of year. the snow pack provides a third of the water supply for homes, farms and industries in california. the first official snow survey is scheduled for next week. >>> a fatal accident closed pap lo road this afternoon. the highway patrol says the chevy trail blazer going north crossed the center line and hit a car coming the other way. a woman from richmond and her dog died in the passat. the driver of the trail blazer, a man in his 20s suffered a broken arm in the collision. >>> santa rosa police are investigating the death of a 70 year old woman who was found in a pond at a condominium complex this morning. a man found the body at the wood lake complex off eulupa avenue north when he came to clean up from a party. he recognized the woman as his neighbor. neither lived at the condo complex. police say there were no obvious signs showing how that woman died. >>> oakland police have evacuated peo

good evening i'm ken pritchett. >> and i'm jana katsuyama. frank and julyly have the night off. beyond the area people have been cleaning up from the weekends storms. and there's more rain headed our way. chief meteorologist bill martin has rain totals and a look at what's to come but we begin with ktvu's jade hernandez in east palo alto where crews try to shore up a levee that gave way, jade. >> reporter: the work continues tonight. this temporary levee hopes to hold the rain until the reconstruction project. but people are unsure with rain expected tomorrow. curtis and his wife left when they saw water bringing tires into yard washing away what was already there. >> we will go through this tomorrow again, you know. >> reporter: with the flood came flood insurance. >> if it does we'll just have to take off and leave again. we can't stay, we have to use common sense. >> reporter: earlier today we spoke to the executive director of joint powers authority. the regional agency made up of three cities and two counties takes care of flood control issues. >> the joint power authority