get in. donors may not be able to get in. we may not be able to get supplies that we need. >> the. >> reporter: when the storms hit, travelers could get stranded. >> one year we had 1,000 people sleeping in their cars freezing to death just about because the shelters weren't open. and they couldn't get home all night because a tree was over the road on highway 9. >> reporter: marcum says debris on the roads is a bigger concern this year because many clean up programs were victims of budget cuts. live in the santa cruz mountain, robert handa, ktvu channel 2 news. so how much rain is expected from the series of storms? let's go right to our chief meteorologist bill martin. >> this rain is not going to catch anybody by surprise. we've been talking about it for the last few days. these are the clouds lining up shore. you have a little green right there. it's not raining yet but the showers will begin. we go out into the pacific, that's across the date line. you see the spinner to the north, that's the low pressure center that's cold. below that is subtropical moisture. it all creates juicy rainfall potential we've seen in the last couple of years. what that means is all that moisture has to get in here. seeing these before, it's not the end of the road, but we are going to get a lot of rain and we're going to get multiple days of rain. i'll try to dial those in for you. suffice this to say, commutes are always going to be nasty, umbrellas will be needed all the way through new years. officials are taking action in anticipation of this storm. they've already opened the flood gates to two dams. ken pritchett is live. >> reporter: i don't know if you can hear that rushing water over this mic but you can certainly see it coming through nimbus damn. this is the american river where water is being released here and at fulsome dam. the river is flowing at 30,000 cubic feet a second, all in advance to the upcoming storm. when a sign that marks the american river is partially underwater, you know the river is high. >> it is definitely running way above what it normally does. >> reporter: bill bootenes walks his dog, but where he normally walks is now below the water. >> i have never seen it get this high, but i hope it doesn't get higher than this. >> reporter: bill is worried about flooding. but the rush is intended to reduce that very risk. >> the thing is we want to make sure that we have room for the storms that are forecast to come into the area. >> reporter: lewis moore says fulsome lake is still slightly above where it should be for this time of year. it is normal to release water to prevent flooding but this large of a release in december is unusual. >> it's been a few years, i mean this is the second year where conditions have improved where three, four years prior we were in drought situation. >> reporter: releasing water now leaves room for the eventual run off of snow pack which stands at 125% of normal for december. but the snow pack is not the immediate concern, it is the several inches of rain expected by this time next week. >> the next five days of rain we're supposed to get, i don't know what it's going to look like in a week or so. but i'm sure it's going to be a lot higher than this. >> reporter: we might have seen a similar release of water this time last year, expect that the reservoirs were so low that it was not necessary. the fulsome lake for example if you're looking at these reservoirs, fulsome lake is a good example. right now it is twice as full as it was this time in december of last year. in gold river, ken pritchett? for the very latest, you can always log on to ktvu.com. and there's a list where you can pick up free sandbags. dozens of hotel workers are raising their voices right now at san francisco's union square. >> they are protesting self- contract negotiations between their unions and the unions of hilton. the hotel tonight is telling a different story. >> they are paying their top officers bonuses of $3.5 million this year. and the expenses for our hotel are about 2.5 million to pay for everything that we need. >> there's an offer on the table right now but the unions walked away from it. it preserves pension, it preserves health care and it preserves wages. we would hope the unions would find that good in a bad economy. >> reporter: its workers have gone more than 16 months without a contract, it's calling for a boycott of the union hotel. a forensic expert testified that dna evidence linked several defendants to the gang rape of a teenager. a crime lab supervisor said dna samples from four of the defendants have been linked to semen found on the victim. we'll have testimony coming up at 6:00. tributes and tears for a high school student stabbed to death in newark. the victims loved one think he was targeted for doing the right thing. a lot of witnesses saw the attack, and tonight the áf they need help. >> reporter: we are on cedar boulevard and birch street where at one point there was a group of more than 100 people gathered at this roadside memorial to remember 17-year- old. now a group of students who were gathered here are now making their way to newark memorial high school for a candlelight vigil. we see a couple of people here lighting their candles to make their way to that event. this is all in honor for a 17- year-old student who was killed in this spot yesterday. friends, classmates and the family of justice affara return to the spot where affara was killed yesterday. the outpouring of support brought some comfor says his mother. >> it helps a lot for me and my kids and the family. >> at the school we had a prayer for them. the whole school was quiet, teachers, staff, everybody joined. >> reporter: 17-year-old justice affala played high school football. he transferred to catch up in school but he remained focused on his future. >> he had a couple of scholarships. >> reporter: when he was stabbed, there was a large number of people gathered around him. >> somebody had to see somebody. >> reporter: his loved ones think that it was an act of retaliation after justin broke up a fight a month ago. >> we hear all kind of rumors, we need those people who are talking these rumors up and they are really talking to the press, we need some of those people to come and talk to us. >> reporter: a plea echoed by the victim's mother this afternoon. >> if anybody has any type of information to find who did this to my son, please come forward. that's all i'm asking for. >> reporter: and police want to emphasize that witnesses can remain anonymous when they call in. we have all the numbers to call on our website ktvu.com. allie rasmus. police are still searching for suspects after another young man was gunned down in san francisco's potrero district. it was a second shooting this week in that neighborhood. on tuesday night a 20-year-old man was shot while parking his car on 26th street near connecticut. that victim has not been identified survives. police believe that shooting was gang related. the number of people filing for first time jobless benefits slipped by 3,000 down to 430,000. the experts expected the number would be up. but the number of continuing claims increased. that now stands at 4.14 million. economists say it's difficult to draw a conclusion from the numbers this year because of volatility through the holiday season. the median price of a home in the bay area dropped nearly 2% in november when compared to the same month one year earlier. mda data quick puts the medium price at $380,000. it was off $3,000 from october of this year. home sales also fell about 11% in november compared to one year earlier. now the number of homes receiving late notices and another documents related to foreclosure hit a five year low last month. realty track reports prices fell 21% in october and down 15% from november of last year. some of it stems from delays that lenders and mortgage servicers imposed while they rechecked records. oracle says it's net income was almost $1.9 billion this year compared to just under 1.5 billion a year ago. it says revenue is up 47%. sales of new software licenses were stronger than expected, the company also sites improved profitability with microsystems which it bought about a year ago. the dow stayed in positive territory despite mixed economic news. stocks moved higher after the labor department slightly rose on reports of unemployment. here are today's closing numbers, the dow rose 41 points to close at 11,499. the nasdaq climbed 20 points to close at 2,006,367. an entire bay area county may soon ban plastic bags. also ahead -- >> reporter: the demand is up but donations is down. find out what bay area charities are doing to meet the need this holiday season. nder. way to brew, hon. [ female announcer choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. from 15 leading brands, including tully's. it's the way to brew everyone's favorite cup in under a minute. woman: way to brew. [ female announcer choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. one of the bay area's largest charitable organizations is struggling to meet demand this holiday season. they won't have enough food for those in need. david stevenson is in the city with detail, david. >> reporter: well ken, just take a look around me. volunteers here at the memorial church are set to distribute thousands of pounds of this food to thousands of people. but church leaders tell us they won't have enough to go around. >> god bless you too. >> reporter: the spirit of holiday brotherhood surrounded those waiting to get food. 6,000 bags are needed. reverend cecil williams says donations are down about 15% this year and the church are short about 90 volunteers needed to bag and distribute the food. volunteers may be scared to take a day off to help and donors remain cautious despite reports of an economic recovery. >> the donors are not coming through as they had in the last year or the last two years. >> other charities today reported slightly better news. the united way says the bay area's 211 help line saw only a 5% increase in food and shelter this year compared to a 39 increase in 2009. san francisco police this afternoon gathered 50 frozen turkeys for distribution to needy families. >> it feels good to give back. >> reporter: it's all part of san francisco's community church. >> the lines will be very short, shower however the lines are very long now. >> reporter: cash donations are up slightly. those receiving the food baskets this afternoon said they hope the spirit of giving goes on beyond the season. >> that's the time not just for the food basket but the time for all of us to stick together and love and be with one another. >> reporter: the food give away at glide begins at 7:00 tomorrow morning. the church expects foods doubling around the block. let's turn back to the weather. a lot of people out and about enjoying this relatively dry day before the rain comes. >> this isn't crazy unusual. so don't let the hype and the news media say, the rain is coming. it doesn't mean we're going to see flooding and all these horrible things. it just means, we're going to be wet for five, six, seven days in a row. if we get breaks in there like it looks we might, we won't have any problems. your commute will be hampered. i can show you we do have rain showing up kind of offshore a little bit. this is light stuff. we have showers this darker stuff, really this is just the beginning as the systems rev in from the pacific. i showed you already, the satellite imagine shows moisture comes in from over the date line. tonight we have daytime showers, tomorrow showers. friday morning commute before the holiday without rain always bad. you add a little shower activity. tomorrow is going to be a nasty morning commute. tomorrow afternoon the rain is really going to pick up then. that's when the afternoon commute can be a little nasty. we could see 1/4-inch of rain right on the commute. so be prepared for that tomorrow. a quarter inch is not a ton. the forecast very wet as we go through time. it's a series of storms. i'm going to -- i got the computer model all lined up. i'll see you back here. farmers across florida got a slight break in the freezing weather there today. but last night even though temperatures did dip toward freezing they never quite got there. some growers say they are worried about the first freeze coming so early in the season. >> the last time we had a freeze this early was on christmas day 1989. >> it's going to be a battle from now until february. >> florida had a slight warming trend today. growers say they hope it lasts. marin county will soon ban plastic bags. county supervisors this week gave tentative approval to ban plastic bags. if approved the ban would apply to only unincorporated parts of the county, at least at first. a public hearing is set for january 21st. president obama offers a briefing on afghanistan. hear what he's saying about the time line to pull troops out. and the new poll, what it's saying about public tolerance for the almost decade long war. a group of supporters cheer controversial leaker julian assange outside a jail. we'll tell you where he is and what he plans to do next. a family member opens up to tell us how she's coping after a child is killed and a mother injured. and what officials say is one reason behind the spike in crime in one south bay community. plus, new testimony during the now infamous gang rape trial. we'll bring you testimony from inside the trial. wt emo? whsa a bay area man is among six people arrested in a insider world trade investigation. he was central to the skiing, they said flashman provided controversial information to clients through. apple sale's forecast, new iphone features and a top secret project at apple that became known as the i pad is some of the information released. congress is working over time to try to pass the tax cut extension bill. house leaders are trying to bring the bill to a vote tonight but a stalemate has set in. the president wants the bill passed as is, but many democrats and some republicans are digging in for a fight. >> buying into bush economics and the worse own most failed part of their stimulus, which is larry summers invisible tax cuts. bad economics, bad policies. >> let's take a stand right here right now let's demand a better deal for the american people that will really create jobs and do it in a fiscally responsible way. >> the senate passed the tax code bill yesterday and president obama is urging the house to act quickly to keep the current tax cuts from expiring at the end of the month. president obama said today u.s. troops will start withdrawing from afghanistan this summer. the president made that remark as he released a new review of the war strategy. at least one lawmakers says that timetable is just too slow. >> we are seeing significant progress. >> we are progressing. >> the sense of progress among those closest to the fight is palpable. >> reporter: a year after president obama ordered a surge of 30,000 troops to the fight in afghanistan, his review of that strategy says troops are on track to begin leaving as scheduled next july. the report says al-qaida leadership has been weakened dramatically. >> it's harder for them to recruit, it's harder for them to travel. it's harder for them to train, it's harder for them to plot and launch attacks. >> reporter: but president obama emphasizes gets out depends on conditions on the ground and the gains are fragile and reversible. more and more democrats want a quicker end to the war and plan to cut funding for it. >> july is when we should be ending this. >> reporter: public support for the war is at an all time low. and we found anti war protesters outside the white house today. some of them war veterans skeptical the president will sting to the time line for troop withdraws. >> i don't really believe anything that he is saying. >> reporter: the poll says 60% of americans don't think the war is worth it. to that secretary of state hillary clinton says -- >> this is critical to our national security. obviously if we had concluded other wise we would have made different decisions. >> reporter: while president obama says u.s. troops will begin leaving afghanistan in july, we still don't know how many troops he's talking about. reporting from washington, d.c.. allison burns. a british judge today released assange on $316,000 bond. he spent more than a week in jail after swedish authorities issued an arrest warrant on alleged sex crimes. assange denies the charges and promised his cheering supporters today that he will fight to clear his name. >> i hope to continue my work and continue to protect my innocence in this matter. >> reporter: assange will stay in the home of a wiki leaks supporter in england, he must report with police every day. and once again pg & e finds himself in hot water, the question is, can we trust pg & e. what happened today that could change the way police approach suspects. pg & e is in hot water again today. it was revealed that a year and a half ago, the california utilities commission sternly warned the repeated violations were putting the public in danger. it's the latest in what has been an endless successions of problems. problems that are shaking public confidence in it. tom vacar joins us now with what pg & e chief and his chief critic has to say about this never endless chain of problems. >> reporter: quite a chain, botched inspections, smart meters that many believe are inaccurate or unsafe, spying on anti meter activists and a house fires. can we trust pg & e. that is a question we put to the company's chairman and chief executive officer. >> this has been a very difficult year for our customers and that fact is irrefutable. >> reporter: mark tony turned . does pg & e put profits over safety. >> a lot of the top executives of pg & e are from wall street and have the wall street mentality. >> what we've earned in terms of return for our shareholders has been consistent with that amount authorized by the commission. >> the public cannot trust pg & e. trust in pg & e is at an all time low. >> ask me what we intend to do, how we intend to conduct the business and then watch. watch objectively and i think what you will find is there's a consistency between the two. >> reporter: and you can see the entire interviews with pg & e's peter car darby on our website. quite an interview. and an accident with a shuttle bus sent several to the hospital. police say it appears the driver simply wasn't paying attention and saw the stopped vehicles too late. witnesses said none of those who went to the hospital appeared to have serious injuries. police in san francisco are also investigating another accident. this one involved a driver crashing through a former records store. it happened at the now closed virgin mega store. police say a driver somehow lost control of his car and smashed through the front windows of the abandoned building. the crash caused cig significant damage but no one was hurt. if you have business to do with hayward and fremont, do it tomorrow if not you'll have to wait until the new year. these closures will not affect police or fire services in any of those cities. six antioch police officers have received lay off notices. antioch's police chief says the lay offs could be rescinded if the union can reach an agreement with the city. and a new report on the city's crime rate will be released at a meeting that begins within half an hour. even with the dramatic drop in the over all crime rate in the past two decades, east palo alto still has one of the highest levels of the violent crime in the state. 42 homicides were reported back in 1992. in every year since, palo alto has had fewer than five deaths. those cities are barstow, stockton, and oakland. the nation's fore most civil right groups today held a meeting to what they call violations by the oakland police department. the naacp drew one of the city's top officials to its meeting. kraig debro reports. >> they may have an underline stereo typical notion about the act the community in which they are serving, thinking everybody has guns, everybody has weapons. >> reporter: naacp says it's holding the meting in the wake of two high profile officer related shootings. the mehserle conviction of oscar grant is used to compare. craig valentino single handedly shut down the bay bridge by stopping his suv on the bridge waving a gun around telling police he had explosives in his seau and would detonate them with his 16-year-old daughter in his vehicle -- explosives in his suv and would detonate them with his 16-year-old daughter in his vehicle. >> you would sign no white people being killed the way black people are over error and judgment. it just doesn't happen to white people. >> reporter: on september 9th. derrick jones was unarmed when two oakland officers shot and killed him. perez angeles believed jones was a suspect in a domestic violence case. they opened fire on jones after he reached for his waste band, say officers. >> you have to remember we have young kids who are 22, 23, 24, 25-year-olds making split second decisions. we need to put it in context too. >> reporter: the deputy confirmed that the fbi has begun a separate investigation into the shooting of jones. a suspect in tuesday's deadly shoot out at a sacramento strip mall was arrested this morning in southern california. the chp stopped lonnie orlando mitchell on interstate 5 along the grapevine and took him into custody. they believe he is one of four gunmen involved in a shoot out who killed a 30-year-old mother. five other people were wounded. mitchell was the only suspect to be named by investigator, no one else has been arrested. many schools are hiring school employees with criminal history. also ahead -- >> i'm not a hero folks, i'm just doing my job. the security guard who shot a gunman at a school board meeting is being honored. why he thought he was in trouble for opening fire on the suspect. and see what's behind a new airfare hike. we're hearing tonight from the security guard who stopped a gunman who was shooting at florida school board members. >> i'm not a hero folks, i'm just doing my job. the incident in panama city tuesday was caught on tape, police say clay duke started waving a gun, apparently upset over his wife losing her teaching job. when the gunman opened fire, jones shot the gunman. >> i thought i was going to jail. >> reporter: duke was the only one hit and he ended up shooting and killing himself. the community is also recognizing two school board members for their bravery. the only woman on the board tried to knock the gun out of duke's hand using her purse. the superintendent meanwhile had the composure to try to reason with the gunman asking him to let his fellow school board members go. most states require registered sex offenders to stay away from children. but a starting new report shows some schools are actually hiring people who had been convicted of sex crimes. >> it's quite an alarming report and it shows a fail failure of people who have a real responsibility of the safety of children not doing their job. >> reporter: 15 cases were found in 11 states where schools hired sex offenders as administrators, janitors even teachers. here in california five schools hired registered sex offenders including an administrative official who failed to answer a question. >> people were passed on from one district to another or they were hired where the school district did incomplete background checks or the school district officials that were supposed to be reading the material of these individuals didn't do a complete job and these children were placed at risk. >> reporter: the geo report also is being criticized for letting those sex offenders to resign rather than being fired. and several other airlines immediately followed suit on fare hikes. >> it would make me change my mind but i would have to see what the options were if the flight is cheaper, it might result in you still saving money. >> one of the big reasons for the fare hike is increased fuel price. the director of the pink panther has died. everyone know is music. edwards died from complications of numonia. victor victoria which starred his wife julie andrews. edwards was working on a movie. it was once a drug for breast cancer, now the fda has asked doctors to stop prescribing it. and there's rain headed your way, you know about it, i'll tell you when you can expect the heaviest rain, i'll see you back here. a family member opens up to tell us how she's coping after a child is killed and a mother injured by a teenage driver. and -- >> graffiti on the rise in this south bay community. what officials say is one reason behind the spike in crime. plus new testimony during the now infamous gang rape trial. we'll bring you more depth and detail from inside the courtroom. next on ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00. wal-mart recalled 1 million electric heaters because they can cause a fire or other electric fires. the heaters were sold under these brand names. flo pro, air tech, aloha breeze. wal-mart has received 21 reports of incidents with the heaters. a huge set back for a popular cancer drug made here in the bay area. the fda took the rare step of announcing that avastin should no longer be used for cancer treatment. the decision is vigorously opposed by thousands of cancer patients and some doctors. the company says it plans to ask for a review of the decision. a new regulation could soon be putting a cap on emissions. julie haener is in the newsroom with more stories we're working on. key elements that tie defendants in a gang rape. what investigators found at the scene that implicate four of the men. graffiti taggings are on the rise. how officials are responding and what they're doing to try to stop the problem. plus another japanese auto maker issues a recall. the reason why honda may be unfit. there are only eight more shops days until christmas. but some bay area business hope a couple of extra shopping hours will help. many stores are staying open tonight. the stores including pans on fire, murphies paw and little valerie valley winery usually close by 7:00 on weekdays, but tonight those stay open until 9:00. >> let's see if the weather is going to hold up. >> starting tomorrow mainly, it'll go right through the weekend and into christmas and new year, it's just a wet weather pattern. it doesn't mean it's the end of the world. it just means umbrellas are needed and travel, you will want to pay attention. storm tracker 2 is picking up some showers. i can put it in motion. you see it coming in south of the bay area down toward santa cruz. those showers will increase throughout the evening hours and make for a wet commute. so with this type of weather pattern you are looking for breaks, that what we'll probably see as we go through the next five or six days. this next system not a gully washer. kind of what you would expect, there's one behind it and there's one behind that one. overnight lows are going to be in the upper 30s, low 40s. as we get into tomorrow night, the rain starts. rain showers for your afternoon commute. i said this earlier but when you get rain on a get away friday which this is for a lot of people you know it's going to be slow. here comes the computer model 8:00 a.m., light showers. more activity throughout lunchtime, as we get through the commute we see it stiffen up a little bit. up in the lake tahoe area, snow levels are running about 5,500 feet. over the next couple of feet, easy, 2,000 to 3,000 feet. whatever that means, you know what that means it's part of your travel concerns. temperatures are going to be in the low 50s. it's going to stay in the low 50s. overnight lows are going to be in the upper 40s, low 50s. the five day forecast includes a lot of rain. kenny, you've been around a long time, gasia you grew up here. all this thing is about breaking. we'll get them. you get a six hour break or eight hour break, it's all good. when we got in trouble in 1982, we didn't get breaks. >> ground saturation. when the ground doesn't have saturation, we start to have trouble. you knew that. >> yeah. >> thank you bill, just trying to share a little knowledge. bay area lawmaker trying to save what's left of the dream act. >> i'm carol han in washington, where bay area lawmakers are upping the pressure of the u.s. senate to try cracking on the dream act. this story coming up. ♪ [ female announcer keurig has over 200 varieties of gourmet coffee and tea to choose from. ♪ keurig is the way to brew fresh, delicious coffee in under a minute. way to brew. [ female announcer so with keurig, every cup tastes like it's brewed just for you. ♪ because it is. choose. brew. enjoy. keurig. the house today agreed to a new bill to make energy saving cars louder. the bill aims to protect the blind and others. the measure would bring half a million undocumented students a way to get an education. >> we're going to keep pushing until the end. >> reporter: they've stormed the hall ways, even marched around the capital building seven times in seven days to call attention to the dream act. >> we're trying to make sure that the senate listens to us. >> reporter: listen in the same way the u.s. house did last week, passes the act that grants conditional citizenship to students that finish high school and enroll in college or the military. according to the nonpartisan migration association says half a billion students may be eligible for citizenship through the dream act. every single democratic member of congress from california voted yes to the dream act. but unanimous support ends at the senate door where critics calling the bill mass amnesty have a bigger voice. senator barbara boxer is appealing to her fellow lawmakers sense of fairness. >> the child grows up, doesn't even know they don't have their papers until they get to be 18 years old. since when do we pin the crimes of the parents on a child. we don't do that here. >> reporter: bay area lawmakers who voted for the bill are also upping the pressure for the passage. >> i urge the senate to pass it. >> we will find out who supports it and who doesn't. >> reporter: the big question is when will this vote happen? late this afternoon the top democrat in the senate said the dream act is still on his to do list. but he wouldn't give a time frame and my sources don't know eitherment in washington, carol han, ktvu channel 2 news. and we do have much more news just ahead. ktvu channel 2 news at 6:00 is next. what the key evidence revealed today about a gang rape. what investigators found that may link several defendants to the crime. wars being waged in the south bay over graffiti. the action officials are taking to keep the storm at bay. the storms are coming and we'll hit some parts of the bay area and santa cruz mountains very hard. when it will happen and how the residents are preparing, coming up next. bay area residents are filling up sandbags and stocking up on candles. the storm is on the way and where they are expected to hit the hardest. >> i should know it's not your fault. family members offering comfort to a mother recovering from a car accident that took her son's life. investigators are trying to determine the cause of that accident. good evening i'm ken wayne, frank somerville is off tonight. >> i'm julie haener. don't let today's sunny skies deceive you, a weather change is under way. tonight many people around the bay area and in mountain communities are bracing for the rainy weather. ktvu's robert handa joins us now. he's on storm watch coverage live in the south bay, robert. >> julie, we have had some rain recently

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