In the wake of the recession, people have been paying down, off credit cards. The gas price helps people looking forward to say, im going to be able to have enough money to pay down this credit card usage im doing over this holiday. The economy is up. Money is down this year, but since i found a lot of sales, i can save more at the last minute. Reporter a leader in measuring the Digital World said there has been a 15 increase in spending over last year. To think, we still havent unwrapped gift cards. Nick smith, abc 7 news. Its proving to be a good season for wall street. Trading ended up today. Traders were encouraged by the latest positive news on the economy. The dow closed up six points. The nasdaq gained eight. The s p 500 was flat at 2,081. Markets will reopen friday. Foggy and soggy out there for a time. You can see how quickly the clouds rolled through covering San Francisco. Then came the rain. Hold on to the umbrellas. And the wind, most areas saw brief showers with strong, gusty wind like here where we took these pictures. San francisco got a quick misting as well. Here is what it looked like from our rooftop camera. Gray skies. Can we expect more rain . Lets get the latest from our meteorologist. Were going from windy and rainy to just windy and chilly. Cooler air is setting in across the bay area thanks to the cold front that moved through. A quiet picture. The rain is all but out of here. A few hours of light rain and the cold front has made its presence known. Rainfall less than a tenth of an inch around the region. The highest amount in San Francisco with seven tenths. Look at what were looking at right now in terms of wind speed. The front has picked up the wind. Gusts, 29 miles an hour, san jose has a gust of 25 miles per hour. The winds are all out of the north bringing the winds of change and the cooler air. Our 24hour change in temperature, some areas doubledigit drop from this time yesterday. The cold air is sticking around. The coldest nights ahead we have seen all season. We will detail that with the sevenday forecast in a few minutes. Once the rain passed, he would captured this shot of the blue skies. Gorgeous. As the rain and wind moved out, a tree came down in San Francisco. Take a look. An hour and a half ago, the tree fell at sanchez and Market Street blocking the sidewalk. It missed a car by inches. No one was hurt. Happening now in san jose, police are investigating the discovery of a body near an outdoor stairwell. This is downtown near the sap center. There are no details on whether the body is that of a male or female or if any foul play is suspected. Of course, police have a lot of questions. In San Francisco, dozens of demonstrators blocked access to highway 101 this morning. They were protesting a shooting of unarmed black men in ferguson, missouri and new york city. This was the first action organized by the bay areas lgbtq community. I feel like transgender queer people are experiencing a lot of fear and anxiety because if black mens lives dont matter, we question, do our lives matter . This event was peaceful. The heads of the San Francisco, oakland and San Jose Police unions are worried some of the other recent bay area protests are putting officers at risk. They are calling on protesters to engage in constructive dialogue with police. An angry faceout with police in missouri. Police released video of the scene. Look at the video. Police say it proves the shooting was justified. Thats coming up at 6 30. The movie that led to sony being hacked is now out. The interview is on line. It will open in theaters nationwide tomorrow. After all the con electroversy, it is expected to do well. Like they say, no such thing as bad publicity. Reporter yeah, thats right. Even though this isnt the big hollywood release that sony wanted, its something. People can watch online. Streaming began today. People can see the movie at some bay area theaters tomorrow, inclu. Most of the people agree, whether or not you actually want to see the movie, the important thing is you now have the choice. Hello, north korea the movie that a week ago looked like it might never see the light of day is now on computer screens and will be shown at around 300 theaters across the country. Including the elmwood in berkeley where high demand led to additional show times. I have people calling to say they want to see the movie but to thank us for playing it. Reporter the comedy quickly snowballed into a controversial film after sony was hacked and the fbi linked threats of retaliation to north korea. Today, google play, xbox and youtube made it Available Online to stream. Google released a statement. Part of it says, we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech. A professor of Public Policy at uc berkeley says showing the film on a digital platform is exactly what needed to happen. A response has to be something that leads the perpetrator worse off than they were before they started making threats. Reporter not everybody is happy about the release. A woman handed out flyers outside the elmwood calling it racist. I dont think that we would have made a film like this showing the head england being assassinated. Reporter sonys decision to cancel it drew criticism, including from president obama who called that move a mistake. But now he says he is glad it is being released. Deputies arrested a man accused of sneaking into a womans apartment and trying to rape her. Investigators say it happened just after 3 00 this morning at an Apartment Building on 4th avenue and middlefield road. The woman says she was able to chase the man out of her apartment. Investigators say its isolated and the suspect has a connection with another resident of the apartment. A lawsuit has been filed again safe way after an elderly woman died after eating carmel apples. They have been tied to a listeria outbreak. Reporter those carmel apples purchased here have been removed from the shelves by safeway. A federal investigation is under way. For the family of the woman who has died, they hope that a lawsuit they filed will help to pin down exactly what happened and prevent additional deaths. It was a mystery to 81yearold shirleys doctors, how did she succumb to a listeria bacteria infection. She had been an active, health jy woman. Then her son heard about listeria cased. I had never heard of it until my moms death. I called my brother and said, thats unusual. Theres this outbreak of listeria and carmel apples. He said, oh, my gosh, mom brought carmel apples to the kids. Reporter she purchased them at this Safeway Store near her home. While safeway pulled them from sale, theres a lingering concern because others in the family also ate them. Had the grandchildren eating the apples . Yes, they have. Reporter have they had symptoms . Not that we can see. I guess a healthy person isnt necessarily as susceptible. But were keeping our eye on them. Reporter a wrongful death suit has been filed against safeway by an attorney who specializes in foodborne illness cases. It becoming backtracking and trying to connect the dots as to where this came from and see that it doesnt happen again. Reporter safeway said it cant comment but said the product was supplied to us by a third party and we are looking into the matter further. An Attorney Says listeria should not be present in carmel apples. Whether or not testing was performed on the products, it clearly didnt work or maybe it was not done at all. Normally what you see in a listeria outbreak is you see some problem in the manufacturing. Reporter the cdc is investigating and is recommended consumers not to eat commercially made prepackaged carmel apples until it can pinpoint the source. You can learn a lot about a community from its trash. Coming up, the great garbage experiment. You will hear from a man who hopes it can help save the world. Christmas coming early for those who love snow in tahoe. A live report on conditions there. Later, a wild Police Shootout in Northern California captured on an officers dashboard camera. How this dangerous encounter finally ca female announcer its time to make room for the new mattress models during sleep trains huge year end Clearance Sale, get beautyrest, posturepedic, even tempurpedic mattress sets at low clearance prices. Save even more on floor samples, demonstrators, and closeout inventory. Plus, free sameday delivery, setup, and removal of your old set. Why wait for the new models . Sleep trains year end Clearance Sale is on now . Guaranteed your ticket to a better nights sleep the backup on the road is legendary. But those living nearby have had enough. The road has needed repairs for years. Things have been made worse by the recent storms. Reporter along with the blessing there comes a curse. Its a little frustrating. Beautiful to get away from the city and be in nature. Reporter its nature, redwood trees and cars, lots of cars. Here is video shot by a viewer last weekend on Franks Valley road. Even the National Park service agrees that the areas popularity has led to a congestion problem. We really feel like we are too crowded. Reporter especially for local residents. They get almost a million tourists a year. Theres a couple hundred of us. Its a little overwhelming. Reporter now more so since a landslide closed highway 1, leaving Franks Valley road as the only other viable way in. And it has issues. This section has washed away to just one lane leaving the fire chief to wonder why the county has left it this way for ten years. Very frustrating for this road to have been like this for such a long time. And especially at a crunch time when highway 1 is out and this is our only way over the hill. Reporter today the county said its aware of the problem, has asked the sheriff for more parking enforcement. But the chief wants more. Congestion is a tragedy waiting to happen, he especially if emergency crews cannot get through. The concern for me is that Fire Department response from the county will take 45 minutes at best, probably an hour to reach. Reporter by then . If its a heart attack, it will be too late. Reporter and just as deadly even if it happens in this paradise. A man from oakland started a movement that keeps growing. Its all about cleaning up the planet one photograph at a time. Reporter amid the water and greenery, jeff sees something else. I see everything from little bits of glass to stray candy wrappers. Reporter it was in these woods he noticed the problem. My daughter noticed there was cat litter in the creek. She said, daddy, that doesnt go there. Reporter the trash was a problem. But the bigger problem was he hadnt noticed it. The litter has literally blended into the background of our lives. Reporter jeff became fascinated with litter. An ice tea can. That has probably been there for 20 years. Reporter he started taking pictures of it posting it on instagram. We crossed over 90,000 pieces of litter. Right now they are averaging 1,500 a peek. Find litter, photograph it with instagram, add the hash tag and throw out and recycle the litter. Reporter its doing more than just cleaning up the planet. They are gathering data, creating a litter profile. Five of the most common items we will see. A juice pouch, starbucks and styrofoam. Reporter every photo is tagged with the location. They know near a school, this straw wrapper was number one. Cast ti the cafeteria changed the straws and the problem went away. It can inspire. The photos are collected on the website and also in an art exhibit thats touring the bay area. Tahoe resorts are looking forward to a White Christmas. The storm is expected to bring fresh snow to the sierra. Here is a look at heavenly reso resort. The heaviest snow will move in right about now with five to ten inches on mountain passes and up to three on the valley floors by tomorrow morning. Change required on 80. Here are more on the conditions up there. Happy holidays. Reporter hi. Happy holidays. Its going to be a White Christmas. It is a White Christmas eve. We are along i80 before the conditions are slow moving right now. Thats because its icy. We are 44 miles, 45 miles from south lake tahoe. Its icy out here. You can hear the chains of passing cars and such. In the air you can see the snow is definitely picking up. Very icy. In my hand, a lot of the ice that has picked up in the short time that we have been here. Lets go to video of the scene in the sierra when we got here. We want to show you pictures. As we were heading up, of course, on the side of the road and the hills, lots of snow. A lot of it from past storms. We are seeing more snow coming right now. Late this afternoon as we drove up to the sierra, heavy rain followed by strong hail and sleet and ice pelting our windshield. That made conditions more dangerous for families and people heading up this way. There have been a number of spinouts along i80. When we got here, it didnt take long for an accident to back up traff traffic. Take it slow. There are chain conditions in effec effect. Back here live now, of course, lots of people eager to have a White Christmas. They are coming up this way hoping to hit the slopes, hoping to play in the snow. Be careful and take it slow. Thats the latest. Thanks a lot. Its starting to come down up there this year. We need more for the snow pack. A couple inches up there. We will not see the snow. Just cold. The worst part. Its going to feel like winter. Temperatures back into the 50s where we should be during the afternoon hours. We will show you, we were tracking rain through midday. Thats all out of here thanks to a cold front. It was a cold storm, meaning we are seeing snow . T in the sierra. Light snow showers are still falling. We still have a winter storm Winter Weather advisory in effect until 8 00 p. M. From three to six inches of snow above 4,000 feet. The wind is picking up. That could blow snow around creating Poor Visibility and travel delays. Chain requires are on affect, especially on i80. Live look outside. Quieter scene showing you not a cloud in the sky. The stars are out. Its going to get cool tonight. T the forecast calls for a colder christmas day. Some of the coldest air all season. Its very dry. The storm door is closed for the time being. Temperatures in the 40s and 50s. 53 in San Francisco. 52 in san jose. Napa at 51. Here comes the cold front. Brought light rain now snow to the sierra. Behind it, High Pressure is building in. A wind out of the north. Thats a cool breeze for us. That High Pressure, its not going anywhere. Thats why we are calling for a dry pattern into the new year. The wind picking up. Wind gusts, 50 miles per hour, San Francisco, 31, oakland, 37 miles per hour. By the afternoon on thursday, look at this. Winds dieing down to about less than 20 miles per hour. This cool air will bring cold mornings. Morning lows, in santa rosa, saturday morning, dropping near freezing. It looks like we will see patchy frost, especially in our north bays. Overnight tonight, temperatures in the 30s. 35 santa rosa. 40 in san jose under clear skies. Christmas day, breezy but bright out there and seasonable temperatures. 59 in oakland. 57 in san jose. The sevenday forecast calls for a bright christmas. Chilly friday. A frosty start saturday with temperatures in the 30s in some spots. Sunny sunday. This pattern is not breaking down any time soon. Monday, tuesday, wednesday, temperatures there the 50s and sunshine in full affect. No rain . No. Im already cold. Im advising you early. Thank you. Such a nice guy. Here is something to brighten up your holiday. This is not your average christmas light display. It started here in the bay area. Where you can check the Holiday Season is here, which means its time for the volkswagen signthendrive event. For practically just your signature, you could drive home for the holidays in a germanengineered volkswagen. Like the sporty, advanced new jetta. And the 2015 motor trend car of the year allnew golf. If youre wishing for a new volkswagen this season. Just about all you need is a finely tuned. Pen. Get zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on select new volkswagen models. Live look right now at the lastminute toy drive near union sca square. Time left to donate. The gifts will be brought tomorrow morning to Community Centers in the western addition. Earlier we were there with santa to drop off toys for kids in San Franciscos bayview district. More than 100 grateful kids received gifts. We invite to you give where you live this season. Abc 7s Parent Company disney has donated to toys for tots to help children have a brighter holiday. Find out how to help through a link on our website. A global Winter Wonder land has come to our States Capital this christmas. More than 70 light structures celebrating iconic landmarks from around the world cover 17 acres of sacramento. The event started in santa clara in 2011. The founder wanted to use the holidays to celebrate and explore world cultures. Its a good winter event because we have trees. We have santa as well. It was also to be able to have these giant monuments to showcase what people know about the world. Steel structures like the eiffel tower, the taj mahal and Golden Gate Bridge are lit with lights and wrapped using 200,000 feet of silk. It will be open every night through january 4th. Thats worth checking out. It looks great. A Fatal Shooting involving a Police Officer in missouri. It led to protests. Leaders say this case is much different than wha