Tequila herradura, the worlds most gold medal awarded tequila. The tables are gone and the stayathome order is now in place. Some hard reaction coming from businesses in my story. And im tracking a rare december red flag warning that goes into effect overnight tonight. The latest on our fire danger in accuweather. Tonight politica insiders tells California Attorney general Xavier Becerra was selected by president elect joe biden to be the next health secretary. What this means for california. Abc7 news starts right now. Announcer building a better bay area for a safe and secure future, this is abc7 news. Three bay area counties are now in another shutdown. Businesses in San Francisco, contra costa, and santa clara saw a final show of support from customers today. But many say it wont be enough to avoid layoffs. With that, we say good evening and thank you for joining us. Im dion lim. Officials announced the new order yesterday. Alameda is also imposing the restrictions starting just after midnight, and marin will on tuesday. Health officers say there is no time to wait. Local hospital icus are filling up fast. This is how the lockdown order will affect you. These changes will last until at least january 4th. Restaurants can now only do takeout and delivery. Hair and nail salons can no longer operate. No more indoor religious services. And capacity at Grocery Stores will be cut 20 . Wineries, entertainment centers, and playgrounds must close while hiking trails will remain open. Park museums, campground and Visitor Centers will close. The impacts on the order on both your health and the economy are important to us as we try to build a better bay area. Abc7 News Reporter j. R. Stone was in san jose tonight where customers at Business Owners have mixed reaction to the new order. Reporter tables being put away. Lastminute haircuts, and dining now open signs being taken down in san jose as the stayathome order is now in effect. It sucks because we just put this up, and its like all new and everything. Reporter sadness among many workers who will now be out of a job. Then go ahead and enter your p. I. N. Reporter those like ann at oh beauty studio, who is already five months behind on her rent. If this closing kept happening, i cant afford to pay rent. I might have to close down by business and take the loss. Reporter some not so concerned about the employees like the large group who ate at the old wagon saloon and grill sunday, spent 400, and left no tip on the last night before restaurants here go takeout only. To leave 0 for our servers who are working there butt off at this time, knowing theyre going to be out of a job for a month, its frustrating. Reporter some believe as covid cases rise, the extra caution is warranted. I actually appreciate the leadership of the counties and the medical professionals that see the data every day. Reporter others arent satisfied with just hearing about covid, icu, and death numbers. I want to see the demographics of the death rates and even drill it down to were there any contributing factors to it, right . How many of them were strictly of covid . Reporter and mr. And mrs. Hair salon, where cuts went late into the night, there are questions over the orders offensiveness. I dont think that closing is the answer. I think having really stiff guidelines would be far better than that. Reporter j. R. Stone, abc7 news. It is so tough. Today folks also had a last hurrah in San Francisco and contra costa counties. The new order went into effect in both of those counties an hour ago. Despite good turnout today, abc7 News ReporterCornell Barnard found many businesses are already having to lay people off. Reporter a last hurrah for soccer fans to cheer on their team outside their favorite north beach bar. Its spiced eggnog, and shes having a spiced hot chocolate. Reporter alex and farrah were toasting the holidays with one last outdoor brunch. Were just trying to enjoy the last couple of minutes and moments that we have to enjoy eating outside before we all have to lock down. Reporter server raul flores was setting up tables at soto mare restaurant. Hes being laid off until january. My only job. I dont have another one. So im going home, staying home. No nothing, no parties, no family times. Reporter at chief sullivans bar, the owner was looking festive. Her mood was far from it. Trying to stay spirited and cheerful for the patrons, its a bit tough for all of us. Reporter shes closing her pub during the lockdown and laying off 10 employees. Were focusing on supporting black women, women of color. Reporter it was the first day for nanas popup market on stockton street, a new venue for artists and Business Owners. We might be able to move forward but need time to regroup and make sure were being responsible and upholding the health order. Reporter joe owns als barbershop. Customers are getting a lastminute haircut before the doors close. You would think there would be less of a feeling of uncertainty since theres an end date to it but im not confident january 4th is going to be the day we return. Reporter Cornell Barnard, abc7 news. San franciscos small Business Owners protested the citys new stayathome order in front of city hall today. Protesters say the shutdown is unfair, and it will make it tough to live her. Unemployment isnt enough to pay rent in San Francisco. So if youre going to force people to be out of work, you need to make sure they can pay their rent and feed their families. Deferring rent, deferring bills isnt enough. Theyre never going to make that money up. She says the economic effect will be catastrophic for many workingclass people across the bay area. Napa, sonoma, solano, and san mateo counties are choosing not to proactively enact the stayathome order. But if the bay area region sees icu capacity fall below 15 , a stayathome order will kick in. Right now were at just above 24 . The latest state numbers show california recorded just more than 30,000 new cases yesterday, a new record. That brings the total to 1. 3 million cases in the state. Another daily record for the state, the number of covid19 victims in the hospital, more than 9,700. The San Joaquin Valley and Southern California region each fell below 15 icu capacity. That means those two areas must implement the states stayathome order before midnight tonight. The new shutdowns bring a new set of rules that may be tough to remember. So we have it all broken down for you at abc7news. Com. You can also find unemployment resources and all the latest numbers again at abc7news. Com. Developing news, president elect joe biden has selected California Attorney general Xavier Becerra to be his health and Human Services secretary. Hed be the first latino to hold the job. While biden has yet to make an announcement, abc7 news contributor and Political Insider phil matier confirmed the pick with multiple sources. Abc7 News Reporter luz pena spoke to political experts about what the pick means for california. Reporter Xavier Becerra has an extensive political resume. Hes the current California Attorney general, former United States representative, and if confirmed, the first latino to lead the department of health and Human Services. But why did president elect joe biden consider him . Presumably he really liked the fact that becerra had played a role in defending the Affordable Care act. Reporter if confirmed, becerra would be leading the department at a vital moment, during the pandemic. Lanhee chen, director of domestic policy studies at stanford university, thinks becerra wasnt always president elect bidens first choice. Becerra would have been a more natural fit as attorney general of the United States than as secretary of health. Is he qualified for this role . Ultimately its going to be up to the republican senators and the Democratic Senators to make that determination. Reporter in the past, the role has gone to Health Officials and governors. Christian arana with the Latino Community foundation believes biden made a very strategic choice. Latinos are actually four times more likely to be hospitalized with covid19, a rate thats higher than any other racial ethnic group. So if confirmed by the United States senate, it will be a latino who will be leading these important efforts. Reporter arana points to becerras assets that could serve him well. The next health and Human Services secretary is going to have a fundamental role on the issue of the family separation crisis. Reporter Governor Newsom would now have multiple highranking positions to fill, including Vice President elect Kamala Harris senate seat. Lets say, for example, he appoints someone like alex padilla, the secretary of state, to serve as the next u. S. Senator. Hes going to have to philippfi dee kwlas seat as well. Developing news now, pg e has canceled its plans for possible Public Safety power shutoffs in northern california. Thats due to the change in the wind direction. At one point the outages for tomorrow morning were expected in 15 counties, including parts of the north bay. There are now five counties in the Central Valley where 8,500 customers could lose power. No longer at risk of a power outage, but a large portion of the bay area is now under a red flag warning. It went into effect at 11 00. Firefighters spent the day preparing. I dont think any of us thought wed be upstaffing and moving into a red flag and wind advisory in december. Its definitely not typical for us here in the bay area. The concern with winds like this is that they will likely bring trees down. Red flag warnings in december are rare, the last one was in 2017. Ab abc7 news meteorologist drew tuma joins us with we dales. Dion, our red flag warning is in effect and will last until 5 00 p. M. Tomorrow evening. Everywhere shaded in red all under that red flag warning. We are expecting those northerly winds to gust over 45 Miles Per Hour at times. Near the surface, the winds are pretty light. But you go about 1,000 feet into our hills and the winds are speeding up. Diablo already gusting to 50 Miles Per Hour. So the offshore winds, they have arrived. They are forecasted to strengthen overnight tonight. A critical time we are watching, right around sunrise tomorrow morning. Were going to take a much closer look at these winds and show you when they finally calm down in the full accuweather forecast in a few minutes. Drew, thanks. Still ahead on abc7 new 11 00 did you know that east Bay Regional Parks shoots cats . Its part of their policy. I investigate why. A big revelation in the expanding Corruption Case at San Francisco city hall. Up next, a former mayors close ties to those accused in the case. And as the pandemic has dragged on, bay area arts venues have now been closed for most of the year. Well show you how san franci on the most Reliable Network with xfinity mobile. In a land not so far away. People are saving hundreds they can choose from the latest phones or bring their own. And choose the data option thats right for them. They even get nationwide 5g at no extra cost. And since they are on the carrier rated 1 in customer satisfation, they live happily ever after. Again, again xfinity mobile. Your wireless. Your rules. Your way to stay closer together. Click, call, or visit an xfinity store today. A new story tonight youll see only on abc7. The east Bay Regional Park District has a little known policy that is now the center of controversy. Park staff shoot and kill cats that may pose a danger to wildlife. The iteams dan noyes joins us live now. Dan, youve been investigating what else can be done to protect both the cats and the endangered birds here. Reporter well, thats right, dion. The fact that park staff shoot cats came as a shock to many people, including the viewer who tipped me to the story and to those who work in animal welfare. Its 7 30 at night in an east Oakland Office park, and cecilia is trying to trap whats left of the colony of cats shes cared for over the past year. I really want to get them out of here. Reporter after cecilia came here to work for the county training poll workers in the last primary election, she began helping others feed the feral cats. The little one who climbed on her hood waiting for food, the first cat she befriended. So hungry. Thats better. Each one of them had a personality, and helping them was a priority for me. Reporter she found homes for their kittens, took the adults to be spayed and neutered. The colony was stable at 30 cats. But over the past month, most of them have disappeared. Cecilia finally got east bay Regional Park officials to admit their staff shot and killed several of the cats that had wandered into a nearby marsh. Her heartbreak spilled out on social media. Its not okay to shoot these beings that were some of them were pets that were abandoned. Reporter cecilia had a hard time finding out what happened until i started pushing, and it was even worse than she thought. I filed a California Public records act request for each incident of park staff killing cats. But the district has not supplied the documents. They did confirm shooting 12 cats in the marsh near the office park, and 6 more in other parts of the district this year. We feel horrible about this, you know. This is really sad, and we really dont ever want to have to take this step. We are compassionate and love wildlife. Reporter the Park District tells me staff was able to trap three of the cats in marshland thats part of the pacific flyway. Thousands of birds will be feeding here over the winter, including the endangered clapper rail. But matt grohl confirms the district failed to give cecilia a chance to trap and move the cats before they shot and killed them. Im sorry to hear she didnt have adequate notice. Reporter is that a mistake . There could have been Better Community certainly. Reporter the district also did not contact local Animal Rescue groups. Its heartbreaking. Yeah, just knowing that that theres no reason that that needed to happen. Reporter and dunn tells me her staff at Oakland Animal Services would have helped trap the cats and that the shelter would have had space for the entire colony until they find homes or placements as working cats. You know, i trust that they just did not realize that we were a resource, and we certainly didnt realize they were doing what they were doing. Otherwise, we would have reached out sooner. Reporter since the shooting, cecilia has been able to trap 12 cats. Theyll be up for adoption soon. Shes hoping something good can come out of this story. B that the Park District will do more to preserve all life, including the wildcats she loves. Im sure theres lots of other things i should be doing, and the outcome was not good, so i just hope that they shot them quickly, that they did know what they were doing, and i hope that they didnt see each other get shot. Reporter park officials tell me they will try to work with those rescue groups, but they would not pledge to stop shooting cats altogether. If you would like to help find homes for those survivors, im posting links on our web page, abc7news. Com. For the iteam, dan noyes, abc7 news. That is a useful resource and we appreciate you shedding light on this issue, dan. Many thanks to you. Now lets get to drew with the weather. Dion, were tracking our winds increasing tonight, especially in the north bay right now. You look at surface winds, and you can see from sonoma to calistoga, winds up to 16, 17 Miles Per Hour or gusting to 25 right now in fairfield. Outside of the north bay currently, our winds are generally on the light side. But as we go with an elevation into our hills, its a much different story. Our winds are more energetic. Hawkeye gusting to 37 Miles Per Hour in the north bay. Tam gusting to near 30. Diablo, 33 in the east bay. Even the Oakland Hills right now we have winds gusting to about 25 Miles Per Hour. So the offshore winds have arrived and theyre having an effect on our temperatures right now. As those winds kind of race down the hills in the north bay, you can see fairfield is at a pretty mild 61 right now. But a more sheltered location in a valley like san ramon with calmer winds has cooled off to a chilly 39 degrees. So temperatures, there will be a wide range in overnight lows tonight thanks to our wind. Heres that red flag warning, again in effect now until 5 00 p. M. Monday evening. Were tracking those offshore winds already arriving out of the north, and we do expect gusts to 45 Miles Per Hour, even higher. I know it sounds weird to talk about red flag warnings in december. The last time this happened was december of 2017, so about three year