... and can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids. imagine that. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. get help right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. who knows what you can do when you du more with less asthma. ask your doctor about dupixent. the most prescribed biologic for asthma. taking care of the citizens of oakland. >> in order to make a change, you have to step up. i chose to

step up, sir. and that's why i'm here today. and i graduated and i'm happy tonight. >> 22 newly sworn officers are ready to patrol the streets of oakland. good evening. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. thanks for joining us. these cadets graduated in a ceremony this morning marking the department daetz 192nd academy. abc's seven news reporter anser hassan spoke to several of the graduates who explained why they are committed to oakland. >> hey, yo, what i do is that go for your dollar. >> dismissed. thank you. these are the newest recruits to the oakland police department. >> graduates of the 192nd oakland police academy. i don't think there's any better city than oakland, sir. >> and originally, i only applied here, and that was my only goal. and i'm thankful that i had the opportunity to get through. >> we are in the business of relations ships, relationships with coworkers, peers, other professionals, the community we serve. the strength of these relationships is dependent upon trust that acting police chief darren allison was among the senior officers and city officials in attendance.

>> these 22 graduates bring the total police force to 724 officers. >> this is probably one of the toughest times to be an officer in the united states of america. but you all have stepped up and we honor you for that. >> the graduation marks the end of six months of training in areas of physical fitness, the use of firearms, as well as courses in law and ethics. lieutenant brian hubbard has been part of the academy for the past ten years. he says a lot has changed over that time. >> it used to be when i first started, a lot of heavy just on firearms force options, physical fitness. now it's how do you talk to people? how can you better serve your community along with receiving their diplomas, several cadets were singled out for merit, such as alex snow, valedictorian. >> he grew up in san jose but chose to serve in oakland. >> it's just a call to service. i believe that, you know, we have a duty to help people and now is a great time to do that. there's no better time than now, but the biggest round of

applause went to officer mahendra wilson. >> officer mahendra, the only female cadet in the class. the oakland native says she chose opd because she wants to be a force of change in her city. >> giving back to me is protecting the young ones. that's where it starts. we have to make sure they're safe. they get home from school safe. we have to make sure they get jobs. we have to make sure as a family we come together as a community. we're a family. >> sir, though officially police officers, there's still more training ahead. next is 16 weeks of field training. they'll likely be out on the streets on their own starting in june. in oakland, anser hassan abc7 news. >> the city of oakland is promising to streamline the process of recruiting new 911 operators. that's after the discovery that about 1000 applications from potential dispatchers went unprocessed last for about a year. it is a priority for us to make sure that we are processing these these hirings in a timely manner. >> and so i think we are demonstrating progress in doing that. and so we have up to 74

positions authorized. there's 16 vacancies at this time. however, in the previous month we've hired an additional four dispatchers. we have another 11 in various stages of training and another six coming online after after the holidays. >> now, the mayor's office says the city has made contact with all of those applications, encouraging them to reapply. uh- the city is in the process of overhauling making upgrades to the 911 system. >> and this all comes as one neighborhood is raising concerns about crime in their community. but when we compared those anecdotes to the crime numbers, they didn't match. abc7 news anchor dion lim shows us or joins us rather live from the newsroom to explain why that might be. dion >> yeah, i'm a personal experience for example, versus what's recorded in crime data can be very different. but as i discovered from business owners themselves, after one horror flying incident caught on camera, there is a reason for this discrepancy. >> it's like really serious situation here. >> this is the moment a dessert

shop in oakland's chinatown was robbed in late november. watch as individuals wielding semi-auto weapons demand cash from employee is like people are like really afraid about this. this incident is just one of at least a dozen armed robberies, burglaries and examples of crime i've heard of plagued chinatown in recent weeks. some time, one night they can over seven, 8 or 10 stores, you know, one night. there's no publicly available crime data for just chinatown. so instead, we combed through statistics for area one, which includes this neighborhood. and the results we found were mixed. the most recent data from november 27th through december 3rd, show robberies are up in astounding 46. but burglaries flat and larceny is down nearly 40. while the data doesn't necessarily match what many say is a crime surge, carl chan, president of the oakland chinatown chamber foundation, says it's partially due to underreporting. i see some folks are tired and also they don't believe that much will be done.

>> so i think we need to do a lot more. so to encourage more, you know, victims coming out and to do the reporting while we still saw volunteer patrols walking the streets. >> opd has been transparent about the challenges of patrolling every oakland neighborhood since the beginning of the year. >> our city actually is facing a huge deficit. so we lost some of the officers. people like carol liao hope that with more funding for police and more reporting by business owners like herself, there is hope for the neighborhood she has called home for 30 years. >> you know, we're doing hard working. the merchant. we try to stay in the oakland chinatown. you know, we try to make the, you know, the business prosperity again. >> there is hope. now, car break-ins have also been a problem in chinatown. one of the measures being discussed by council members and other members of the community include reducing the cost to park in certain garages. this in turn,

they hope, will encourage people to come to the neighborhood and shop this holiday season in the newsroom. dion lim, abc seven news. okay, that would be nice. >> dion, thanks so much. happening tonight, a freeze warning is going into effect in one part of the bay area. here's a live look at the conditions outside right now. awfully chilly. so for details, let's go to abc7 news meteorologist sandhya patel. sandhya. >> yeah. dan, consider for the temperatures right now in the comfort zone because numbers are going to plunge. the temperature as that is. take a look at your temperatures right now. they're in the 40s and 50s. yeah, it's still kind of cool out there, but not in comparison to what's coming. that's why a freeze warning is going up in the north bay valleys once again, midnight to 10 a.m. tomorrow. numbers will drop down to the low 30s. protect any tender plants you have. don't forget about those pets and outdoor pipes should be drained and wrapped to prevent damage. a freeze watch goes up sunday morning as we are expecting another chilly morning, although not quite as cold temperatures in the coldest spots will be in the mid 30s. so let's go hour by hour and here's

what you can expect later on this evening at 6:00, 40s and 50s. look what happens in just a matter of two hours. those temperatures are already in the low 40s and by 11 p.m. we're talking close to freezing in places like santa rosa. i'll show you how low those numbers will go and what the weekend has in store when i come back, ama >> all right. thank you, sandhya. the basic necessities are often hard to get for members of our community experiencing homelessness. we're talking about clean clothes, hot food and access to health care. but today in san jose, those things were provided at an annual fair for the unhoused. abc7 news south bay reporter dustin dorsey was there. the annual unhoused health fair provide more than services for our communities most vulnerable. >> it offers the boost many need to push forward. >> it could change your whole life. you know, remember feeding somebody a hot meal that can change your whole life. it can make you feel more confident, more positive, and give you the encouragement you need to have hope. >> a hot meal is hard to come by, and it's one of the more

than 40 services provided at the fair. from dental and health screenings, checkups for pets and even mobile showers and haircuts, i look like a dog gone shaggy dog. >> before i got for my haircut. now i look for xenopol. >> ernest chavez also received a new, fresh look. it was his first haircut this year. what is it going to feel like to have a nice fresh haircut? >> it's going to feel clean. it keeps me going from one day to another. it's all positive. it's all good for the people. confidence and what have you. the event is a partnership between many local groups who offer these free services, and state senator dave cortez's office. >> with nearly 10,000 people experiencing homelessness in santa clara county. senator cortez says it was important to provide these services to the people who need it a tremendous amount of outreach was done to make sure that the homeless, the unhoused, knew about this and had access and can get here. >> in some cases, people are being shuttled down here. so we're very appreciative of

everything going on. >> advocates are also appreciative of the work being done to help the unhoused. but robert aguirre says he wants to see local leaders put more of an emphasis on long term solutions instead of just providing day of quick fixes like at the event. >> i think what needs to happen is we need to put in more information on long term fixes is we need to talk about permanent supportive housing. we need to talk about mental health care, actually provide services in the hopes that no one has to live unhoused in our community in san jose, dustin dawsey, abc7 news. >> making a real difference. the welcome home project hosted its eighth annual fundraising breakfast this morning. the money raised will help purchase housewares for the homeless. the nonprofit helps struggling families move into permanent housing by supplying them with the comforts of home the necessities. abc seven news anchor dion lim. there she is served as mc for the third year in a row since 2015. the welcome home project has helped about

8000 people, including 2000 children, settle into their new homes. >> street vendors forced to shut down sales in san francisco's mission district took their complaints to the streets today. they held a march to city hall to protest the 90 day shutdown, which has been in effect for two weeks now. dozens of vendors say they've unfairly been told to shut down as law enforcement tackles unpermitted vendors selling stolen items in the area. yesterday, the city announced financial help a one time $1,000 payout. but many of vendors say it's not enough. if coming up, a huge step in the fight against sickle cell disease as the fda approves the first human gene editing therapy. >> and we'll introduce you to one teenager who has already begun using this treatment. abc7 news at

is a nobel prize in 2020. we reported that at the time. this one time treatment can be used by patients 12 and older with severe forms of the disease. >> in the us, an estimated 100,000 people have sickle cell disease. one of them is johnny lubin, who got the potentially life changing experimental treatment when he was 13 years old. reporter meg terrell has his story. >> two years ago it was hard to imagine 15 year old johnny lubin doing this for very long. born with sickle cell disease, an inherited disorder affecting the red blood cells. johnny has been in and out of the hospital his entire life, dealing with bouts of extreme pain and other serious complications. >> it was kind of hard for me to, like, do things like have fun and stuff because i'd always have to be worried about if i'd have a pain crisis or not. it

would mostly be in my back, like my lower back. and i'd always like be like really like a pounding pain in my back. so it hurt a lot. >> how long would they last? >> sometimes the days until now, the only hope for a cure for the estimated 100,000 people in the us with the disease has been a bone marrow transplant. >> it. but like more than 80% of patients with sickle cell. johnny couldn't find a donor. >> we were desperate at that point. we were like, okay, what's going to be next? we thought that we were going to lose him. >> so johnny and his family decided to try something that's almost never been done before. >> i was worrying that i might be like, get like super powers or like, as part of a clinical trial for a completely new kind of treatment. >> johnny is now one of the first people in the world to have his genes edited using crispr to treat his disease. i'm like, wow, that's that's pretty cool and scary. >> and yeah, and freaky. >> you feel like a medical pioneer? >> i don't know.

>> i feel like. i feel like a guinea pig in sickle cell. >> a genetic mutation causes red blood cells which carry oxygen around the body to be misshapen, like crescents or sickles. they can get stuck in the blood vessels, causing severe pain and decreased oxygen to organs. crispr allows you to make a precise cut in dna. in this case, cells are removed from the body and edited to turn on production of a different form of the oxygen carrying protein hemoglobin in a type we have when we're babies, explains johnny's doctor, monica bhatia. then the edited cells are returned to the patient. >> so in essence, it's a fetal hemoglobin induction process, and that's good enough. fetal hemoglobin. we know, has oxygen. a higher oxygen carrying capacity than adult hemoglobin or sickle hemoglobin. and so, yes, it is more than good enough . >> and so far it has been good enough. 29 out of 30 patients, including johnny, met the trial's goal being free from having a pain crisis for at least a year after treatment.

how long has it been? >> two years now. >> johnny and his family celebrate his treatment day as his second birthday, october fourth is when i got the infusion. >> so basically i got the whole new like, dose of like, cells and stuff. >> and while johnny didn't turn into a superhero, what he got might be even better. >> i'm starting to teach him how to drive, so that's another thing to worry about. so yeah, so we're stepping into the regular worrisome of raising a teenager. >> the chance to be a regular kid. >> he's a clown. my baby is a clown. >> yes, i am. yeah >> what a nice young man. >> absolutely. and the new therapy, though, it is extremely expensive at $2.2 million per patient. >> can you believe that sickle cell predominantly affects african-american owns and has long been considered neglected by the pharmaceutical industry? well jill biden made a visit to cedars-sinai medical center in los angeles today. >> the visit was part of the white house initiative on women's health research, which

biden is leading. the first lady toured the barbra streisand women's heart center and smithhart institute, which works to identify female pattern heart disease. biden says many conditions that affect women like undiagnosed heart attacks receive limited attention. research on women's health has been under funded for decades because of these gaps, we understand and far too little about these conditions and how to help the millions of women who struggle with them. announced in november, the new initiative seeks to drive innovation, close research and investment gaps and improve women's health.■ stay with us.

but his vision dimmed with age. he had amd. i didn't know it then, but it can progress to ga, an advanced form of the disease. his struggle with vision loss from amd made me want to help you see warning signs of ga. like straight lines that seem wavy, blurry, or missing visual spots that make it hard to see faces

like this one, or trouble with low light that makes driving at night a real challenge. if you've been diagnosed with amd and notice vision changes, don't wait. ga is irreversible. it's important to catch it early. talk to your eye doctor about ga and learn more at gawontwait.com more openings at lake tahoe area ski resorts. the uc berkeley central sierra snow lab near soda springs received 11in of snow on wednesday. the season total now 25in. but that is only 39% of average for this time of

year. so keep that in mind. >> look at that. all right. let's talk about the weekend weather forecast around here. >> yes. meteorologist sanjay patel has that for us sandhya. >> yeah, it is going to get cold again and you're going to notice some frost out there, ama and dan. so let's take a look at a live picture right now from our mt. tam cam. you can see the city by the bay is just sparkling tonight. but that also means we don't have the insulation to protect us. and those temperatures are going to tumble. they tumbled last night. napa getting down to 31 degrees. santa rosa, this morning waking up to 34. same thing for livermore and fairfield, san jose, 40 and half moon bay, 38 degrees. even colder weather is coming as we head towards tomorrow. the storm track well to our north. it is aimed at the pacific northwest. we're in for a dry weekend and going into next week. so on live doppler seven right now, pretty quiet weather. and look at this view from our pier 39 camera. just absolutely gorgeous right now here in san francisco, 56 degrees. oakland, hayward 53 right now. san jose, 55 and half moon bay, 52 degrees. also beautiful is from our santa cruz

camera right now. the post-sunset view low 50 from napa to santa rosa. it's getting chilly already in petaluma, 48 degrees, a low to mid 50s from concord to livermore. here's a look at the headline for the weekend going into next week. tonight, temperatures tumble this weekend. cold and frosty mornings are ahead and we are looking at next week to turn dry and milder. so in case it's too cold for you and you don't like the cool days, we've got warmer weather coming. all right. friday night, 6:00, this is tonight. the winds still coming out of the north northwest, which is why it's so cool out there. high clouds streaming in tomorrow morning, you will wake up to those high clouds and then just filtering the sunshine throughout the day a little more in the way of those clouds on sunday. so the sun will get dimmed a bit. your morning temperatures will range from the low 30s to the low 40s. our coldest spots will be in the north bay valleys, 30 in santa rosa, 33 in napa, getting down to 34. in fairfield, livermore 41. in oakland, 43. san francisco. so 38 for you in palo

alto and san jose. so pretty chilly night ahead. we're getting an early start on winter. it's going to feel like it, that's for sure. tomorrow afternoon, though. nice day. 63 in santa rosa, getting you up to about 64. san jose, 60 in the city, 61. oakland 59 degrees in concord. so keep that extra layer handy. vallejo 60 degrees. napa, 60 degrees. now over the next ten days, here's what you can expect. pattern remains dry through at least the middle to latter part of next week. and then the rainfall really increases next ten days. this is one computer model projecting. a 2 to 3in of rain for parts of the bay area. of course, this is over the course of several days, but it could get pretty stormy around mid-december. so stay tuned until then, bundle up. it's going to be a cold night and make sure they have that extra blanket on the bed. turn up the heat tomorrow afternoon, though, milder day and pretty much mild weather continues for the rest of next week with

temperatures in the low to mid 60s. by wednesday, we're talking close to 70 around the bay. i know dan and ama, it's going to be above average and mild by december standards, that's for sure. >> certainly. all right. thanks, danielle. >> okay. big stuff here. the baseball world is waiting for superstar shohei ohtani to pick his next team and sign what will be the biggest contract in baseball history. according to reports, he's choosing between the dodgers and the blue jays. the giants have also been in the mix somewhat. fans from all over the country have been tracking private flights and sharing theories about where he's heading. but at this moment, no one really knows. ohtani hit 44 homers last season and also had a 314 era as a starting pitcher. he's a hot commodity. >> all right. well, do not forget that tomorrow is nba in season tournament championship game. the lakers will take on the pacers at t-mobile arena in las vegas. and you can watch all the action right here on abc7 with coverage beginning at five. this is abc 724

san francisco live in the south bay in san jose in concord. >> live in oakland. yes you're watching abc seven news live anytime anywhere. >> here we are. we are. >> we are. >> we are. >> we are. we are where you are. never miss a moment of the news that matters to you. >> download our abc seven bay area streaming app. join us and start watching

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search abc seven bay area and download it. all right. today, two cast members from disney's lion king made a special visit to dr. martin luther king academy in sausalito. a nonprofit called performing stars helped connect the pair with the school to teach a dance class workshop to students. >> next week, students will get to see the performance happening at the orpheum theater in san francisco. organizers say students have been filled with excitement for the events they are having a ball. >> i mean, they were excited. the principal, david pinon, told me how excited they were when they knew that this was going to be happening. but they are. you

could tell they they're learning a lot in just a short amount of time, too. and it's right here in the bay area. so it's important that we're able to bring these type of experiences to our community. >> students will also be given a chance to meet the cast after the show. that is fabulous. yeah right. >> all right. well, we still have much more news ahead at 530 on the abc seven bay area streaming tv. we do. >> and if you're watching us here on tv world news tonight with david muir is next for sanjay patel. all of us, we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm ama daetz. we will see you again at 6:00.

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>> david: tonight, this major storm hitting now, then moving right into the northeast. snow, raining damaging winds. the major pileup already. and we have just learned tonight that actor ryan o'neal died. multiple states under winter weather alerts across the country.