and we have to do everything possible to get the best candidate here in oakland. >> tonight, the people of oakland will be able to weigh in on who they think should be their next police chief. good evening. thank you for joining us. >> i'm dan ashley, and i'm ama daetz, a public forum begins in

just over an hour and it comes more than a year after the mayor fired the most recent police chief. >> now, members of the public will get the chance to question the four candidates being considered for the job. >> abc seven news reporter tim johns has a closer look at who's in the running. >> two months after rejecting a first batch of candidates, oakland mayor shengtao is set to consider another group for the city's next police chief, the oakland police commission, releasing their names ahead of a planned public forum thursday night under consideration are four candidates. the first, abdul pridgen, who was on the short list of candidates to become chief back in 2020. he most recently served as the chief of san leandro pd but left this month. he is being investigated for unknown department policy violations. second is floyd mitchell, who has more than 30 years experience in law enforcement. mitchell resigned from a job in lubbock, texas, last fall after his department received criticism over its handling of certain 911 calls. also under consideration is lisa davis. davis also has more than three decades of experience and currently serves as the assistant police chief in

cincinnati. the final candidate is luis molina, a former public safety chief in las vegas who is now the assistant deputy mayor for public safety in new york city. he's also facing criticism for his handling of deaths in new york city jails. >> we want to make sure that whoever we choose interview is someone that has comes with a clean record, oakland city council member noel gayo says while he wants a new chief to be chosen, quickly selecting the right person is critical. >> opd has gone through about a dozen police chiefs over the past two decades or so, and many in the city are calling for the hiring of someone who has roots here in oakland. >> i would prefer someone from the bay area that knows us, but i don't want to be explaining to people why i chose someone that was fired from the neighboring city or across the country. >> while the city's police commission puts candidates forward, the ultimate decision on who to hire will rest with mayor shengtao, who fired former chief lauren armstrong last february. susan manheimer served as interim opd chief before armstrong was hired in 2021 and

works with the california police chiefs association. she says the mayor is likely looking for certain characters mystics in any potential candidate a unifier, someone that they can rally around and really translate and communicate and deliver on all these different interests around public safety and community wellness, manheimer says. in addition to providing stability to the department, the new chief will also have work to do in the community rebuilding trust that has been slowly lost over the years to support, understand, resource and, um, really, uh, build trust with that chief and department. the public forum will take place virtually at 630 in oakland. tim johns abc seven news. >> all right. turning now to storm watch. the rain has returned to the bay area as well as the cold weather. you may have noticed. and there's a blizzard warning in the sierra. abc seven news meteorologist sandhya patel is tracking it all and joins us with the details.

hi, sandhya. hi, there. >> yeah, let's take a look at live doppler seven because we are seeing light to moderate rain moving across the region right now. we're going to get you into street level radar where we are seeing some pockets of downpours. this is around danville, diablo, blackhawk area. if you are commuting this is not going to be a very easy one. from half moon bay main street across the peninsula. and here are some pockets of showers around sonoma as well. san francisco seen some rain. the santa cruz mountains, as you will notice it is a level one. it is a cold storm dropping in from the gulf of alaska. we've seen lightning across parts of northern california as we go, hour by hour, we are going to continue to see those pockets of brief heavy rain at times through tonight and really even tomorrow morning as we go towards about 9 a.m. tomorrow, the rainfall starts to become more widespread and it becomes heavier for the afternoon and evening commute. and getaway. this is when we have our best chance of seeing thunderstorms as well. along with stronger winds. right now, winds are gusting to 35. in oakland. san jose 30. here's a live view from

our oakland airport camera where you can see the rain is coming down and the winds are blowing as well. so through tonight, level one rain, brief downpours, gusty winds strongest over the hills, isolated thunder chance. i would not advise going up to the mountains right now. it's too dangerous. blizzard warning until 10 a.m. sunday, uh- 12ft or higher over the highest peaks. and those wind gusts 75 miles an hour or higher. we do have an avalanche watch for the backcountry of the central sierra. i'll be back with a look at your tahoe forecast, plus the weekend weather, which does include a lot of winter ama. >> all right, sandhya, thank you. with all that snow falling, we are watching the snow level rise. you can see the snow swirls around the snow stake here at heavenly mountain resort as we monitor the accumulation. >> heavenly slopes are on the left of your screen. now. a few lifts were open earlier today, but by the afternoon the resorts shut down operations because of the high wind. heavenly's gondola will be closed tomorrow, as well as some lifts to as delayed opening as might be

possible to a similar story on the north side of the lake at palisades tahoe, which is on the right side of your screen. some skiers were able to hit the slopes before the resort shut down the chairlifts again because of the high winds, palisade also is monitoring the conditions to determine what they'll be able to do, if anything, tomorrow. >> travel over the sierra. as sandhya said, is being highly discouraged because of the treacherous conditions. this was the scene earlier when a big rig flipped on eastbound 80 at the donner lake interchange. fortunately, the driver had only minor injuries, and the crash has now been cleared. but caltrans is still telling drivers to avoid travel in the area of possible chain controls are in effect, and the speed limit along 80 is 30mph. now as sandhya mentioned, this weekend's blizzard is expected to bring an epic amount of snow to the sierra, and that means great news, of course, for the sierra snowpack. >> abc seven news reporter suzanne fawn talked with state water officials about where our snow and reservoir levels stand >> marcus shelton of san

francisco can't wait to head to lake tahoe to hit the slopes. >> go skiing, snowboarding, trying to bring my daughter up into the snow for the first time and many others know this incoming storm will bring lots of fresh powder and that's great news for the sierra snowpack. >> because of the big storm coming, officials decided to conduct the snow survey today, a day early, near lake tahoe. >> our survey today we recorded a depth of 47.5in, about four feet and a snow water content of 18in. >> this afternoon, the state department of water resources announced that its statewide snowpack is currently 80% of normal for this time of year. last month, the statewide snowpack was 52% of normal. on january 1st, the california sierra snowpack was just 28% of normal state water. experts say the approaching storm could bring the snow levels up to average. and that's important because during the summer, melting snow flows into the state's water table and fills reservoirs around the state. >> this is the water that we

generally expect to fill reservoirs and become available for use, uh, in the summer and fall. and so these numbers are extremely important to water managers and reservoir managers. >> the statewide sierra snowpack makes up a third of california's water supply. so all the recent atmospheric river storms have really boosted snow and water levels, according to the map we have at abc seven news.com tracking reservoir capacity, lake berryessa is at 92% capacity. hetch hetchy reservoir is at 90. >> we are hoping to get some contributions to our snowpack from this storm that will bump up the runoff numbers back to shelton. >> he's just focused on one thing. >> get ready to go for some deep snow in san francisco, suzanne phan abc seven news. >> it will be deep snow for sure. now you can track the rain and the snow anytime with our live doppler seven radar. just search abc seven bay area in your devices app store so you can download it now and be ready. >> new details almost half of those arrested for illegal drug

use in san francisco live elsewhere. that's according to numbers released by the city today. 47% aren't residents, while a third of those who were arrested and received city funded cash assistance identify as living outside san francisco. that is a violation of the program. the percentages are based on the arrests of 718 people over the course of about a year, starting last march, mayor breed says it is proof san francisco must continue doubling down efforts to shut down drug markets in the south bay. >> the cost has been cut in half for san jose's largest safe rv parking site. that's according to city leaders. they say the oject on berryessa road is now only months away from opening. abc seven news south bay reporter zach fuentes has more on how those costs were cut. >> a six acre patch of land in san jose is now on its way to become the largest rv supportive parking program. the program would not only give unhoused people 85 rv parking spaces with utility access, it would also give them access to critical services.

>> so when they're here, they get services that they need, but they also are able to go out and get back on their feet. and we hope that that allows them to transition back into something more stable, opening up the space here for another person. >> the initial price tag for the project was $15 million. thursday, san jose mayor matt mehan and council member david cohen announced that they were able to reduce the price by half, a move city leaders said was possible partly by streamlining the project, removing some of the buildings and quite frankly, the market seemed to be ripe right now to get us better bids. >> so the bids came in low. we removed two of the buildings to get even more efficient design, though this area isn't immediately near any schools or businesses. >> councilmember cohen, who represents this district, says he has heard some pushback from his constituents. >> what i remind people is the number one thing that they also contact us about are the rvs that are currently on their streets. and so we can't sit here and say, we're going to deal with the rvs on your streets, but we're not going to provide an alternative. >> advocates for the unhoused say the site is good in theory, but the focus still needs to be

on long terme solutions. >> the question is about tiny homes and even rvs. is that is it a road to permanent housing, or is it a road to nowhere? because people get stuck in these programs that go in and out of them. so a lot of them are not effective. also, i think politicians make for good soundbites, you know, but a sound bite doesn't save a life. >> construction is planned to start next month. tasks include repaving, building structures and basic infrastructure. >> we think we can turn this around pretty quickly. we believe it will be open by early fall and that we can have it full with over 80 rvs and some other lived in smaller vehicles, sedans by the end of the year in san jose, zach fuentes, abc seven news. >> according to data collected by the news website berkeley side uc berkeley spent more than $6.6 million to close down people's park funds were spent on lodging and meals for law enforcement, as well as supplies and engineering for an operation to block off people's park. last month, the university spent nearly $1 million on shipping containers alone. the park was shut down to build new student housing for more than a thousand students. coming up, a new poll

on the california senate race how schiff, garvey, porter and lee are all stacking up with less than a week to go now before the march primary. plus, it's leap day. we're going to introduce you to some couples who are celebrating at city hall, abc seven news at five. we'll in afghanistan, he cared about two things: completing the mission, and making sure his marines came home. and we all did. pete's always fought for what he believes in, and i know he'll do the same in congress

for affordable housing, the rights of women, and the democracy he swore to protect. because helping people who need it has always been pete's mission. and i know he'll get it done. next generation veteran fund is responsible for the content of this ad. democrats agree. next generation veteran fund conservative republican steve garvey is the wrong choice for the senate. ...our republican opponent here on this stage has voted for donald trump twice. mr. garvey, you voted for him twice... as your own man, what is your decision? garvey is wrong for california.

but garvey's surging in the polls. fox news says garvey would be a boost to republican control of the senate. stop garvey. adam schiff for senate. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message. ♪ [storms sound] whatever weather comes your way [wind and snow sounds] weathertech has you covered. [bird chirping] [laughing] with our laser—measured cargoliners. no drill mud flaps and floorliners. to secure your phone don't forget the cupfone. order yours today at weathertech.com. you never know when it's gonna be a weathertech day. perfect weather today...

seven news reporter tara campbell has the story. >> this may look like a typical day at san francisco city hall. one wedding after the next. but on this day, february 29th, there's something a little extra special going on. it's leap day and it only comes around every four years. >> it was just we've been engaged for four years, a leap day. it's like a once in, in every four year thing. it's just very special. >> sarah and jordan making the trip from chico, celebrating with family and friends. it took him a minute to actually figure out it was leap day, and then once they did, they thought it was really cool. >> since we are doing this, we're not doing a big party. >> and while it's often considered an unlucky day, these two say it's already proving. lucky for them, we waited up until midnight uh- 90 days ago to get the date and uh, basically we went through the process within, you know, 30s a minute just to get it all the

way through. >> and then we went back and checked it and it had all filled up. so we kind of got lucky too. and just being able to get one of these, one of these availabilities, some couples making the trek from out of state, it's really memorable and special. >> it doesn't happen every year. >> erika miranda are here from arizona. their reason for choosing san francisco. >> we like the inclusivity of the lgbt community. >> they've been together for nearly ten years and say they like the idea of being able to choose, for the most part, when they celebrate their anniversary. >> we're more of like, go with the flow. so i think we'll it might differ. we might end up doing like the day before and the day after. >> we plan to celebrate at least every four years. it's but probably more than that. >> marshall and lindsey have also been waiting a while for this day and say there is a significant sense to it being a leap day. >> we met during the pandemic, so it's almost as if we took a leap of faith together.

>> ah, oh, i forgot about that one. >> tara campbell, abc seven news. that's cute. >> a leap of faith they did. congratulations to all of those couples. well, coming up, storm watch continues here on abc seven news. we'll be back in just a moment with meteorologist sandhya patel for the details on e rain and the i see my husband... the father of our girls. i see a public servant. a man who served under secretary clinton in the state department... where he took on the epidemic of violence against women in the congo. i see a fighter, a tenacious problem-solver... who will go to congress and protect abortion rights and our democracy. because he sees a better future for all of us.

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the emerson college poll shows schiff ahead with the support of 28% of likely voters. republican steve garvey is second at 20. orange county democrat katie porter has 718% in third place in this poll, and oakland's barbara lee with 8, 17% remain undecided, though keep that in mind ahead of tuesday's election, the majority of those voters are leaning towards schiff. >> all right, sandhya has her hands full storm watch boy. >> it is busy in the weather center a lot of rain here and a huge amount of snow standing in the sierra. yeah, it's big time snow for the sierra and definitely rainfall intensity will be picking up tomorrow. >> dan and ama as we take a look. right now we are seeing some pockets of moderate rain at this hour, but this is just a tawhat's to come as we get you into street level radar. blackhawk tassajara seeing some moderate rainfall across six 8-80. so if you're traveling across 580 dublin down pour is right now around dublin boulevard. lighter showers from tomales heading into penngrove

highway 101 and around the peninsula from san mateo across 101 into woodside. 280. you are seeing across canada roads, some moderate pockets of rain. san jose campbell area, lighter showers and same thing for the santa cruz mountains. widening the picture here. this storm is out of the gulf of alaska. it's cold and it's producing thunderstorms up to our north, as you've noticed. and all these speckled clouds indicate the instability and the colder air that's still coming. so the sierra is getting a share of the snow, a blizzard warning remains up until sunday morning. best not to travel. it's two dangerous. we're looking at 12ft or higher for the highest peaks. you combine it with those wind gusts 75 miles an hour or higher and it's really dangerous conditions. but a beautiful sight from homewood where the snow is coming down. blizzard conditions tomorrow, 34 degrees in tahoe. windy heavy snow dropping to the 20s. brisk on sunday and monday is really your

best day to get up there to hit the slopes and to enjoy the fresh powder that they are expecting here locally, we are seeing those gusty winds, not just at the lower elevations, but the higher elevations as well. oakland hills 45 miles an hour. your temperature is anywhere from the 40s at clear lake to the 50s elsewhere. sfo showing you a rainy view. watch out for delays through tonight. wet and windy tomorrow. heavier rain and gusty winds, along with a chance of thunder. and this weekend we're talking about a wintry mix. rain snow over the higher peaks and the possibility of hail along with the cold weather. so it's a level one for tonight really. looking at rain, brief downpours, gusty winds strongest over the hills and an isolated chance of thunder as we go. hour by hour you're going to continue to see those showers going into 9 p.m. the wet weather does start to pick up tomorrow. morning. it's moderate in pockets. 10 a.m. you start to notice the light to moderate rain. and then here comes the heavier stuff. 330 in the

afternoon. chance of thunder as well. downpours expected through the evening hours. it switches over as the colder air filters in to snow. not just over the higher peaks around cobb mountain, lake, mendocino counties in the hills, but also around mount hamilton. now a winter storm warning will be going up for lake and mendocino counties starting tomorrow. as they are expecting snow accumulating down to 1500ft. saturday you will notice, still looking at the snow showers and the showers across the region. really, this pattern will continue into sunday as well, so i've advanced the rainfall all the way through sunday night. most of you will be in that 1 to 2 inch category, but there will be places like brentwood and fairfield that could pick up less. the winds continuing through tonight and then getting gustier tomorrow afternoon stronger at 9 p.m, 4045 mile an hour winds intensifying, possibly up to 50 mile an hour. winds which is why that wind advisory goes up for the coast and hills tomorrow afternoon until saturday at 10 a.m. the winds kicking up the swells as well. high surf advisory 10 a.m.

tomorrow until 4 p.m. saturday, 15 to 20 foot breakers. it's going to be dangerous to swim or surf. i would stay away if i were you. 30s, 40s on your temperatures tomorrow morning. need those heavy winter coats and your umbrellas? 40s and 50s on the temperatures for the afternoon. accuweather seven day forecast. bumping up the storm to a level two tomorrow as we are expecting heavier impacts. saturday a wintry mix with snow over our highest peaks. now that's going to be quite the sight sunday. that same pattern repeats winds not as strong sunday. and then you get that break with the chill on monday. in the morning. level one on tuesday, wednesday and thursday. but that tuesday through thursday, level one is not quite as intense as the storm we're experiencing now. ama and dan we really have had a rainy season. we have. it's been productive and we're on a roll. all right. >> thanks, sandy. >> see ahead. >> a new school in the east bay geared towards supporting teenage parents. the special ceremony held today to name it

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area and download it. but finally here, a new school for teenagers who are parents is now open in alameda county. >> officials held a special ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of carolyn hobbs academy in san leandro. today, the school offers child care support to young parents, including prenatal care, health, nutrition and career counseling. it's named after carolyn hobbs, a retired principal who served alameda county office of education for 22 years. she was the coordinator and principal of the school systems parenting teen programs. good for them. >> all right. do not forget we have much more weather coverage

coming up at 530 on abc seven, bay area streaming tv. >> and if you're watching us here on tv world news tonight with david muir is coming up next for sandhya patel and all of us. we appreciate your time. >> i'm dan ashley, i'm ama daetz. we'll see you again at 6:00.

let's go win this thing! then we hit the road and never stopped. you shared with me your frustration at working harder to barely get by and afford a place to live. your fears for our democracy and freedoms and your dreams for yourself, your family, and the future. it is not too late to realize those dreams. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message because together we can still get big things done.

tonight, the border and dueling visits. president biden and donald trump both there. also, the flight from new york city, the emergency landing in boston. and this new major storm, the blizzard warnings already tonight. first this evening, immigration and the border. president biden, donald trump, both on the southern border tonight, arriving at nearly the same time. and president biden's invitation to donald trump tonight. mary bruce is there.