now at 11:00, a big fire at the recycling center sent smoke across the bay, why some people in a peninsula neighborhood are so concerned. >> all the fumes and the smoke. >> they don't care about us. who have to live close to these industrial areas. and he ran oakland police department, was fired, sued his former employer and now once again. >> a message to oakland that i am here and that i am proud. >> why leronne armstrong want a seat at the counsel table. potholes plague lots of california highways. and if they tear up your car, oftentimes the state is supposed to foot the bill. we look into why that is not happening and tell you where you should steer clear. from kpix, this is the late

news with sara .on cbs news bay area. hi, i'm sara donchey. you were in redwood city this afternoon or even elsewhere in the peninsula you probably saw smoke in the air. and not just a little bit, either. six, black smoke choked this guys there today and it would is because of the fire burning inside of a recycling center. it started at the recycling plant off of seaport boulevard. at one . this afternoon officials issued a shelter in place order for people nearby to stay inside. andrea connor reports that people could see smoke as far south as gilroy but for people living right down the road, they were real concerns about what was in the air. >> reporter: the fire is out but some people are still concerned about the smoke, especially since this comes on the same day that the department of toxic substances control sent out a letter to nearby residents about the treatment of hazardous residue on site. lisa and bob have

lived a nearby manufactured home. they noticed the smoke drifting right into the neighborhood wednesday afternoon. >> it is a little scary because of the smoke and i thought uh oh. >> the concern is mainly for her husband. >> i called my husband on the way home from work and i told him to close all the windows . do you have them open? he said yes so close them all because he has got asthma really bad. as soon as she got home, lisa checked the mail to find this, a letter from the department of toxic substances control about an application for a hazardous waste permit from sims metal. >> we have seen the letter today about trying to get rid of toxic materials and carrying about the environment . it seems as if all the toxicity companies are down this end of seaport and we are getting the brunt of all the fumes and be smoke. >> reporter: san mateo county advise those who are sensitive to smoke to stay indoors and

close their windows. bob did exactly that, fearing what may be in the smoke. >> i was in the construction industry and i know that that stuff burns or whatever it puts off toxic, toxic fumes. >> is not good. >> what we got right here? toxic fumes. took the bay area air quality management district is investigating the smoke impacts. the redwood city fire department is looking into the cause of the fire. it has been an unsettling day and this has made them more curious about the scrap yard. >> we live in a manufactured park down the road here. and so it is very concerning because they don't care about us who have to live close to these industrial areas. >> we reached out to dts he and sims metal. while we have not heard back from dts see yet, sims metal sent a statement saying it is working with local authorities to investigate the fire. now we turn to oakland,

former police chief, leronne armstrong has had a rocky relationship when it comes to his time working for the city. he is even suing his former employer. but now it seems he wants to work for them once again. the oakland native file paperwork to run for the at-large city council seat this morning, which is currently held by vice mayor rebecca kaplan. katie nelson spoke with him about his decision. >> reporter: former chief armstrong told me he never really had any political aspirations until after he got fired as the city's top cop , and it was actually community members who pushed him towards politics. >> good morning, how are you? >> reporter: the former chief was all smiles in the city clerk's office as he filed the paperwork to run for the at-large city council seat >> but this is a new one. >> reporter: laurent armstrong was born and raised in oakland and says that is why he is so committed to the city. >> really i am just a kid from

west oakland. i'm a kid that grew up in centralized housing. i am a kid that obviously had a family that was a victim of violence. so everything that i am i owe to the city of oakland. >> he spent more than 20 years with oakland's police department and was promoted to chief in february of 2021. he was fired in february of 2023 by mayor sheng thao, just a few months after she took office. >> emitted decision, obviously i felt like it was not the right decision. i have not been critical of the >> about the mayor. i'm here to do a job and serve the public. >> oh, happy day. i am ecstatic >> reporter: bob jackson has been a long time supporter of armstrong, even standing him without rallies as armstrong tried to get his job back. bishop bob says he talked with armstrong about making the transition from public service to politics. >> the conversations that we had were centered around what can i do now that i am fired from police chief? he dedicated

his life to put his life on the line as a police officer and now coming back. i think he is the ideal man. >> reporter: clinical analyst james taylor says armstrong will be tough to beat in the november election due to his widespread name recognition across the city. >> we should not be surprised that leronne armstrong is looking for another outlet for public service. it represents a new challenge for him. he had less power in the city but he will have more impact on citywide issues. >> taylor says the at-large council seat could just be a stepping-stone to something bigger. >> i can see leronne armstrong positioning himself not to become mayor of oakland in 8 to 10 years. it is almost an interview, a on-the-job training interview that if he can do the at-large seat well, then he certainly can do the city well. >> reporter: armor song says

one of the main issues he is running on his public safety. >> today is really the beginning of our campaign. it really is a message to oakland that i am here and that i am grounded and that i want to be a part of the future of oakland and how we move the city forward. >> reporter: more candidates could still enter the race for the at-large council seat. the deadline to file is august ninth. eight candidates have entered the race so far. rebecca kaplan hasn't said whether she plans to run again. there is more big news out of oakland today. the city will sell its share of the coliseum for 105 billion bucks to the african-american sports and entertainment group mayor sheng thao says the agreement aims to bring new affordable housing and outdoor space, as well as help the city with his 177 alien dollar budget deficit. but there are still a lot of hurdles here, as the oakland a's own the other half of the site. still ahead tonight, we'll meet the bay area grandmother who made history for a very long and very dangerous swim through the bay. >> a stupid hot thought in your

head could derail you from achieving your dreams so i just entertained really silly thoughts to keep myself going. a bay area police department is apologizing to elementary school students after they were accidentally exposed to a cloud of teargas and pepper spray. a beautiful sunset this evening, this was the perspective from on top of mount diablo as the sun went down after 8:00 this evening. the beautiful post sunset sky, as well. not seeing much fog out there and we are not going to see much across the bay area tomorrow morning, either. he changes into the weekend, details coming up in the first alert forecast. we look into why caltrans is not paying to pay fixed cars despite a state law that requires them to.

welcome back, the san francisco sheriff department is the apologizing after a mistake during their training session sent a cloud of pepper spray and tear gas across an elementary school in san bruno. the sheriff's office says teargas and pepper spray drifted from the county jail and toward portola elementary yesterday. the jail in the school are about a mile apart. teachers and students reported their eyes, nose and throat were burning. firefighters treated about 20 children and one adult the department is pausing future training exercises with chemical agent as they review their practices. if a freeway pothole pops your attire or debris from highway roadwork damages your car, is is the state responsibility to pay? we learned that the number of damage claims on california freeways is actually going up but caltrans is paying fewer of them. julia watch investigates why and shows us which local freeways are the worst.

>> reporter: i was so sad that i wasn't going to get to see my mom and take her to dinner. angie rubin tries to visit her mom in the retirement of every week. >> it came from outer space. >> reporter: golden era hollywood actress, kathleen looks forward to her daughter's visits and sodas angie. >> i was in the middle right here. >> reporter: on one april saturday. >> just ripped the tire to shreds. i have to wobble over super super dangerous with cars all around . i have ptsd for the longest time. >> reporter: tow truck brought her car for repairs. she learned she wasn't the first. to hit that pothole. >> we know that pothole. >> reporter: cbs news california got the caltrans claim after we dug into, finding statewide over 5 1/2 years drivers filed more than 30,000 damage claims california freeways, it is getting worse, the claims tripling to more than 12,000 in just the first

half of last year. why? data indicates that increasing potholes may be to blame , accounting for more than three quarters of all claims during the first half of 2023. highways with the most problems? you can probably guess. here in the bay area, highway 101 tops the list with more than 2000 clients, with areas between east palo alto and redwood shores, south san francisco and brisbane and a 10 mile stretch from san jose airport through mountain view. there were also a lot of claims on 580, 680, and 280. california law says if the state knew about a dangerous condition and didn't fix it, the state was responsible to pay for the damages. you can sue the state for damages under $12,500, caltrans offers an early resolution claims process. >> i thought this was a no-brainer. of course they're going to take care of it. >> reporter: caltrans need clear proof such a time, location, and photos. >> i showed them the pothole, i

showed them the tire. a huge chunk taken out of it. >> reporter: caltrans denied angie's claim. >> if they denied my claim, are they paying any claims? >> reporter: we analyze the data and found that caltrans damage claims are spiking, the number of payouts are plummeting. in fact, caltrans used to improve one out of every 10 damage claims. now they approve one out of every 25, meaning caltrans is denying 95% of damage claims. why? we don't know, because caltrans denied our repeated interview requests. instead, caltrans public affair chief wanted us to this paragraph on their website, which notes drivers must prove caltrans knew about the dangerous condition and had sufficient time to fix it before the damage occurred . we, of course, asked how drivers are supposed to know what caltrans new and when. but he wouldn't say. instead, telling us to file a cpra. what's that? just ask angie.

>> oh, i piled the public records request. >> reporter: wind caltrans denied angie's claim, she searched for the answers online. >> how do i find out if a pothole is been reported? >> reporter: that she filed a california public records act request for the pothole. >> month after month after month i would get these email saying we will get back to you in another two months. >> reporter: sean had six months to appeal her claim in court, but caltrans waited seven months to give her the evidence she needed. >> reporter: they make it so hard i really think they want you to go away. >> reporter: it appears caltrans did note but didn't complete the work until after they denied her claim. >> it does feel a little bit about david and goliath. >> reporter: and his mom taught her not to give up. so she turned to us. find out if your state department of transportation is intentionally denying valid damage claims and we will let you know when caltrans finally gets around to fulfilling our public record request, stay tuned. >> you can use our online

interactive search tool to find the worst roads in your county and how caltrans response to those claims, just look for the california investigates section on the homepage of our website , kpix.com we got to talk about weather, i don't know if it is too early to talk about the weekend. but for us -- >> holiday weekend. >> a holiday weekend, the kids are home from school. maybe beverages of various forms being consumed, some outdoor plans , carnaval is this weekend. so the warm-up that we saw today is not going to continue? >> is not going to continue for the entire bay area and the city probably the 50s from the start of the parade on sunday. so layer up appropriately. but we get to enjoy the day of basically normal weather tomorrow, as we're going to be seeing temperatures running very close to averages by thursday afternoon but that is the last normal day. the storm system moving into the pacific northwest is going to settle all this moisture, all this

energy way up to our north. what is going to do is send the clouds over the bay area. clouds and sunshine and more clouds around the coast . substantially cooler temperatures and the potential for a little bit of a drizzle. not going to amount to much but a little bit possible into saturday. right now not seeing any fog i think will be largely fog free tonight. temperatures anywhere from 53 degrees in san francisco to 63 degrees in santa rosa. the differences we had earlier today, 30 degrees spread from the coast to inland getting to narrow down as we go through tonight. let's take a look at those forecast. low temperatures for tonight and then we will drop down to mostly the low to mid 50s. some of the cooler spots like morgan hill dropping down into the upper 40s by early tomorrow morning. all of these numbers are within a degree or two of what is normal for the end of may, even the coolest spots like also in the north bay dallas, dipping down into the upper 40s around petaluma and santa rosa. only cool for this time of year. going to end up

near average, as well. so we take a look at the forecast highs for tomorrow, everybody within a degree or two of normal. 60s and 70s around the bay, mix of 70s and a few low 80s and land but the warmer spots today were close to 90 degrees around antioch and brentwood. tomorrow the warmer spots will be in the low 80s. so little to step back and that will kick in by friday and saturday. those are the coolest days in the seven-day forecast. right friday will be the previous day. noticeable tomorrow, some of the strongest gusts tomorrow close to 30 miles an hour. the strongest gusts on friday are going to be close to 40 miles an hour so that will be a breezy day. fortunately the winds are going to die down as we head into carnaval weekend temperatures just around 60 degrees in san francisco on saturday but maybe a couple of degrees warmer on sunday after the parade is over. temperatures will bottom out on saturday, only the upper 60s even in lead, 10 degrees below normal but then back to it by sunday. monday for memorial day, continuing into the following abbreviated

workweek. temperatures around they will also drop, bottoming out on saturday with highs barely above 60 degrees but then returning to familiar territory next week. and along the coast, your temperatures will level off in the mid-50s by friday, saturday, and sunday with more cloud cover overhead and that chance for a little bit of drizzle along the coast even if you see some of that, it is not likely to measure anything, add up to anything measurable. straight ahead in sports, we've got an outcome that would make a giants fan crack a smile. and why are these ladies in the water? this lady . what a champion.

i have been obsessed with the story for a couple of days now. bay area woman made history from swimming from the golden gate bridge to the fairlawn a island in the freezing cold shark infested waters without a wetsuit and the story gets crazier from there. vernon is here now. you got to chat with her. i know that she has known you for a while. >> yes, by the way, wetsuits, they don't use any wetsuits, not even allowed in open water swimming, especially with something like that. we got a little history, she was nice enough to grant me her first television interview . now you heard of the marvel character iron man, goose or or as i like the color, goopy, is an iron woman. any of us put in long hours at work but imagine a 10 hour shift and then jump into the water to swim another 17 hours . what a story! which was five years in the making. >> amy, you're my hero!

>> [ laughter ] >> did you see that? we haven't even started. and then they will buy on a bike. >> amy gubser has a few more people recognizing her these days. the start off as kind of a joke like hey i think i can do it? >> absolutely, my husband and i joke all the time, when we are out on a hike, walking our dog and we see the fairlawn islands and you say you know what, i can swim there and he absolutely hands down would agree, kind of laughing. >> reporter: nobody was laughing on may 11th when amy became the first person ever to successfully swim outbound from the golden gate bridge to the fairlawn islands. do you realize what you have done? >> you know, it is just sinking in. it is unbelievable. i know it is a incredibly difficult swim. but what has been more credible is just the outreach

and the inspiration that is achieved. and that is what gives me the greatest pleasure. >> reporter: it took 17 hours to complete the 29.7 mile swim. that is a lot of time for some doubt to creep in. >> a soup it's thought in your head could derail you so i just entertained really silly thoughts to keep myself going. so that was really what i had to do to kind of overcome that. >> reporter: care to share with us a silly thought? >> i had a t-shirt designed about the swim and i thought , well, that would be a waste if i don't finish this [ laughter ] >> reporter: she also remembered what happened to her friend, simon dominguez, with his attempt went unsuccessful. >> he had a little friendly visitor that required him to get out. and rightfully so. sammy shark. >> reporter: no, no, no, no. amy credited her team from

helping her get to the finish line. please do you want any company? >> sure. >> reporter: one of their roles was to send food every 30 minutes through a bottle. what was on the menu? >> chicken bone broth with carbo pro mixed as my nutrition that would give me energy and then i would eat things such as mashed potatoes and i loved peaches. peaches with the syrup because that actually counteracted the salt effect of the water. >> just peaches in that container. >> reporter: i would want peaches, mashed potato, and chicken bone broth for a while. i would get that out of my diet now. >> yeah, i think i could take a break from it. >> reporter: she didn't take any breaks from work as a nurse at uc san francisco's children's hospital. amy completed a 10 hour shift before her swim that started a little after 3:00 a.m.

>> i'm really committed to taking care of my patients. and i had to be there but i also knew i had enough time to go home and get a good rest. >> reporter: the 55-year-old isn't planning to rest on her accomplishment. she has already got her sights set on a new challenge. >> i'm looking forward to loch ness, i am interested in trying to find the loch ness monster. >> reporter: you're going to go over and look for him? >> nessie, it makes sense. [ laughter ] >> reporter: she loves to swim , looking for the loch ness monster. such respect for open water swimmers. they have been some of my favorite stories throughout the years . years ago, sara, i did a recruiting video for her son and then 12 years later, our paths have crossed again. some people will say, wow, that is crazy, that is insane, it is awesome and you said off-camera if you want to be cool, she is a g. >> for me, it is working the 10 hour shift. all of it is crazy but i have so much respect.

very cool. >> you have seen how we are, with the newscast is overweight we run out of the building like it is on fire. >> from the professional professional athletes to the less professional, they are still professional but everybody pales in comparison to that one. >> amy is a g and we're going to talk about the g-man and this time the extra innings gods were with the g-man tonight. in his first start in over a month, we got blake snell who labored through 3 1/3 innings at pittsburg . shawn kelley had to come in for snell and with the bases loaded, brian reynolds hit a granny, put the pirates a 5-0 the fourth san francisco clawed back 5-4 of the ninth and with two outs, late night lamont, lamonte wade jr. came through. tied the game. second street night with extras, and patrick bailey's second game off of concussion hit a tent and an

rbi single. pushed san francisco ahead, bailey was 3 for 5 and the giants scored for and attend and wanted 9-5 so they have a record of 24 and 26 that won five of their last six. meantime let's get into the 80s. they hosted the rockies and i love just like the giant oakland needed a ninth inning relic, down 2-1 with two outs. zach yell off base hit, and it scored, esteury ruiz to tie the game and send it in to extras. it was still tied in the 12th. ryan mcmahon stepped up and he went deep . that was a two run homer. dave colorado the lead as the rockies hung on to win. final 4-3, the a's now 20-31 have lost nine of their last 10. nba news and notes, steph curry has another piece of hardware coming his way. curry selected to the all nba third team on wednesday . he becomes

the 26th player in league history to earn all association honors at least 10 times. give me a western conference could buy off with minnesota against dallas, a 20 year drought and karl-anthony towns was feeling it from deep, 10 straight points for a one . lead late . final medic, maverick answered. luca thank you's fade away. turn it down to scored 33, 15 and the fourth quarter. stanford women's golf, little shout out, match play against ucla. this, the ncaa national championship. first of three matches for stanford as they beat the bruins 3-2 and won their third national title in program history and second in the last three years . and it was rachel hecht, a former ncaa singles champion that sealed it for the cardinals.

>> we started with something i can't comprehend. i can't comprehend that either. i don't know how those girls do it. please again, just hit the white ball. we thank you, vern. traveling with pets when you fly can be

class memorial day weekend is around the corner, and nearly 3 1/2 million people are expected to fly this weekend. it is

going to be busy. some of them will do it with pets and for them there is a new airline called park air. it will allow passengers to travel on feather pets. treats, earmuffs, and drinks for the pups hopefully burgeon. right now it will only fly between l.a. and new york. it is launching tomorrow. here's the catch, you know there is one, the tickets are $6000 . that is one animal and one person. >> so for me , my wife, and our two dogs, $12,000? >> don't ask me to do that sort of multiplication in my head. >> there will be an airline that one because that cost. >> they say they're trying to create mass appeal. currently the passes will drop. if they drop by 100% i will do it. that is the extent of my math. it's a lot. but it would be nice. >> yeah . >> it would help my flight anxiety, for sure. >> reporter: you could probably get your dog certified.

>> the dog could fly liz neeley: you know, you've probably heard it said that some people have to hit rock bottom before they really come to the lord and give him their life. and that's what happened. i probably had a lot of anxiety at that point about my future, but as i began to study the word and a lot of dr. stanley's teachings and sermons, i began to realize that, through the love of jesus, god saved me for a purpose.