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>> now at 2 after being without a police chief for more than a year, the city oakland may be one step closer to naming its next top cop. we will introduce you to the finalist. plus community releasing a ridership report and the transit agency says its investments are paying off. and what will happen to some of our favorite events in san francisco after macy's has announced the closure of its flagship store in union square. >> news station. news 2. >> thank you for joining us here on kron. 4 news to i'm bald man. our top story this afternoon, the city of oakland has a fresh list of candidates in the search for a police chief. the oakland police commission released their names last night and right now kron four's catherine heenan joins us here live in studio with a look at them. thanks for joining us. yeah. as you

know, just in the search for oakland's next police chief has dragged on. >> for more than a year been kind of a mess. this is the commission's second attempt to find a replacement. 4 former chief foreign armstrong mayor thao remember fired him last february. >> in december, the police commission sent a list of candidates to tell she rejected everybody on that list. the latest candidates are all oakland outsiders. 3 of them are from out of we're see the candidates behind mayor on the screen and from left to right. the first is lisa davis. she is currently the cincinnati assistant police chief. the second is i murray's molina, new york city's assistant deputy mayor for public safety and the 3rd coming this way is abdullah pridgen the former san leandro police the last is floyd mitchell, the vice president of the texas police chiefs association and taking a closer look at depression became sam lee andrews police

chief in september of 2021. he was hired on the heels of a very controversial police shooting to implement reforms to increase trust in the community and create a sense of belonging last pridgen was out on administrative leave because of alleged policy violations. he did resign last tuesday that investigation still pending floyd mitchell, 30 years of police experience and he served as police chief in both temple and lubbock, texas for about 4 years. he resigned last year after being criticized for how his department i was dealing with 9-1-1. calls. he is now the first vice president of the texas police chief association. lisa davis is not currently the assistant police chief in cincinnati. she is a lieutenant colonel. also the commander of the investigations bureau. there. she has worked with the department for more than 30 years. where is malaynia? new york city's assistant deputy mayor for public safety. and

he is also the city's former commission commissioner of the department of correction. he's been criticized for his failure to improve conditions at city jails. the 4 candidates are going to appear at a public forum. this will be tomorrow night at 6.30, in oakland. and mayor thao has decided she is not going to participate. and a letter to the police commission. she says it does not help in recruiting the best candidates. the letter that she released also says of form identifying candidates, places those individuals at unnecessary risk with current employers that might also force oakland to enter into a premature a bidding war with an individual's current employer. if they feel strongly about retaining them. and the mayor also says since december, i've met several outstanding law enforcement leaders nationwide. many expressed interest in applying for the job. unfortunately, when presented with the prospect of a public forum

possible candidates declined or withdrew their names from consideration one name noticeably absent from that list or on armstrong. earlier this month, he filed a lawsuit against the city of oakland and against mayor thao. he's alleging he was illegally fired. today we heard from oakland naacp. it has advocated for armstrong to get the job back. members say the job of police chief needs to be filled immediately. >> we haven't had an opportunity to vet any of the 4 people who are recommended by the police commission. but we want to keep an open this city of oakland is having tremendous problems, many of which connected to the fact that we don't have a police t and we think it's incumbent upon the part of the man to ensure that we have someone in that position. google is

imminently qualify and will do an outstanding job. unless we get that. we know that the crime problem is going to continue. >> mayor's house office of saying that she looks forward to. we're saving a list of finalists in conducting her due diligence in reviewing the candidates. that list is expected to in march live in the studio. i'm catherine heenan. justine, back to you. >> catherine, thank you. and as oakland searches for its next police chief prioritizing safety remains a top concern in the community. so coming up, the message for merchants today during a council members, safety walk and now to the south bay where san jose officials are asking residents to help select the city's next police chief. there feedback can be submitted through a survey and there are virtual and in-person meetings taking place next month. the current chief anthony mata has served the department for 28 years. he is set to retire this month for a new position as the

investigations bureau chief for the santa clara county district attorney's office. and we're continuing now to track the fallout after macy's announced it's going to close its iconic union square location in san francisco. so a lot of people been asking what's going to happen with the cheesecake factory restaurant that's located on the top floor of the building. kron 4 spoke with a manager at the restaurant. we were told the franchise has now sent an e-mail to employees at that location explaining the company is working on a plan for the next steps and the plant is set to be released next week. 4 has confirmed with the union square alliance that the christmas tree lighting ceremony in union square will take place this year. no word yet on the plans for the celebration beyond 2024. muni rider ship is now at an all-time high since plummeted at the start of the pandemic in 2020. and today, san francisco mayor london breed highlighting just how reliable and safe they believe muni has become kron. 4 s

charles clifford joins us to live with market afternoon. charles. >> good afternoon. well, right now a muni is seeing about 450,000 riders per month on average. that's about half of all the transit riders in the bay area. the city says they made improvements to the system, but there are trouble the horizon. move

through the rest of the very bay area in the afternoon tomorrow. and as you can see, it does last right through saturday, even into sunday morning. i'll be back in just a bit. rich, talk about that. and the massive sierra snow storm that is on the way. back to thank you. some big news out of washington now as senate republican leader mitch mcconnell says he's stepping down from the leadership position. a post he's held for nearly 2 decades.

>> our dc correspondent raquel martin has the latest. >> it's next generation. leadership. >> wednesday, senator mitch mcconnell announced he's stepping down as the senate republican leader at the end of the year. >> to serve kentucky and the should move my life. leave. my republican colleagues >> the privilege. the 82 year-old has served as a senate leader longer than anyone else in history. never could have imagined that happened when arrived here in 1984. 42, the news traveled quickly from the senate floor. to the white house. president joe biden spoke highly of his former senate colleague and characterize their decade-long relationship as an honest shortly after mcconnell speech, maine republican senator susan collins praise mcconnell for showing leadership for stepping forward. >> when wasn't popular, mcconnell's popularity

recently song among republicans after he worked with democrats to pass a compromise bill to send aid to ukraine without addressing the border. that said, i believe more strongly than ever that america's global. >> leadership is essential. we need leadership that is going to prioritize the american people. missouri republican senator josh hawley says he's happy to see the republican leader ago. my only question is why wait so long? we need new leadership now about. >> going anywhere connell says he will remain in the senate until his term is up in 2027 and will work with his party to elect a new leader in november. in washington, raquel martin. >> comedian and curb your enthusiasm. actor richard lewis has died. lewis had been suffering from parkinson's disease and retired from comedy last spring. he mostly recently appeared alongside larry david in season 12 of curb your enthusiasm. his other credits include roles and robin hood. men in tights and daddy dearest lewis was 76 years old. were cops and

faster response times that is but merchants in north oakland are telling councilmember dan kalb will help reduce crime along retail corridors. >> kron four's wichita follow him as he and police officers walk the streets soliciting solutions to stop the rising crime. >> hitting the streets alongside oakland police officers. city council member dan kalb spent wednesday morning stopping by businesses in north oakland, which we hope by seconds into this conversation with mama's royal cafe manager martine quite lot. it was clear safety is an issue for his employees and customers raking one year. the outside. >> windows car windows. >> that somebody patrons say more cops on the streets could help reduce and solve crimes. i just got window broken out and my truck yesterday.

>> down the street and safe like when to replace. that's this is called sports walk with police since he says crime started to steadily rise 2 years last year, a resolution he authored passed in the city council addressing public safety. he says the city is currently implementing the actions, including hiring and retaining more dispatchers to improve response times and adding high-tech cameras at busy corridors that make sure that we have walking beat officers as we've have time to time. let's make let's make that a permanent plan. >> and really how it supplement that with ambassadors. as for the list of potential candidates for the town's next top cop released by the oakland police commission having a look at the westin hopes as the next chief does not have to be local. they support that. the police chief who we end up hiring who the mayor is accusing is somebody who work in a city that is similar to our size or at least has the same configuration and the same challenges that we like armstrong back because he grew

up. you it doesn't matter long as you get the job done and the job is making the streets safer for everyone. >> in oakland, philippe djegal kron, 4 news. >> san jose police have arrested a man in connection to a 2018 triple shooting at a talker. ria officials releasing this body camera video from that night. they say we go. vergara shot 3 men outside of lot. victoria, talk korea on almaden expressway. all 3 victim survived. police say shots were fired after vergara and another person got into an argument with those 3 men. so now he's been booked into the santa clara county main jail for attempted homicide. >> we ask god's healing time. family and friends. >> all of us come together to pray today. >> community members in san mateo county uniting in prayer together today to honor family that was murdered earlier this month. the per service was conducted for not henry and le spend singer and their twin boys, nathan and noah, all 4

of them were found dead in their home during a welfare check. the restored of justice ministry hold vigils for those who died from violence across the bay area to spread messages of forgiveness had to bring awareness to those seeking help with mental illness. >> i think about a crime such as speaks mental illness. i can't crime such as this was someone mentally even all appearances for contrary, which is around the world. >> prayers were shared outside of the family's home where officers found their bodies. investigators believe that the father shot his wife multiple times before shooting himself in a bathroom. the children's cause of death remains under investigation as they had no signs of physical trauma police a hit. my

business, we rent skis. we rent equipment, things like that. we've already had some people moving around the reservations for the weekend. so that's not going to happen. >> despite the impact of businesses, a lot of people are looking forward to seeing the benefits of the storm after the fak since tahoe does rely on snow in the winter and we need it all for some water. but yeah, it's going to go down. you know, it's going to be kind of hold your breath situation here as we watch this storm coming. and it's going to be highly impactful. you're taking a live look now at half dome and yosemite conceal that beautiful snowpack. we're going to be adding an awful lot to this all across the sierra. >> including down in yosemite, you can see where the blizzard warning now is up. not just for the tahoe area, but right on down to mammoth lakes and points south as well. so the blizzard warning starts thursday morning at 10:00am and goes until sunday at 10:00am. that is the time when you do not want to be on the

roads in any of the mountain passes are areas. this is a blizzard warning which means that it is wind and heavy snow all coming together. so whiteout conditions are possible near 0 visibility. and that makes for absolutely treacherous travel. so my advice to you is stay put thursday through sunday. do not get on the roads to get to this year. you want to get up there on wednesday. if that's where you want to be and then expect to come back either late sunday or possibly on monday. this is where we're looking out for that 4 to 8, even plus feet of snow as we see right along the peaks there. it's khan right out of my model and has lost its color because it's such a high amount. notice, though, some of the peaks in and around other parts of northern california and even down mount diablo, we could see mount saint could see a dusting of snow. the snow level set to drop to about 1000 feet. by the time we get to sunday. so we're going to start between 5 6,000 feet. start dropping by saturday down to about 2000 feet. so it's going to be intense storm. cold air and it's going to be extremely dangerous. so again, i just can't say it enough. you don't want to be traveling.

meanwhile, we're going to get some rain from take you through tonight. we're going to start to see some clouds roll. and and then in the overnight, we'll see if a little sprinkle kind of start and then the rain really rolls in tomorrow afternoon. you can see it right there and it can continue for us through friday into saturday. it looks like the first part of sunday as well. looking out for between one and 2 inches of rain. here's a look at your extended forecast. it's going to be a soggy one folks thursday, friday and saturday. we'll catch a little bit of a break as we get later into the day on sunday. back to you. all right. still ahead, hear what elon musk is saying about tesla's new. >> electric sports vehicle. plus, fast food restaurant. wendy's now backtracking following customer backlash over potential price hikes will break down what happened

what do i see in peter dixon? 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. i'm peter dixon and i approved this message.

>> so wendy says it's not introducing search pricing. the company is instead investing in digital menu boards giving the chain more flexibility to update menu items and prices. wendy's responding to allegations that those menu boards would allow the chain to raise prices when demand went up at its restaurants. wendy says it has no plans to engage in surge pricing and does not plan to very prices at different times of the day. instead, the company says the menu boards would allow restaurants to change menu offerings at different times of the day and also offer discounts to customers easily, especially in slower times of the day. elon musk just shared an update on the long delayed release of the roadster. that's tesla's new electric sports car. musk says the company hopes to ship out the vehicle next year. we'll take a look at it here. it's a

battery powered four-seater was announced in 2017. it was scheduled to be released in 2020. but musk says that global supply chain issues prompted the delay.

that area. kron 4 sarah stinson has the story. >> in the final hours of operation, more than 2 dozen people who live in downtown san francisco gathered outside the walgreens. 2, 7, 5, sacramento street hoping their voices will be heard. you know, a pharmacy like a grocery store. >> they you know, they're oftentimes the center of the community. they're really important needs. diana taylor has organized efforts to plea

with walgreens and the city to stop the closure. but unfortunately, they've had no look what we found out that it wasn't about. >> human needs or what the community needs. it was all about the numbers. a spokesperson for walgreens tells kron 4 the locations closure is due to a significant decrease in foot traffic since the pandemic. but that's not what we saw while walking in the area with alec bash who lives just blocks away. >> i think we've got put your foot traffic in this area and we have more and more every >> fashion taylor are among those worried about seniors not having access to a nearby pharmacy. the new year's walgreens will now be a half mile away on montgomery street. taylor says this closure will take away their independence. the seniors, they're terrified. they feel like they don't have any choice if people on walkers. warren wheelchairs, houston, to cage walking along and other longtime residents worry this will only hurt the

progress the city is making in the downtown area. well, things closing that's taken away or amenities and i worry that people can start start moving out of the because what we have. >> sara stinson reporting a spokesperson for walgreens says all pharmacy files are being transferred to the location on montgomery street. the company also says they're free and reduced prescription delivery for the next 90 days. the group of neighbors that we spoke with say they have not given up hope and they still plan to see if walgreens will reconsider its decision to close. in the south bay be san jose city council has approved a new lease on a contract for a new management of raging waters. the agreement agreement allows region waters to operate this summer. the park opened up originally in 1985, but it closed last summer after ending its lease with the city. but it will be back. and in the east bay berkeley mayor jesse aaron gates says he's concerned about part of the east bay becoming a hospital desert

alta. bates summit medical center is scheduled to close before 2030. it's the only full-service hospital in the city of berkeley. the mayor says if it closes, it would leave that stretch of the area between richmond and downtown oakland without a full-service hospital. and also it could overload the summit hospital in oakland. he says all options to keep alta. bates up and running are on the table. >> the city of berkeley is willing to pass. bonds are taxes were willing to look at permitting. we're willing we're going to do anything as at the end of the day want to control our destiny. and so whether that's bringing another health care provider, whether that's forming a hospital district, we cannot let these baby com hospital desert. >> the berkeley city council is initiating a study to examine the impacts of this potential closure. the mayor also says they are in conversations with some of health to see if there's a way to keep the hospital open. for

bicyclists are now recovering this afternoon after a woman veered off the road and hit them with her car in santa cruz county. this happened last night on highway 9. just south of glengarry road. according to the chp, an 85 year-old woman was driving northbound as those for bicyclists were going south and her car veered off the road and hit the eicyclist before crashing into the tree. that driver had minor injuries. but 2 of the bicyclists suffered major injuries and were transported by air to a nearby hospital. the other 2 bicyclists were also taken to the hospital. the cause of the crash remains under investigation. and at this time, alcohol and drugs are not believed to be factors. back to the east bay. now, as fire crews discovered a car submerged in a pond. and now they're looking for the driver. firefighter shared this photo after finding the car yesterday. they pulled it out of the ellen would pond. residents nearby saw the car before contacted officials. and no word right now how it got there. in the south bay.

there's new data from a silicon valley group aiming to end homelessness. that shows that santa clara county is housing more homeless people than ever before. but at the same time, the unhoused population is growing. destination home says nearly 4500 unhoused people were housed in 2023. but the rate of homelessness in santa clara county also jumped 24%. a representative from destination home says the cost of rent is a major factor. >> we know we have guy rocketing rents and our community. and people aren't making enough money. and the combination of those 2 coupled with the fact that we don't have affordable, truly affordable housing options of the scale that we really need means that so many people in our community are just one page missed paycheck, one financial emergency away from ending up on the streets. >> destination home says the county needs to build more housing because their data shows 96% of unhoused people

that get into affordable housing. stay permanently housed. there's a massive wildfire that's burning out of control right now through the texas panhandle. it is triggered evacuations and is threatening to burn homes, farms and businesses. the smokehouse creek fire has chewed through more than 500,000 acres since it started on monday. the fire is northeast of our murillo. it's now the second largest fire in texas history. there's no containment and authorities are saying the fire is being fueled by high winds and unseasonably warm temperatures. other factors conclude that there are some wildfires burning nearby with flames jumping into oklahoma. and that has also for some evacuation orders there and kyla grogan snow in the weather center tracking what's going on in texas and oklahoma. yeah. want talk about the weather there. as you can see where the panhandle as we can see, all of that fire is concentrated. >> and they have had extreme heat over the last few days. you can see here on sunday, the high of 80 degrees in amarillo. 82 on monday. 75 on

tuesday. and the good news is we have dropped those temperatures down today and the going even lower tomorrow as they have a little expectation of some rain and even a few snowflakes possible. right now, the wind is also giving them a break here you can see about 10 miles per hour or so that certainly an improvement today and tomorrow, i think will be that chance for the firefighters to get a little bit of an edge on this. if they're able to because they are going to warm up again as we head into friday and saturday. you know, yesterday we were talking about detroit was in the 70's 73 degrees. this incredible warmth that was kind of bubbling over this part of the country. obviously that cold air is now spilled in and now there are 28 degrees. so dallas at 47. so we're eingomcal

outsider that's really been engaged and many communities around our state over the years. this is that part, not just republicans, but for californians.

>> currently registered democrats outnumber registered republicans about 2 to one in california. and a reminder for election day, you must turn in your ballot or have your vote by mail envelope postmarked no later than march fish. and a reminder kron 4 is your local election headquarters. so join us on election day tuesday, march 5th for live election results from all around the bay area. our coverage will begin at 08:00pm and of course, in the afternoon, will keep you up to date. >> coming up here, wet and rainy weather has contributed to a bug boom in the east bay. and after the break, we're speaking with an expert about why this is such a problem. >> how to develop healthy habits with social media, the tips for both teens and their parents in tech smart.

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>> social media can have a negative impact on both mental and physical health. and in today's tech, smart, rich demuro has a look at how we can find a balance. >> when it comes to social media, even adults have trouble with that endless scroll. but these apps can particularly affect teens. now one advocate is helping them find a balance. >> larissa make calls herself a survivor of the digital age. i really started to struggle is depression and anxiety and social media was my sword in my shield. i would not my emotions and ultimately brought me the darkest place my life. now she's an advocate for teens or nonprofit. half the story helps them develop a healthy relationship with social media. what's really

most horrible about these platforms is the addictive algorithms and the things that keep kids pulled but since they go largely unregulated, may believes in empowering teens, families and schools with the tools they need to take control, teaching kids how what they do online impacts their emotions and also how what how they feel impacts what they do in the internet. social media. you is, of course, she helped develop for schools. it teaches teens emotional skills and how to handle the impact tech has had on our lives. she believes the school should work with students to come up with policies that better address the blurred lines. devices like smartphones create. >> and when it comes to parents, modeling is the way to go as parents. if we don't start modeling health, your behavior. >> your kid is going to believe that your phone is more important that they is a fan of speedbumps between us and social media and app called one 0nd makes you wait a bit while opening certain apps bowl is a beefed up

version of screen time to help you focus during scheduled parts of your day. i believe. and i know that you can build a healthy and positive relationship with technology. one key takeaway we can all use using technology with intention is way healthier than just mindless, passive. endless. scrolling. >> if you want to learn more about half the story in their courses for teens, you can go to my website rich on tech dot tv. i'm rich demuro and you are tech smart. >> all this wet and rainy weather has contributed to a big bug boom in the east bay at the alameda county mosquito abatement district says it has received many calls from local residents reporting swarms of various flying in insects that have been mistaken for mosquitoes, but they're not joining us now to explain what we're seeing is just of houston, a field operations supervisor with the alameda county mosquito abatement program. thank you for joining us. afternoon. so if they're not mosquitoes, what are they?

>> well, there's a whole host of insects to active starting this time of year and they are in a similar family. but most don't have the ability to buy or transmit disease. and so for the average person, that's not an entomologist. they do look very mosquito like and right now they're starting to show up and quite high numbers. and so goal is always to kind of help the public understand what insects that we're dealing with. aside from army mission, which is mosquito control. but there are definitely a lot of different insects flying around right now. and just as as spring progresses over the next few weeks, we expect to see a lot more everything from crane flies ages mayflies sot flies so that they look like mosquitoes. but again, they don't bite. they don't transmit disease and people are

>> yes, he i don't like the bugs live. someone's on top of that. let's take a look outside with our current temperatures. you can see that we've been really nice today. in fact, san jose sitting at 70 degrees right now. >> happen. they just 59, but he's been a lovely, sunny kind of warm day out there in stormtracker 4 to show you how clear the skies are. of course, as we start to zoom out, you see that there is a system right up there. there it is. our low pressure system. that's the one that's going to roll in. bring us some rain. and of course, all this year, snow that's going coming our way too. how much rain are we talking about? well, over the course of thursday, friday, saturday, the first part of sunday you can see between one 2 inches of rain. some spots could get even higher than that. some of the time we get to saturday, probably going to be a little bit of a concern for some low-lying areas to deal with some flooding. let me show you futurecast how this plays out tonight. the clouds move in.

tomorrow morning. we start to get a little bit of a a shower in the north bay, but by the afternoon, this is where we start to get things going. and you see the sierra snow rolling there, too. and as we move into our friday, i think that's when the heaviest showers are going to come in friday into saturday. and that's going to be also kind the heavier snow is coming down to even have a chance of a small chance of a thunderstorm as we get friday into saturday. so i mentioned we have this blizzard warning for the sierra. it could be very dangerous. thursday morning through sunday morning. that's when the blizzard warning is up and you could have very, very difficult. i'm traveling. i recommend no travel during that time until that blizzard warning is gone. the snow will be pervasive. everybody's can see these totals here. we're talking feet of snow and we could even see a dusting in some of our bay area spots up in some of our top of our peak someplace. like a you know, may be about diablo might see that a little bit. so won't be a lot. but snow levels, especially expect to be lowering down to 2000 feet, even possibly 1000 feet. so temperatures also getting awfully chilly back to you.

thank up next, a new study is revealing that smoking cannabis can increase your risk of heart problems just like smoking tobacco. >> more details after the break. we have another hour of

news ahead here on kron 4 this afternoon. here's some of the stories coming up at 3 for 4th time in oakland city. councilmember taking a community safety walk. but has there been any safety improvements since the past 3 times? he did this also touting transit success. the announcement today highlighting communities improvements and what needs to change to keep all that up. i'm justine waldman. kron. 4 news at 3 is what do i see in peter dixon? 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. i'm peter dixon and i approved this message.