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. parents welcoming new bundles of

joy with an unusual birthday day and wind and rain roll through the bay area as a massive winter storm. now heads straight for the sierra. >> this is ktvu fox two news at 730, and a blizzard warning in effect for the sierra for the next several days. >> good evening everyone, i'm heather holmes, people being urged to avoid travel and we've already seen several crashes on highway 80 near donner lake with several ski resorts closing up early today. the snow was really coming down in the sierra earlier today. this drone video comes to us from kevin cooper. he's director of communications at kali pass resorts and you can see, boy, lots of fresh powder already blanketing those hills and valleys. and it's just the first day of that storm. so let's bring in our meteorologist, mark tamayo, with a look at the current conditions and what's headed for the sierra. >> hi there. heather yeah, we have chain controls right now on both 80 and 50. so this is just the beginning of the snowfall rates will be intensifying over the next 12 hours or so compared

to yesterday. look at this a dramatic change. this was the scene yesterday in the sierra. then today, of course, the storm clouds really moving in. the snowfall rates picking up. and as i mentioned, this is just the beginning of what will be a exceptional period in terms of extreme snowfall. we could be talking about snowfall rates on the order of 3 to 4in an hour. so we have that blizzard warning in place until 10:00 sunday morning. whiteout conditions and dangerous or impossible travel. you know, we're using the word blizzard, and there's actually an official definition that has nothing to do with the expected snowfall. it's linked to the least, the winds, and also the visibility. visibilities down to below a quarter of a mile. and that will be the case as we head into friday and into saturday, showing you this, the rainfall expectations and the snowfall expectations, at least according to this forecast model. and take a look at those numbers. really adding up in the sierra and also here in the bay area as well as the rainfall has been pushing in over the past few hours. rainfall totals adding up in a

few spots. ken field, 0.83. napa 0.31. san francisco 0.09 and san jose, 0.01. so here's what's happening for us. the cold system today, tomorrow and into the weekend. and rainfall expectations throughout that period could be about an inch to possibly over three inches of rain up in the north bay. here's a live camera looking out toward the golden gate bridge. still some scattered rain out there. so here is the radar imagery over the past few hours. will come in closer to the bay area. it looks like the activity is kind of backing off in the coverage, but still some scattered rain as you can't pick out on our radar this evening as we back the map some out, the main focus in the santa cruz mountains and in the south bay, but some more rain showers, some more thunderstorms in our forecast. we'll have more on that with your full update in a little bit. >> okay, mark, we will see you then. thank you. and a reminder that you can stay informed about this storm with our weather app. it has current conditions here and in the sierra. breaking down the forecast hour by hour. and remember it's free to download. well new at 730 tonight. waste

management workers in palo alto are proving their first ever collective bargaining agreement. 97% of green waste of palo alto drivers and mechanics voted to ratify this new contract. union representatives say the contract gives workers a voice on the job. a substantial wage increase and enhanced benefits, including a defined pension plan. that agreement has been more than a year now in the making. all right. the clock is ticking for billionaire backers of a planned new city in solano county to gather signatures for a november ballot measure. today is the deadline for the solano county council to give the ballot initiative a title and summary. after that, the california forever campaign will have about two months to gather 13,000 signatures for verification. developers want to build the city that would include 20,000 new homes near travis air force base. the plan has generated some opposition among local residents and lawmakers, who are critical of the secrecy that has surrounded the plans and lack of details. well, happening now, a

forum is underway for the public to hear from candidates up for the job of oakland police chief. the oakland police commission releasing its new list of four finalists earlier this week. and they include lisa davis, assistant chief with the cincinnati police. fld mitchell, former texas police chief luis molina, an assistant deputy mayor in new york and formerypd ficer and san leandro policehief. abdul idgen, who left the job just last week. now, the commission sa it intends to giveayor shengtao this second list of finalists tomorrow. candidates tonight, though, walking through their qualifications, owens understand the importance of not always. having a police first type of response to issues related to public health or other drivers that may be driving someone to be justice involved, and how we can divert those populations to better resources and divert them away from the criminal justice system . okay, that's just one of the

candidates that people are hearing from tonight. that meeting, by the way, open to the public. and people can also participate through zoom. mayor tao said that she will not be at tonight's meeting, telling the commission that the public forum could put candidates at risk of losing their current jobs or put the city in a bidding war with their current employer. mayor tao has already rejected at least one of the candidates, that being pridgen and two other candidates who were presented in december. that list included former police chief laurent armstrong, whom she fired more than a year ago. now, the commission says it intends to give mayor tao, as i mentioned, that second list of finalists tomorrow. so we have a crew covering tonight's public forum, and we'll have much more on the search for a new police chief here in oakland. coming up tonight at ten. okay. the effort to recall alameda county district attorney pamela price has exposed what officials say is an antiquated county charter. when it comes to recalls ktvu henry lee tells us there is a measure now on the ballot next week that would change the

recall election rules. alameda county voters are not voting tuesday on whether to recall district attorney pamela price, but what they will decide is whether to align the county's outdated recall procedures with those of the state. >> is specifically about a recall procedure. >> it's not about any one recall at all that means if passed, measure b would raise the number of signatures needed to put a recall on the ballot. >> give the registrar more time to count signatures, and set up a recall election supervisor lina tam says as it stands now, alameda county has a ten day deadline to verify signatures. state law allows for 30 days. >> we need to, uh, be practical in our ability to verify the signatures, but also call for the recall election in tam supports the measure, but critics said now isn't the time to change recall procedures, as some recall efforts are underway. they were a concern about the timing and the potential for confusion.

>> state law requires signature gatherers to be only 18 or over. as it stands now under the county's charter, those with petitions must live in alameda county. >> but the supreme court has found similar requirements in other jurisdictions for circulating these type of petitions to be unconstitutional . >> well, let's give a big hand to pamela price and an event thursday with local pastors, price said. >> if measure b passes and if she's recalled, then the board of supervisors would likely appoint someone to fill the rest of her terms. price says. not only would those who voted for her be disenfranchized, the entire electorate, every resident in this county who is a registered voter will have lost the right to choose how justice is administered in this county. >> give this dear servant of the lord, this community servant. give her an opportunity. let us serve out her time. let her complete what she's doing because her agenda cannot be

accomplished overnight. >> the earliest any day recall election could be sent out could potentially be a month after election day. if this measure passes. henry lee, ktvu, fox two news. i new at 730 tonight, officials in santa cruz county are monitoring an infectious disease outbreak there, particularly among the homeless. >> officials say at least 27 cases of shingles have been recorded in the county since late january. 16 have been lab confirmed. 11 remain under investigation. shigellosis is a bacterial infection that usually spreads by touching contaminated surfaces or swimming in contaminated water. health officials say they are actively working with the city of santa cruz. the sheriff's office, as well as the county's homeless person's health project to try to contain this outbreak. coming up tonight, helping teens with children beat the odds. the brand new school for young parents working to graduate high school and all birthdays, of course, are special. but those born today, well, they are in a

unique leap year category. we've got more on that coming up after the break democrats agree. 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.

"overflowing with ideas and energy." that's the san francisco chronicle endorsing democrat katie porter for senate

over all other options. porter is "easily the most impressive candidate." "known for her grilling of corporate executives." with "deep policy knowledge." katie porter's housing plan has "bipartisan-friendly ideas to bring homebuilding costs down." and the chronicle praises "her ideas to end soft corruption in politics." let's shake up the senate. with democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. all in an effort to try to revive the retail space. the owners, trident pacific, announcing today that the mall will now be called empire center san francisco. the company says this new name pays tribute to the first department store that opened there back in 1896, which was called the emporium. the company says guests will start to see new branding soon, including a new logo. they're also working to bring in new food options and also increase

the number of events they're okay. february 29th. today, only comes about once every four years, and so do birthdays for babies born on leap day. katie's crystal bailey spoke with some new parents who welcomed their very own leap day baby into the world today. >> julia pearson and edward verhey welcomed their newborn baby girl, luna, just after one in the morning on february 29th. >> we're so grateful she's here. >> julia went in on monday to be induced, but it wasn't until thursday that luna arrived and friends were joking like, oh, it's going to be a leap day baby. >> and we didn't think it would be. we were like, oh, that's way too far out. it's going to be here tomorrow. and then it actually took the full three days. >> she was the first baby born on leap day at sutter health's california pacific medical center. the proud parents waited until they got to know her before they decided on a name. >> we wanted to see her first, to really make sure that the name suited her. >> it's going to be a sad for her, i guess. not to be able to celebrate her birthday every year on the exact day, but then

hopefully that fourth year will make up for it. >> the chances of being born on leap day are about 0.068. that is about 1 in 1400 people, and they're often referred to as leaplings. >> our little leap ling yeah, roughly 5 million people in the world are leaplings. >> leap day began in 45 bc, when julius caesar added the extra day to keep the calendar in sync with the seasons. because it takes 300 and 65.25 days for the earth to orbit the sun, nats for when julia and edward will celebrate luna's birthday next year. >> it's going to be february 20th 8th or march 1st, probably 28th. um, or maybe she gets both days as a bonus and do something proper every fourth year because it's a very special day. >> crystal bailey ktvu, fox two news. >> sweet little girl, beautiful family. there all right. a new school in san leandro aimed at helping teen parents complete their high school educations. the ribbon cutting ceremony was held at the carolyn hobbs

academy there on foothill boulevard earlier today. hobbs is a retired principal who served alameda county schools for more than 20 years. the academy in her name will provide on site childcare to support young parents as they work to receive their high school diplomas. a child comes into this world with a clean slate. >> parents and educators have a responsibility to assist in building a child's slate, which will bring value to the child and value to this world. >> the carolyn hobbs academy is partnering with la placita preschool, which serves english language learners. new. at 730 tonight, oakland police implementing a new system to make its non-emergency calls a little more efficient when people die. opd's non-emergency line, a new auto attendant system will answer the call. people can then choose which department they would like to speak to based on why they are calling. options include issues with abandoned vehicles, a

request for police records or a request for a collision report, and also connection to animal control. all right. measuring the california snowpack. we'll tell you about the results of today's survey near echo summit and how much things have improved. and the san francisco police department welcoming its newest members. what makes this group of newly sworn officers stand out? >> and in barrie, whether we have been watching the rain move in from the north over the past several hours, the front is moving through. but a lot more rain in our forec t. s we i launched our campaign at this union hall. 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

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with a qualifying internet package. don't wait, call and switch today! 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. the season today with that snowstorm that's on its way to the sierra. it measured the statewide snowpack snow water equivalent at 80% of average for this date. this is an improvement from 28% logged just

back on january first. however, today's measurements are still just 70% of the peak. april first average. a critical marker for snowpack conditions. >> it will take several additional storms within the month of march to really get us from the current 70% of april 1st average, up to 100% of average by the 1st of april. the storm forecasted for this weekend is expected to bring massive amounts of snow. >> as mark was telling us, as we mentioned, this means drivers should use caution in the sierra where roads are expected to be slippery amid high winds and those bitter cold temperatures. so let's check in with mark now for more on what's expected up there. and obviously we are seeing these improvements in the snowpack. and boy they're going to get some more snow. >> it'll be a game changer right over the next few days. and i was just thinking i was up that sierra that snow survey four years ago in 2020. and it was so disappointing because that february, before not really nothing in the way. and they

were really concerned. and guess what happened right after that? at that point, they kick in. and so yeah, so this will be a big time snow producer. we can't overstate that enough storm impacts for here in the bay area . we do have this. some periods of rain the thunderstorms gusty winds and also lower snow levels here in our local hills. we could have snow down around 2000ft by saturday morning. just not much in the way of major accumulations but the higher peaks. yeah, we could have maybe 1 to 4in now. the winds, a bit of a breeze today. strong winds, a wind advisory begins tomorrow afternoon until 10 a.m. on saturday. here's a live camera looking out toward the bay bridge. the camera shaking around a bit, and we still have some scattered rain showers as well. so checking out the radar this evening. it has been fairly active, as you can see, the green showing up on the radar, and also all that white out toward the sierra. we'll check out this. the coverage right now really backing off in the north bay. it's the main front. the first initial phase is kind of moving out in the south bay right now. that's where the main focus of the rainfall is in san

jose to morgan hill, to gilroy, out toward watsonville and a closer look here in the santa clara valley, closer to san jose and campbell this evening, winds . we'll check out the current wind reports as well. right now you can see winds at about 9 to 14 miles an hour. they have backed off considerably, at least compared to earlier this afternoon. we'll go ahead and show you some of the current numbers out there. temperatures in the upper 40s to the 50s, santa rosa 49, concord 53 and san jose 54 degrees scattered showers first thing tomorrow morning. overnight temperatures will be in the 40s. so this is the storm system we have been watching. it's definitely a cold one. and the front has moved on through. but that cold, unstable air, it's going to stick around over the next several days as we move into the weekend. so as we run the forecast model, the constant is this look at this out toward the sierra that is pacific snowfall. it's going to be really piling up. and of course we have some waves of rain and maybe some thunderstorms move across the bay area. so here we are tomorrow morning, 7:00. some scattered rain showers even at 3:00 as well. things could get

interesting though. friday night these bands will come on board some heavier rain bands that could lead to some thunderstorms . this is saturday morning and then into the afternoon hours. the possibility of some scattered showers. so keep the umbrella nearby. just plan on some rainfall if you're stepping outside the door for tomorrow and the cooler conditions as well. we'll have some sun and clouds into the weekend, but still some scattered showers off and on. if you want a chance to get outside, it looks like we could have improving conditions by monday, but it seems like it's quite a ways away with all the unsettled weather here. and of course, the abundant snowfall in the sierra heather. >> okay, mark, thank you. a tropical flower produces a rare bloom right here in the bay area, and crowds are coming from all over to see the famous corpse flower make its debut. and then coming up later tonight on the 10:00 news, new data shows nearly half of people cited for drug use in san francisco were from outside the city. we'll tell you about the effort to crack down on so-called drug tourism. plus, we've got some new developments tonight regarding the man

acquitted in the deadly san francisco shooting of kate steinle several years ago. we'll have those stories and more coming up tonight at ten. democrats agree. 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.

of its latest academy class. it's congratulating the 19 graduate of the 280th academy

class. police say eight are bilingual and fluent in spanish, thai, arabic and cantonese. these newly sworn officers will now head to their 16 week field training at various police stations there in the city. okay, it might not be spring quite yet, but that's not stopping a rare tropical flower from blooming today at the california academy of sciences in san francisco. the science museum's six foot tall corpse flower specimen, named mirage, is expected to open this evening. now, once it does open, it will emit a famously foul smell. many compare it to garlic, perhaps feet or even rotting flesh. the bloom will only last, though about 24 hours. people have come in from all over to witness today's unseasonably early bloom. >> it's incredible. it is just absolutely fascinating. and getting to talk to the biologists about the flower and learning a little bit more, um, has just been an incredible experience. >> corpse flowers are endangered

and can take as many as 7 to 10 years to bloom. so this is indeed special. okay speaking of special, will ktvu is proud to be expanding our partnership with the oakland roots soccer club. ktvu will now broadcast every game that's both the home and away matches on ktvu. plus, that's more than 30 games from march through october. and as a media partner of the oakland roots, ktvu i gearing up for the start of the season. we will beiring a season preview this saturday, march 2nd, right here at ktvu on ktvu at nine at night. we'll also air the season opener against the indy 11 next saturday, march 9th over o ktvu. plus and we will have an ur long post game show following that opening match. really, we are so proud to be a good partner with the oakland roots. such a great organization . all right. that's going to do it for me tonight. thanks so much for joining me for the news at 730. don't forget to download the fox local app to your smart tv. that's where you can stream

all of our newscasts. 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.

i launched our campaign at this union hall. 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.

"overflowing with ideas and energy." that's the san francisco chronicle endorsing democrat katie porter for senate over all other options. porter is "easily the most impressive candidate." "known for her grilling of corporate executives." with "deep policy knowledge." katie porter's housing plan has "bipartisan-friendly ideas to bring homebuilding costs down." and the chronicle praises "her ideas to end soft corruption in politics." let's shake up the senate. with democrat katie porter. i'm katie porter and i approve this message. with democrat katie porter. - previously on "next level chef"... [cheering] - only one dish today will save their entire team from elimination. izahya. [cheering] go. let's go.