increase on the june ballot. if voters approve, tolls would go up on all bay area bridges except the golden gate, which is not state-run. commuters would pay a dollar more next year. tolls would go up a dollar in 2022 and 2025. it would pay for highway projects in nine bay area counties. >> let's get back to mike nicco. >> there's a little too much moisture out there. less than an eighth of a mile. let me broaden out the picture. if you're coming in highway 4, vasco road the connector between 4 and 580 through livermore, that's going to be foggy. the altamont pass extremely foggy. the biggest concern, rain moves into the north bay this morning, stays there until lunch. moves over the rest of the bay and into the south bay by 4:00. it starts exiting the south bay

by 7:00. temperatures in the 30s and 40s this morning. low to mid-50s this afternoon. more on your commute as far as weather goes coming up soon. as far as your commute goes, that fog is definitely a problem with visibility. we don't have any here on the east shore freeway. this is 80 westbound headed towards the macarthur maze. it's pretty light at this hour. your drive down the 80 corridor, the east shore freeway to san francisco under 30 minutes. that's great. the orange represents fog. we have this fatal accident up in napa. 121 at waters avenue. avoid the area. it's been there for quite some time. the investigation is under way. it's foggy here and the alternate around this would not be a good one but 29 to 128 to avoid that section of 121. sue, thank you. san francisco has a new interim mayor this morning. it's ruffling a lot of feathers. >> an emotional sometimes chaotic night called for sexism and racism.

the temporary position is taken over from london breeze. amy hollyfield is live at city hall. >> reggie, another surprise move, progressives supported this. mark farrell was sworn in last night. this was late with his wife and his children by his side. progressives liked that he will be a caretaker mayor. he is not running for mayor in the june election. he addressed concerns about race as he replaced an african-american woman. >> to me, this isn't about politics. this is about moving the city forward and, again, the continuity of our government. all i can say is that i will work to represent every single san francisco resident, no matter their race, ethnicity, religion. it doesn't matter. my job for the next six months is to make sure the city government continues to function. >> there were concerns from some that london breed had too much

power as board president and interim mayor. she will be running for mayor in june. after hours of public comment and the vote, some of her supporters accuse the board of sexism and racism. farrell is expected to appoint his replacement on the board. that person will then have to run for the position in the next election. farrell represents district 2, which is the northern section of the city. reporting live in san francisco, amy holly field, abc 7 several people were hurt here. had to be taken away by ambulance. our team working to get the exact details. happened near nick's automotive service in walnut creek near main street and second avenue. you can see here in the video we have from overnight, not only were there police on scene, but

you see people taken away on stretchers. we don't know the condition of those folks injured out there or if there are any suspects in the case. as soon as we get better details, i will pass those along. back to you. thanks, jessica. a pair of small earthquakes shook the bay area and central coast last night. >> magnitude 3.6 and 2.7 struck before 10:00. the center near watsonville. they felt it from santa clara to san francisco, even mayor. no damage. >> it can be unnerving especially on a fault line. california is offering financial aid to help retrofit homes in communities most at risk. cornell barnard has the details shmt. >> earthquake, earthquake. >> an early warning system may help keep you safe, but it won't protect your home in an earthquake. this home slid off the foundation during the '94 northridge quake, so did this one. >> that's the first thing that comes to your mind is your house. she worries about future quakes in the bay area.

a program by hayward is offering grants to owners of single family homes to help pay for seismic retrofits on their home's foundations. >> they can get the entire cost paid for if they qualify. >> a retrofit can cost 3 to $7,000. the state is now offering its own grant program to residents of 21 bay area cities most at risk for quakes. >> this is the access to the crawl space where we do the retrofit work. >> howard cook shows us how this home was correctly bolted to its foundation. he's a former fema inspector who owns a company specializing in seismic retrofits. he says the hayward fault is overdue for an earthquake. >> if you don't bolt and brace your home, you're going to lose it and end up in a homeless shelter or be living with relatives. you got to put your whole life back together. >> reporter: the state is most concerned about homes built before 1979. wood frame construction with a raised foundation. >> it's beneficial to someone who can't afford it but need it.

>> the deadline to apply for the grants from the california earthquake authority is february 23rd. we've got a link on our website, abc7news.com. cornell barnard, abc 7 news. it's 4:36 now. happening today, university of california regents are expected to vote on proposed tuition hike. the regents are considering a 2.5% hike which would start this fall. it would amount to $350 more for students in the upcoming academic year. they approved a similar increase last year. cal students are planning to protest against the proposal at 10:00 a.m. voters in the south bay will determine the fate of a judge criticized for his sentence in a high-profile sexual assault case. the santa clara registrar of voters says they have enough signatures to qualify for the june ballot. former stanford swimmer brock turner had six months in jail for sexually assaulting an

unconscious woman. if recalled, the judge -- it would be the first time a california judge has been ousted in a recall election in 85 years. let's talk neighborhood temperatures. we're in the inland east bay neighborhoods. you can see some upper 30s. lafayette, walnut creek 39. the rest of us 43, 44 degrees. the thick fog in livermore, it's 37 degrees. here's the way it looks from the east bay hills. pretty quiet now. you can see low-lying clouds around san francisco. we'll keep an eye on the fog. see how it develops. the commute planner, fog this morning but rain this afternoon. so the roads i'm putting caution on there. same thing for mass transit. mainly dry this morning. wet this afternoon. on the bay, it's going to be wet and breezy as we have a small craft advisory also. north bay first to get the rain. let's go to your neighborhoods first and go the 12-hour planner. maybe mists of drizzle. by 10:00. steady rain in there. you're hovering in the upper 40s

to low 50s until the rain starts to taper from 4:00 to 6:00 back to some showers by 8:00. it's over. south bay, last to see the rain. you wake up 47, mostly cloudy. still dry by 2:00. but from 4:00 on, that's when you get your best rain. notice the temperature drop from 60 down to 52 when the rain moves in. in fact, most of our highs today, in the mid to upper 50s. exceptions. san jose at 61. lake port, ukiah at 50. tonight will be a little cooler than this morning. throw mid-40s for the rest of us. we come back, we have a winter storm warning for the sierra and want to show you how the storm unfolds hour by hour at home. here's sue. we're taking a look at the north bay. san rafael to be exact. it's pretty light right now. the taillights are headed southbound past the north gate mall and the civic center. our camera view at the freight as parkway on ramp. you can get an idea where you are. the headlights north towards

novato. it's fog-free across the waldo grade and the golden gate bridge. mass transit, if that's your preference, b.a.r.t. trains on time. ace train number one left stockton on time headed into lathrop. yesterday we had a disaster with a metering light problem. so far so good. no metering lights yet this morning. looks like team mueller versus team trump. coming up, i'll have major updates on the russian investigation and the push to get president trump to give an interview to investigators. a third lane in the upper deck of the richmond-san rafael bridge is in the work for bicycles and pedestrians. now transportation leeaders say why not vehicles too. say goodbye to an author

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welcome back. as promised, a significant snowstorm coming to the sierra. for now, though, most of it is stuck up in the northwest. you can see it moving down along interstate 80 as we head into the afternoon hours. if you're heading to so cal, low to mid-70s and total sunshine. winter storm warning for the western slope. winter weather advisory for tahoe itself. that means less snow in tahoe than the western slopes. you got to drive through this to

gets to tahoe. 1 to 2 feet of snow through noon today up to 10:00. up to 60 mile per hour winds. whiteout conditions. it's going to be nearly impossible to get through those areas. as far as snow tomorrow, we've still got some. a dry spell friday through tuesday. at the live desk, new developments this morning in the russia investigation. attorney general jeff sessions has become the first trump cabinet member to be interviewed by special counsel robert mueller. we've also learned about two key matters mueller's team wants to address with the president. abc news reporter kenneth moton is live in washington with the latest. >> jessica, we don't know where special counsel robert mueller is in his investigation but we know they've interviewed a number of high-profile officials. attorney general jeff sessions added to that list.

the russia investigation reaching right into president trump's cabinet. attorney general jeff sessions interviewed by special counsel robert mueller's team. >> are you concerned about what the attorney general told the special counsel? >> no, i'm not at all concerned. >> critics called the testimony misleading. >> i did not have communications with the russians. >> turns out sessions had several conversations with the russian ambassador during the 2016 campaign. >> therefore, i have recused myself. >> the a.g. later handing off the russia probe. sources say mueller's team questioned sessions about those conversations with the ambassador. abc news has learned that the special counsel wants to interview the president to know about two key matters, suggesting a possible obstruction of justice investigation. the circumstances around the president's firing of ex-national security adviser michael flynn and former fbi director james comey who we learned sat down with mueller's team late last year. it focused on a series of co

comey's mem rose. the russia investigation on his mind when he fired comey. >> he wants to see this end and wants to see them finally come to the same conclusion that i think most everyone in america has, that there is nothing to this. >> at this point, there's still no formal interview request from the special counsel or word of trump would actually agree to an interview. reporting live in washington this morning, kenneth moton, abc 7 news. kenneth, appreciate it. thank you. it's quarter to 5:00. happening today, the doctor accused of molesting dozens of athletes will be sentenced today. this is after days of emotional and scathing victim impact statements including from ma'ake lama roan i and aly raisman. under the plea agreement, he could face up to life in prison. he's accused of abusing more than 150 girls and women, many athletes reported the abuse but nothing was done.

santa clara county supervisors moving forward to build a new jail facility in san jose. abc 7 news was at the santa clara county administration building in san jose, as the board approved a plan to replace the 1950s era south wing of the main jail. that project will cost the county $257 million. the state will chip in $80 million of that. the new facility will house inmates receiving mental health treatment and classrooms for lower-level offenders. transportation leaders will consider a third lane for vehicle traffic on the upper deck of the richmond-san rafael bridge. right now it's to dedicate the lane to bicyclists and pedestrians. the transportation authority of marin wants cars possibly added to the mix. they stay traffic has increased 13% in the last five yeefrmts accommodating both vehicles and bikes would complicate the project. it's 4:36. you're never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. here's mike nicco.

>> thanks guys. live doppler 7, it's quiet as far as wet weather goes. there's some fog out there, especially in the north bay. each thicker fog around fairfield and livermore and out towards tracy. you can see the cloud cover increasing ahead of our storm. so what is it going to do? let's take a look at the accuweather highlights as we look at that cloud cover from sutro tower. wet weather and cooler today. that simple. showers through tomorrow with the possibility of some thunderstorms which means lightning and maybe small hail and graupel. dry and warming trend begins this weekend. here we are at 7:00 this morning. pretty quiet outside. now as we head up until noon, you can see the steady, light to moderate rain. green to yellow up in the north bay. scattered showers elsewhere. drizzle along the coast into san francisco. after noon, you can see the light to moderate rain into the heart of the bay. by 4:00, it's moving into the south bay. the evening commute is going to be a mess. by the time we get all the way to 7:00. it's transitioning over to

showers already. during the overnight hours. we've got showers and the possibility of thunderstorms. you can see the snow level down to about 3500 feet. during the overnight hours and also through the day tomorrow. as far as any wet weather should say accumulations. by 9:00 santa rosa. most of us dry this morning. look by 4:00, even wetness all the way down to the south bay. it just keeps piling up overnight and all the way through tomorrow. third of an inch in the south bay to 2/3. maybe 3/4 in the bay and an inch in the north bay. my accuweather forecast, 50s again tomorrow and friday. but then 60s for saturday through tuesday. if you're a westbound commuter, look at the bay bridge, sue. >> it's looking pretty good. good morning everyone. we have a couple of cars stacked up in the left hand cash lanes. if you're a bay bridge commuter, you know it was a nightmare. it was thanks to you, the drivers, that we discovered the metering lights were malfunctioning and they got on

that pretty quickly. thanks for letting us know if you get to safe place tweet at sue hall traffic. they finally got it improved but it was well over an hour for delays into san francisco. coming into the city, if you travel the broadway tunnel, it's closed until 6:00 a.m. for cleaning. they have a detour in place. pretty easy to follow to get around that and no major delays. sue, thank you. one of the world's influential fiction authors has died. ursula le guin wrote many books. she received dozens of national and international wa a. wards. this is a video of le guin speaking at cal in 2013. she went to berkeley high school. her parents were professors at cal. the kroger hall is named after her father. she was 88 years old. the san francisco zoo wants kids to get back to nature. the offer they hope is too good to pass up.

some of the largest companies keeping their earnings under the tax bill. now sack metropolitan owe is eyeing a cut of that money. a free checking service. who is now hurting the most. first this morning's techbytes. >> in today's techbytes, apple's smart speaker available soon. you can pre order starting friday. the release date is february 9th. >> apple ceo tim cook says it sounds quality and will be what sets it apart from competitors. >> fried chicken getting new wings. new chicken wings can be turned into a drone. >> they're calling it the kfo or kentucky flying object. only available tomorrow and friday in ind yachlt it's starting to sound like alexa is a fan of the eagles. >> who do you think will win the super bowl? >> i'm flying with the eagles on this one because of their relentless offense. >> users are getting that response all over the country, even in massachusetts. >> it's not too late to return that alexa

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remember, the snow starts around noon today. it starts to accumulate after the sunsets. by the time we get to friday morning, look at this, blue canyon. more than a foot. more than two feet. donner, same thing towards kiebers and at the lake level. a foot of snow and 18 inches in kirkwood. if you get there early today,

you'll enjoy really nice skiing. reggie? >> thanks, mike. bank of america customers are not happy about a change to the bank's free checking program. the change, it's no longer free. e-banking customers were switched to accounts that require a $12 monthly fee. that's unless they have a monthly direct deposit of 250 bucks or if they have a minimum daily balance of $1500. more than 54,000 people have signed an online petition arguing that these new rules hurt low-income families. bank of america says it faces rising costs and needs to maintain basic checking accounts with that fee. corporations are saving big because of the tax bill signed into law by president trump. california lawmakers want to get their cut of that money. a group of democrats wants to require many businesses in california to hand over half of their savings from the tax cut. the proposed surcharge would apply to businesses with more than $1 million in revenue. the money would help fund social programs. republican lawmakers say it would hurt california's economy.

>> the problem is this. you cannot fix poverty by creating more poverty. if you take more money from the companies in california, what are they going to do? they'll leave to other states. >> republicans argue california businesses should be allowed to invest their tax savings into creating more jobs and increasing salaries. nike has a new running shoe designed to give athletes more spring in their step. it's called the nike epic react. it features a special foam. the company says it makes the sneakers light and more springy. these are images provided by nike. the react will improve performance for athletes. it's aimed at amateur and professional runners because nike wants to make money. the sneakers go on sale next month at 150 bucks a pair. oh, my goodness. check out all of the wet weather. you go to the 2nd, the 3rd, the 4th. 7, 8, 9d, 10, 11. 13 out of the 22 days have been wet so far. here's what to expect today.

the morning commute dry. take the rain gear because the wet weather is on the way. it's going to impact most of us whether it's just finished raining in the north bay or the light to moderate rain is falling on you for the rest of the bay, which means we're going to have ponding and slick spots during the evening hours. how about this morning. turn it over to sue. >> we watched the zipper truck go over the golden gate bridge and reconfigure lanes. traffic is very light coming off the rahman williams tunnel and the grade. orange on the traffic maps means fog. that's what's happening over the waldo grade. continues slow for the early morning commuters. we have this fatal accident up in napa. it is blocking lanes. highway 121 at waters road, not a real good alternate. if you can, 128 around this would be the way to go. we'll update that in a little bit. thanks, sue. kids can get into the san francisco zoo for free during the rest of january. >> all children under the age of 14 can enjoy the zoo for free

when accompanied by at least one adult who pays full admission. free admission for kids will give families more access to see and appreciate the wildlife. more than 2,000 animals live at the san francisco zoo. it is open 10:00 to 4:00 every day during the winter months. next at 5:00, you need a plane ticket to meet warriors today. >> a man took this tugboat on the water in marin county. but there was one big problem. a major toy store, toys-r-us closing 200 stores nationwide. i am just getting details here i am just getting details here at our live desk

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at 4:59. it's dry on the roads right now. >> don't let this live look of san francisco fool you. meteorologist mike nicco is in this morning. we can put the number 2 on the impact scale. >> wednesday, january 24th today. you know what, you're never more than seven minutes away from your accuweather forecast. >> you don't say. >> there you go. hi everybody. this is a 2. okay. so it is moderate. that means we'll have light to moderate rain. i wouldn't be surprised if you get one little area in the mountains and the higher elevations, like the santa cruz mountains and north bay. it's going to be breezy. significant snow up in the sierra. here's a look at the low. you can see how far the rain is moving into the northern part of the state. let me break it down for you in the accuweather 12-hour planner. by looking at the roof camera, you see the 'em bark der owe