heading to tahoe. and the controversy about reopening schools in one bay

school? rent relief and eviction protections on its way tonight to those impacted by covid. the storms heading out. i'll let you know when the next one arrives, coming up. ski shops like this one busy as the rush is on to get to tahoe. i'll show you why that might be easier said than done. abc 7 news starts right now. >> announcer: building a better area for a safe and secure future. this is abc 7 news. i mean, if you're coming from the bay area and you're trying to head up to a ski resort tonight, you probably are not going to get through. >> that is the warning from caltrans tonight. if you're thinking of heading up to lake tahoe, just don't do it.

blizzard conditions are making . i closed because of seval jackknife big e itreeng. d 3 open but with chain controls over the summit. and those dangerous conditions aren't stopping some. >> so true. abc 7 news reporter j.r. stone found a bay area ski store doing? very brisk business. >> reporter: this is what the backup looked like along i-80 thursday afternoon as the interstate was closed due to the heavy amount of snow and dangerous road conditions. hours later and into the late evening hours the interstate still closed because of the heavy amount of snow. >> if you're coming from the bay area and you're trying to head up to a ski resort much tonight, you probably are not going to get through. >> reporter: in fact, the conditions in the sierra caused all sorts of issues thursday, with vehicles having to be pulled out of the snow along the interstate.

but at california ski company in berkeley they are as busy as can be with those from the bay preparing to head to theriy nig blizzard clears, yeah. >> this is the first time we'll be getting out of the state for the first time. >> reporter: parts of the sierra have already received several feet of snow. travel warnings have been bold even from our own meteorologist mike niing up there, don't. >> reporter:? though, say they've been inside long enough and being outside is a safe way to go. >> i think skiing is a great activity for covid. as far as activities go. because it's obviously all outdoors. >> this is what everybody's been waiting for. >> i think it's easier to social distance and also be active at the same time. >> reporter: j.r. stone, abc 7 news. check out the snown vie lake tahoe. you can watch this camera anytime through our nbc 7 bay area app for roku as well as other devices. it's a cool camera to be watching, especially during the storm.

but fortunately the storm is winding down tonight, which you know, we really need td to come to an end at this point, dan. >> yeah, that's absolutely right, ama. enough already, right? we've had a tough couple of days. abc 7 news meteorologist sandhya patel is tracking with live doppler 7 tonight. sandhya? >> yeah, that's right, dan and ama. it is making its final push and it is still dropping some rain as you look here on live doppler 7. some moderate pockets of showers around cupertino, los gatos, stevens creek boulevard, page mill road as we head into menlo park, campus drive, palo alto, street-level radar showing you where it's raining right now in the inland east bay around blackhawk, san ramon, danville and we will show you what's happening now. it's finally shifting on the move into southern california. we definitely needed the rain. no doubt about it. ng proems obously. overnight light to moderate showers. slippery roads. areas of low visibility as you take a look. those showers will be pretty much winding down by the time we head into 8:00 a.m. and tonight visibility is

lowering to a mile in santa rosa with this. sutro tower showing you the fog over san francisco. i'll be back to let you know when our next storm will arrive and how long that break will last in a few minutes. dan? >> sandhya, thanks a lot. major cleanupnd w carmel tonight after heavy rain saturated that area. monterey county, office of emergency services says the sand levee that was holding back the carmel river breached, flooding homes in the area. despite the sandbags,home, as y. the sheriff's office had issued an evacuation order affecting 2500 residents this morning. but it has since been rescinded. work crews spent the day clearing the downed trees and removing mud from the roads. a section of highway 1 south of big surhas collapsed. caltrans says it will have a team in the area tomorrow to assess the damage. it's not clear when it's going to reopen. another section is closed near the monterey county line. you can see this area is just barely passable because of

mudslides. and to track the storm you can access live doppler 7 on demand right on your tv. our app is available for apple tv, android tv, amazon fire tv, and roku. just search abc 7 bay area to download and start streaming. we'll stay on storm watch but let's turn to the coronavirus. national leaders weighed in today on when and how schools should reopen. president biden has vowed to reopen most schools within 100 days. in a talk with the big teachers unions today this is what dr. fauci said. >> the american rescue plan is something that hopefully will provide the resources for masking, for betterventilation, for whatever resources the schools might need. >> reporter: some unions including the united educators of san francisco have said that teachers would feel a lot safer if they were vaccinated. in california governor newsom has outlined a plan to focus on reopening schools next month for students in tk through second grade. in the east bay pleasanton unified school district just voted tonight on a plan to bring

students back to campus. preschool and tk through second grade will return after alameda county has been in the red tier for ten working days. third through fifth grades will return after three weeks. abc 7 news reporter matt boone was in pleasanton as parents and students held a rally pleading to go back. >> reporter: they may have been dragged here by their parents -- >> what do we want? school! when do we want it? now! >> reporter: but for these pleasanton unified middle schoolers their passion was real. >> what i was really excited about middle school was to make new friends and i really miss that. >> reporter: summer brown and her friend marcela stern say it's not just the social aspect aror me toearn online because ir >> ror now they s they're desperate to . >> i now. i would do whatever it takes. i'll bring my hand sanitizer. i'll wear gloves. i'll wear a mask. i'll stay six feet apart. i'll do whatever it takes. we need to go back to school. >> reporter: but the proposal that was up for approval had elementary schoolers returning

for a blended cool day but not grades 6 through 12, which caught many parents off guard. >> this change would change everything that we have expected. >> reporter: parents say they just want to have the choice. >> not everybody wants to go back to school. that's fine. people can stay at home if that's what they choose. but the kids that need to be in person, they should be in class now. >> reporter: at the virtual school board meeting staff presented the plan. some students would be able to come back for small groups and sports but most instruction would be on zoom, making exceptions for special needs and homeless students who could come back oncamp. after mo thanour of ed lgthy discussion still not making a decision by press time. in pleasanton matt boone, abc 7 news. moments ago the board decided to amend the plan to include middle schoolers and high schoolers, but the details will be worked out later. in the meantime, in hayward police officers will no longer be assigned to patrol scholast t

hayward unified school district decided that having the officers on campus intimidated students, especially students of color. instead the district will consider hiring counselors and train school employees on dealing with conflict. rent relief is on the way for thousands of struggling californians impacted by the pandemic. the bill expected to be signed by governor newsom tomorrow would also extend the state's eviction moratorium. but abc 7 news reporter cornell barnard explains some tenant advocates worry it doesn't go far enough. >> we had a goal, a very specific goal by this week to extend eviction protections here in the state of california. we have a deal. >> reporter: governor gavin newsom says california will freeze evictions for struggling tenants impacted by covid for another five months. more than $2 billion in federal $2 bli reer >>f

nt you missed between april 2020 and march 2021. as long as the landlord forgives the remaining 20% and does not pursue evictions. >> we need to make sure that folks are stably housed. we need to make sure folks aren't being evicted and going into long-term debt based on a pandemic they had no control over. >> reporter: so many of us are unable to pay rent. >> reporter: oklahoma renter and housing advocate tara thomas lost her job last year to the pandemic. she says landlords have the right to decline the rent relief program. tenants could still apply for assistance under the bill but many families could suffer. >> leaving the rent relief program in the landlords' hands can, you know, lead to marginal being left out in the cold. >> we're going to have to monitor this aggressively. >> he doesn't want any families left out. he says the legislature may consider extending the moratorium again this summer. cornell barnard, abc 7 news. another state auditor report, another blasting of the

e.d.d. i'm maikel finney. 7 on your side is still ahead. plus, the gamestop stock frenzy and the ceo of menlo park app at the heart of the chaos speaks out tonight. first a look at what's coming up tonight on "jimmy kimmel live" after abc 7 news at 11:00. jaechl? >> thank you, dan and ama. your mother and i worked very hard on this. i was wondering, have you and david ever been in a situation where he laid on the bed and pretended to be unconscious and then you tried to drag him by his feet to safety?

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tyson has passed away at the age of 96. tyson gained fame in the early 1970s when black women were finally starting to get starring roles. some of her best-known work includes "sounder" for which she earned an oscar nomination and "the autobiography of miss jane pittman" for which she earned two emmys. very powerful. tyson also won a tony award, was granted the presidential medal of freedom, and had just published a memoir this week in fact. a cause of death has not yet been released. but again, she was 96 years of age. the state auditor released a second report today blasting the e.d.d. saying the agency ignored signs of massive fraud and paid billions of dollars to criminals. >> the report as 10 billion in payments to fraudsters but said the amount is probably much higher. in fact, the e.d.d. itself admitted on monday as we reported as much as 31 billion was paid and either confirmed or potential fraud. >> 7 on your side's michael

finney has the report. >> reporter: i've told but inmates filing false claims from behind bars. and folks all over the country receiving e.d.d. letters addressed to complete strangers. it was all fraud the e.d.d. all but ignored. >> these are all from e.d.d. >> reporter: i told you about nick crimes of san jose. >> there's a lot. >> reporter: linda dodge in san jose. >> nine envelopes from the state of california e.d.d. >> reporter: and this man all the way out in florida. they were among the thousands who received mail from e.d.d. addressed to complete strangers. >> i wonder what the mailman thought. >> reporter: it turned fraudsters were using their addresses to file phony claims. all tried to report the suspicious mail to the e.d.d. but today's audit says e.d.d. didn't notice the pattern until september, months into the pandemic. >> we now have two audits that i think demonstrates that e.d.d.

was in fact a rat's nest of incompetence. they brought the fraud on. >> reporter: the e.d.d. finally shut down 344,000 suspicious accounts. it swept thousands of legitimate workers into the crackdown including nick's son ben. >> i went to go pay my cell phone bill and found out my card was declined. >> reporter: the auditor also found that he e.d.d. in a rush to pay claims last spring and summer, failed to verify eligibility and identities for millions of claims, opening the way to fraud. it also failed department of corrections and jail inmates were filing phony claims from behind bars. collecting at least $810 million in benefits. >> e.d.d. was so overwhelmed they didn't have any check and balance system to try and catch this type of a fraud. >> the report says e.d.d. had only two staffers assigned to manually inspect reports of suspected fraud. to correct problems e.d.d. froze

thousands of accounts. but that swept many legitimate claims into the mix, leaving many honest workers with no income. >> they're failing on both fronts. lots of fraud and lots of people not getting their legitimate benefits. and so the system is obviously broken and needs to be rebuilt. >> reporter: the e.d.d. says the trump administration is partly responsible for failing to offer support for fraud prevention. now, i've posted e.d.d.'s full response on our website. i'm michael finney, 7 on your side. new at 11:00, the ceo of robinhood is explaining the decision today to restrict transactions for gamestop and ks thaave b taeted byren hisric situa lot and a lot of buying concentrated in a relatively small number of symbols. >> users were prevented from buying more shares of gamestop today but limited buys will be available or be allowed rather

starting tomorrow. the ceo of robinhood, which is based in menlo park, told cnn the move was made because of volatility, not to protect anyone. >> this decision was not made on the direction of any marketmaker or other market participants. >> lawmakers were critical of the crackdown and the new york attorney general says her office is looking into the situation. all right. we want to get back to our weather because it sounds like things are starting to taper off a bit, dan. >> yes, ama. thank goodness. it's been a long 24, 48 hours or so. meteorologist sandhya patel is here with the forecast. sandhya? still rain is in the forecast, right? >> yeah. we do have some more rain coming. right now we have some on live doppler 7, dan and ama. that atmospheric river finally starting to shift into southern california but we are still seeing some pockets of moderate rain around los altos, junipero serra boulevard, around saratoga, santa clara, west heading street heading into san

jose. and you will notice right around the sunset district some moderate pockets of showers as well. so the 48-hour soaking definitely resulted in one to two-plus inches of rain andn in third. redwood city 2 1/2. san francisco about an inch and a half 2:00 sxrlth. santa rosa you will notice around livermore over two inches of rain as well. it has helped out. so in terms of rainfall season to date where numbers are going up. 40% of average at sfo. santa rosa 41. san jose 45 and 39% of average in san francisco. lake tahoe camera, this was the view just a short time ago. the snow was coming down. it's one of our newer cameras and it was nice to see the snow but not a good idea to travel obviously. snow is still falling right now two to six feet of snow reported by the resorts. winter storm warning just got extended until 7:00 a.m. tomorrow above 3500 feet. three to eight inches of

additional snow, possibly up to a foot of snow at the higher peaks. difficult travel. best to hold off. foggy view right now of san francisco from our sutro camera. temperatures are in the 30s to 50s range. as you take a look at the storm impact scale, it's a 1 for overnight light to moderate showers, slippery roads, areas of low visibility. now, the hour-by-hour forecast will show you 1:00 in the morning, still vicinity. we'll see the showers that are seeing them now. by 4:00 a.m. only a few showers left around livermore, san jose area, and then it's out of here. we get a chance to dry out and then we'll start to see some changes. temperatures in the morning 30s, 40s. it's going to be cold. head into the afternoon staying on the cool side, 40s, 50s, keep that extra layer handy. accuweather seven-day forecast a few morning showers tomorrow. not widespread events. slight chance in the north bay saturday. a chance in the north bay on sunday. our next storm really gets going and arrives on monday going into tuesday. that's a 1 on the storm impact scale. and then mild for mid-week. i have to tell you, though,

around the southern monterey county coast, rainfall totals in 48 hours, 9 to 11 inches. that's impressive. dan and ama, that's why they've had so many problems there. >> we need the rain. but not all at once. that's almost we made usaa insurance for members like martin. an air force veteran made of doing what's right, not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage.

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a pony and horse are safe tonight after they had been stuck in the mud for up to 18 hours. this is off river road in salinas, an area that s mudslides isweek. the animals were found by their owners, who then flagged down passing firefighters. it was a group effort with more than eight agencies and neighbors helping out. oh, goodness. good thing they were able to get them out, dan. >> that's a

good evening. after winning last night the warriors immediately hopped on a flight to phoenix looking for their first three-game winning streak of the season. but honestly, just didn't have a lot of juice tonight on a back-to-back. steph curry just did not have enough help. one of only three warriors in double figures. suns far monster inde. 1 everybody. andrew wiggins wide open for three. but he had only a quiet 16. suns by five in the third. how about curry against the world? the harnlgsds the drive, the finish. steph with 27. but the warriors couldn't close the gap. james wiseman from draymond here

with a slam but only five points after a career-high 25. eric pascal hot late fourth quarter scoring eight points quickly. kepd the dubs within ten but the suns go on a 21-6 blitz late. abdul nad ir with authority. suns minus devin booker snap their skid. to the ice we go sharks in colorado looking like a team frankly that has been on the road for over a month. ryan donato, scary knee on knee collision with pierre edward bell maher who had to be helped off the ice. sharks facing a three on two attack. andrei burakovsky beats devan dubnyk. and in the final minutes dubnyk with no chance. kadri on the redirect. avalanche win it 3-0. college hoops tonight. stanford without three of their starters at arizona but they did have oscar desilva. oscar, oscar, oscar. has to be in the running for pac-12 player of the year. he had 17. this is a fun back and forth game. james akinjo behind the back to terrell brown jr. for three.

and the wildcats were up five. but the cardinal dominated late. jaden delair, he led the way for stanford. they sweep the wildcats 73-64. how about andre kelly and cal at arizona state? sun devils have not won a game since december 13th. all kinds of covid issues. cal on a 7-0 run here, matt bradley lobbing to kelly. it's a 9-0 run.16. 60-56. asu in the second half. bradley launching from downtown tempe. but the sun devils, they finished this game off. josh christopher, three plus the foul. 72-68 asu. abc

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right. that's it >> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live." tonight, michelle pfeiffer, george lopez, and m >> jimmy: hi, everyone. well, thank you. i am jimmy. i'm the host. thanks for watching. thanks for joining us. as we barrel into the end of the first month of 2021. it occurred to me that hindsight really is "2020" for the first time in human history. [ laughter ] isn't that something, guillermo? >> guillermo: yes, jimmy, yes. >> jimmy: how are you doing? how are you feeling today? >> guillermo: i'm a little bit tired. >> jimmy: yeah. [ laughter ] it was guillermo's 50th birthday last night. he killed three-quarters of a bottle of don julio. at work.