african variant surfaces in california for the first time. it's been discovered here in the bay area. we are now hearing from health officials about what this means and the impact it could have. also ahead the debate and the divide over reopening schools. some say it just isn't safe while others say students are losing too much. now business leaders are stepping into the fight. also coming up, nearly 24 hours after that oil spill in the bay chevron is now talking. what the company is saying about the impact of hundreds of gallons leaking near richmond. plus why a gay father was too white for the san francisco school board. >> announcer: building a better bay area for a safe and secure future. this is abc 7 news. we begin with what could be a new front in the fight against covid-19. the coronavirus variant first found in south africa is now in the bay area. >> yesterday i also said we hadn't identified any south african variants. that's no longer true.

>> and this variant like the one from the uk is much more transmissible than the covid-19 virus. good evening. i'm ama daetz. >> and i'm dan ashley. thank you for joining us. let's get right to abc 7 news reporter kate larsen for more on what this means. kate? >> reporter: well, dan, ama, i want to tell you that there is now one confirmed case of this south african variant in alameda kointy and in santa clara county there was one confirmed case and another presumed case involving two people in the same household who recently traveled internationally and developed symptoms after returning home. >> the encouraging news from our end is that this person, upon returning, immediately quarantined. and therefore we don't know of any opportunities for further spread. >> reporter: now, a lab at stanford performed the genomic sequencing for these variants, and dr. sarah cody who you just heard from says there was very

limited capacity for labs to rapidly identify and track all these emerging variants. she says it reminds her of the early days of testing in the spring when there was no standardized approach across the country and she says california labs are working very hard on this right now. the good news is that alameda county health officer dr. nicholas moss believes the current pfizer and moderna vaccines still have decent efficacy against the variants. >> even if there's somewhat reduced efficacy in some cases overall it is still very good. but i think prudently the manufacturers and others are looking at booster strategies. >> reporter: so both doctors emphasized with the new variants in the uk -- from the uk and south africa now confirmed in california that it is so important to continue wearing masks and maintaining that social distance. we have to be vigilant. because of limited testing they just do not know how widespread these variants are right now in the bay area or the u.s. the santa clara county patients have fully recovered.

they were never hospitalized. and alameda county says they're still investigating their case and have not shared many details about their patient. we do have more details coming up at 6:00. i'm kate larsen for abc 7 news. back to you. >> all right, kate, thank you. and new numbers today from santa clara county on the coronavirus pandemic. officials report nearly 106,000 total cases and 1,576 deaths. they say the various is hitting minority communities hard. as of yesterday vietnamese and filipino communities had the highest case rates. meanwhile, alameda county is working toward making appointment-free vaccinations available in black and latino communities. the county's chief medical officer told the non-profit news site the oakland side that it will soon launch efforts to reach underserved communities and fight vaccine hesitancy. tonight the east bay is turning into a testing ground on if the time is right to reopen schools in california. two districts welcomed students back today but other teachers and parents argue for the risk to families. abc 7 news reporter david louie

dives into what's becoming a deep rift between opposing camps. >> reporter: elementary school kids displayed zeal as they returned to school in the san ramon valley unified school district. parents dropping off their children seemed happy. >> i mean, it's a wonderful feeling for a parent. you know, just this is a beautiful age when kids are just -- they're so hungry and ready to learn. so running into school, you can't ask for anything more. >> reporter: some kids, though, had mixed feelings. >> well, i'm kind of worried since we've gone on vacation this week. but i'm really excited. >> reporter: administrators recognize reopening schools has raised concern about whether it's too soon. >> the science is changing. the requirements have to change in light of it. emotions run deep. and there are so many different views we're trying to manage. >> reporter: a group of teachers and parents in oakland and berkeley gathered in a zoom room wednesday afternoon to advocate that schools remain closed to protect latino and black families who have seen a high rate of covid infections and deaths in their communities.

>> when these more privileged communities open up that actually adds to the hardship that black and brown essential workers and families experience. because that means that there's that much more covid-19 or invest variants spreading throughout the community. >> reporter: the rift is expected to widen as california business leaders also gathered online to put pressure on state leaders to reopen schools. representing the north, south and central valley, they cited studies showing that remote learning has had a negative impact on student learning and on mental health. john grubb is chief operating officer of the bay area council. >> studies show there has been significant learning loss in english and math. especially among low-income students and english language learners. >> reporter: business groups plan to launch a statewide online petition drive to bolster their position. david louie, abc 7 news. a new controversy tonight for san francisco unified. last night the board rejected for now a parent volunteer who

was supposed to be appointed to an advisory council because of his race. seth brenzel is a white gay man. abc 7 news reporter lyanne melendez is in the newsroom with more on this story. lyanne. >> reporter: yeah, dan, the school board spent about two hours on this issue of race and diversity within the pac. this group comprised mainly of volunteers, it's comprised mainly of volunteers, and they have always kept a low profile. when they introduce someone to be appointed, it means that they have done their homework and never has anyone been rejected. but as we know, these are different times. on tuesday night the parent advisory council known as pac tried to defend its selection of seth brenzel, the man highlighted on your screen, as a possible new member. the pac is there to advise the school board on issues that affect students and parents. here's the current ethnic makeup of the pac. three latinas, three white women, two african-americans, one asia sxn one pacific

islander. again, all women. brenzel would have been the only male member, who happens to be white. one school board member was adamant that the pac needed to be more diverse. >> in a district that has so many monolingual families and specifically so many chinese-speaking families this is not okay to me. >> reporter: among the top groups, asians represent 33% of all students in the district followed by latinos with 28%. whites 15%. and african-americans 6%. the board argued that adding a white male would tip the balance in the pac. whites would then become the dominating race. >> it's actually about who has a voice in our public schools. right? and public schools are the cornerstone of our democracy. >> reporter: pac members were surprised since no one on the board had questioned their selection beforehand. >> the fact that he brings diversity to our group in other ways as many people brought up last night i think was one of the factors that we considered. >> we need qualified people and

we need representation. >> reporter: school board member mark sanchez said brenzel is qualified for that position but sensing he did not have the votes sanchez decided to take the matter off the table to allow for other people of color to also apply. >> he's gay. that's an important voice that we don't have right now. and he's a man. there's no males, as you said, on that committee. so i'm really looking forward to having his name brought back to us in a month or two and voting on it with a slate of other folks. >> reporter: and pac numbers say since last night they have received a number of calls from people who now want to find out more about how to apply. they are also hoping that seth brenzel will be considered next time. that's if he decides to throw his name in again. he stayed away today, and we know that he was not expecting this level of attention. in the newsroom lyanne melendez, abc 7 news. >> okay, lyanne, thank you. chevron is now saying the material that leaked from one of

its pipelines in the san francisco bay tuesday was a combination of water and petroleum. perhaps gasoline or maybe diesel fuel. it's awaiting lab results. initial estimates had the spill at around 600 gallons, but a chevron spokesperson said that's likely to change. the spill was next to the wharf at the richmond refinery. abc 7 news reporter laura anthony has the latest for us. >> it spread out quite a bit, and it's moved north. >> reporter: richmond mayor tom bud describes what he saw this morning aboard a coast guard helicopter an inmistakable sheen in the water from the chevron wharf in his city all the way up to san pablo bay. >> they put out a lot of balloons to keep it from coming ashore. they are bringing skimmers in today to try to skim off what they can off the water. so i think in the big picture it's going to be okay. >> reporter: as seen from sky 7, this is what it looked like tuesday afternoon. in the hours just after the reported leak from one of many pipelines that serve the ships at the wharf.

>> a preliminary investigation shows that there was a quarter-inch hole in the pipeline, one of the pipelines that transports oil from the refinery and to the ships back and forth. >> we don't know exactly what it is yet. that is a pipeline that takes water, products like gasoline and diesel and also oil to and from ships. so we are putting that through a lab. >> reporter: chevron has set up a multiagency command center at its richmond facility. so far the spill has stayed well offshore, but it's a situation that will be monitored very closely. >> reporter: experts and rescuers are on stand by at keller beach and other locations just in case the fuel impacts any of the wildlife that inhabits the shoreline. >> i think the thing that bothers me the most about any of these kind of incidents is not so much the immediate effect of it but it's the effect on the image of richmond as a place

where these kind of things happen. >> reporter: this time the fuel is light enough that much of it is expected to dissipate on its own. in richmond laura anthony, abc 7 news. we have much more ahead this wednesday evening. coming up the search for solutions to the recent spike in crime in san francisco. plus -- >> this was not one speech, not one tweet. >> congressman eric swalwell makes the case that former president trump deliberately encouraged the riots at the

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he. new developments in a terrifying kidnapping for one s thildnere taken from him while driving for door dash. now sfpd has made an arrest. police say a 25-year-old man was booked into county jail yesterday. he's charged with stealing the father's car on saturday while it was running with the kids in the back. the children were found safe the

next day after triggering an amber alert. thank goodness. the children were found safe the next day. sfpd says they're still looking for one suspect tied to this case. it's crimes like that that make many feel so unsafe to live and work in san francisco. the recent string of crimes has people calling for change as we work to build a better bay area. abc 7 news anchor liz kreutz looks at what some say can be done to curb the crime. >> reporter: from daly car break-ins to the recent violent assaults caught on camera so many are asking what can be done to make san francisco a safer city. >> i'm so scared for all my friends who still live there. >> reporter: sarah morehouse became a victim of a crime last month when she was attacked at gunpoint in russian hill. her puppy chloe stolen. with the suspects still at large she is now joining the chorus of people calling for change. she thinks more cameras should be installed on city streets. >> when my attack happened, immediately the next day i was out on the streets with sfpd knocking on private citizens'

doors with my face swollen shut, with my eyes swollen shut. i had to ask private citizens for whatever footage they had because there aren't city cameras. >> reporter: joel en gardeio is the vice president of stop crime sf. he says change starts with putting pressure on public officials like district attorney chesa budine. >> four cases in the last month where the common thread was somebody was killed and the suspect had previously been arrested and released. somebody needs to intervene to make sure these violent offenders aren't reoffending. >> reporter: others point to different policies like proposition 47 which in 2014 changed certain low-level crimes from potential felonies to nis demeanors. david mastagn achlt panel attorney representing the peace officers research association of california told us he believes that law has served as a gateway for worse crimes and no accountability. san francisco mayor london breed was asked about prop 47 this week. they she didn't give a direct

answer. >> regardless of a proposition, it's what we're working with and mostly the goal is to make sure that people understand that they will be held accountable when they commit crimes in san francisco. >> reporter: but for san franciscans right now it doesn't always feel that way. liz kreutz, abc 7 news. >> and tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. on abc 7's "getting answers," news anchors christina zee and jobina fortson will have a conversation with two east bayers. actor daniel wu and commentator w. kamau bell. they're going to talk about the recent spike in crime targeting asian-american seniors in the bay area and how these violent incidents are affecting the relationship between the bay area's black and asian communities. we hope you'll join us and participate in the conversation on our abc 7 news facebook page. >> please tune in. should be a great conversation. east bay swalwell played a pivotal role in today's impeachment proceedings against former president trump. swalwell relied on his previous job as a prosecutor to make the

case that the capitol riot was predictable after mr. trump's urging. >> before congress i prosecuted violent crimes in california as an alameda county deputy district attorney. and when you investigate and prosecute violent crimes, you have to distinguish, was this a heat of passion crime or was it something more deliberate, planned, premeditated? the evidence here on this count is overwhelming. president trump's conduct leading up to january 6th was deliberate, planned, and premeditated. this was not one speech, not one tweet. it was dozens in rapid succession with the specific details. he was acting as part of the host committee. he spent $50 million from his legal defense fund on these ads to stop the steal and amplify his message. these ads were designed to run all the way up to january 5. and then they stopped.

this was purposeful and deliberate planning to target his base to rally around that day. donald trump for months and months assembled the tinder, the kindling, threw on logs for fuel to have his supporters believe that the only way their victory would be lost was if it was stolen. so that way president trump was ready if he lost the election to light the match. >> congressman eric swalwell today. trump's defense team will make their case later this week. he is after all of this expected to be acquitted. you can stream gavel to gavel coverage of the impeachment hearing by downloading the abc 7 bay area connected tv app. it's available for roku, apple tv, amazon fire, and android tv as well. the impeachment trial continues. meanwhile, porn publisher larry flynt once offered $10 million for information leading to the impeachment of former president

trump. well, reports say flynt died at his home in los angeles today. he was publisher of hustler magazine of course among other pornographic publications, videos and websites. his name is still on his club in san francisco's north beach. flynt was 78 years old. all right. still ahead here, the new hi, i'm debra. i'm from colorado. i've been married to my high school sweetheart for 35 years. i'm a mother of four-- always busy. i was starting to feel a little foggy. just didn't feel like things were as sharp as i knew they once were. i heard about prevagen and then i started taking it about two years now. started noticing things a little sharper, a little clearer. i feel like it's kept me on my game. i'm able to remember things.

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the cdc says wearing two masks is significantly better than one. wearing a cloth mask over a tighter surgical mask can reduce transmission of covid-19 by more than 95%. the cdc also recommends masks with multiple nose wiring or knotting your ear loops to keep the mask tight. >> a well-fitted mask that does the trick is better than an ill-fitting mask. that's the main thing. you have two aspects of a mask that you want, which is fit and function. the two fs. so doing a double mask would do that trick. >> ucsf infection disease

specialist dr. peter chin hong joined our daily 3:00 p.m. program "getting answers" today. he says while a surgical mask may be good at filtration it can be gaps in coverage on the sides. that's why a cloth mask on top is most effective. good information to keep in mind. now we need information on our weather because we had some sun today but are we going to get that tomorrow? sandhya patel has that answer for us. sandhya? >> well, early on you might see a little bit of sunshine, ama. but later on in the day the storm's going to move in and we will get much-needed rain. let me show you a serene and beautiful scene from our santa cruz camera. i don't see too many people out there, but there's plenty of sun and waves aren't too choppy out there. 53 in san francisco. 59 in oakland. it is currently in the low 60s san jose and morgan hill. fog is rolling in as seen from our east bay hills camera right now. temperatures santa rosa napa 60 degrees. in the mid 60s fairfield

concord. today those temperatures got up to the upper 60s a little warmer than yesterday at this time. from our kgo roof camera the winds are pretty much light out there along the embarcadero, wet breezy and cooler tomorrow. two more light systems for the holiday weekend and we are expecting dry and milder weather next tuesday. and wednesday. here's a look at live doppler 7. and you will notice that there is no rain. it's going to change come tomorrow afternoon and evening. when a level 1 storm moves in, rain with brief downpours expected. gusty southerly winds especially along the coast and over the higher terrain. and we are expecting slick conditions for the evening commute. as you look at the hour by hour forecast by noon, rain is moving into the north bay. it's light initially. by 3:00 p.m. you start to see pockets of moderate rain indicated in yellow there. and then the orange is indicating some heavier rain moving through. during the evening commute. particularly in the north bay. and then eventually by 7:00 p.m. across san francisco, parts of the east bay, the peninsula, it is going to be still wet through late friday night.

thursday night, excuse me. early friday morning you'll see some isolated showers around 3:00 a.m. but most of it is gone by the time most people get going. so here's a look at the rainfall projections. depending on where you are and where those downpours occur. right now it looks like the higher totals will be along the coast and over parts of the north bay as you will notice the rest of the bay area will pick up anywhere from .15 to about half an inch of rain. mountains will pick up snow. winter weather advisory noon tomorrow until 4:00 a.m. friday. above 6,000 feet expecting 6 to 12 inches of snow. up to 16 inches for the highest peaks with reduced visibility. definitely watch out. cloudy in the morning. temperatures in the 40s. tomorrow afternoon you're looking at a cooler day. mostly 50s. a lo few low 60s. breezy conditions with the rain beginning in the north bay and sliding south and east as we head into the afternoon and evening. accuweather seven-day forecast. level one storm tomorrow. isolated showers friday. another storm saturday. valentine's is dry. and then one more storm for president's day.

we need those. every other day we get some rain going through here. dan and ama. >> yeah. it's a nice pattern. thank you, sandhya. still ahead the return

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and before we go here, a great place for family fun in the south bay welcomed back guests today. >> san jose's happy hollow park and zoo reopened. with some changes. reservations are now required. guests have to get their temperature checked, wear masks and follow a one-way path through the park. visitors are just happy to see their favorite animals again. >> i love crocodiles. >> we love happy hollow and we've been missing it so much. we used to come here once a week pre-covid. i feel really bad that this guy has been missing out on all the fun. >> the park closed last march of course because of the pandemic and briefly reopened in november. happy hollow says the next step is reopening its playgrounds. and fingers crossed that that will happen sooner rather than -- that's a great place, isn't it, ama? >> wonderful. absolutely. >> "world news tonight" with david muir is next. we appreciate your time. i'm dan ashley. >> and i'm ama daetz. for sandhya patel, all of us here, thank you for watching. we'll see you again at 6:00.

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tonight, the chilling images revealed late today in the second impeachment trial of former president trump. never before seen video of the deadly riots at the capitol. house managers presenting graphic images of that day. much of it from security video from capitol police. showing the mob of trump supporters storming the capitol building at the very moment congress was working to certify the election. the secret service rushing former vice president mike pence and his family from the senate chamber to an undisclosed location. the mob yelling, "hang mike pence" and "fight for trump." the mob searching for house speaker nancy pelosi as she was being evacuated. the haunting moment they call her name in the hallways, with >> where are you nancy, we're looking for you! >> reporter: --