next at 5:00, the small piece of evidence that's leaving a large presence. tonight the fight to open schools in sonoma county. and the role teachers play in the spread of covid at schools. the cdc is out with new data tonight. and huge gains in the state's fight against covid-19, but it comes as the death toll across the country has reached more than 500,000 lives lost. also this evening, 366 days later, former passengers reflect on the covid-19 outbreak on board the grand princess cruise ship. all those people stuck while officials figured out how to handle a new crisis. and the hope that more of us will use mass transit once the pandemic ends.

we're going to begin with a new facet in the fight to reopen schools. good evening, i'm dan ashley. >> thank you very much for joining us. new signs and more are popping up and they're beginning to draw reprisals as abc7 news reporter wayne freedman explains from benicia, houses are being egged and parents are taking their own steps to retain a classroom feeling. >> reporter: broken eggs and rotting yorot ing yolks on a suburban sidewalk. if you post signs about reopening schools in your yard, this might happen to you, too. or else take education into your own home. you heard of one-room school houses. here's the latest iteration, a two-car garage school house converted by jimmy and his wife sarah out of what they describe as necessity. >> we're advocating for our

children. stepping up. >> titus, wave to me. >> reporter: the classes are taught by teachers of the would niche sha yu benicia unified school district, but instead of being at home, they're all here. >> it's better here socializing with my friends instead of being at home. >> are you learning as much this way? >> no. >> what are you learning here? >> nothing at all. >> reporter: since august these kids have been here five days a week, 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., working together, lunching together, playing together, doing holidays and pe together, experiences their parents try to make as normal as possible in these strange times. >> i think it's absurd we're the only state where our kids can't play sports, kids can't go to school. the social element for them is actually detrimental. >> reporter: let me have a show of hands, how many kids in this room have been vaccinated for covid-19? nobody? how many kids in that room have

gotten covid-19? show me your hands. nobody? granted they're a small sample and a bit of a bubble. just one class in the garage on a street with broken egg shells out front. in benicia, wayne freedman, abc7 news. now, parents and students in san francisco unified held another zoom-in meeting today near a locked school site. >> we're trying to support decreasing the distance and the idea that it's important for kids to go back to school in a safe way. >> parents took their children to delores park for their day of distance learning. they say socialization with other students is important and it's hard to learn everything on zoom. there's no date yet for san francisco students to return to in-person learning. a new cdc report may prove critical in the debate over reopening schools. teachers played a big role in outbreaks in elementary schools

in georgia. the cdc identified nine clusters involving 13 educators and 32 students in six schools. most of the transmissions were educator to educator and educator to student. the cdc says most occurred when social distancing and mask wearing was not followed or not followed properly. the agency says vaccinating teachers could help return students to the classroom safely. a california variant that has spread across much of the state appears to be more severe than other members of the coronavirus. people infected with the variant were more likely to end up in intensive care or die. in addition doctors say it's more infectious. >> it went from less than 1% in september to accounting to more than 50% of cases at the end of january. it's linked with several outbreaks in san jose, including the kaiser inflatable costume superspreader event.

>> researchers say the variant is thought to be roughly 50% more infectious than the original virus but say it's not as aggressive as the mutation first reported in the uk. reassuring numbers in california's fight to stop the spread with significant drops from just the previous month. hospitalizations declined to around 6,500. we were around 20,000 at the beginning of january. the state is reporting 233 new deaths from covid compared to 764 a month a go which was the highest death toll in the state. the state's positivity rate is 3% compared to 8.9% a month ago. a somber tribute at the white house. president biden led a moment of silence in remembrance of 500,000 people dead from covid-19. thousands of candles lit up the building on the south steps of the portico. also this evening, the bells at the national cathedral tolled

500 times. one for every 1,000 americans taken by covid-19. as abc news reporter marcy alice parks shows you, tonight's remembrance comes after an earlier tribute in the house. >> speaker nancy pelosi calling for a moment of silence in the u.s. capitol. >> in remembrance of more than 500,000 americans who have passed away from the covid-19 virus. >> reporter: thousands this week grieving loved ones. the entire nation reflecting on the heartbreaking magnitude of lives lost. >> i think these numbers are so stunning. remember back in the late winter, early spring when we said we could get 240,000 and people were thinking we were being hyperbolic about it. here we are with 500,000 deaths. just a stunning figure. >> reporter: more americans have died from covid-19 than live in atlanta or minneapolis or

oakland. president biden ordering flags lowered at half staff for the next five days. >> i believe that if you look back historically, we have done worse than most any other country. and we're a highly developed rich country. >> reporter: as of this weekend, more than 13% of americans have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 6% have received two doses. across the country cases are down but the white house and the cdc director asking americans not to jeopardize the progress being made, not to let their guard down yet. mary alice parks, abc news, washington. more than a year later, passengers on board the grand princess cruise ship are protesting what happened to them. more than 2,000 passengers were on the cruise ship that had a deadly coronavirus outbreak. luz pena joins us live you spoke with several of those passengers today. what did they have to say? >> it's incredible. a year ago thousands of passengers left the san

francisco bay on a cruise ship to hawaii. they would go on to become some of the first group of people to quarantine because of covid-19. little did they know the world was about to change and that was the first sign. >> hi! nice to meet you! >> nice to meet you in person. >> reporter: this has been a meeting a year in the making. let's rewind to early 2020 when bay area residents lori and john miller became our eyes and ears inside the grand princess cruise ship after 19 crew members and two passengers tested positive for a virus that we were just learning about. confining them to their rooms. >> how long did it take you to process what you had gone through? >> i think we're still processing it. yeah. >> in some ways. yeah. like i told you, the first couple of months that we were home, i in particular just felt like i was just -- i was depressed. >> reporter: what's keeping the millers positive is their

7-month-old grandson, theo. >> he's a major mental health tool. >> i call him my theo therapy. >> reporter: on a facebook group, the grand princess passengers now keep in touch helping each other cope with life after quarantine. >> it was a completely different world. >> it's been completely different. >> that was the biggest shock. when we were in quarantine at travis, we would watch the news, see everything that was going on. but it didn't hit me until we got home. ♪ >> reporter: remember 87-year-old alina and henry and their granddaughter michelle? we caught up with them today. she was quick to let us know she's a year older and wiser now. >> yesterday was my 88th birthday. >> happy birthday. >> thank you. i had a very lovely brunch. >> reporter: they said they've gotten closer as family after this experience. and they're planning two trips on the grand princess this year. >> hold on. are you telling me you'll take

the same trip that had you under quarantine but this year, a year later? >> we've done that many times. this time we'll take her mother and her father. >> the millers are now fully vaccinated. the sushgs, they say they hope cruise ships require passengers to be fully vaccinated before traveling. in san francisco, luz pena, abc7 ne news. good samaritans step in on social media. how users helped lead to the arrest of a man over threats of the lunar new year. and the pledge to do better. the mayor of antioch releases a plan for police reform one week after we learned a mentally ill man died in police custody. and new numbers on the pandemic show how difficult it could be to keep our skies

. a berkeley man and former gang member threatening to kill asians ahead of the lunar new year is in custody thanks in part to social media users. dion lim brings you the story you'll see only on abc7. >> reporter: the posts made on social media by reginald jackson were alarming. messages of beating up, blowing up asians before the start of the new year. these posts were sent to me by the dozen. using these images, law enforcement quickly identified the person behind this account as a felon with a lengthy rap sheet including attempted robbery as a minor and later weapons charges, including being in possession of an ar-15 assault rifle. jackson was out on police community supervision until today. i stood behind him as he entered

the courthouse in dublin. due to covid restrictions i wasn't allowed access into the courtroom but listened in via livestre livestream. after reading a list of jackson's charges, the judge said he had the frequency of concern over his cases and set bail at $190,000. little did jackson know that oakland police worked with the alameda district attorney's office and were already inside and took jackson into custody. his next court appearance is tuesday morning. in dublin, dion lim, abc7 news. in the east bay, the mayor of antioch announced a new police reform agenda which includes a mental health crisis response team, a new training program focused on conflict resolution and mediation and a ban on purchasing military equipment for the department. the city council will discuss its body camera policy. the mayor said these reforms are meant to bridge the divide between the police and the community.

>> the voters have more foresight than those who seek to divide us with pro and anti-law enforcement rhetoric. that's all it is, political rhetoric served to divide our community. as your leader i refuse to fall victim of that nonsense. we will not allow it. >> the announcement comes days after a family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of antioch. the family of angel quinto said police used an illegal chokehold on him as he was suffering from mental health issues. he died three days after the altercation. the district attorney's office is investigating. in the south bay, san jose has narrowed down its search for a new police chief. 3 of the 4 finalists are department veterans. anthony motta has 30 years experience with the san jose police department. deputy chief heather randall has been with the department for three years. david tindall has 26 years of experience. the former assistant police chief of the pittsburgh,

pennsylvania department is the fourth finalist. what a beautiful day with clear blue skies. they cannot be taken for granted. health is an important part of building a better bay area. about 1,500 people just completed a survey that is tracking how the pandemic changed habits that impact air pollution. david lui has a look at the results and the challenge ahead with commuting. >> reporter: clean fresh air is what everyone loves to see. trying to prevent smog and pollution is a year-round mission for the bay area air quality management district. it's seeing that the pandemic is having an influence on air quality. wood burning is the number one source of pollution in winter. >> a lot of people don't that we're trying to find out why are people burning. >> reporter: survey results showed 32% of households reduced wood burning or didn't burn at

all. a 6% increase from a year ago. even as people stayed home to work remotely or to do distance learning. and 82% said breathing wood smoke has negative health effec effects. now the focus is on this summer with the possibility employees will begin commuting again. the district would love to see remote work continue, however if workers go back to the office, even twice a week, will they drive? >> we want to get people out of their cars and on to transit to ease the traffic congestion and pollution. >> reporter: because of the changing workplace, bay area transit systems have seen a drop off in passenger volume. going forward commuters may be worried about virus exposure. >> they've gone through great lengths to ensure the safety of their passengers. we hope people choose that instead of driving alone. >> reporter: knowing what people think will lead to fine-tuning of future spare the air alerts.

the air was certainly clear today. in fact, it felt a lot like spring as we take a live look outside san francisco. it looks nice. tomorrow could be even 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. i'd say give it a try. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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sky 7 was over the drive-through clinic in larkspur in marin county. it's for residents 65 and older. smart is offering free train rides to the larkspur station for people who have an appointment to get vaccinated. a lot of police cars at the vaccination site at the san mateo event center where officers were getting their shots today. vaccinations in san mateo county expanded to include law enforcement employees and teachers as well. today in the east bay, the mto school of islamic studies planted trees, flowers and

plants. >> we are here today with our volunteers in collaboration with alameda point collaborative to celebrate the birthday of the 41st sufi master. >> having the volunteers come out to do it, having the donations to do it means that we can just bring the space up and make it more inviting. >> the mto is collaborating with other schools, hospitals and community centers across north america, europe, australia and new zealand to plant trees in support of its commitment to environmental sustainability. what a great day to do it. it warmed up so nicely. >> it sure did. sandy is here. it sounds like that pattern will continue? >> yeah. for another day at least. it's enough to give you spring fever outside. it's so gorgeous in the middle of winter.

santa cruz looks so enticing. a few people are out there enjoying sunshine. it's calm. 62 degrees in san francisco. 71 in oakland. 70 in san jose. many cities were 7 to 15 degrees above average. from our sutro tower camera, seeing the sun shining over san francisco. upper 60s. santa rosa, novato. 71 in concord and livermore you're at 67 degrees. live doppler 7. i know it's winter. we need the rain. that's what's missing. i want to show you how far behind we are. while it's nice to enjoy the sun, we definitely need more rain. santa rosa, a 15-inch deficit. san francisco looking at a 6-inch deficit. hopefully in the coming months we see some changes. it will be hard to make up the deficit when our rainy season carries of through spring, but then it closes pretty quick. emeryville camera showing you a glorious view of the setting sun. record high temperatures are

possible 20rtomorrow. we are looking at cooler weather midweek, if this is just too warm for you. i want to show you the hour-by-hour wind forecast. 6:00 tomorrow morning, winds are about 36 miles per hour fairfield, 45 in calistoga. the strong gusty winds will translate down towards the lower elevations as well, but not quite as strong as over the higher elevations. tomorrow afternoon it is going to be breezy. that north-northeasterly wind will continue going into wednesday. ramping up especially over some of our north and east bay hills. the only good thing is because of the recent rain the fire danger is running low for this time of year, despite the fact we will have the dry, gusty offshore winds. temperatures first thing in the morning, mainly 40s. we will see high clouds around. a few upper 30s for ukiah. for the afternoon, look at these temperatures in the south bay. a warm day. 76 in san jose. 75 in gilroy. santa clara, on the peninsula looking at sunshine and mild to warm weather.

74 in mountain view, redwood city, 74. 66 in pacific. downtown san francisco, 71 degrees. it will be breezy in the city. north bay, 78 in santa ros 76 in vallejo. 76 for oakland, 75 for hayward. 6 in c 76 in concord, 74 in livermore. your accuweather 7-day forecast, features spring-like warmth with the possibility of records tomorrow. gusty and cooler for wednesday. even though it's mainly sunny through the weekend, monday there's a chance of rain. let's hope that materializes, while it is nice to enjoy the warmth and sunshine. we all know we need that rain. >> absolutely. thank you. still ahead here, your front-row seat to the mars landing has now arrived. you don't want

finally tonight. nasa released video today of something never before seen. a spacecraft landing on another planet. >> it shows the final moments of the perseverance rover touching down on a crater in mars last week. you can see the supersonic deployment. the landing was called seven minutes of terror because it

happened faster than radio signals can reach earth from mars. in addition, nasa released a recording of a wind gust that microphones on perseverance picked up on the martian surface. listen carefully. >> it's cool. really neat. overwhelming, if you will. >> there are 23 cameras on the rover. one giving us the first panoramic shot of the pier perseverance landing site. they will conduct the search for ancient microbial life. just breath taking. >> it's really neat. can't get enough. >> i know. >> all right. that is going to have to be enough for tonight, because "world news tonight" is next. >> thank you very much for joining us. >> from all of us here, we

appreciate your time. we'll see you in a half hour at 6:00.

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if your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. tonight, as we come on the air, what we witnessed just moments ago. the president acknowledging a painful and sobering milestone. more than 500,000 lives lost to the pandemic. the nation pausing tonight to pay respects to the families forever changed. moments ago, president biden leading the country in a moment of silence. bells at the national cathedral tolling 500 times in memory of the 500,000 who have now died. nearly one american dying from covid every minute for nearly an entire year. tonight, dr. anthony fauci calling it a stunning figure and recalling last winter when health officials were accused of exaggerating when they predicted a death toll as high as 240,000. we are now more than double that. and tonight, news on the thousands of vaccinations delayed by the storms. what is the plan now? the highly contagious south ri