>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. this is abc 7 news. >> one step forward, another step back as one local county lifts its indoor mask california senator proposes new restrictions for covid safety in the skies. thank you for joining us, i'm dan ashley. >> you're watching abc 7 news at 5:00 on abc 7, who live, and wherever you stream. we are tracking covid safety and its impact on your health as part of our commitment to building a better bay santacotye indoor mask mandate. it is a sign of northern

california is moving in the right direction. ryan curry explains why doctors are optimistic, but say it is too soon to throw away those masks. >> it is a move that could foreshadow the future of masks in the bay area. >> someone has to try it first. >> santa cruz county lifted its indoor mandate. current cdc data shows the county has a moderate rate of covid transmission in the community. the move by the county is something others in the bay area could monitor. >> the good news about another area doing that is we can see what happens in that area. so it is nice before you make a move that would feel very significant to a lot of people. you can base it on data. >> across the bay area, covid cases dropping. vaccination rates increasing. many counties have indoor mask mandates. it could be safe for vaccinated people to be indoors without masks. she said wearing masks probably isn't making a difference. >> is it doing good for

vaccinated people who have antibody response and are healthy to mask indoors? it is probably not doing much, to be completely honest. >> it could be out of abundance of caution, especially with how contagious the delta variant is. vaccination rates are at a good place. doctors say that should be the main point of focus going forward. >> if we can shrink the pool of people susceptible, fewer people the virus can be transmitted to. >> dr. george said getting vaccinated can prevent another winter surge. he said if lifting the mask mandate boards for santa cruz and more people get vaccinated, others can do the same. >> it is potentially a test for whether you can do this or not, or whether it is too soon. >> travelers could be looking at new covid restrictions as we

begin the holiday travel season. it is one of several covid related updates for the airline industry. melanie woodrow has that story. >> with the thanksgiving just around the corner and the busiest times to fly, dianne feinstein tweeted "we cannot allow upcoming holiday air travel to contribute to another surge in covid cases. i introduced legislation requiring passengers on domestic flights to be vaccinated, test negative, or recover from a previous covid illness. he is a flight expert. >> if it were to become law, it would be adding restrictions in the u.s. that exist elsewhere in the world and have been working well to contain covid. i don't see any way it would be a problem, but passengers would be upset. >> not just travelers are impacted. united airlines announced it is letting go close to 600 employees who chose not to comply with the vaccine requirement. >> doing what they can to protect not only themselves and

their passengers, but their reputation. >> albert shea is founder of ceo foxtrot dash. >> i feel safe flying internationally. >> he recently returned to the bay area. >> i emphasize with flight attendant on board. she had to enforce masks at least a dozen times. >> they expect passengers will continue to resist covid travel restrictions, including wearing masks. with the most extreme being fights with flight attendants. >> doing something that is optional, give them that plane, follow the airline rules, and give them grace. they are working hard right now. >> anything to encourage travel in the most comfortable and safe way is most important for everyone. >> new potential travel guidelines>> for what has been the busiest travel season of the year. melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. >> california is making progress in the fight against covid-19. the number hospitalized with the virus dropped by more than 200

since yesterday. the cdc says new research should calm fears of side effects from a booster shot. more than 22,000 people who got their third dose were studied. symptoms were mild and it did not last long. new developments on the nba's vaccine rules. the league released a statement saying any player who does not comply will not be paid for games they missed. this will impact warriors forward andrew wiggins. last week, the nba denied his request for religious exemption from getting the vaccine. without it, he will not be able to play at chase center because of san francisco's vaccine requirement. he also will not get paid for those home games and he has to sit. >> in the north bay, marin county opened its very first booster vaccination site at the northgate mall. the site can be found at the former victoria's secret location. marin county residents 75 years of age or older are eligible for

the covid-19 booster shot. approving of the first round from at least six months ago. our vaccine team is dedicated to answering all of your questions about covid-19 vaccines. go to abc7news.com/vaccine and click on the blue box. >> a small grass fire in sonoma county shows the potential danger of the fire whether we are facing. winds fueled the flames and more windy and dry conditions on the way. a red flag warning has been issued. sandy patel is tracking this. and we have rising temperatures. >> let's talk about the fire danger and rising temperatures. red flag warning for the north bay hills begins at 11:00 p.m. it runs until 11:00 a.m. tomorrow. dry fuels, north-north easterly winds. humidity will be dropping. the greatest concern will be the napa county mountains and interior portions of sonoma county, er expstrong

our-byforecast, 20, 23 mile an r winds. they ramp up even more at 1:00 a.m. 30 miles an hour, continuing into thursday. down sloping, drying wind. it is concerning right now. wind gusts in the hills, not terribly strong. that will be changing at 11:00 p.m. a closer look at the forecast, coming up. >> as california faces extreme drought, high school students are making a difference to offset the negative effects of -- on our ecosystem. cohost sam and amid the drought. liz kreutz went to petaluma to find out how. >> sixth period likely looks a lot different than yours did. it certainly does for me. these students are part of a one of a kind fish hatchery program, learning first-hand about conservation. >> he's cleaning the side of the water lines to make sure it doesn't build up.

the air doing weight counts. >> typically these students care for drought for the river. because of extreme drought conditions, they have been called upon to do something different. they've taken in thousands of salmon at risk of extension. >> suddenly the summer after covid, he said the drought is so bad that these other hatcheries need help. >> dan hughes bochtler explained usually the cohost salmon -- but water temperatures got so hot that they needed to find the fish a new home. >> a long story short, we ended up with fish from mendocino county, the russian river itself, also santa cruz. >> the hatchery hope in the 1993. it is the first time in the program's history students have been approached and asked for salmon. >> they are so endangered, being part of that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. >> they are extinct.

part of the ecosystem. >> sometime this fall to the hatchery at lake sonoma. casagrande high school, a short-term solution with a lot of impact. >> we are here to help out with the fish and it also allows long-term looking at these young adults being able to step in. it gives them hope for the future. >> seeing we can really make a difference is amazing. it stays with us for the rest of our lives. >> race and social justice, one of the key pillars in our efforts to build a better bay area. after centuries of injustice, city leaders have made their apology to the chinese community. council members passed a resolution apologizing for the city's role in the hate. it became official at the site of one of five former chinatowns in san jose. justin dorsey explains how the event allowed the healing to begin.

>> sometimes and apology may seent bee directn, evenhearhi in san jose, raul pirela is led city leaders today. >> it is important we know this history so we don't repeat those mistakes. >> i think if people realized what was in the past may be hopefully things will improve for the future. i think so. q in 1887, the second market street chinatown was set on fire, displacing 1400 people with no options to rebuild. on those same grounds, san jose's mayor read a new unanimously voted on city council resolution. >> now therefore, the council of the city of san jose apologizes to all chinese immigrants and incentives who came to san jose and were victims of systemic and

institutional racism, xenophobia, and discrimination. >> this today is a histofothe c. >> jerry wong said her heart was bursting with joy. her father was an advocate for the historical preservation of this community before he died. she was thinking today. my goal to tell this history is part of that. i was never told it. i could never read about it. i think he's watching us and saying good for you. assembly member evan lowe said we need to recognize accountability hopes to heal these wounds. santa clara county's supervisor added we must embrace our diversity in front of this large crowd, the wounds began to heal. the chinese community embraced in an apology accepted. >> on behalf of those who fought the good fight and continue to do so, i'd like to say to the city of san jose apology accepted, and resolution

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>> caught in the crossfire. a bullet burst through the windshield of an oakland city sewer truck around 2:00 this afternoon. the truck driver told us he believes he was caught in the middle of car to car gunfire. he was not hurt. shell casings littered 17th and brush streets. at least 40 on the ground. the drivers stopped a few blocks away and police responded. >> lectures at uc berkeley are calling out the university of california president. they are demanding he bring their unions to your battle for

a contract to an end. staged a rally this afternoon on campus. some 6500 lecturers in the uc system had been working without a contract since april of 2019. negotiations reached an impasse this summer in june. >> president drink and the regions meeting now in their annual meeting who have the ability to call this action off right now by giving us a fair contract, and they are ignoring us. they have been silent. >> lecturers provide 40% of undergraduate credit hours. they are looking for contract that provides job stability, rehiring rights, and fair wages. >> time now to consumer news. youtube is fighting a wave of misinformation about covid-19 vaccines. >> there is so much out there. michael finney is here to explain how it is being baffled. >> today, youtube announced

immediate bands on false claims that vaccines are dangerous. this comes as countries around the world continue to offer free vaccinations to the public. some of the public are hesitant. youtube is targeting misleading posts that claim vaccines cost -- cause health issues like autism and infertility. those posts and any posts with conspiracy theories are being wiped away from the popular platform. a shakeup for those still paying student loans. one of the leading servicers announced it is ending its contract soon. it will no longer work with any student loan accounts linked to the u.s. department of education. active account for an estimated 12 million borrowers will be transferred to maximus, another loan servicer. experts say there is no need to worry, it is rather common for student loans. a warning for android users.

beware of scam apps targeting your device. the so-called campaign used clever techniques to avoid detection in google play for nearly a year. it is believed over 10 million android devices were targeted, potentially costing users hundreds of millions of dollars. google is now stepping up security in google play, hoping to keep the malicious app out. it is reviewing more than 200 apps that were flagged. that is amazing. >> that is. thanks. >> in the south bay, san jose is using block chain cryptocurrency to bridge the digital divide. mayor liccardo announced the first of his kind partnership announcing helium, a global dystrophy did network of wi-fi hotspots. community members will host helium hotspots and generate cryptocurrency that will pay for broadband service to low income residentss. >> this is a novel approach

where we take a very creative business model the team put together in partnership with an emerging technology helium brings to the table and create social good sustainable. >> the effort is part of san jose's goal of building out the largest long-range wide area network in the world. >> coming up next, an award-winning invention to tackle kidney disease. it got its start in the bay area. how it could change millions of working at recology is more than a job for jesus.

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>> abc 7 news is committed to building a better bay area by tracking stories that affect your health in profound ways. we had one tonight. a bay area research team has been awarded a device that they hope will someday free kidney patients from dialysis. wouldn't that be fantastic? luz pena has the story. >> for thousands of kidney patients in the u.s., the only practical hope of getting off dialysis has been waiting for a

transplant. but now, a new engineering breakthrough is reigniting hopes for a second option. an implantable artificial kidney. >> we are able to create a functional prototype that was able to produce urine. >> over 10 years ago, we unveiled a prototype model. >> we first met preuss -- professor schumer ray when he was working on the concept model. the new working prototype employees two chambers, each about the size of a deck of cards. one side, membrane filters for cleaning the blood. similar to dialysis. on the other, a bioreactor reforming some of the other functions that would be normally controlled in the body. >> the artificial kidney would allow dialysis patients to eat and drink freely, travel without being to the machine, and better physiological outcomes

because they are getting continuous treatment, unlike dialysis that happens every other day. >> it was tested successfully in live animal models. this technology will need to be approved to make human trials possible. the goal is to keep the unit at a size where it can be implanted in the body. at the same time, adding more filtering power with a more powerful biological capability. professor roy says the challenges our funding and improved engineering. he believes the bioengineered design is now proven to be practical. >> it is still likely to get to treat patients in this coming decade. >> in san francisco, luz pena. >> what a game changer. a half-million dollar prize awarded to ucsf and their partners at vanderbilt university by kidneyx. it is a public-private partnership dedicated to accelerating the treatment of kidney disease. fingers crossed it pans out. >> time now to get a check on

the weather. it is changing. >> sandia patel is tracking it for us. >> a little warmer today. e s temperatures go up. so will the fire danger. let's talk about where the storm track is. aimed right at the pacific northwest. like winter, and lately we have seen a lot of rain. a few showers. doppler seven showing nothing in terms of rain. accuweather just issued its winter outlook. expecting to be drier and warmer. down in the southern california, rain and mountain snow. 70% to 80% chanc c and accuweather is saying winter rainfall percent of normal. expected to be between 50% to 74%, even less then 49% in southern california.

we will wait and see. hopefully we go the other way and see the weather conditions. bright skies over san francisco. 65 in the city. low 70's around oakland. from the ease bay hills, you see clear skies across the bay. 79 in santa rosa. 80's from fairfield to concord. winds right now, on the gusty side. the low 20's from sfo to san francisco half moon bay. expecting winds to pick up in the hills later tonight. as they pick up, coming out of the north-northeast, fire danger will be going up. high fire danger, some orange showing up. that is very high fire danger going up tomorrow morning. humidity plunging. part of the concern, not only the dry vegetation. with the wind coming off of the land blowing down toward the ocean, humidity values coming down to 11% at 11:00 a.m.

look at what happens down at the single digits by tomorrow afternoon. 8%. fire danger elevated. the camera, a lovely view. gusty in the hills. elevated fire danger in the north bay. warm around the bay in then through monday. tomorrow morning, 40's and 50's. tomorrow afternoon, a nice day. warm and inland. co-side, looking at 60's. primarily with breezy conditions. fog is going to return. not until late tomorrow afternoon into friday. the warmth remains inland. fire danger tomorrow as we head into the weekend, fall warmth mid-90's inland. 60's co-side. much cooler next week.

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world news tonight is next. we appreciate your time. >> sandia patel and all of us, thank you

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tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the meeting at the white house just a short time ago. president biden and top democratic leaders and their urgent efforts to save his agenda. will the house still vote tomorrow on that $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure deal already passed in the senate? money for roads, bridges, broadband, clean water. house speaker nancy pelosi and senate majority leader chuck schumer leaving the white house just moments ago. with progressives saying they won't support that bipartisan bill unless there's movement on the larger human infrastructure bill, expanding health care, child care, early education, fighting climate change. moments ago, speaker pelosi was asked, will there be a vote tomorrow? an