>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions. >> this is a moment to celebrate the amazing work that we now have this ability to take this step forward. it is progress, and it is good news. >> today, health departments in every part of the bay area, except one, announced plans to align with the state and ease into mask restrictions -- ease i ndoor mask restrictions. but in one area, it is still too high. >> we cannot lift the mandate while community transmission is high as it is now. dan: nine. ama: some -- dan: good evening. ama: some people are excited.

>> the change brings near universal uniformity to a region where people have seen masks come and go. masks become optional in most indoor settings starting next wednesday with the exception of planta carroll county. masks will be required for unvaccinated people over age two. the level of hospitalizations and other factors combined make this change possible. because we've been required to wear a mask for so long, taking them off will be a real change. health officers say it will be an individual choice. some will be comfortable with it, some will not. businesses owners will be free to decide whether to require customers to wear masks. this owner says he will leave it to his patrons. >> i'm glad it's the opportunity

-- glad we have the opportunity. i will be able to see people's faces again. >> that eases the burden of being the enforcer. he welcomes the change. >> i think it's due time. it's good for us to get back to a normal, pre-covid time, where we can breathe fresh air and do our own thing. >> others raised concern for children. >> i think it's too soon. there are children who are not eligible to be vaccinated. children under 12 cannot have a booster. spring break is coming, which will probably cause another uptick in coronavirus cases. >> i think i will continue to wear a mask indoors, even though i am vaccinated and boosted. we should all be doing that from this point forward, till cases come down further. >> abc 7 news in san francisco. dan: while the state and most of the bay area is getting ready to

move away from the indoor mask mandate, santa clara county will keep it in place, at least for now. zach one test has more -- zach f uentes has more. >> santa clara county has made the choice not to follow suit. >> we are taking a different course in santa clara county, in that we are continuing to follow our data and metrics to tell us when it's appropriate to lift. >> the decision is getting mixed reaction from county residents. some in favor of it. >> i agree we should keep the mandate. personally, i work at a homeless shelter. i am a case manager. i feel it's better to be safe. >> one business owner said she trusts the decision, but knows there's a time the mandate will end and it will come to her to require customers to mask up in her business. >> i will be wearing my mask.

people are getting tired of the whole thing, but the number one thing is keeping the community safe. >> today's news garnering frustration from residents on the border of santa clara county and san mateo county, wear masks won't be required next week -- where masks will be required next week. >> we live in the same state. we all travel. we all work in different counties. i feel like it's very hypocritical. i think everybody should be treated the same. >> when good things change in santa clara county? the county is sitting at around 1900 cases per day. they are looking for that case number to go down and hospitalization rates to drop and vaccination rates to go up. >> our goal is 550 cases per day seven-day moving average and we hold there before we lift. our models suggest we may get there in march. >> in a matter of

expect a covid endemic plan for california and possibly new mask guidelines for schools. >> we have been working for weeks with our education partners. there are 1050 school districts in california. everybody has strong opinions. we are getting closer and closer to making public announcement on mask wearing in our public schools. ama: governor newsom was in oakland, where he gave a covid update and signed a bill to renew covid sick leave. most employers are now required to give workers as much as two weeks paid time off, if they get covid. it retroactively covers covid related illnesses back to january 1. dan: it's gorgeous across the bay area. you can see the conditions from our live cameras. just stunning. ama: lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine. people and pets enjoying the

sunshine. people walking, soaking up the sun, many wearing t-shirts. otherwise, you would be sweating. the weather is so unseasonably warm. there was the potential to break records. dan: further details on this, let us go to meteorologist sandhya patel. >> it's unbelievably warm. we have two records to tell you about. beach weather in the middle of february in the bay area, just unseasonable, no doubt about it. oakland, downtown, 78°. previous record was 74, set in 2006. richmond tied at 75, set in 1988. it's still in the low 70's from san francisco to half moon bay. hard to believe that these temperatures, 70 in san jose right now -- in case you want to go to the beach and get away

from all this warm weather, be careful. a beach hazard statement goes up tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. and runs until 7:00. that's because of recurrent, dangerous sneaker waves -- of rip currents, dangerous sneaker waves. here's the record warmth tomorrow. 80 in santa rosa. old record was 78, set in 1988. oakland and sfo will likely hit a record. san jose will likely surpass its old record. i will let you know if warmth is going to cover -- carry over into the weekend. ama: an elderly woman in antioch died after someone fired gunshots at the vehicle she was in. a 29-year-old man, called police, saying his passenger was having trouble breathing. the responding medical crews discovered the bullet wound. the shooting happened around 7:00 yesterday evening.

a neighbor was in his garage when it happened. >> i heard the gunshots. i was hoping it was just somebody shooting stuff off in the air. when i came out later, i saw all the lights and everything. i just assumed someone got hit. ama: neighbors said the area is quiet and everyone knows each other. police have made no arrests. dan: new developments in oakland, where the school board voted to close or merge a total of 11 public schools over the next two years. the decision early this morning happened despite days of heated protests. as our education reporter explains from the newsroom, there are still some last-minute efforts to stop this decision and keep these schools open. >> dan, let me tell you, this fight is not over. we have an assembly woman who this morning introduced a bill to give oakland more time to reconsider these closures and,

number two, we have the teachers union taking legal action today against the district, while also threatening to strike. there were hunger strikes, protests, and a community coming together to try to convince school board members to hold back on closing oakland schools. in the end, these efforts did very little to change the expected outcome. the school board voted to close two schools at the end of this year and five more at the end of next year. the other four will either or lose their middle schools. hours after the vote, a state assembly member who represents oakland introduced an urgent bill that could pause these closures. >> it would give oakland unified school district additional time, through 2024, to make considerations related to school closures and consolidations. >> she also said she would work to relieve the debt ousd has accumulated when it was taken

over by the state. a former school board member, james harris, said that's been tried before. harris says the bottom line is that oakland unified lacks the money to operate nearly twice as many schools as other districts the size of ousd. >> you can take that money that you were spending on those previously open schools and spend them on things like teacher salary, on the innovation students need in order to become better readers and better writers. >> for others, the final vote doesn't mean the end of the battle. the teachers union will now take action, and there's more. >> if it comes to it, i am prepared to ask oakland educators to strike to protect our schools, if necessary. >> mayor libby schaaf appeared on abc 7 news to say it was a hard choice, but she now welcomes the extra support students and families will get when transferring to another school. >> ensuring that the schools

that are most likely to receive families and educators have extra resources to ensure that transition is smooth and that conditions are in fact improved for students and families. >> in addition to that, those students who have to move -- their names will be put on the top of the list at any of the schools they choose. it doesn't mean they will get in, but they will be given priority. ama: thank you. after the break, pg&e puts up its defense over the deadly kincade fire. why the utility says it was an accident. why prosecutors say they are not buying it. dan: spring training is scheduled to begin one week from today, but with no deal between the league and its

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dan: pg&e got its first chance

to question witnesses in its latest criminal case. the kincade fire. prosecutors are preparing to try the utility on 30 criminal charges. the investigative reporter from sacramento has more now from santa rosa. >> pg&e is trying to portray the kincade fire as an honest mistake. to convict pg&e, prosecutors will have to prove criminal negligence, that pj knew what it was doing was unsafe, but did it anyway -- that pg&e knew what it did was unsafe, but did it anyway. in court documents, the company called the criminal charges a misguided attempt to criminalize good faith judgment calls. catherine sandoval used to regulate state -- pg&e as the state commissioner. >> dismisses their legal duty to operate safely. >> the power line in question had been disconnected from a power plant that shut down.

but when pg&e did that, they removed three powerlines that used to keep these big, hanging ceramic insulators from swinging around in the wind. >> leaving it susceptible to that type of sway is not safe. >> firefighters witness to those parts swinging violently on the night of the fire. after the smoke cleared, they found one cable broke, hit the metal, tower and showered the ground -- metal tower, and showered the ground with sparks. in court, pg&e argued this was in line with industry standards and its own construction rules. >> that's a whole bunch of crazy excuse making. >> sandoval finds the argument so unbelievable she thinks pg&e would've been better off pleading guilty to the kincade fire. >> this is criminal thinking. >> pg&e has a criminal history

of 91 felony convictions. prosecutors argue the real problem is they haven't learned from it. court is done this week. in sonoma county, abc 7 news. ama: firefighters in marin can deep put out a fire burning in difficult terrain -- in marin county put out a fire burning in difficult terrain today. about 2 acres burned. officials say there was never a threat to the community. dan: coming up an exclusive first look inside san francisco's newest transitional homeless shelter.

ama: finding solutions to homelessness is a big part of efforts to build a better bay area. today, we got an exclusive look at the new shelter opening in lower nob hill next month. dan: it is not your typical homeless shelter. >> on post street, final touches

are underway to convert the former hotel into a homeless shelter. >> well, welcome to 711 post street. >> tuesday night, the board of supervisors approved the $18 million plan. this afternoon, abc 7 news was given on exclusive look inside. >> you can see how beautiful everything is, and clean. >> dr. miller is the cofounder of the nonprofit running the site, which will soon be home to roughly 250 people. she took us through the five-story building, showing us the variety of rooms they have, some with four beds, some one, many with private bathrooms, showers, and locker room spaces. >> we are able to provide different options. >> because this is a former youth hostel, a lot of resources are already built-in, a laundry room, a library where they will put internet access, and this community space. >> look at this. is this fabulous?

>> this is an extremely attractive building. >> the executive director of san francisco's department of business and human services says the shelter is the first of its kind in the city. through the pandemic, as hotels became temporarily homeless shelters, they learned this model could be successful. as ideal as this all sounds, some neighbors say the building has at least one flaw. there is no outdoor space. they are concerned this will lead to people congregating outside and loitering in the neighborhood. >> we are worrying it's going to fail all over our streets. >> there will be 24/7 security and urban alchemy workers posted. >> ultimately, a space like this, during a homeless crisis like this, is just too good to pass up. >> we feel like we've been given such a gift. dan: let's move on now, talk a little bit more about the weather. ama: it's incredible.

how much warmer could it possibly get? >> try 80° for santa rosa tomorrow, dan and ama. it's 10 to 20° above average for this time of year. take a look at how warm it was. oakland surpassing its record, coming in at 78°. 75 in richmond was a record. mid 70's from half moon bay to san francisco, santa rosa. 73 in concord and fremont. what is bringing us the warmth? it is this strong ridge of high pressure. it's a down sloping wind, which is why we are still concerned about fire danger. mount diablo is 28 miles an hour. a beautiful view from our east bay hills camera. low 70's from san francisco to san jose. half moon bay. 68 in oakland. passing clouds filtering through the sun -- filtering the sun.

napa 65. one other live picture. the beach looks so attractive. but watch out for the rip current and sneaker waves. air quality will be moderate the next three days. some improvement is coming. golden gate bridge camera is showing you a gentle breeze. monday and tuesday. dusty with fire concerns coming up -- gusty with fire concerns coming up. 40's and 50's to start off the day. it's going to quickly warm with down sloping winds. 80 in gilroy, 78 in san jose. 79 in santa cruz. well above average temperatures. 77 redwood city. mid to upper 70's half moon bay,

pacifica. this is supposed to be one of our wettest winter months. instead, we are talking record-breaking heat. 74 san rafael. 80 in santa rosa. if you want warm weather, you've got it in the east bay. 76 fremont. mid 70's will be pretty common from livermore to concord to pleasanton. the accuweather 7-day forecast, record-setting warmth again for thursday. still possible friday. friday into saturday, some fog rolls in. temperatures will drop off inland as well. not that noticeable until monday, when it is gusty and much cooler. 50's, 60's. the fire danger will come up during that monday to tuesday time period, which includes valentine's, by the way. when is the rain going to return? nothing. not for the next week. dan: that's a shame.

thanks. ama: former a's player jeremy giambi has died at his parents' home in southern california, according to his agent. just 47 years old. officials have not reported a cause of death. he spent six seasons in the majors and was with the a's from 2000 to 2002, som oh, wow, barbara corcoran! good morning. sorry, we don't need any business help now. we're gigillionaires.

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ama: you can get our live newscasts, breaking news, weather, and more with our new app, on apple tv, android to become a tv, and roku --android tv, and dan: the major league league baseball and players have not reached an agreement. the commissioner is set to hold a news conference tomorrow. many believe he is going to push back spring, which is scheduled to start a week for today -- from today. ama: hopefully, the baseball schedule will take place as planned. the giants plan to honor a

franchise legend, buster posey, on may 7, in a pregame ceremony. the fan favorite is a three-time world series champions and seven-time all-star who retired in november after 12 years in the majors. he cited a desire to spend more time with family. dan: buster is the best. history will be made and tonight's game between the warriors and the utah jazz. ama: it will be the first nationally televised nba game to feature an all-female crew, including the three women in front of the camera and the 30 staffers working behind the scenes. the game gets underway at 7:00 with beth serving as the play-by-play announcer. it's not the first time she's made history. she was the first woman to call a nationally televised nfl game, back in 2017. dan: awesome. world news tonight with david muir's next. -- muir is net. -- next. ama: our next newscast is coming

up at 6:00. we leave you with this great look outside. in new york city, ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ come be a part of it. plan your next vacation at iloveny.com

tonight, breaking news on several fronts as we come on the air. the shooting at a school in upstate new york. also news coming in from gm and ford tonight amid trucker protests and that key u.s./canadian bridge. and major news tonight on masks in new york and elsewhere. the announcement from new york's governor ending the state's mask mandate for businesses starting tomorrow. keeping masks for schools for now. tonight, rhode island and illinois taking similar steps. and massachusetts now joining new jersey, connecticut, and delaware in dropping masks for students. so, where does the cdc stand on this? where does the white house stand? and tonight, the news coming in from dr. fauci. what he predicted about where we're going next. and how might we get out of all of this? the images coming in tonight after that shooting at a high