>> this is so critical. we need to make this happen now. >> text, a plea to get people to vote in support of the recall of three san francisco school board members. why one says he should stay on the board. and one person and several pets rescued as a fire ripped through san francisco buildings. and a plan to keep cars off the road that runs against the golden gate park. the one road beside the park that is against the plan. abc7news starts now. >> kisses abc 7 news. -- this is abc seven news. >> an election is currently underway that will decide the

fate of his school board under scrutiny. a rally today urged people to force-out three board members. cornell barnard mar joins us to explain what is behind the effort. cornell: frustrated school parents say they were frustrated about the lack of in person learning, so they -- voters will also decide two other races in tuesday's special election. volunteers stood on 19th avenue in san francisco, reminding voters by february 15 is so important. >> especially when the future of our kids is at stake. we have just a few days left to get out the vote. cornell: many of these parents have led recall efforts against three school board members. frustrated parents say it took too long to get their kids back to in person learning. >> we live in a city which has extreme disparity, and this

action by the school board has made the disparities worse, so kids like mine have fallen behind. cornell: this school board chose to reopen schools -- rename schools instead of reopening them. they have done zoom school longer than necessary, drove these schools into a financial ditch. cornell: supporters are urging a no vote. one supporter telling abc news this recall is unjustified. arguments made by proponents are false. my focus has been on increasing enrollment, fiscal responsibility, and improving learning for students and families. in addition to the recall, there are two other races on tuesday's ballot. the possession for assessor recorder is on the -- is up for grabs. the other is who will choose a replacement for david to, who stepped down to become city attorney. early voting by mail and in person at city hall has been happening for several weeks.

the elections chief says so far, turnout has been light. about half the voters that came out for the recall of governor newsom. >> we are at less than 3% for turnout. to give you a comparison, the september 2021 recall election, we were at 46% turnout. cornell: in person voting will continue through tuesday. mayor london breed is backing the recall effort. she will also appoint a temporary replacement should any of the board members be recalled. we reached out to the two other members facing recall but have not heard back. dion: cornell, thank you. to the east bay, where the oakland unified school district held a virtual town hall in hopes of saving oakland schools. this week the city announced they will be closing or merging 16 schools in the district. this comes as the district faces a $90 million budget shortfall.

it will close two schools this year and five more next year. two more schools plan to merge or will lose grades. >> who wants to enroll in a school that is possibly closing? it has impacted our ability to attract high quality staff. dion: in 20 years, unified has lost a total of 15,000 students. the state could intervene if the budget is not balanced. three buildings in san francisco's richmond district were hit by a smoky fire this afternoon. firefighters were called to 10th avenue and geary at around 2:00. one person went to the hospital and is expected to be ok. the fire was under control within the hour, and firefighters focused on putting out hotspots. re were warned to keep windows closed as heavy smoke drifted over the area. moving to new developments in the russia-ukraine crisis, president biden megan called on president putin to draw back

troops near the ukrainian border. mr. biden warned the u.s. and its allies would imposed swift and severe costs if russia invades. reporter: president biden spent just over an hour on the phone with vladimir putin. a senior administration official telling abc news there was no fundament of changing the dynamic that has been unfolding for several weeks. fears are mounting that russia could invade ukraine sooner than expected, even before the olympics are set to conclude february 20. >> he cannot pinpoint the day at this point, and we cannot pinpoint the hour, but what we can say is that there is a credible prospect that a russian military action would take place even before the end of the olympics. reporter: a consensus among analysts estimates that there are -- russian troops close to ukraine. massive exercises in belarus

have officials concerned, but moscow continues to deny it intends to launch an offensive against ukraine. >> the white house and intelligence services are seeing all the pieces of the puzzle, everything russia would need to invade, is coming together. reporter: the state department urging embassy staffers to leave. canada, the u.k., japan, and many other countries also telling their citizens to leave ukraine immediately. president biden's national security advisor says americans who do not leave should not expect the military to rescue them in the event of a russian invasion. >> if a russian attack on ukraine proceeds, it is likely to begin with a real bombing and missile attacks that could kill civilians without regard to their nationality. reporter: the biden administration says it will continue to work on diplomacy as well as deterrence, which includes the deployment of 3000 additional u.s. troops to poland to reassure allies. elizabeth schulze, abc news, washington. dion: to the peninsula, where

families received free covid tests and masks today at libraries across san mateo county. libraries began giving away four at home antigen rapid tests and five masks per household. no appointments are necessary, and everything is available first-come, first-served. libraries are closed tomorrow, but if there are supplies left, they will be available monday until the kits are all given away. >> it is terrific. i would like to see it publicized more because it is not something i have heard about before i came in. if i had known, i probably would have made a beeline right to the library to pick these up earlier. dion: today was also today wasa day that free covid 19 home tests were available from the santa clara county library district. if you want to stay up-to-date on the latest covid headlines, we have more information on our website, including a place where you can ask questions. all that can be found at abc7news.com/coronavirus. just ahead, four people were

wounded in a shooting outside a justin bieber after party in west hollywood. new information is coming out about the victims, one of them a famous rapper. plus, growing momentum to make san francisco's jfk drive off-limits to cars. a museum in the park is not a supporter of the plan. spencer: a pattern of record february warmth is winding down.

dion: four people, inc inc rapper kodak black, are hospitalized after a shooting outside a bar in west hollywood. it happened this morning after an after party hosted by justin bieber. a fight broke out among four people before shots were fired. all victims remain in stable condition. authorities are searching for a suspect. the bayview-hunters point community is urging a cleanup of toxic waste at the superfund site. supporters held a rally today, calling on mayor breed and san francisco supervisors to support the full cleanup, not just the capping of the contaminated site. they are also demanding reparations for current and former residents and shipyard workers harmed by the compromised environment. hundreds showed up to support a road becoming from car free in golden gate park. walk san francisco managed today's walk and rally in the park.

the proposal bans cars on jfk drive between transverse and keys are drives. it also adds more car free streaks in the park -- streets in the park. >> we have seen the success of two years what a car free space does for our community. this has been an amazing pilot and it is time to make it permanent. dion: the young museum wants jfk east reopened to traffic. it says the closure has impacted people with limited mobility, including the elderly, families with young children, and the disabled. the board of supervisors will vote on the planned later this month. there is a bright idea. you can mark this valentine's day taking a special valentine's display in san francisco, all for free. and taking a live look outside, our balmy winter weather -- more like springlike weather -- is happening. spencer christian gives us two timing on winters return just ahead.

chris: coming up, no need to change the channel. the splash brothers on the floor. floor. steph and when kids need medical care, they face life-changing experiences. they miss out on the things that make being a kid fun. starlight children's foundation programs entertain and inspire hospitalized kids. learn more at starlight.org

ama: dion: super bowl lvi just hours away and ticket prices are going down. tickets have dropped in price but will still cost a pretty

penny. the average ticket price is down to $4100 a ticket. when tickets went on sale, the average price was $6,700. more than a thousand fans are expected tomorrow at sofi stadium in inglewood. we caught rams fans enjoying a sweet treat from nearby randy's donuts. >> the rams won, period, because we are going to win the super bowl. >> it is big for the city. it is a huge event. we have been waiting for it for decades, and we would like to support cincinnati. go bengals! dion: i was distracted by the donuts. the halftime show will feature dr. dre, snoop dogg, eminem, mary j. blige, and kendrick lamar. tonight, one of golden gate park's biggest and brightest attractions will include a special valentine's day display. peacock meadows will feel the

love starting at sundown. the art is an enchanted forest of shapes and ever-changing light. 2000 led lights makeup sculptures in the park. the display will be up through monday. "entwined" will continue through march 5. if you want to check it out, it should be good weather, though not as warm as what we have been experiencing. spencer: this has been an unusually warm spell, record highs two or three days in a row. cooler weather is on the way. we have like to call him wind across the bay area right now. most areas with measurable wind have speeds under 10 miles per hour. we have a little bit of a temperature change, one to three degrees cooler in most bay area locations than at this time yesterday. still much warmer than average this time of year. here is a view from san francisco. 72 in the city, oakland 69. 77 in mountain view. 63 at half moon bay.

blue skies over the golden gate, and it is warm up north, mid 70's in santa rosa and petaluma, 72 at napa and concord, and 69 at livermore. here is a view of high clouds offshore, but mainly bright skies over the bay area. mostly sunny and mild again tomorrow, but sharply cooler weather with windy conditions early next week, monday and tuesday, for the most part, and temperatures will start to rebound around the latter part of next week. overnight we can expect mainly clear skies with a few passing high clouds. later in the day we will see an increase in high clouds as we have more clouds moving in on monday accompanied by windy conditions. overnight lows will be mainly mid to upper 40's in our inland valleys tonight, right around the bay shoreline and along the coast highs will be in the 50 degrees. highs tomorrow in the south bay come up to 79 in san jose, 80 in morgan hill. mid 70's on the peninsula tomorrow, and up to 70 degrees

on the coast. downtown san francisco, a high of 73. santa rosa, 74. east bay highs about 74. oakland, 76. east bay, mid to upper 70's, mid 70's as you go eastward and out to brentwood. 70 will be the hi there. let's look at our forecast animation starting at 6:00 monday morning. a little system may bring precipitation into southern california, but perhaps not into the bay area monday night, but we will have an increase in winds and a drop in temperatures. going into next sunday, not tomorrow, but the following sunday, we will see an increase in clouds, maybe rain then. monday the 21st, a week from valentine's day. here is the seven-day forecast. mild to warm again tomorrow, then a sharp cooldown on valentine's day, cooling off the heartfelt sentiments of monday.

going into tuesday, still bright and breezy. temperatures rebound on wednesday, and wednesday, thursday, and friday of next week, it is going to be milder than average, though it does not look like we will experience record warmth. >> now abc 7 sports with chris alvarez. chris: we are live from chase center, no reason to change the channel. lakers and warriors in about 40 minutes right here on abc seven. it is going to be a fun night, followed by "after the game." let's go to some of the pregame warm-up video. the lakers are in town. you see anthony davis. he is expected to go tonight. lebron james was questionable, but coach frank vogel said he should be able to go. there is steph curry. the warriors in much better position that the ninth place lakers. golden state has a firm hold on the two seed in the west, and with all this success for both franchises, especially in the last decade, you can expect

another amazing atmosphere tonight at chase between his longtime rivals. coach kerr: they have always kind of been the grammar franchise -- the glamour franchise in the league. there is always a lot of laker jerseys in the stands, x-ray electricity in the air at laker games, home and away. it is a lot of fun when they are in town. >> there is extra juice with the fact that lebron was the guy competing, i guess, the warriors and their dynasty. now that he is in california, i think all of those factors contribute to a great energy. chris: klay thompson just left the practice floor, so we are getting close. 24 hours from now, the super bowl will be underway, rams and bengals from l.a. the niners were so close to being in the championship. they lost, and that is why they are not playing. i talked to espn's booker

mcfarland this week about the super bowl and the 49ers off off-season. >> i think the rams win if they do not turn the football over. their talent is more superior. i think the bengals could win if they create turnovers for matthew stafford and joe mixon can control the clock. you want to shorten the game and be able to make plays, so we will see if the bangles can get it done. chris: the niners were one win short of the super bowl, so close to being the rams. what is your thought on the quarterback situation? what do you think the niners should do with trey lance waiting in the wings? >> they can leave lance on the bench for another year. i think he will be the starting quarterback. to garoppolo will be somewhere else. i think it will bring in a veteran. but the skill set is there, the talent is there, but everything needs to be refined.

he's got to go back and do it all. you start from the basics and work your way up, and kyle and john have a lot of work to do, but the good thing about it is he's got good, as my grandmother and grandfather would say, he's got good dirt, good soil. there is a really good foundation, and you can grow a lot from where he's at, but he's got to work on everything. chris: tom brady has retired, but on his podcast he left it a little open. do you think there is a chance he comes back? a lot of fans are thinking, could he come back? >> no. on one hand, you don't say, i don't have the competitive energy to play, and on the other hand say, i'm coming back. and on one hand, you cap say, i am going to spend time with my family and be a dad and husband. it does not work that way. chris: have a good weekend, and we will see what happens on super bowl sunday. >> thanks for having me.

chris: third round of the wm open in phoenix. sam writer lines it up, rolling in, and there it goes, a hole in one, his first career hole in one. the crowd went wild. there go all the drinks. the pga tour cleverly tweeting "a rain delay." maybe you can say he is the newest splash brother. plenty of splashes ahead

dion: abc screaming channel. to get the app, just search abc 7 bay area wherever you stream. you can even watch on your phone with the abc 7 bay area app. a san francisco man is on a mission to help people connect one pancake at a time. branson, here in the chef's hat, held his second free pancake party in the mission district. last month he put flyers up in the neighborhood and 75 people showed up and enjoyed 125 pancakes. you can see a bunch of folks showed up for today's free breakfast as well. branson is encouraging others to hold free pancake parties, saying it is a great wave to get to know your neighbors. they look delicious.

that is it for this edition of abc7news. welcome to the happiest place on earth! where your happy... is everywhere! anywhere! he's the “pew-pew! pew-pew!” kinda happy. they're even happy-er. and you?! you're the ha-pee-ist of them all! because this place... has all the happy you never knew could exist. so you're a new kind of happy, every time you visit. welcome to your happiest place on earth! only at the disneyland resort. make every visit your happiest for as low as $110 per day for a disneyland® resort 3-day, 1-park ticket.

care coalition, it's so good to see you all! alright! let's brainstorm. any ideas for new members? i'd like to nominate alaska airlines. this neck pillow i'm dating says great things! a caring airline?! wait, those exist?! it says here they were the first airline to switch from plastic bottles to boxed water. they also hire a lot of people from caring professions. i'm seeing former teachers and nurses. it's settled! alaska airlines is officially in the running! round of applause! okay jack, these recipes aren't gonna create themselves. it's crunch time! but first, it's heinz dip & crunch time! i'm dipping into the latest innovation by combining heinz secret sauce and potato chip crunchers for the perfect bite. my heinz dip & crunch bacon cheeseburger combo. only at jack in the box.

good evening. we've got the nba's biggest stars on abc tonight. there's lebron james. he's averaging 29 points a game. that's his most in over a decade. he's on the floor tonight with steph curry. step and the warriors, he leads the league in plus/minus by almost 100 points. the lakers and warriors going head-to-head. plus, reaction to the blockbuster trade that changed everything. >> the blockbuster is done. james harden is headed to the philadelphia 76ers and ben simmons is going to be a net.