>> live, breaking news. ama: tonight the searches on for a white chevy pickup truck after was stolen in the middle of the bay bridge. dan: thank you for joining us. the investigation caused a major backup which is still affecting traffic right now. ama: that's get to karina nova for the latest. >> we been watching this since about noon. it happen right on the bay bridge and highway patrol had to close lanes, causing a big backup. there are still delays their in car stuck in traffic heading east, trying to get out of the city. here's what we know about the

armed carjacking. california highway patrol says it started as a crash on the lower deck of the bay bridge just before treasure island. island. >> one of the drivers in the initial crash exited the vehicle and try to steal the other vehicle that was involved in the accident. was able to flag down brandishing a flower -- firearm was able to steal the vehicle that was involved. ama: the armed carjacking suspect took off heading to oakland. police are looking for him and say he is armed and dangerous. they ask you to be on the lookout for this white chevy pickup truck.

you can see cars pretty much in a standstill, the lanes are open with a lot of delays heading eastbound, chp says for a freeway and a bridge is highly unusual but they are thankful no one was injured out of all of this. highway patrol is going to be looking at cameras in the area and also looking at the suspects car which he left at the scene. ama: moving on, judge ordered three men to stand trial in the shooting and robbery of a retired oakland police captain. the incident happened last october at the chevron gas station in oakland. during a preliminary hearing

testified what he heard one of the robbers say let's kill him and take his car. the gunman opened fire, killing one of the robbers. they are now facing charges of murder, attempted murder, and robbery and are due back in court on april 15. dan: now to the latest on the rent relief program. we are one day away from the expiration of that program but there could be an 11th hour extension. applied for the program. time is running out. the fate of hundreds of thousands of program is in limbo in 24 hours. they could automatically lose all the protections keeping them from getting evicted camilla mueller is one of them.

she's been waiting on the state's aid for three months. um, yeah, it's just i swear it wasn't for kids. it wouldn't be as hard but the kids knowing that they don't know where they might sleep tomorrow kind of thing. that's what hurts the most camila is a mom of six. she runs a daycare with her husband in their home, but with epidemic they lost business and fell behind in rent. they owe two months in rent. that's about $5,000 if california's rent relief program expires tomorrow, they couldn't end up homeless a reality. they know too. well, their entire family has been homeless twice before their whole school new that they were home. how they had to get to school every day, they knew where they were traveling from and they knew their whole school and it's like it hurts just because like i said, we worked so hard to just have a roof period she joined a group of renters urging their city and state officials to pass a rent control ordinance

or to extend. protections passed tomorrow assembly member timothy grayson's legislation a b-2179 could extend the eviction moratorium until june for anyone who applies for the state's health by thursday, but the bill hasn't been approved yet tomorrow. it goes to the senate floor for full vote of the senate i am i am absolutely confident that my colleagues see and feel the urgency on the other hand landlords. with the e2179 as a solution. does it really solve the problem right because you know, we know at the state level there are 500,000 applications that have been submitted, you know, 160,000 have been processed. and so there's a backlog there that's credible derek barnes says landlords are feeling the

pressure of the state's backlog. he says more than half of the landlords have helped haven't received any money from the state constantly get calls about what are the updates? when is the money coming for camilla an extension until june would mean having a home for her kids, but come to life first many could be back to square one. i don't understand what this country's gonna turn into if this happens because there's going to be so many people in the streets. i asked assembly member timothy grayson why the backlog he said the federal government has taken a very long time to distribute the money to california, california received a 5.2 billion dollars for this program in the newsroom loose peña abc 7 news. we know this is a hugely popular program, but i wonder how popular how many applications is the state processing every week. yeah, the state's housing and community development department said there are processing over 9,000 applications a week. one of them is from nora gray the single mom of three kids.

we introduced you to last week. i spoke to nora today. she said the state paid for the six months. she was behind in rent her plan now is to use a 15,000 you donated so she can move to a more affordable apartment and pay for her daycare as she looks for a full-time job. but again if you think about it, they're still at least 350,000 people in california who haven't heard back from the state, which means this is going to take a very long time, but slowly some phonons are getting this aid nutrition. all right loose. thank you. san francisco and oakland are getting more than 20 million dollars in state money to create supportive housing the governor announced 140 million dollars in funding today that will go toward housing for people across california who are exiting homelessness oakland will get almost 15 million dollars for the piedmont place project a motel on macarthur boulevard that will become 45 units of permanent housing. san francisco is getting 7 million to renovate a 25-room hotel into housing. president biden is calling on congress tonight to pass

billions of dollars in additional funding to fight the pandemic the president made his pitch before getting his second booster of the pfizer covid vaccine one day after the fda approved a fourth dose for those ages aged 50 and older the president says his administration's response to the pandemic is working, but he says money for testing boosters and vaccines is quickly running out putting americans at risk. if we need a different vaccine for the future to combat a new variant, we're not going to have enough money to purchase it. we cannot allow that to happen. today mr. biden also announced the launch of covid.gov a one-stop website to help people access covid tests vaccines and treatments. here in the bay area some school districts are out on spring break, but when school resumes students will be required to take at home covid tests abc 7 news senior education reporter liam melendez has the details. before san francisco students left for spring break the school

district handed out 123,000 rapid antigen tests like the recommendation is for everyone to get tested the weekend before returning to classes the superintendent saying pro. covid-19 testing can prevent exposures outbreaks and unnecessary missed days for sfusd staff and students a good example is berkeley unified during their last winter break. a school district there said students self-tested right before coming back to school in january and nearly 300 of them tested positive for covid what that meant is that we essentially intercepted 300 students who would have been on our campuses during that day that's likely many times more cases that could have spread during that. was but only half of them arrived in time the supply chain issues. to blame this time the governor

ordered 14 million and were sent early we have about and test kits that we received all of those test kits are now distributed or will be distributed by friday of this week even in schools are in session. these rapid tests are important because anyone exposed to covid is now allowed to stay in the classroom if the test comes back negative instead of quarantining and missing out on school. we know that students do better at school when they're in person learning with their peers and their teachers and so with this group tracing approach if someone is considered a close contact, they will be allowed to stay in school unless they develop symptoms or if they test positive for covid-19 that went into fact a week ago now also changing in san francisco public schools is the mask mandate when students get back from spring break on april 4th, the elementary school students and the very young kids who are not vaccinated won't have to wear the masks. it is still very highly

recommended in the newsroom leanne melendez. abc 7 news. after the break hundreds of students in the east bay reaching out to offer support and kind words to the children of ukraine the idea that started in one classroom and quickly caught on throughout the entire school. abc 7 news at five continues in just a m

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[announcer] call now and get $3,000 off! ukraine where russian forces launched relentless and indiscriminate attacks in and around kiev and other cities. this comes one day after russia pledged to drastically reduce its combat operations and those areas to foster peace today the pentagon confirmed that it seeing small numbers of russian troops moving away from the capital but officials are not calling it with all at this point meantime abc news is reporting that us officials now believe that vladimir putin is being misinformed by his advisors about the performance of the russian military because they're too afraid to tell him

the truth. in the east bay an elementary school is getting behind ukraine students at saint teresa school in oakland are finding a way to support children who fled the war-torn country abc 7 news reporter tara campbell spent some time at the school today and brings you their story. from a simple hello to a carefully crafted heart the students at saint teresa school in oakland want the children of ukraine to know they care and social studies. we see the news and it's honestly, it's pretty sad brianna coyle and sophia cruz hernandez leading the way to get these letters into the hands of children who have fled war definitely makes me rethink about the things we have and just helping them makes me feel a little bit better teacher chris lynch came up with idea as a way for his students to process some sadness and give some support that's right to these students. and say we got your back or we're with you and somebody

halfway around the world is thinking of you. so if they read this, they know that someone is out there and they care and they love them. i'm kind of just trying to be friendly and just have a conversation with them just to so they have someone to talk to get their mind off. what's happening right now. i feel like it'll help them to realize that people care. are you hoping that they'll be able to that oh, yeah, so i put like questions like what's your personality and what are some things that you like and word of these letters spread quickly throughout the school. we started just in seventh grade. however the rest of the school found out about it. they're like wait we want to write letters too all 200 plus students tk through eighth grade. they're all on board lucas lee is in fourth grade and wants ukrainian children to know it's safe in america. maybe they'll have a better life here in the us and once the war is over they can go back to rain rebuild their house and have better life and they really feel

empowered to be able to share their voice alicia. ortegon is the school principal and says service to others is a big part of their mission. they want to do something positive. they feel like they have the ability to do so and i think that we're really trying to grow future leaders as for these two young leaders. pretty proud of their school for getting behind ukraine rather than just sitting back. they can actually make a difference just like by writing a simple letter tara campbell abc 7 news after the break drilling 400 feet into the ground. we'll tell you about the project underway at uc berkeley. store heat underground and eventually transition to 100%

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technology to further its goal of making the campus carbon free this project involves storing heat in the ground and tonight abc 7 news reporter ryan curry shows you the new drill that is helping the university to exactly that.

going deep so there's like tree 10 320 deep underground the earth can help us solve the problems. we're creating for the earth and evaluating each step by just taking some samples out so we can understand what the theology is like on an effort for green sustainable future. that is the goal of this drill uc. berkeley is using it to see how much heat can be stored underground according to the university. it works by taking heat emitted from products. air conditioning instead of releasing that heat to the atmosphere. they will trap it below the surface and use it to heat buildings during the winter. so it becomes like a micro grid in terms of heating and cooling rather. you see microgrid for the electricity. this drilling project is part of a larger goal by the university before the decade is over. they want all of these buildings to be and have the whole campus not amid any carbon. we currently burn natural gas for our heat and electricity in

our campus. but that produce a lot of co2, but now campus is moving to electrification. meaning there are heating and cooling will be electrified part of that electrification involves this step of storing and reusing heat which the school says will make a big difference in its energy usage. it will allow us to have a more efficient system and a more a smaller system. is a less. expensive in berkeley ryan curry abc 7 news. the governor's office has launched a plan design to make the fire season less dangerous across the state earlier this week governor newsom helped demonstrate how that plan would work clearing some highly flammable brush along with cal fire officials. the governor's wildfire and forest resilience. ask force plans to expand use of prescribed burns to help make some forests and communities more resilient. the plan includes launching an online prescribed fire permitting system. it's part of an overall goal to treat one million acres annually

by 2025 onto the weather a cool today. but amma that's much change. yeah. it was still breezy too mike. yeah. we'll be breezy through about nine o'clock and then once we shut those breezes down, that's when the warming begins. borrow and even more so next week. i want to show you something that doesn't happen here very often. we barely get thunderstorms, but we had some thunderstorms in wichita. we're going to show you we'll have to hold that. but the lightning came up from the ground it was really impressive. here's a look at what's going on in emeryville and you can see it's pretty quiet the clouds finally cleared out all that missed and drizzle from the morning really locked us into a cooler than average afternoon 55 right now in san francisco to san jose and santa clara is about 62 degrees up in the north basing plenty of sunshine in san rafael a few high clouds roaming by temperatures in the mid 60s and petaluma and santa rosa fairfield concord 63, but livermore only 58, so make sure you grab a coat before you head out. as this sun starts to set it's going to cool off quickly during the evening hours. let me fewer clouds tonight. we've got a dry cold front

rolling through right now. it introduces that drier air. that means fewer clouds no, mist and drizzle tomorrow. maybe along the peninsula coast if anywhere first warming trim begins tomorrow goes through saturday, and the one next week is going to be more robust. in fact, we're starting to see some 90s show up in couple of our neighborhoods here the winds we were talking about gusting the nearly 40 of sfo. over 20 just about everywhere till you get inland then they're dropping down into about 15. they'll hang around through nine o'clock. so if you're thinking about eating outside or just spending some time outside, we'll quickly fall into the low 50s by the time we get to nine ten o'clock our destination a little bit cooler tomorrow without that cloud cover some 30s up in the north bay. valleys. it's possible in the san ramon valley, but mainly low to mid 40s in just about all of our neighborhoods a brief push of cooler air, so protect the pets and plants and lake them into see no counties before you go to bed tonight through nine o'clock tomorrow. here's looking tomorrow. your 67 to about 70 in the south bay with san jose at 69 palo alto 67 and we dropped down to 65 as you head up towards san mateo upper 50s the low 60s along the peninsula coast with

low to mid 60s for downtown south san francisco, sausalito and stenson beach. we'll have upper 60s. mainly low 70s about 68 to 72 through the north bay could hit 73 in santa rosa one of the warm spots mid-dupper 60s along the east bay with oakland 66 fremont 67 same thing at castro valley and a little bit warmer 68 73 for our inland east bay neighborhoods now. here's a look at next week and look at that. we have a 70 to 90 percent chance of above average temperatures. so we'll warm up into the 70s everywhere by saturday will fall back sunday with breezy and cooler conditions and then look at those 80s tuesday and wednesday and thursdays the day if we have some 90s it could happen. so here's a look again at that lightning. isn't that amazing? almond dan? is that upward lightning spider in the cross the wichita kansas last night? during a thunderstorm and the gentleman actually caught this on his cell phone. so when you see those commercials you like i can't get my phone to do that evidently. you can yeah, because that you

know how fast lightning moves in for him to slow it down that much on this camera and catch that that was spectacular. it really was. all right. thank you, mike boy. that was cool. all right in san francisco police have arrested three people who they say broken and burglarize the castro theater happened about 6:30 yesterday morning when officers saw a broken glass and noticed a man inside the theater they detain and search the area finding two other men as well as tools that were suspected to be used in the burglary. they found also according to a supervisor rafael mendelman. the theater was

large out-of-state corporations have set their sights on california. they've written a ballot proposal to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless, but read the fine print. 90% of the profits go to out-of-state corporations, leaving almost nothing for the homeless. no real jobs are created here. but the promise between our state and our sovereign tribes would be broken forever. these out-of-state corporations don't care about california. but we do. stand with us. i'm 53, but in my mind i'm still 35. that's why i take osteo bi-flex, to keep me moving the way i was made to. it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long term. osteo bi-flex. available at your local retailer and club.

newscasts breaking news weather and more with our new abc 7 bay area streaming tv app on apple tv android tv fire tv and roku just search abc 7 bay. area and download it now. is new scientific evidence that secondhand marijuana smoke could be a bigger health risk than smoke from a cigarette particularly if the pie is being smoked from a bong the study comes from the uc berkeley school of public health researchers found secondhand cannabis smoke released during bong hits contains fine particulate matter with concentration dangerously higher than the smoke from tobacco unlike tobacco or marijuana cigarettes a bong has a large open.

the top allowing for a tremendous inhale followed by a dramatic outflow of secondhand smoke, right? finally tonight oakland's highland hospital is set to be renamed in honor of late alameda county supervisor wilma chan. yeah, just last month the board of supervisors unanimously voted in favor of the renaming as an elected leader chan prioritized health care accessibility. she also chaired the board of supervisors health committee chan was hit and killed last november while walking her dog in alameda in a statement the ceo. a health system says in part. we are honored to celebrate her legacy by renaming the highland campus the wilma chan highland hospital campus. it is fitting that this location which since 1864 has been committed to carrying healing teaching and serving all in our community should bear her name. all right that is going to do it for this edition of abc 7 news. thank you so much for joining us tonight world news tonight with david muir is next. i'm amidates and i'm dan ashley for mike nico all of us here. we appreciate your time.

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breaking news as we come on the air. the severe storm threat at this hour. tornado watches and warnings from louisiana to illinois. an ef-2 tornado damaging homes and an elementary school in arkansas. the system moving from the deep south to the northeast. millions bracing for twisters and damaging winds topping 80 miles per hour. ginger zee in the storm zone timing it out. overseas tonight, 24 hours after russia said it was scaling back attacks in parts of ukraine, new explosions reported near kyiv. the pentagon saying it's seen less than 20% of russian troops moving away from around the capital. haunting new images showing the widespread devastation of mariupol, the city leveled. president biden speaking with ukraine's president zelenskyy for nearly an hour today.

what the u.s. is now pro