>> building a better bay area, moving forward, finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. kristen: hi there. every day we talk with experts about issues important to the bay area and get answers in real time. is downtown still struggling to get workers and tourists back post-pandemic? why is traffic so bad? we got some interesting answers. also a special wheel of fortune contestant today from the south bay. she's playing not just for herself but for all the vision and mobility impaired students she works with. today's the first day with no covid state of emergency in the county, same as other bay area

counties and california. the health agency from the county says the move is in alignment with the end of california's state of emergency. supervisor, nice to have you on the show. >> thank you for having us. kristen: what are the key changes today from yesterday in alameda county? >> the county followed the state's lead in declaring the end to the public health emergency on the 28th of february, 11:59 p.m. our officer reached the decision based on science data but this does not mean the end of covid-19. it means we are beginning to phase out the tools we used to combat covid like the moratorium on evictions for renters, the automatic eligibility for medical insurance or medi-cal without verification of income.

it also means the end of masking mandates at county buildings and facilities. several county buildings were closed or had modified operating hours during the public health emergency. those buildings will reopen and we will change hours. kristen: you mentioned eviction moratoriums. i thought that was extended until the end of april. is it not? >> the ordinance or moratorium has language that says it will expire 60 days after the public health officer declares end to the emergency. it would automatically end in april. kristen: ok. there are small landlords who have been protesting saying the 60 day extension causes them further suffering, that some of them are about to go into bankruptcy. what do you say to that? >> we had asked at

board meeting for an assessment, an inventory of resources available to the county to address this phasing out of the pandemic or essentially the public health emergency and that includes the eviction moratoriums. we are trying to understand what available resources, mainly funding, that we can provide tenants and housing providers to deal with this issue like rental reimbursement for housing providers, that we are not getting rental income because of the eviction moratorium and then information to let tenants know the protections they already have under state law when it comes to evictions and rent increases. that assessment is something we will be getting in the next few weeks from our staff. kristen: we hope to follow-up with you on that. what about the county requirement of large employers

to continue providing covid specific sick leave? is that gone now as of today? >> that is being phased out as well. kristen: phased out meaning is there a 60 day grace period? how is that being phased out? >> that would be best responded to by the public health officer. that is not something i have been tracking is closely. kristen: got it. are there benefits or assistance you know of that are still going to continue for quite some time something you deliberately decided to keep going even after the emergency ended? >> one of the main things are resources for outreach to a lot of our community based organizations and our community clinics because they also need to help a lot of patients and residents no about their -- kno

about their eligibility for insurance and what protections are available to them post-pandemic. the pandemic and eviction moratorium essentially overshadowed a lot of protections in place that a lot of residents may not already know about. kristen: supervisor, just because the local declaration has ended does not mean covid is gone. your public health department is asking people to follow guidelines. i will put them on the screen and maybe you can walk us through these things you are hoping people will still do in your county. >> appreciate having a lot of these guidelines in place because covid is not gone. if you are going to be either the sniffles or you think you have the flu, you should stay home and make sure all your vaccines are up-to-date including the bivalent vaccine. even if you are suspecting you

might be ill, wear a mask and make sure you limit interactions with others, gatherings. obviously, get tested. we will follow the state guidelines and guidance making sure testing is available at the clinics. kristen: even if you don't run the mass vaccination clinics or testing clinics anymore, you still have a lot of supply left over and where would you advise people go? >> you should go to the clinics or your local health provider. kaiser has them. a lot of the health insurance providers have a supply that will still be available. kristen: thank you. i want to shift to another headline out of alameda county. the fair chance housing ordinance. your vote of no and the second readings helped seal its fate of not passing. it would have banned landlords

from doing background checks on prospective tenants. many advocates for the rights of formerly incarcerated people say this will ensure people who have done their time will not get a fair shake in the rental market. how do you view that and why did you vote no? >> to clarify, i did not vote no. i voted to abstain. i support, we support providing a fair chance to those who have a criminal history and paid their dues to society. we are balancing the rights of tenants to safe and affordable housing but protecting the ability of property owners to continue providing that needed housing and make sure there is an environment that is safe for all tenants. these ordinances including fair chance were developed three years ago. many of them have been superseded by state laws. i voted to abstain because i think we need an opportunity to harmonize the county ordinances with state law. for example, on fair chance,

state law was just passed recently that will go into effect july 1 that basically expunge his the criminal background records -- expunges the criminal background records for all prior offenders unless they committed another crime in the past three years. it excuses a small number of the most violent criminal charges, which is what a lot of the housing providers were having a concern with. about having those with violent criminal charges and not being able to understand they could potentially cause a risk to other tenants. i think we have make the kind of changes necessary in the county's fair chance and to move that forward. kristen: meantime, are you concerned this may lead to more homelessness at a time when the county is trying to solve that issue? >> i know that has been a concern of some speakers that spoke.

we at the county are committed to providing services including housing for our diverse communities. we are looking at opportunities with bringing in supportive housing, converting hotels into housing for those currently on housed and also increasing -- currently un-housed increasing transportation to appropriate resources. kristen: it will probably come up again -- what would it take for you to get from abstaining to yes? >> the harmonization with state law. kristen: all right. we will continue to follow the issue and we thank you for making time today. thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you very much. kristen: next, tired of the traffic in san fran? you are not alone. our media partners are getting

answers. why there is still gridlock even though downtown

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discover floor and decor today! kristen: we are always working to build a better bay area. the city is struggling to bounce back after the pandemic. even the mayor stated downtown may never be the same. if that is the case, why is traffic still so bad? it's a question so many are asking and now our media partners at the san francisco standard are looking into it. their latest article tracks traffic and the reasons it is not going away anytime soon. joining us live now, marianne

jones thompson, research editor for the standard. thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. kristen: glad you looked into it. so many commuters ask it. if many are still working from home several days a week, why is traffic making a full recovery? >> this is exactly the question we had in the office all the time. we commute to san francisco every day as well. data shows the bridge crossings and the traffic across the bridges has come back to normal since the pandemic but what hasn't come back to normal is public transportation levels of ridership around the bay area. kristen: what you're telling me it sounds like people are driving but not willing to get on bart or a bus right now. let's take a closer look at the bridge crossings you're referring to as well as the transit. walk us through, the green and the yellow. >> what we saw with bridge

crossings is right after the shelter-in-place order march, 2020, people completely stayed home and did not go across the bridge. these days it has gone all the way back up to 75 to 95% of normal. there has been not a corresponding increase in ridership by bart and express commute buses into san francisco. kristen: look at that, m bay bridge to san francisco traffic at 120% compared to pre-pandemic. please explain this. i get some of it is people still need to go in but instead of taking bart, for example they are driving but that cannot be all of it. if so many people are still working from home, who are these people coming into san francisco? [laughter] >> what you notice is people are still coming to the city for work. they may not be coming to

downtown, south market, financial district areas. this causes changes in travel patterns some of the experts described to me. perhaps they are working in the western or northern parts of the city or bypassing the city altogether and heading for the peninsula or sfo. what we did see is a change in how bay bridge traffic has been. in the past, it has been really bad, from almost 1:00 to 8:00 at night, you really had to plan on there being traffic getting back from the city to the east bay. these days it is a lot shorter window. we are seeing a peak that is similar but only 3:00 to 6 p.m. unfortunately in the morning, the same thing is not happening. everyone that needs to be to the city on a certain day is heading at the same time. that is causing a slowdown in the toll plaza and coming in the city that we didn't have before the pandemic. kristen: downtown streets feel

just as gridlocked. am i misinformed? what do you think about the impression? >> there was information the san francisco county transportation authority that showed different streets and how they crowded at different times of day. now compared to pre-covid. what we did see was a little in the western side of the city was more congested than it used to be. perhaps because of the closure of jfk drive and the great highway, people have less options of cutting through the park. in general the big change was, we saw in the data was coming into san francisco on the bay bridge in the morning. kristen: did you notice anything about speeds? >> yeah. some of the speeds -- it is one of those things where it is a chart you want the next bar to be lower. you usually want the next bar to be higher. looking for lower bars is an improvement. in this case the only bar, the

only area of traffic speeds that really slowed was the entrance to the bay bridge in the morning, i'm sorry, the entrance to the city from the bay bridge in the morning. areas we didn't see that were in the golden gate bridge area, which has never been as crunchy as the bay bridge but what happened in marin, also from some suburbs in the east bay, the commuter express buses have disappeared so people don't have the option of taking the former transport they used to take into the city, pre-pandemic. kristen: i'm going to wrap this up with asking you for a little good news, if there is any, and what commuters can do to try to avoid traffic? >> one thing they can do is reach out to their local transportation authority. if there is a route you used to take or a bus you use to hop to get to the city that doesn't exist anymore, you can ask them

and gather folks in the neighborhood to get that back. that's is happened in the city on the california 1x line which just started coming downtown again from the outer avenues, richmond. kristen: we do have a voice and sometimes that leads to change. [laughter] >> thank you so much. thanks for having me. kristen: check out more of the standard's original reporting on their website, sfstandard.com. up next, a southbay woman takes has been on wheel of fortune. the episode airs tonight. first, we will talk with her about the experience and what inspired her to do this. stay with this. here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. the three what? the three ps? what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance

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so your rate can never go up for any reason. options start at $9.95 a month, plus you get a 30-day money back guarantee. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. use this valuable guide to record your important information and give helpful direction to your loved ones with your final wishes. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. kristen: tune into wheel of fortune tonight and root for a southbay woman as she competes for herself and her students. she's a mobility specialist who

works with people with limited visual limitations. hi amanda. >> thanks so much for having me! kristen: i can see the energy. it's why they picked you. pat asks t introduce themselves. >> i'm amanda crane. i live in san jose with my husband and our spunky dog lucy. i am a mobility specialty for a southbay school district. i work with students ages 3-22. there it is! i love them so much! i feel so lucky to have a job i loveit is the best! kristen: that's adorable. i can certainly see why you love it. in fact, it is for your students, your mobility students you are playing tonight. it wasn't just for you. isn't there something you wanted to do for them? >> i've been watching since i was a kid. i finally got the courage to

apply last year and i thought, if i win and get some money, i can afford to spend a little more, i would love to give some of them an opportunity they may not have otherwise. so that could lead to really cool field trips or may some bigger extra adventure than we already get to do. kristen: aww. we will dish about the experience of being on set. one more question. how do you help empower their lives? >> i help empower their lives, they all have some degree of visual impairment. it's really an honor for me to be able to work with them. what i really find special is being able to help them gain confidence and independence. to be safe and independent in the community and pull out some things they may not know they are capable of and maybe get them out of their comfort zone,

with some support. as i see them grow and evolve into young adults, it is incredibly, it is a huge gift to be able to see them gain that confidence and start to be more independent and want to be. kristen: such important work. now we are rooting for you. tell us, you said you got the courage to apply finally. how long have you been trying to do this? was it tough to get on? >> it was more of a personal thing. i had to build up the confidence to submit the application. make a little video. after i submitted, my husband and i watch every night and i started watching it with more purpose in hopes it would pan out this way. it was really fun to finally see it come to fruition. kristen: wow. look. i can understand let's say jeopardy for example. you might hit the books and memorized trivia.

how do you prepare for wheel? >> definitely watching, which we do anyway, but going back and watching old episodes was helpful. i have a wheel of fortune puzzle book. there's an app now. i was reading more. i had some family over, i think at christmas time, and my siblings were writing puzzles on the board. [laughter] it was a full family event to try and help me feel more prepared. as you mentioned, it is not like you can study facts or read up on different things. kristen: had you tried out for other shows before? >> no, i really love the wheel. as i watched with more purpose and gained confidence i thought ok i will try it. worst case scenario, i get on there and fall on my face. kristen: which we hope doesn't happen tonight. is there a trick in spinning the wheel? do you look at the practices based on the force of the

spinning? >> that is a great question. they made it clear we should not be doing that. then i realized once you get out there there is so much more to focus on that that is another thing to think about and the wheel is way heavier than you think. that was one extra thing i couldn't even wrap my mind around. it was so fun to give it our best. the contestants i played against were incredible. we had so much fun. kristen: let's put up the picture. you look like you are having fun with the fellow contestants. this seems like a great bunch. someone is sticking their tongue out in the middle. >> they are wonderful. we were texting this morning and they are having their own watch parties tonight in different parts of the u.s. really cool experience to meet other people from around this space as well. kristen: was there some aspect you didn't expect? how was pat? how was vanna white? >> it was nerve-racking at first.

everyone, producers and everyone on set were so comforting. you can tell they did this as a profession because they helped us go through the process. they gave us some practice rounds. they went above and beyond to try and make us feel comfortable before we went on stage and also while we were on stage and giving us water and having us take rests and deep breaths and hyping us up. it was so sweet. it was surreal to see them in real life and think, oh! it is really surreal. it is not something i think about often like wanting to be on tv or in the spotlight. it was a really awesome expense. kristen: aww. we have a few seconds left. are you holding a watch party? >> yeah, i'm going to get together with our family and friends. see what happens. kristen: see what happens indeed. we are cheering for you along with your students i'm sure. thank you so much amanda. >> thank you it's been a

pleasure i appreciate it. kristen: we appreciate you. >> have a great day. kristen: you can watch amanda on wheel of fortune tonight at 7:30 p.m. right here on abc 7 to see if she wins big, then stay tuned for station 19, grey's anatomy and alaska daily. join us for abc news at 11:00. you can get our live news, breaking and more with our streaming app, search abc more paper being crumpled music: “i wish” by skee-lo boom! sound of paper balls landing in bins office workers cheering music stops why do we shoot baskets with paper balls? for the same reason we play scratchers from the california lottery. because a little play can make your day. logo scratches on

kristen: thank you so much for joining us for getting answers today. we are here every weekday at 3:00 answering questions with experts around the bay area. coming up, our recent storms

have been good news for california's drought but does that mean we are out of it? join us at 4:00 to find tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the alex murdaugh trial, the jury now deliberating. but what happened with one of the jurors? also, the flight over the u.s., the horrific turbulence. several people sent to the hospital. and tonight, the suspect in the idaho college murders and what's been pound in the family home. first, the case goes to the jury in the trial of alex murdaugh, charged with the murderers of his wife and son. but the unexpected trauma. what happened with one of those jurors. what the judge did. and eva pilgrim is there. severe storms hitting tonight. the tornado watch at this hour, and a real cncern over straight-line winds. dallas to little rock to memphis. 26 states from texas all the way up to the northeast on alert. rob marciano timing it out. two separate flights, two midair scares. a passenger plane taking off from