but do they really? do they see all that you are? at kaiser permanente all of us work together to care for all that is you. kristi yamaguchi teams up with some former 49 ers. they're talking unscrew about sports success and living our best

lives and the strike expands. the united auto workers just walked out of 38 parts distribution centers in 20 states in including california to let's begin with this. the bond we formed with animals can be life changing when a beloved pet dies, the loss can be intense sorrow for many people. it's like losing a family member. but there are ways to cope with the grief. and joining us live right now is erica messner, founder and owner of wolfie wish to share techniques helping pet owners hold on to their happy memories and come to peace with their loss. erica thanks for joining us. >> thank you, kristin. it's nice to be here. >> so we understand you're in the bay area right now for a conference. >> that's correct. i'm currently at the international association of pet cemeteries and crematories in san jose. >> all right. and look, i know you have a lot of expertise in this area. tell us what wolfie's wish is and how you started the company. >> yeah, wolfie's wish is just

an all encompassing pet loss support company that my mom and i founded when we realized that there weren't a lot of resource available, especially when i was grieving the sudden loss of wolfgang. so i started with writing affirmation cards and then that grew into journals and online support, and it's still continuously growing. and we're we're really excited to be able to offer this and that. there's a demand for it. >> i see. so then you realize it wasn't something that only you went through. so many pet owners go through that, right? so give folks some advice. i think you started to just talking about some of the things you did, but what advice would you give when a pet owner has to put down their animal? >> yeah, it is a really difficult time. and i think the best thing we can do is provide ourselves with self-care and just incorporate space for the grief to happen and also to ask our friends and family and community for support. right? and maybe that is some time off of work. maybe that is having

someone check in on me or check my mail. and so it's really grief is an individual process and it's really different for everyone. but the basic thing is to know that you need help and then to ask for it, you know, i know for a lot of people they also have this desire to honor their pet, their loved one, their best friends in some cases. >> what are some of the ways to do that? >> yeah, i think some great things to do are to talk with your family on what can come up with some ideas for me. i light a candle the same brand, the same scent, just about every day in honor of wolfgang. i also have an instagram account that's private of just all the photos and videos that i can find so that when i'm feeling like i'm missing him or i'm losing touch, i can go back and watch that and it always makes me smile. so there's so many things, and these are just a few examples. i want to give one more, and that is to write a love letter and the story of how you found your pet. so that you can put it away

and know that those memories won't be forgotten. and you can always go back and read it and you know, i think sometimes there's a huge mix of emotions to write, including, you know, especially if your pet has been sick for a while. >> when they pass you may feel some relief, but along with that comes some guilt, too. sometimes right. how do you deal with that? absolutely >> yeah. guilt is a normal emotion for grief and i think that once it's acknowledged, you know, for myself and my experience, i realize that it wasn't helping me that the guilt was only making me feel worse and compounding the suffering that i was already going through. so i wrote one of my affirmation cards, which is i'm just willing to let go of feeling guilty knowing that i did the best i could with what i had. and that gave me just a little bit of breathing room and space around the guilt and ultimately, you know, it was a process, but i no longer really feel guilty about the way that

he died tragically. >> how did wolfie pass, if you don't mind me asking? >> yeah, wolfie, a friend was over and left a window open even though we had some house rules and he's a maniac. he was a tasmanian cat and he got out and he fell. he fell out of our apartment and i had to rush him to the vet and he died right when we got there. so it was quite, quite a day, you know, it's impossible to say which is harder, right, when it's so unexpected like that, or if the passing has been coming for a while. >> but regardless, let's say you have someone in your life who's suffering from that, the loss of their pet, how would you support them? >> i would ask them what kind of support do you want me to give to you? right? so instead of assuming i know what they need, i like to ask and have a conversation about it. do you want me to check in on you or do you want some time to be alone?

can i bring you food? can i bring you flowers? you know what would be helpful for you right now? do you want to go to a movie? you know, it doesn't have to be complicated or. or really. it's just a simple. i'm there for you. i'm showing up for you. i understand. >> and look, what if somebody has more than one pet, right? >> and they lose one? i wonder if there's also an impact, an emotional one, even on the other. pet >> well, definitely so. i had a cat. i had two cats at the time. pg and wolfgang. and i noticed that pg also seemed to be having some of the same symptoms i did of just being withdrawn in and kind of lazy and sleepy and disengaged listed. and so i made sure to give him extra love and attention because i don't have the, you know, the scientific background, but it seemed to be that he was also grieving. and i've heard other stories like that. so we really have to come together and support not only one another, but make sure our

pets are are doing okay as well and just giving them extra love makes a lot of sense. >> what should pet parents know when they welcome a new pet into their lives after suffering a loss? >> yeah, i think for me, i adopted two more cats a couple months later and that was the right time for me and my husband reminded me that we can never replace wolfgang even if we got an identical looking cat, which we didn't. and that, you know, the bond would be different. but it would also be wonderful. and so i think a lot of people even are afraid to adopt another animal thinking that they're somehow betraying their heart dog or their heart cat when actually, i think our pets always want us to be happy and it's fine to open up your heart again to another animal. i would like to say that, you know, i adopted wolfgang as a kitten, assuming we were going to be together for a really long time, and that didn't happen. so i think having some basic information and decision ins

such as am i going to bury my pet, am i going to cremate my pet? should he fall out, he or she fall ill and just have a basic plan so that you're not shocked and shocked going, how do i make these choices? right. and so you have a little bit of a contingency and so you're not so, so lost when it happens. >> erica messer a lot of great tips on how to heal from pet loss. your website is wolfie wish. thank you so much for your time. enjoy your visit to the bay area. thank you so much. coming up next. uaw widens its strike. what does that mean for the auto industry and what's the possible impact on the us labor movement or you when it comes to servicing your cars? we'll explore those questions when an expert in labor and employment joins us

♪ non-drowsy claritin knocks out symptoms from over 200 allergens. without knocking you out. feel the clarity and make today

the most wonderful time of the year. live claritin clear.

miss an opportunity next week to join them in conversation in a new program offered by broadway sf. and if you're a fan of figure skating, even better, because this unique chat will be moderator by none other than the bay area's favorite olympic champion, kristi yamaguchi joining us live now to talk about this and more is kristi yamaguchi herself. hey, kristi. >> hi, kristin. how are you? >> i'm good. it's been a while. so good to see you. i know you've been busy. okay. so this event is next wednesday at the curran theater in san francisco , part of a new series. tell us about it. >> yes, it's a new series called unscripted, hosted at the curran theater. and this is going to be

the first one. and it's really exciting because it is with so many 40 niner legends, steve young, ronnie lott, harris barton, brant jones and dwight hicks. so it's going to be a fun, modern conversation by me. you know, i'm really going to let them banter and tell us some great stories. give us some insights of you know, maybe those tidbits we don't quite get from sideline interviews lose post game. so it should be really fun, i'm sure. >> i mean, you'll be able to dive in, right? what makes them tick or their path to success and things that motivated them by the way, we wanted to run some figure skating video of you just because we always love seeing that look. you i don't know if everybody knows this, but this excites you personally because you're actually quite a big 40 niners fan, right? >> big fan. i mean, my family had 40 niners season tickets since i could remember. i mean, we were there and the candlestick park days and you

know, obviously still cheering them on. um, to this day and age. so you know that dynasty and under the bill walsh era was , you know so much fun and so inspiring to watch. and so it'll it'll be a great conversation. i mean, it's, you know, hopefully we can get into like, what was it like playing with bill walsh and under george seifert and what were their friendships like ? who was the funniest in the locker room or you know, quote, who said this is so you know, some some insight to maybe what those in depth 40 niners fans are interested to hear. >> right. i've always wanted to talk to ronnie lott about you know, kind of cutting off part of his finger to keep playing that game. and i always thought, whoa, you know, athletes must be a special breed. but you would know something about that. you probably play with pain or used to skate with pain all the time, right? yeah >> i mean, i think there's a

certain level of determination that each athlete has and that brings to the table. and, you know, it certainly a passion that you bring, but you know, the sacrifice that comes along with it. sometimes you got to make a choice. so yeah, ronnie made a pretty courageous choice there for sure. i know. >> oh, he'll be so fun to talk to. i'm sorry to keep bringing it back to you, but christie, i'm super fascinated myself. was there a time when you were in a major competition, when you were hiding something? some ailment that was so bad but you didn't let it show you? >> you remember being really, really sick at one international competition and having to take place in japan and just barely even being able to get out of bed, but had to kind of push through it and probably didn't have my best performance out on the ice. but but, you know, i think those are the times when you realize, like, okay, if i have to, i can get through it. i can do it. um, and, and, and

then just try to be as healthy as you can the next time around . yep, yep. >> push through. do the best you can, and then whatever the results are, that's fine. right? look, you're frequently interviewed and of course you do a lot of emceeing and commentating, but is this something new for you too? >> it is pretty new. usually i'm on the other side kind of answering the questions. and you know, that are being moderated. so it's a little different. i'm a little bit nervous and anxious because, you know, i want to be able to pull out as much as i can in some interesting stories that the audience will really appreciate. so um, you know, it is a little different being on the other side, but i'm really looking forward to it. >> i'm sure you'll do great. by the way, if you ever want to fill in on this show, just just let me know, you know? >> oh, no, that's all yours. >> i couldn't fill in, though, on the ice. i think we just show some clip from when you opened the kristi yamaguchi ice rink in san ramon. i think that was a

few years ago. you're doing that again this year, right? >> yes, very excited to have our holiday ice rink coming back to city center in san ramon. and incredible partnership and it might be a little bit bigger this year. so we hope everyone has a chance to come on out and skate and, you know, enjoy the family friendly atmosphere for sure. >> hey, besides moderating conversations with 40 niner legends, your main work is actually still your foundation. the work that you do right always dream to support childhood literacy. you've really grown this year, right? >> and we have grown this year. we have a really big five year strategic plan. we're actually in year two of that and we've now grown to 29 schools throughout the bay area and hawaii and it's all about putting those critical literacy resources into the hands of, you know, our most opportunity rich areas and, you know, making sure their families have that all important family engagement support because. you know,

there's no greater gift you can give than than reading to your children. >> yeah, for sure. and i know most of the schools that you support, the 29 schools are mostly here in california and also hawaii. and hawaii. for the folks who don't know, is really near and dear to your heart, especially a strong connection to maui. tell us what you are doing right now because i know you're not. you did not, fortunately lose a property or a loved one there in maui, but you spent a lot of time there. so how are you helping out after the devastating wildfires? >> yes, it's been a home away from home for our family for ten plus years. we have property up in kaanapali. so so devastating. and heartbreaking for the people of lahaina in maui. and you know, always dream reached out and offered support right away monetarily. but to the maui strong fund. but we're also very dedicated to help rebuild and particularly the library from lahaina and the elementary school who was completely lost.

so as the rebuild starts, we would like to help rebuild their library with books and, you know, we've already ordered a specific book title for our, um, the schools out there or the school children who are displaced and it was a title that, um, you know, we're working closely with the education system on the ground in maui to mak sure that all, you know what they need is what they're getting. >> well, for folks who want to support your efforts is it's always dream .org, right? that's the website for your your nonprofit. all right christy what can't you do. thank you so much for joining us today. and for folks who want to catch you in the first unscripted conversation next wednesday at the current, you can get tickets at broadway, sfo .m. thank you , christy. >> thank you so much, kristin. >> all right, talk soon. coming up, the last on the uaw strike. that's nex

both simple and life-changing. what's not a choice? addiction to opioids like fentanyl. but even with opioid use disorder, you still have a choice. by choosing treatment, you choose family, your career and your life on your terms. choose change, california, and find medically proven treatment options at choosechangeca.org.

us. here is a map of those sites which includes a stolen swease facility in southern california . the expanded strike, which began today, does not target ford because the union reports improvements in negotiations with ford. joining us live now to talk about the impact of the strike, especially in this new expand phase, professor john logan, director of labor and employment studies at san francisco state university. professor logan, thanks for your time. >> hi, glad to be on. >> we are one week into the uaw strike against the big three, gm, ford, stellantis. explain what changed as of today and the expansion. >> right. so originally the union had said that it was going to strike against all three companies and that's what it did in last week's midnight thursday deadline. it's immediately struck both ford, gm and stellantis plants in michigan in

indiana and ohio. now, this. as of today, it has expanded the strike to 38 facilities in 20 states. but only, as you said, against atlantis and gm. it said that ford is continuing to make progress in discussions that ford is presenting an improved offer with regard to multiple important economic issues to do with wages, to do with job security, to do with the elimination of the two tier wages and benefits. so the union is saying that it's pleased with the progress. it's not at the point of reaching an agreement with ford, but this is targeting a distribution centers and parts plants for only for gm and stellantis probably with the intentions of hurting dealerships, apps that work with

with with stellantis and gm. so it's really ramping up the pressure on those two companies and saying that, in fact, it may expand aid to even more facilities, parties in the days and weeks to come if they also do not make better offers and come closer to what the uaw is demanding, particularly on wages. issues like wages. um cost of living allowance, job security and the elimination of job tiers. >> let me just ask you about these 38 new places. i understand they're distribution centers sending parts to dealerships. i guess they will be used in repairs. explain why that hurts or could hurt dealerships so much, which. >> well, the dealerships only have a certain amount of reserves of these cars. and, you know, from the start, the uaw has tried to target hit those facilities that it thinks will

inflict the greatest potential economic damage on the companies . originally, the three plants that were targeted were targeted because these were particularly profitable facilities making, you know, amongst the most profitable all cars for all three. and now is partly an effort to keep the companies guessing. so that they don't actually know which will be the next facilities to be targeted. and you know, and as i said, the intention is to inflict maximum economic damage. and it thinks that this can be done partly through hurting the dealerships or the work with gm and stellantis. but think, you know, this will just be part of the expansion that we'll see within the next few days if there's not progress. i mean, it's really a warning to general motors and stellantis of like, you know, there's more to come. you don't know what it's going to be, but

it will be very targeted to make sure that it has the greatest economic impact. and so and using ford as an example, to say that, you know, ford is negotiating in good faith, is making better offers. and that's why we're not expanding the strike action against ford. so this is really unlike most of the disputes we've ever seen in the auto industry before. typically they target one company and engage in an all out strike. that's what happens in 2019 when the uaw went on a 40 day strike against general motors. this is saying they're potentially going to target all three companies and that they're going to do it, you know, in a plant by plant basis. so that the companies do not know what to expect and so that it will be done strategically, basically to strike at the most valuable and the most disruptive facilities for the companies.

>> as you know, president biden is going to go out there to support uaw workers in michigan next tuesday. and i wonder, i mean, a democrat president making a statement, you know, in support of labor perhaps is not too big of a surprise. but i wonder what kind of influence, if any, you think that will make . you know, does it help their ability to kind of stand their ground a little bit longer? i do know they have a massive you know, fund for strike. yes. >> yeah. i mean, they have a very large strike fund. but, you know, even with the $800,000,000 million strike fund, the uaw has, it would last a matter of months if they were to engage in an all out strike. so they have to use it strategically. and as you say, symbolically, biden's visit to the picket line in michigan is extremely important . you know, he's offered support for the auto workers in the past , but this will be the first time that he's actually gone out there to join in to show his

support for workers on the picket line. i think it will be sort of tremendously helpful in terms of, you know, boosting morale and, you know, keeping morale and activism amongst the autoworkers up. i think it also just places the companies under much more pressure to sort of like, you know, saying that, you know, that this is a strike that's the autoworkers voted overwhelmingly, 97% voted for strike action that the american public, 75% support. the autoworkers in the strike against the companies. and now we have a sitting democratic president who is not only offering rhetorical support, but actually going to the picket line and standing with workers. professor logan, thank you so much. >> really, really appreciate your time. by the way, you can get our live newscast, breaking news, weather and more on our abc7 bay area streaming tv app. anytime. we'll take a short break

your hairline. or that thing where your knee just gives out for no reason. but... you can choose your doctor who will care for all the things you didn't choose. kaiser permanente for all that is you.

>> david: tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. the tropical storm set to hit the east so strong. now hurricane watches up tonight from north carolina, then up through new york city and boston this will be felt. and the u.s. senator indicted tonight on staggering charges of corruption. you'll see the images here, the gold bars and cash allegedly found in his home. first tonight, the tropical storm nearing hurricane strength as it closes in on the east coast at this hour. north carolina and virginia declaring