right now at 4:30, breaking news, up in flames. a massive firefight is under way in the south bay as firefighters work to stop an old warehouse from being destroyed. plus -- >> i don't think the super bowl back to stay at home. we just can't afford to do it. >> looming super bowl surge, the warning about covid-19 variants already spreading in the bay area and the simple ways you can protect yourself during sunday's game day. and facing a possible recall, the growing number of californians who say they're upset with how governor gavin newsom is handling the covid-19

pandemic. "today in the bay" starts right now. good wednesday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm kris sanchez. marcus washington is going to join us in our next hour. we want to get a look at traffic but first, the weather with hall. >> good morning. so we're moves into the north bay, we could see a chance of showers by this afternoon, but it will be very hit or miss, and then as we go into the day tomorrow, it's going to be cool and sunny and for the weekend, our temperatures will be warming up. we'll talk more about all of this in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. mike, how is it looking for the early morning commute? >> kari, we had some issues over here on local road ways. we'll start with the breaking news in san jose, we have video of a fire that broke out in front of an abandoned building

on bascom, but it leaves it closed you can naglee with bill's cafe and san carlos, stephen's creek boulevard, where they changed names near the crossroads, keep that in mind. fire crews are on scene. we've heard and a half injuries on the scene, we're tracking that local closure. as we look at the other video, this say deadly crash that happened on the nimitz freeway in fremont, happened just about 12:40 overnight, it was reported there on southbound 88 number o one person died as a result. there we cleared within the last half hour on the nimitz freeway itself. the live look shows you the nimitz with the headlights heading south past tesla, where the crash was between mission and warren on this stretch here, all lanes are now cleared again for the nimitz. we have some smaller incidents but those were the big ones, kris.

we'll send it back to you. >> thank you, mike. a live look at raymond james stadium in tampa and the countdown to super bowl is on. >> but health leaders say the parties should be called off, with covid-19 spreading and thousands still dying, game day should just be immediate family day. "today in the bay's" genejean elle have more on a super bowl spike. >> reporter: restaurants with outdoor dining would love it if you book a table. the biggest became in football usually brings people together. california health officials are warning super bowl parties could lead to a spike in covid cases just like thanksgiving did. >> and if you are with people another household in the backyard watching it, keep your distance, keep your mask on. >> reporter: with hospitalization rates dropping, dr. mark gally says gatherings would be like fumbling in the end zone. the supervisor is concerned

super spreader party also bring shutdowns back. >> i don't think>> reporter: re offer outdoor dining like missouri's in san francisco will be showing the game on televisions outside. you'll need a reservation. football fans we talked to say party plans are sidelined. >> i am not going to a super bowl party because that would be super irresponsible. >> reporter: but they're concerned about covid fatigue. >> stuck at home for so long now that i don't think they're going to listen, but maybe, you never know, maybe they'll stay at home, right? >> reporter: time will tell. jean elle, "today in the bay." more and more california hospitals are seeing manageable numbers of seriously ill covid patients. according to the latest numbers, even the hardest-hit areas are rebounding. southern california's available icu beds now hover at just about 10%. in the next month, availability is expected to reach 35%.

the number of new admissions statewide is also down significantly. as a result the state is reining in staff-to-patient ratios. governor gavin newsom approval is starting to sag and some of that has to do with the handling of the pandemic. a poll finds 31% approve of his job in that respect and 22% approve of the way california is rolling out the covid vaccine. as. in september it was 64%. 48% nowdisapprove. the recall campaign meanwhile says it has about 85% of the signatures necessary for a ballot measure. >> the fact that he has completely mismanaged this entire situation. there's many states that have handled the crisis in a much different manner, didn't have to shut down the fifth largest economy in the world, they destroy people's lives. >> newsom's team responded in a

statement saying "voters recognize that this is an incredibly challenging, intensely complicated and critically important moment for public officials worldwide. that's why the governor remains laser focused on vaccinations, reopening,ief and recovery." the same poll also indicates just 36% of voters support that recall effort. a follow-up now oakland is the first bay area city to approve a new hazard pay for workers at large grocery store chains. leaders approved the so-called hero pay plan unanimously. it will apply to whole foods, safeway and target. workers will receive an additional $5 an hour as long as the pandemic councilmembers put off a similar plan until next week but in southern california's long beach, it's being cited as a reason for the closing of two stores. happening today, the doors to the oakland zoo are reopening with a bang. at one point, so many people tried to snag a ticket that they

briefly crashed ticket reservation system. covid protocols in place, asked to wear masks and bring only members of your household in your group. >> what a fun outing that would be. this is a glimpse how the state is doing when it comes to precious water. the state department of water resource also conduct another sierra snow survey. they've seen an uptick in ski traffic. meteorologist kari hall joins with us a closer look at all of that snow. makes it tough to stay home. >> yes, and it was so amazing to see the nine feet of snow we saw in spots like mammoth mountain. it made our average snowpack go from 40% to , so we had a big b.

coming up in a few minutes, i'll talk about what climate scientists are saying about how the sierra may look in 2100. right now, mike, how is it looking now for the commute? >> kari, overall the map looks good but i want to take you to that breaking news with the closure in the south bay, live pictures right here for the ongoing fire there on bascom which keeps it closed between bill's cafe on naglee to stephen's creek or san carlos, however you know the roadway. the fire crews at the abandoned building we're following that scene because bascom is a major cut-through. the nimitz is fine. the other freeways are moving nicely around the bay. as we zoom up, we have some smaller incidents in contra costa county, alameda county, nothing major for the freeways but we see a little slowing he 101 across the golden gate.

a live look shows you things are pretty calm there but there is still a crew on the northbound side so that's why the sensors are reading so slowly. keep that in mind for everybody's safety. back to you. >> good to know, thank you, mike. 4:38, take their place next in line to get the vaccine ahead of some california police officers. plus, the new feature facebook is rolling out on its occulus headsets. you are watching "today in the bay."

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happy wednesday. it is 4:41, and as we take a live look in the tri-valley we're checking out the commute across 580 and starts out cool this morning with lower 40s. we will see a lot of sunshine, but we're also holding on to a slight chance of rain, we'll talk about that as well as what's ahead for the weekend, coming up in a few minutes. and while south bay freeways are moving well, we still have the closure on bascom, a live look out at the scene of an abandoned building fire there, but it's very close to bill's cafe, taco bell and mountain mike's, we know that whole area in san jose.carlos. we'll follow that as well as th. >> good morning.

i am dominic chu from cnbc global headquarters. wall street is set to open modestly higher today adding to yesterday's rally. stocks closing sharply high we are investors encouraged by news on the pace of covid vaccinations, the prospects for more fiscal stimulus from congress and a decline in the trading and heavily shorted stocks likegamestop and amc. the dow gaining more than 475 points, its best day since november and the s&p 500 and nasdaq rising 1% as well. a report on hiring in the private sector and new data on the nation's services sector. jeff bezos the founder and ceo of amazon about step down later on this summer turning the reins to andy jassy who runs the web services, the cloud computing business. bezos will take on the roll of executive chairman and very much involved in the big decisions over at amazon. the announcement comes as amazon

reported record sales atopped $100 b the first time ever. since founding amazon nearly 30 years ago, bezos expanded into selling just about anything these days, among its biggest successes is the cloud computing business, aws, which now controls roughly half the market. facebook is rolling out messenger on oculus headsets. users who login with their facebook account will be able to chat with their friends while wearing that virtual reality headset. you can either type in a message in virtual reality or send prewritten messages or use the voice-to-text feature and an option to start an oculus party from the messenger platform, so laura, kris, these are the headlines right now. i'm still trying to get around that jetsons view i have in my head of putting on a headset and then putting messages all around all over the place. >> when n being all together was a fantasy and not the reality, kind of takes the fun out of it.

thanks, dom. >> i know. you got it. 4:44 right now. contra costa county is now the newest place to cap food delivery fees in the bay area. county supervisors voted on a 15% cap on fees, charged by delivery services like doordash, uber eats and grubhub last night. the delivery service would charge the customer a fee up to 30%. the cap now goes into effect immediately. san francisco, santa clara county and berkeley have also set limits on delivery fees. coming "today in the bay," a spike in crime. the reason oakland police say violence is on the rise, and what some leaders say might help stop the surge. we'll be right back.

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looking live over downtown san jose, some of the clouds still drifting by, but i didn't have to use my windshield wipers today for the first time this week. >> what? does that mean we couldan maybe car today, kari. >> keep the kids busy. >> i would say wait until after today. there will be a slight chance mother nature could wash that car for you and that's not a good job. let's get a look at what's going on. we are watching the approach of another very weak storm system, a lot of this is showing what we're seeing in our computer

models that this storm system will fall apart and looks to be crew as it bumps up against dry air. if you're home schooling, think being getting out in the backyard, rain chances in spots like milpitas will be slight and temperatures start out in the upper 40s and then you'll see a mix of sun and clouds today, temperatures only reaching into the mid-50s so it's going to be jacket weather all throughout today, and across the bay area. a little bit cooler to the north, where we will see more clouds. once this system pushes off towards the east, we are going to have high pressure setting up. it's going to keep any chances of rain from moving close to the bay area. we know that we do still need a lot more rain, but it looks like with our dry weather pattern, we'll also see our temperatures warming up into the weekend, as well as early next week. as we take a live look out there in the sierra, this is the scene that we like to see all of that fresh powder on the ground, and it is so beautiful, as well as so cold, but rob mayeda was

attending a weather conference last week and he heard from different climate scientists and what they're saying about the future of the sierra, and some of them are saying that we could see average warming in the sierra anywhere from four to nine degrees and snow only above 9,000 feet, and it only goes up to 9,500 feet, i shouldn't say only because that's pretty wig but that could cause millions of loss of travel revenue as well as summers as hot as san jose. that is an extreme outlook and that's if we do nothing at this point to reduce our greenhouse emissions so that's something that we can do now to save the future of our sierra snowpack. here we are headed into a stretch of dry weather over the next several days as we of course continue to talk about our climate in crisis, we are still in some dry conditions and our drought conditions will continue with only slight rain chances today. as we head over to you, mike, you've been watching the morning commute and a couple of trouble

spots out there. >> that's right, kari. but great notes about that can do now. now what you have to do because of the video i'm showing you, from earlier overnight, where the fire engulfed this building, an abandoned building but if you know where that local landmark is, bill's cafe, it's not far from there. naglee and bascom is basically the intersection there and south of that we have the closure as crews continue on scene. i'm going to circle that on the map off the nimitz freeway, not far from 280 but that one portion of bascom is closed because of the ongoing fire fight, likely to say that way until daylight. you can get by on local roadways. the rest of the freeways move smoothly. smaller incidents. notice something marked on the bay bridge now, the lower deck getting in toward treasure island, reports of a disabled vehicle we'll track that but so far no major problems show up. back to you. >> thanks so much, mike. it's 4:51. developing this morning,

four people are injured, three critically after an explosion in an industrial neighborhood near los angeles. it happened yesterday afternoon at a tractor storage facility i firefighters corralled it in time. the victim suffered serious words. no word on what triggered the blast but bomb experts were digging for clues late last night. a crime alert, thieves are encroaching on chinatown and many victims are elderly shop owners. we have surveillance video from an attempted robbery on western near tenth street, two women walking into a store, come out and one grabs a small tree. the owner rushed out to stop her and her husband ran over to help. >> one of the ladies was really mad and they basically is said i'm going to kill you, and at first i thought they were just saying that, and then when they

actually got into the car, they actually rammed the car at me. >> business owners say the spike in crime is due to a lack of police in the area. police in southern california are now at odds with local health leaders as they await their turn to roll up their sleeves for covid vaccine. law enforcement in san diego county say they have pushed down on that list to get the covid vaccine, and right now health leaders are allowing cannabis workers to get the shots first. police say they've tried to reach out to health leaders about when it will be their turn but haven't gotten a response. >> they keep telling me we're going to be the next group but is that next group after half a million people are already vaccinated or is that next group going to be next week? i have no idea. >> so far the san diego police department says nearly 170 officers have tested positive while on the job, and about 1,000 have been exposed to the virus. thats can for more than half of the zig police department.

coming up next players. is high school football closer to returning? e in beijing are worry ed 20e 22 winter olympics. the coronavirus pandemic which has lay itted the 2020 tokyo summer olympics is unlikely to be fully contained globally by next february. of course, you can only watch those games as well as the tokyo olympics right here on nbc bay area.

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welcome back. one of bay area coaches leading the charge to bring back high school football is reportedly

hopeful after his latest meeting at the governor's office. the sport right now on hold indefinitely due to the pandemic. only non-contact outdoor sports are allowed. but head coach patrick walsh tells "the mercury news" he's optimistic there may be progress soon. he's trying to get the state health department to ease guidelines and will meet with health leaders tomorrow. no big man may mean big problems for the warriors over the next few games, it will if it goes like last night at the chase center. did you see it? against the celtics, the warriors were missing both james weisman and kevan looney. the celtics took control winning 111-107. president biden moving forward on immigration reform and so far it looks like no deal bay," a live report from washington, d.c., on the stalemate. plus more vaccines headed to the bay area, and local

pharmacies are being added to that distribution chain. the cities where one giant pharmaceutical chain will be giving out shots.

news. fast-moving flames overcome a warehouse in the south bay overnight. the impact it's still having on traffic right now. we have all of the infrastructure, all of the

connection and community to be able to help those people who have been hard-hit by the pandemic. . >> speeding things up. your local pharmacy could be giving out covid vaccine in a matter of days. the new announcement that could be a big game changer for california's rollout. and paving the way for progress. ahead in a live report, why the pandemic is allowing caltransto complete its projects way ahead of schedule. "today in the bay" continues right now. a very good wednesday morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm kris sanchez. marcus washington is coming up. mike has your detours from the fire in san jose and meteorologist kari hall is tracking that little smidge of rain we have this morning. >> yes, we're seeing that farther to the north right now. most likely will come in this afternoon but even as it moves closer, it will bump up against dry air and a lot of this rain will fall apart. we're looking at a slight chance of spotty showers today and the highest chance will be in the north bay. elsewhere, we are going to see