covid-19 can be characterized as a pandemic. >> now at 5:00, marking one year since the outbreak became a pandemic. we reflect on the lives lost and the lessons learned and live coverage on where we go from here. president biden with a major new push to roll out vaccines. this is a vaccine being used overseas suddenly suspended in a second country. we'll talk about the growing concerns overnight. rain, hail and snow, the winter storm moving through the bay area bringing rare sights from san jose to santa rosa. vianey is tracking what's next as we start to approach the weekend. "today in the bay" continues now. good thursday morning. friday eve as we call it around here as we approach that weekend, marcus. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. let's get a look at that

forecast for you. vianey in for kari this morning. i saw rain yesterday and even snow on the top of some mountains. >> yeah. it was nice to see. i think it threw some people off. like wait a minute, am i still in california? yes. yes, we are. we had a cold front pass through that provided enough instability to where we saw that hail in the lowering snow levels. right now in the san jose if you -- the scattered showers pushing out. the teethes in a few minutes. marcus. >> thanks. one year ago today the coronavirus pandemic shut down america. 365 days later, the u.s. has seen 30 million people infected with the virus and more than half a million die. >> this morning we have live team coverage. kris sanchez looking at the widespread bay area impact. let's check in with tracie potts live in washington this morning where president biden will mark this day.

tracie? >> he will address the nation tonight, laura and marcus, on the one-year anniversary of this being declared a pandemic. the white house saying this morning that he plans to look back, but also look ahead at some of the challenges that we will face. perhaps even touch on the american rescue plan just approved by congress, democrats only. it includes $7.5 billion for vaccine distribution. this, as the federal government orders another 100 million doses of the one shot johnson & johnson vaccine, promising enough for every adult by the end of may. also, in that nearly $2 trillion bill, $1400 direct payments for americans, up to $3600 paid monthly in child tax credits and the direct deposits could start next week, not one republican voted for this. they were concerned about the price tag, but democrats are

still taking a victory lap. >> this is a momentous day in the history of our country because we have passed historic consequential and transformative legislation. >> this isn't a rescue bill, it isn't a relief bill. it's a laundry list of left-wing priorities. >> reporter: and the president now that that bill has been approved is planning to sign it tomorrow and then hit the road to sell it to the public starting in pennsylvania on tuesday. back to you. >> all right. tracie in washington this morning, thank you. all right. much closer to home, "today in the bay's" kris sanchez continues our team coverage. she's live in the south bay this morning. kris? >> good morning. it was one year ago today that the head of the world health organization declared a worldwide pandemic and pandemic is not a word that health

leaders use lightly. it means worldwide spread of a disease for which not a lot of people have immunity and that is exactly what the coronavirus turned out to be. but in declaring that worldwide pandemic the head of the w.h.o. urged all nations to do everything in their power to stem the spread. at that point that meant detecting cases and isolating sick people and later testing and treating people sick with covid. speaking on the "today" show today, dr. anthony fauci said even he can't believe how bad it would get. >> i made the statement things are going to get much worse before they get better, and that was at a congressional hearing a year ago today. it was march 11th, 2020. i said that. but i did not in my mind think that much worse was going to be 525,000 deaths. >> reporter: he said part of the reason for that is that the pandemic became more than just a

public health emergency, it became a political football and that tainted all of the decisions going forward. on this day san francisco mayor london breed immediately banned large gatherings as did the governor of washington state leading to the nba's cancellation of the season. later in the week schools were shut down, businesses closed as well. dr. anthony fauci says that the bright spot in all of this pandemic is how fast we were able to get a vaccine. it was within 11 months that the vaccine was developed, tested and is now going into arms and many of russ now just waiting our turn. in mountainview, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." amazing to see all that we've been through in this year. happening today, one south bay leader's efforts to assist struggling small businesses is taking a small step forward. about a month ago san jose commissioner rolando began a fundraising effort focused on east san jose and plans to hand out the first relief payments to

two small businesses. as tracie mentioned, president biden literally doubling down on the johnson & johnson covid vaccine. yesterday he announced the u.s. will orderer 100 million more doses. the president says if that there ends up being a surplus it can always go to other nations in need. state health leaders will highlight the effectiveness of the one-shot johnson & johnson vaccine with an event in oakland. just in, denmark is suspending its use of the astrazeneca covid vaccine. health leaders cite concerns over blood clotting. denmark says the move is a precaution only and cannot say for certain there's a link. the suspension will last at least two weeks. au via made a move similar earlier this week. the astrazeneca vaccine has not been approved for use in the united states. developing, leaders in oakland's chinatown fearing the worse for an asian man attacked near lake merritt.

police say someone robbed the victim as he took his morning walk and suffered a serious head injury and now at highland hospital. police say it's too early to know if this was a hate crime but the president of the chamber of commerce says the victim's loved ones are losing hope for his recovery. >> i don't think he is responding at this time and it doesn't look too good according to the daughter. >> now, sources say police have arrested a 26-year-old man of oakland in connection with that assault and robbery. authorities are investigating a sexual assault at diridon station in a case involving an asian woman being targeted. transit officials say the assailant made a derogatory comment during the alleged assault and it happened in the underground area. officers responded and located the suspect nearby and say the woman managed to get away. hoping she's okay. it's 5:07.

let's take a peek be outside and see most of our cameras getting a splash and washing with rain after a wild weather day yesterday. we had hail, we had rain, snow on the mount hamilton, some of the higher elevations. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson live in san francisco for us this morning, and still people are talking about it this morning. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, social media was really just buzzing with the wide range of weather we had here in the bay area. in the city it was raining but from the north bay to the peninsula it was really just a grab bag of the different type of weather. i want you to listen to this real quick. >> wow. that's what you heard right outside of the doors of our nbc bay area studios in san jose. you can hear the cracking and the loud sound of thunder. our cameras were soaked early yesterday afternoon as our parking lot was pelted with rain. and for some living in santa rosa they were greeted by hail.

it came down loud and hard an at some points impacting visibility. some folks saying it was so dense it almost looked like snow and our storm ranger captured the scene at mt. diablo and although spring is around the corner the peaks look like winter wonderland with the snow capps. throughout the day we received pictures and video from viewers showing us what they were seeing. while the precipitation was a nuisance really, some of that snow did cause a bit of a concern. >> we appreciate it people obey the road closed sign. there isn't much parking up here and the road is dangerous. it kills mort sclooiss on a monthly basis even in good weather. >> reporter: and as much as that rain may have been annoying for those wanting to get outside it is crucial because we have that rain deficit. yesterday, definitely a wild ride in terms of the weather. we're live in san francisco,

cierra johnson for "today in the bay." speaking of the wild ride is it over, vianey in for kari this morning. how does it look for the rest of the week? >> we've still got a little bit of instability but i wanted to take this as an opportunity to sort of give you all the difference between hail, graupel, sleet, snow. with hail, it's actually firm and it will bounce when it hits the ground. thunderstorms send it upwards and freezes. graupel has the texture of dipping dots, the ice cream. snowflakes and sleet are clear ice balls smaller than hail. to get snow we need the right temperature. either near below freezing or below freezing as the water vapor turns to ice. the easiest way to tell is the texture. the hail is firmer and will hurt and cause damage. thank you all for sending your videos yesterday and we're going to be safe and i will have your full forecast in a few minutes. over to you.

dipping dots and graupel. we have slicker roadways and the water will kick up as a mist. westbound the taillights you have to go through the toll plaza first and the crews on scene where i've circled because of a pothole, a large pothole, we will see reports of that as the sun comes up and more cars report that after yesterday's rain loosens a lot of the payment. a spinout reported north 87 past curtener there and a crash clearing at meridian for southbound 280. there's flares out and one lane blocked. all new revelations in the ongoing royal rift. next on "today in the bay," prince william this morning responding to the first time to the tell-all interview with prince harry and meghan markle. and the stock market and the dow industrials hitting a high above 32,000. what's behind that? we'll take a look when "today in the bay" continues. .

good morning. it is 5:14. we've got cold morning lows, 35 degrees in clearlake, 37 in los gatos, but we still have a couple showers pushing through. what can we expect for thursday and the weekend? i'll have the full forecast coming up in a few minutes. and we're looking at a smooth drive. light and early as far as the volume goes but slick conditions like at the richmond side of the

richmond san raphael bridge, fresh water and water on the roadways that will mean an issue for traction. watch that. pretty much all of our bridges showing that. the rest of the roads coming up. good morning. very happy thursday to you as well. the sf gate is reporting that salesforce is backing away from another large parcel of office space in the city, canceling more than 300,000 square feet in a building that hasn't been built near the salesforce tower and the transbay terminal area. it's told many employees they will be able to work from home for here on out. markets will open with the dow at an all-time record. 32,29, some of the money out of tech stocks but san mateo's roblox saw its stock rise more than 50%. part of the reason the stock market is doing well is new evidence and economic data that

inflation is not a factor. inflation is usually a worry when economic times are getting better and consumers have a lot of cash in hand. consumers do seem to have a lot of cash in hand. now, you have the upcoming stimulus as part of that, the checks that will go out, also people pulling money out of their houses as they refinance with low mortgage rates. mortgage data from black knight telling "the wall street journal" homeowners cashed out $152.7 billion in home equity in 2020. of course the jobs market seems to be recovering. we do get the first-time jobless claims coming up in about 15 minutes. and then one more source of money could come from student loan forgiveness. the current stimulus bill doesn't forgive any loans, but it does say you won't have to pay tax on the forgiveness if it comes in the future. marcus and laura, usually you have to pay an income tax on loans that have been forgiven. this would seem to be a first

step towards some kind of student loan forgiveness. >> a lot of people happy to hear that. all right. thank you. new this morning, prince william defending the royal family after the explosive interview with meghan markle and prince harry. he opened up while touring recently reopened london schools. he was with the duchess of cambridge. when prince william was asked about the accusations of race immade during the interview he said, quote, we're very much not a racist family. turning this morning, michael b. jordan adding director to his resume. mgm confirming the actor will direct the upcoming "creed 3" film and will star in the movie. it's set to be released thanksgiving weekend 2022. also trending for you, the force is apparently strong in russia. >> "star wars" fans have built a replica of the razor crest gunship from the mandalorian

series in the local park. it's 46 feet long, 13 feet high, weighs more than a ton. construction actually took more than a year the replica ship is equipped with lights inside and outside, an engine that can move parts of the ship. they were determined. i don't know about moving that on any roadways. let's see how our own roadways are going, mike. that would be shocking to see something like that. >> looks like we have a new covid project at our house. we'll see. let's get to the roadways. things are moving smoothly but still kind of slick out there from the overnight rain, yesterday's rain and we have this issue, south 280 in merry deanne. flares out, a minor crash, an issue out there. spinout on 87 is the other thing near curtner, slicker roads. an issue over the mountain peaks, mount hamilton you cannot get to the summit, don't go to

the summit, slowing shows a crew clears from 2010 toward the golden gate bridge and a live look at the golden gate bridge there's water on the roads as we've been talking about and messy on the lens and i guess that is what today is like, rain stopping and a little bit messy. >> yeah, that's right. that's a great way of putting it. we're still seeing some shower activity down through the south bay and central california. you can see it here on doppler radar. i'm going to zoom this in to see what's going on. if you live in the south bay, santa cruz mountain area you will wake up to the shower activity with the wet pavement out there. still slowing down. what can we expect for today? great view of walnut creek. you can see the clouds pushing through there, a little patchy morning fog and it is going to be a cold morning to start so you're definitely going to want to bundle up into the afternoon. hour-by-hour outlook, through morgan hill we have a little bit of activity but aside from that, we're going to see the showers

continue to dissipate and we're going to get peeks of sunshine at times down through the afternoon but there's still some instability. so we're not in the clear completely just yet. at least not until the evening hours. microclimate highs for today, afternoon sunshine, temperatures in the 50s and 60s. 57 in morgan hill and long range outlook right now, notice the low pressure system continues to make its exit and high pressure rolls around and begins to dominate. that's going to dry us out for friday, saturday and sunday. but looking out ahead to next sunday, through monday, you can see up in the pacific that approaching low pressure system sunday, march 14th, that's going to bring us more rain. in addition to rain on monday time change, we're going to lose an hour of sleep. clocks ahead at like 2:00 a.m., remember to do that for, you know, the stuff that isn't already digital. it is time for our climate in crisis series where i have been looking for planet friendly swaps. today we will talk about things

we carry in our pockets or purses. things like lip balms. oftentimes the ingredients are not good for the environment and the plastic tubes end up in the landfill. a great hack for the chap stick would be to get some of that come in cardboard tubes from natural ingredients. they can be recycled. now for floss a piece of floss, get this, can take up to 80 years to decompose. a quick hack would be to get one that comes in a zero waste contakener, a glass one made out of charcoal or activated bamboo. for more hacks follow me at nbc vianey. i'll send it back to you. >> wow. i learned something new about floss. who knew, marcus. coming up next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. >> lots of families took advantage of a special perk during the pandemic. well that now has consequences

when you're doing your taxes. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. we'll show you how next.

this unplugged device is protecting our beautiful coastlines and more. put off chores and use less energy from 4 to 9 pm to help keep our state golden.

roblox. welcome back. it's 5:24. the pandemic hit so many families' finances hard, so hard, more than a million families took out money from the 401(k) accounts. >> chris chmuras says taking

that cash changes their taxes. here's what he has to show us. >> reporter: if you dip into your 401(k) account before you're 59 1/2, uncle sam normally takes a 10% penalty. 2020, wasn't normal. covid-19 hit, people lost work and congress passed the cares act. that allowed some people to take money out of their 401(k) account without the usual penalty. this was the deal. if covid-19 affected you, you could take out up to $100,000 with no penalty. lots of people is it. fidelity told us 1.6 million of its customers took out an average of $9400. families could use that money to pay bills and make ends meet, penalty-free. not tax free. distributions from traditional 401(k) accounts are taxable. here's how that will happen. it starts with a 10 99-r form. when you do your taxes give the

1099-r form to your tax preparer or put night your software. doing your taxes yourself you will put it online 4-a. first you need a special form, 8915-e. it deals with tax breaks and disasters. the irs considers covid-19 a disaster. all right. i want you to take a look at this map and see right here, this is the current number of the covid cases in contra costa county. just under 8. that's per 100,000. the governor's office ready to adopt new rules as soon as tomorrow allowing 10 cases per 100,000 people, not the current 7, this is for the red tier status. if these numbers hold the county would escape the most restrictive purple tier by this weekend. a live look in los angeles this morning and l.a. county and orange county are expected to escape the purple tier tomorrow according to the governor's office. a battle is brewing in the lone star state.

the texas attorney general is threatening to sue travis county in the city of austin which is still enforcing a mask mandate. the governor dropped all restrictions statewide which allowed businesses to reopen at 100% capacity. also in texas, how does governor matthew mcconaughey sound? all right all right all right? he thinks it sounds pretty good. hollywood star apparently considering a run to be the lone star state leader telling a houston podcast host, it's a true consideration. texas governor greg abbott is up for re-election next year. >> wouldn't that be fun to cover. coming up next, coronavirus and the classroom. the changes students and teachers can expect in one school district returning today for in-person learning. own a piece of history. we'll tell you the unique items from san francisco's cliff house up for auction today.

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...and learn how much you can save at xfinitymobile.com/mysavings. right now at 5 ooshgs 30, breaking news, a rare crime overnight in an east bay city. what investigators are telling us about a homicide investigation under way right now in freemont. told that there was no wrong door to get the first vaccine taken care of and then the door was shut in my face for the second vaccine. >> the issue supply leading to appointments being canceled in the south bay. the confusion the issue is

sparking. the bay area site that could ease the crisis at the border housing migrant children. we'll tell you about it as "today in the bay" continues right now. here we go. thursday morning. inching down the week. good morning to you and thanks so much for joining us. am laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. less let's get a look at that forecast as we inch closer to the weekend. how is it looking out there, vianey? >> good morning. we're still seeing activity on the radar and depending on where you live could still be catching a couple showers. let's take a look at doppler radar and see where the rain is. dissipating by about midmorning but unstable out there. the instability could create the potential for more hail through the central portion of california. right now 44 degrees in walnut creek, look at the temperature trend around 11:00 or 12:00, topping out in the low 50s and

60s today. >> thanks so much. 5:31. to breaking news that we're following, a homicide investigation is under way at a freemont apartment complex. that's where we find "today in the bay's" bob redell live at the scene for us. what are investigators telling you, bob? >> well, you can see the fremont police are behind me. they're in the carport area. this is the pria living city center an apartment complex not far from the intersection with stevenson. around 10:30 a man was shot and killed in the carport, his body still in the parking lot back there where police are trying to solve this crime. you can see in the video that initially police had a heavy response, they had a bearcat, we believe they had drones out here and armed officers looking for the suspect or suspects but those officer have since left and now you have the officers who are guarding the scene investigating the crime scene. a man was shot and killed and

they are looking for at least one, if not two men, an officer told me on the scene but they didn't have any description of the suspect or those people or if there was a vehicle involved. there's limited information. this is unusual for freemont. we believe this is the first homicide of 2021. last year there was only two homicides and by all indications over the past four years, if you add it up, there's only been eight murders here within the city of freemont. this would be, unfortunately, number nine. reporting live here in freemont, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much, bob. well, now we're talking about america's crisis at the border suddenly hitting closer to home this morning. federal leaders today taking the first step in a possible plan to house migrant children in the south bay when their parents are unable to be found. >> "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is live in moffett field, a site now under consideration. >> yeah. as we understand it, homeland

security officials will turn to movette field to see if the facilities could help with the crisis at the border bringing it closer to where we are. moffett field is a former navy station being used by nasa and google. according to the "washington post" homeland security officials will tour the facilities today. there are 3500 unaccompanied children in border patrol stations waiting for a shelter bed to open up with the department of health and human services. those beds, though, are also full with 8500 unaccompanied minors waiting to be released to family members or sponsors and as we know there is a time limit they have to be processed, however that time limit is going long. according to the "washington post" 87% are between the ages of 13 and 17 and according to the associated press, there are 60% more unaccompanied minors trying to get into the u.s., so

definitely federal officials trying to find space where they can keep them humanely and as they are required to under the law safely. in -- near moffett field, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." new details judging from the sound of petition organizers, expect to be voting on a measure to recall governor newsom. yesterday marked one week until the deadline to submit those signatures. 1.5 million will have to be valid for there to be a special election. probably this fall. polls over last month or so show the majority of the voters opposed a recall. we're tracking a vast improvement in hospitalizations when it comes to covid-19 in the bay area. take a look at these numbers, they were published in the chronicle as of monday morning, there were 500 coronavirus patients in the hospital in the bay area. in january, during the height of that surge, about 2200.

that's a big decrease of about 77%. get this, though, about a year ago, the number was about 1300. south bay leaders plan to present a unified front in resisting the state's push to hand vaccine distribution over to blue shield. health provider overseeing the distribution in some counties outside the bay area already full statewide oversight is expected to happen by the end of this month. today supervisor cindy chavez will lead a news conference opposing blue shield's involvement at 1:00. here's a problem, santa clara county still in the thick of a vaccine shortage. for now, in fact, all first-dose appointments are on hold. that includes vaccinations for 8500 kaiser patients who had their appointments canceled yesterday after being canceled once by the county. some include second-dose shots which kaiser says they have to prioritize. county leaders believe the

shortages may be due to the state reprioritizing its distribution to hit the equity goals. happening today more students in the east bay headed back to the classroom. pleasanton unified says its secondary schools will reopen joining the nine elementary schools already reopened. the move comes following alameda county's move to the red tier. the district the first in the county to reopen middle and high schools for in-person learning. bart leaders will discuss the bay area's new long-term regional rail extension plan. that campaign called link 21 and it's hoped to one day integrate the expanded rail system into neighboring counties over two decades including a second transbay tube. bart tells "the examiner" it's getting a lot of positive feedback for the project and may take the next step in may. happening now, homes in orange county being evate wait due to mudslides. a steady rain over a burn scar

zone triggered the slide which pushed several cars around like toys. fortunately no injuries have been reported, but there's more rain expected in the forecast for southern california. across much of the bay area, that wild winter weather is over for now, but what a sight to see. santa rosa, san jose, saw a lot of hail, in fact, fall yesterday afternoon. for the north in windsor, pretty similar scene there from hail to snow. it actually stuck at the lick observatory in mount diablo. the amount of snow that fell on top of the mountains there. all of this is over for now for the moment but it gave folks a lot to talk about, vianey. >> it definitely did. it was fun seeing the videos. hopefully everybody stayed safe and did it from a safe distance. as we head into the midmorning the rain is going to clear out and dissipate. you can see it on doppler radar. as far as the rain for now, once this cold front makes its exit

we are going to get to sunshine. we have upper 50s and low 60s in the forecast for this afternoon. san jose 58 degrees, san francisco 56, half moon bay 54 and concord 61. when is our next chance of rain moving in? full details in a few minutes. let's check in with mike. >> keep it quietly because binks is sleeping in the background, vianey's partner over there. as we look at the north bay, top of the screen the crash that happened as well as the police activity that had 101 closed both have cleared without any further detail but there's no slowing up there in santa rosa. over here at highway 24 is slowing and may be a traffic alert called. i will give a head's up it's before you get to the call da cot tunnel. one lane is blocked and may be somebody in a car in a ditch on the side. there are slicker roadways so be careful out there, guys. back to you. happening today, you have a chance to own a little piece of san francisco history.

the 157-year-old cliff house will sell off its contents. the auction company plans to sell furniture, menus and souvenirs of the old playland amusement park. how cool is that. 5:40. this morning two california postal workers are facing fraud charges. still ahead on "today in the bay," what authorities say the pair was doing with unemployment debit cards. the president will make his first national address this evening talking about coronavirus. we have a preview of some of the things he's going to say. plus, fewer people, fewer cars, less traffic. the big impact the pandemic had on yosemite as we're marking one year since it all started. you're watching "today in the bay."

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. good morning. it is 5:43 and as the cold front continues to make its exit temperatures are still chilly out there. 34 in clearlake right now, 38 in morgan hill. bundle up, a cool afternoon ahead but sunshine today. the full forecast coming up in a few minutes. mike, i understand you have a traffic alert. >> breaking news over there, just outside caldecott tunnel. we're following the slowing there. rain on the lens at the bay bridge toll plaza.

traffic light, the flags are flapping, wet and windy right now. just starts to build. back over to you, laura. all right. thanks so much. breaking news this morning the latest jobless numbers are just into our newsroom. 712,000 people filed first-time claims, slightly lower than forecast. 42,000 less than the week prior. continuing claims dropped down 4.1 million. president biden marking the first half of his first 100 days. >> as well as one year since the declaration of the pandemic we're in. he'll address the nation this afternoon and we'll be listening. >> nbc bay area will carry that live that will happen at 5:00 our time this afternoon. this will be the first nationwide prime time address from the president, prime time on the east coast. he's expected to talk about the path forward while remembering so many americans lost and

recognizing all the hard sacrifices we've made to fight the spread. it comes exactly a year after president trump addressed the nation about coronavirus for the first time in his own presidential address. >> wash your hands, clean often used surfaces, cover your face and mouth if you sneeze or cough. >> reporter: now, while president trump would downplay the virus for months to come, it is remarkable in hindsight how little any of us knew one year ago. here in the bay area on this day, san francisco banned groups larger than 1,000 people. the cdc and the surgeon general had a policy about masks, don't wear them, save them for medical professionals. we got to know a guy named anthony fauci and warned us with 37 americans dead already it would likely get much worse.

back to the present day or yesterday where the two leaders of the house and senate signed the latest stimulus bill. the president will sign it friday. amidst all this president biden's pick for attorney general secretary of housing and urban development and the head of the environmental protection agency all approved by the senate. the big question in congress now is with stimulus done, what is next? is it legislation to help better compete with china? that has bipartisan support. or is it building up the internet to bring it to rural locations and close the digital divide. you will remember this picture of school girls using wi-fi outside of a taco bell to do their homework. the picture led to new action by the california state house to improve internet access. now congress may do something similar nationwide. a reminder, we will carry president biden's address to the nation live tonight. you can start seeing that starting at 5:00 this evening. >> thanks scott. today marks day three in the

murder trial of former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin. now he's facing murder charges in the death of george floyd. you remember floyd died while that officer had his knee to his neck for about nine minutes. five of the 12 jurors in this case already seated. a minnesota supreme court ruling could lau prosecutors to bring back a third-degree murder charge against chauvin. the high court rejected chauvin's efforts to dismiss the charge yesterday. last year's tense confrontation during protests in san jose apparently prompting a new lawsuit. happening today, south bay naacp leaders have organized a news conference to announce a class-action suit against the city and police. you'll recall the department came under fire last summer for what some called aggressive tactics against nonviolent protesters in the wake of george floyd's death. since then, the city has taken steps to reform the department. two southern california postal workers under arrest each accused of funneling money from

fraudulent obtained edd debit cards into u.s. postal service money orderers. this is how they did it. investigators say the cards were issued by the edd to accounts connected to stolen identities filed in connection to the pandemic-related job losses. the edd is thought to v shelled out tens of billions of dollars to bogus claims. some people with legitimate edd accounts have had to wait months to access them. that's because the man you see right here in san diego county, he's one of those people, he was frozen out when edd first started uncovering the wide-scale fraud. this week he got help from our sister station investigative unit to get back in. >> they just keep telling me for the past two months that they're working on my account to unfreeze it and i'm just confused. >> the edd says that the account was frozen intentionally after a report of fraudulent activity.

once his identify was verified he says he still could not get into the account. the edd would not comment on why. a new look at the impact the pandemic has had on business to yosemite. national park service says the number of visitors in 2020 dropped by about half. 2.2 million from nearly 4.5 million the year before. that's in large part because we know the park was shut down for months and covid protocols required online reservations. let's take a live look outside i-80 in kingveil, the storm dropping more than a foot of much needed snow in the sierra. the snowpack a little more than half of where it needs to be. looks like cal trans rolled through there. benefitting tahoe ski resorts, this week most extended their seasons by at least a week to close in mid april at the very

earliest. i finally got a chance to go up last weekend my birthday weekend and i have to say it was really nice. all the covid protocols were in effect. we had to be masked up, which is better. nobody could see me skiing down the hill. >> glad you got to celebrate. >> that's right. so what's in store, though, vianey? more rain, snow? what are we looking like? >> i've never skied but one day i will. i've done snowboarding. speaking of the sierra, an update about the sierra snowpack and where we stand. the reason why the sierra snowpack is important to all of us here in california because it does make up one third of our water supply. currently we're at about 58% of statewide average. as that snow melts during the spring it flows into our reservoirs which helps boost our water supply. so, you know, we could definitely use more snow, just like we could use more rain. san francisco beautiful view, but we do still have some

showers coming down, so slow it down out on the roads. doppler radar you can see the activity right now the majority is through central california and down through the south bay, but we still got some instability, at least through midmorning and our current temperatures pretty cold outside. if you're going to head out the door, bundle up, 30s and low 40s throughout the bay area and our microclimate highs for the afternoon, 50s, low 60s and that says afternoon sunshine. high pressure that's going to begin to build just in time for the weekend and give us a dry weekend ahead saturday, looking absolutely stunning, and looking out ahead towards next sunday night into monday, we've got another low pressure system that's going to move in bringing back the chance of evening showers and, of course, we've got the time change coming up on sunday and lose an hour of sleep and then into monday, into the start of the next work week we could see some early morning showers pushing through. not a huge rainmaker, light to moderate looking like right now as far as the timing goes, but

again, 2:00 a.m. our clocks turn ahead one hour. mike, i'll send it over to you. >> all right. you're looking ahead, we saw behind us a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. it's wet over there and now as we look at the map as it had rain come through the area i have to give this sad update on the crash for highway 24. still only one lane blocked, but it's a traffic alert. the breaking news is that chp declared it's a fatality, the car off the roadway in the hillside there. westbound 24 does slow a bit shy of the caldecott, so that's a problem out of the lafayette walnut creek heading across through or rin da before you get to oakland. the wilder exit is closed. you can pass by there, exit fish ranch road, loop back, take wilder from the eastbound direction. that's your alternate. the bay shows a lighter volume of traffic starting to build, but that fresh rain in some spots will have wet roads and

slick conditions. >> thanks so much. the nba all-star break is over, but the warriors tip-off the second half of the season tonight in l.a. against the clippers. they might not have the talented rookie james wiseman. steve kerr says the 19-year-old missed his covid test over the break and because of that, might not play. the warriors are currently in the ninth seed in the conference one spot away from playoff contention. get used to these two words over the next month or so, march madness. we've already got a big upset. cal bears get bragging rights over stanford. with the loss, stanford lost pretty much all hope over qualifying for the big dance. yeah. sorry. happening now, just finding out cvs plans to add covid-19 vaccination sites to 119

pharmacy locations across california. appointments will be made available starting saturday. this is through the federal retail pharmacy programs that brings the total number of cvs locations offering the injections in the state, to 286. there's much more ahead on this thursday morning. including a popular east bay food fair returning after covid forced its cancellation last year. how organizers are planning to keep everyone safe, next. and slowly but surely parking restrictions coming back as well. up next, the city where meter enforcement is bringing back to life. you'll want to know about that. you're watching "today in the bay."

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you need to be a lawyer to understand it. that's why three was created. if you own it, three covers it. got a cheese slice for “spokesperson?" that's me. i don't even need to see what's happening behind me to know it's covered. three. no nonsense. just common sense. 5:57. thanks for sticking around. people living in rvs on the peninsula will have to find a new place to park as they try to make it in the bay. palo alto police warning people rvs could be towed if they park along el camino real near stanford stadium. over the past several months dozens of rvs have moved from one spot to another on the busy street. the notice says rvs are violating an ordinance prohibiting abandoned vehicles on roadways. the city has a safe parking program, but only allows 20 spots for rv dwellers to park. new this morning, you only

have a few more weeks to go park in some south bay parks for free. "the mercury news" reports the parks department will charge people to park at the park next month. the $6 fee was waived after the first stay-at-home order last year but starting april 5th, 16 county parks will bring back that parking fee. a sense of normalcy in the east bay. the alameda food fair is starting to open again. it's going to happen today. last year the fair was canceled again because of covid. this year you'll be able to enjoy your food on the lawn, take it to go or schedule curbside pick-up. the food fair opens at 11:00 a.m. through sunday and they will repeat it all the following weekend and the weekend after that. first responders in vallejo delivering a heartwarming surprise for a young boy with a rare medical condition. >> yeah. this is amazing. firefighters medics and police helped celebrate mike's second birthday. the toddler has a connective

tissue condition called neo nayal syndrome. he spent most of his life at the children's hospital in stanford and had three open heart surgeries. his mother is grateful for everyone involved in yesterday's drive-by parade. >> something like this to give him an experience like this is so special and unreal. >> amazing. michael was not expected to live past 1 year, so i can't imagine the celebration, all those people to help him thrive and see where he is right now. what a beautiful thing. right now at 6:00, can you believe it, today marking one year since the world health organization deemed covid-19 a pandemic. this morning we're looking back at 12 months of lockdown, surges in cases and sadly the loss of life. we're also looking forward.

live team coverage is coming next. help is on the way. one day away from president biden signing that nearly $2 trillion relief bill. that's money going directly to americans. up next, what's in the bill for californianss? the wild winter storm may be out of here, but it's leaving a mark from rain, hail and snow, the bay area was hammered for two days. up next, what's on tap for today. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues now. it's thursday. good morning to you. thanks so much for making us a part of your morning. >> marcus, i'm laura, guess who is in for kari this morning, vianey. boy, we've had crazy weather. >> we did see crazy weather. it was fun seeing the viewer videos. thank you for sharing. the cold front that brought that mix of hail and rain