two assistant coaches were out due to contact tracing. a beautiful long pass, the triple-double in the third quarter. curry shoots and you can see him fall backwards. probably coming up and will fall backwards. a metal riser. he ended up leaving the game. no word yet. i hope he's okay. the warriors beat the rockets 108-94. right now at 6:00, americans taking to the skies in numbers not seen in a year. brand-new data from the tsa. in a live report whether you should take the trip or stay grounded. congress takes on two immigration bill. a loiv report just ahead.

and let it rain. your forecast straight ahead for you. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now. and it's thursday and a good morning to you. thanks for making us a part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. kari hall has a look at the radar for us. storm ranger showing we are feeling the waves of rain passing by. much of the bay area taking a break with the exception of the north bay seeing light rain coming through. this is the pattern we'll see. off and on showers and we'll see it tapering off later tonight. we'll talk more about what to expect and a look to our sunny weekend coming up. >> things have not been this

busy in a year. bob, i know traffic there is surging. >> reporter: particularly among people who are newly vaccinated. the tsa is reporting they have vaccinated more people this past week than any other week this past year. seven straight days of screening , the longest this year for each day. this bump comes as restrictions loosen. the cdc is advising against leisure travel. the top three places tahiti, mexico and hawaii. >> we're getting a lot of people

saying i have been vaccinated, i'm ready. >> it was nice to get away after spending a year in our home. >> reporter: that was allen siegelman of mill valley. he and his wife bolted for hawaii. u.s. airline passenger levels down 57% from two years ago. passengers now arrive in waves at their destinations. a couple years before they see a full recovery at their main hub in chicago o'hare. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." president biden is vaccinated and promoting his stimulus relief bill. the president is flying despite the cdc warnings taking to the skies, as you heard bob mention. his situation a little different there, though. "today in the bay's" tracie potts joins us in washington. experts say what the president

is doing is safe. >> reporter: right, laura. independent experts are questioning the cdc's do not travel saying if the vice president is doing it, it should be safe for others who have been vaccinated two weeks after that last shot. today we'll be focusing on a big issue here in washington, immigration. speaking of traveling, down at the border a growing situation with more people approaching and entering the united states. thousands of children in u.s. custody. but here in washington there are two immigration bills that are being considered today, one that would give legal status and a path to citizenship for dreamers, children brought here when they were young. also on capitol hill today, a house hearing on hate crimes against asian americans. in light of not only what

happened in atlanta this week, the six asian women who were killed as part of that shooting spree, but also asian communities who have long complained throughout the year they've been targeted by people who claimed they are responsible for bringing coronavirus to the united states. not only are we hearing from those communities but we're hearing from the nation's first south asian vice president, kamala harris. >> i also want to speak out in solidarity with them and acknowledge none of us should ever be silent in the face of any form of hate. >> reporter: now that hearing today will be looking at the rise in reported hate incidents, discrimination, and those testifying today are going to be some of their own, at least three lawmakers are set to testify at the hearing today.

laura? >> i'll take it from here, thank you. it's a busy first day for anyone 50 and over. the county this week despite the minimum age to 50. thousands of people took advantage. but county health leaders fear only 50% will receive the vaccination, there are myths and really contributing to the fear. >> close to 140,000 doses and none was a serious allergic reaction. >> they tend to have a general distrust of science or government or both. as eligibility expands, rates are rising in the north bay, sonoma county has the most people vaccinated at 35%.

in san francisco it's 34%. marin, san mateo and contra costa are at 33%. alameda where 31% of the people there are vaccinated. the most populated county in the bay area lagging behind with just 25% people there vaccinated. go to plan your vaccine.com, a great way to get that information. you put in your state, age, occupation and it will pull up the closest site to you. >> county leaders will add artificial intelligence technology to track fire outbreaks. ai sensors will be placed on towers to watch for fires instead of having people monitor wildfire detection 24/7. a possible fire is spotted, despite fewer cars on the roads,

california leading the world when it came to the worst air quality according to a new study. the skies are turning the burnt orange color. most of the nations surveyed improved their air quality. look at the golden gate bridge. severe storms ripped through the state. close to montgomery under a tornado watch. families just searching for their belongings after several homes and buildings were just ripped apart. cars were just overrun. so far police say heavy rain swamp streets and storms packing a big punch.

quite frightening there. no one was hurt. storms are on the move in the carolinas and parts of virginia today. a much smaller storm system of our own to deal with. kari has been tracking it for us. it's been light to moderate. the red scan shows that we are seeing showers to the east just off the coast here within the next couple of hours. mostly cloudy but dry. we'll talk more about how much

rain to expect. any problems right now for the commute? >> no major problems. traffic still holding up relatively light. we have a few more cars tapping their brakes as is the pattern. they're slowing and you see the damp roadways here. by the time you reach treasure eye land everything is back at speed. some wet roadways. circling the very short -- looks like a new crash popped up. back to you. coming up next, apple wants your feet to become smarter.

>> why in particular would be a good day to say thank you to your bus driver. plus -- a character from an old tv commercial is back but switches sides. let's take you out bigger than expected numbers leave the futures fairly flat. you're watching "today in the bay."

when you've got a business, you don't want to worry about slow internet or confusing cybersecurity. so get comcast business internet on the network that can deliver gig speeds to the most businesses, and add the advanced security of comcast business securityedge. it's the speed you need with threat protection, plus 24/7 support. get fast internet and advanced security—made simple. and bounce forward— with comcast business. get started with a great offer, and ask how you can add comcast business securityedge. plus, for a limited time, ask how to get a $500 prepaid card when you upgrade. call today.

right now at 6:13 the bay area gets rain and the sierra is getting some snow. heading to tahoe we are going to see the rain changing over to snow by tomorrow and then clearing in time for weekend. what to expect coming up in a few minutes. but, kari, you told us to expect overnight rain and throughout the day 101 operating just fine. a little damp. taillights heading north through palo alto. you may see a crash in sfo. checking on details to let you know if that affects the freeway itself coming up. well, good morning. very happy thursday to you as well. the national highway traffic safety administration is investigating another tesla

crash, the second in michigan in a week where it's suspected tesla was on autopilot. in this case it hit a michigan state trooper patrol car that had pulled over to the side of the road. nobody seriously hurt but one of two crashes, the other in detroit being locked at this week. ford says 30,000 of employees can work at home or in a hybrid situation, sometimes at home, sometimes in the office. obviously not the pem who work on the assembly line but all the designers and administrators and support staff. ford is one of many, many companies calling at least partial quits to the office. meanwhile, the fed absolutely delighting investors saying it would not raise interest rates thissier or even next year as well. the dow skyrocketed above 32,000 as a result. the move between 32,000 and 33,000 the fastest 1,000-point move in stock market history.

770,000 americans aemployed for first-time jobless claims, more than expected and more than the week before which is odd considering more places are opening up. hello, i'm a real person doing a real comparison between mac and pc. they're all pcs. oh, yeah, intel. >> you may recall justin long from the i'm a mac commercials. he switched sides. now he's promoting intel-powered pcs instead of apple laptops pointing out macs come in two colors, gray and gray. >> let's see, over here, these are the newer macs? okay, so gray and grayer. >> marcus, you were pointing out the verizon guy also switched sides, the can you hear me now guy. maybe flo will start selling farmers insurance. >> look, it happens.

thanks, scott. all new for you this morning apple has smart phones, smart watches, and maybe soon, get this, smart footwear. yeah. a new patent was spotted by apple for smart footwear that sends signals to virtual reality gamers and the device in a shoe or sock would use electromagnetic to deliver hot or cold sensations. it is rumored to become part of the new vr headset costing about $1,000. apple not commenting just yet. if you take public transit take the time to thank employees. today is transit worker appreciation day. to celebrate this afternoon b.a.r.t. will hold a question and answer event holding two b.a.r.t. employ yes, sir who work on b.a.r.t.'s front lines

in the stations and on train. and, yes, we hear at "today in the bay" appreciate all the work of those transit workers. you know what, i have to find a picture because when i was in kindergarten my bus driver, i loved her. i wanted to be her when i grew up and, you know what, i found her on facebook and we're friends now. it's cool. >> mrs. o'connor drove my bus all through grade school. i remember. the first grown-up -- >> we have to thank everyone. >> the first grown-up who wasn't in my family. we'll talk about transit first because b.a.r.t. had some minor delays, cleared out of the el cerrito station. on the map we'll talk about another crash. chp reporting by sfo the exit might have the activity but not affecting the freeway itself. a crash near foster city. no slowing shows up there. this is the one that popped up

during the last report. it's 680 right around the capital expressway. a car went off the road, just one car and it's in the dirt. it's okay. we'll track that. potential for slicker roadways. watching for single car crashes. a little slowing for fewer cars approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. you see the middle lanes are tapping their brakes because people are waiting at the toll plaza but no major, use once you get through the incline area. kari, it's damp. i can see some puddles, what's going on today? we had some rain earlier this morning that moved through and most of us are seeing a break from that rain as we get a look at storm ranger, our mobile doppler radar. parts of the san bruno mountain showing we are seeing some spotty showers still lingering for parts of the north bay. this is the kind of activity we'll see as we go into the afternoon. it rains and then it stops. so it's going to be kind of off and on and so as we get a closer look we can see the rain moving

through right around the clover dale area and pushing to the east near clear lake and lake port. so looking at the rain overall we are seeing some of those showers passing by but more off the coast, and that will be moving in as we go into today. so as we go hour by hour we're stopping at 11:00 because the next wave of heavier rain starts to move into the coastline. parts of the north bay. and the north bay is where we will see some of the higher, slightly higher rainfall totals compared to elsewhere. by tonight the rain is starting to taper off but still may be moving through farther to the north as we go into even tomorrow afternoon. rainfall totals for most of us will be about a quarter to half of an inch of rain and it's really still not helping us out too much with the drought monitor that was just update add few minutes ago shows that we do still have some extreme drought conditions where we see the red for parts of the north bay. but as you head further to the south we do see the abnormally

dry conditions after getting some much needed rain last month. so looking at our forecast over the next several days, spring starts this weekend. saturday is going to be nice and sunny. temperatures warming up going into next week. but we are still looking at some rain in the forecast for today into tonight. and now as we turn our attention to our climate in crisis, we're going to keep a focus on the impact that is we could see going into the future looking at the sierra snowpack over the past several years we've seen only 60% of the time that we've made it to our 100% of the normal amount of snowpack or better and over the last ten years we've only made it twice, so we've had some very warm temperatures as well as some very dry conditions. and as we look back, we've seen the sierra snow happened during these very warm years and part of the reason why, too, we see a lot of this precipitation falling as rain. noaa scientists are saying that

in the year 2100 most of the precipitation may fall as rain only getting snow above 9,000 feet. that's if we don't do anything, but there are some things we can do. as we look at our website nbcbayarea.com/climateincrisis we've been posting some things you can do to help our climate in crisis and see some ways that you can make a difference. i'll have another weather update coming up in a few minutes. marcus and laura? >> looking forward to that, kari. 6:22. up next, details just out on that mass shooting at a southern california park three years ago. how the unfolding chaos continued to the delayed police response. and all weeklong we've been looking back at the last photo taken from before the covid shutdown started. heidi took this photo in the richmond shipyard. the doors were locked, chained shut. she says little did she know the entire state would lock down.

just days later. share your videos and pictures with us here on "today in the bay." more news ahead. i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love,... more adventure,... more community. but with my hiv treatment,... there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor... and switched to... fewer medicines with dovato. prescription dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with... just 2 medicines... in 1 pill,...

dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed... and get to and stay undetectable... can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its ingredients... or if you take dofetilide. hepatitis b can become harder to treat while taking dovato. do not stop dovato without talking to your doctor,... as your hepatitis b may worsen or become life-threatening. serious or life-threatening side effects can occur, including... allergic reactions, lactic acid buildup, and liver problems. if you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction,... stop taking dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis b or c,... or if you are, may be, or plan to be pregnant. your doctor may prescribe a different medicine... than dovato if you plan to be pregnant or if pregnancy is confirmed during the first trimester. dovato may harm your unborn baby. use effective birth control... while taking dovato. most common side effects are headache, nausea,... diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety.

so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. ask your doctor about dovato—i did. 6:25. a follow-up to the 2018 shooting rampage in southern california that killed a dozen people. it happened at the borderline bar and grill and thousand oaks. a new report cites an

overwhelmed 911 system, chaos and delays for hampering law enforcement's response. it all contributed to confusion after a marine opened fire and killed himself. the gunman left no note and his motives may never be known. we have new details in this week's deadly fireworks explosion in southern california. two victims have still not been identified. it happened tuesday afternoon in ontario east of l.a. this morning some neighbors are still being told to stay away from their homes because teams are trying to defuse unexploded fireworks at the blast site. authorities found 60 large boxes of fireworks -- 60 large boxes of fireworks, and they're just trying to destroy them. trending this morning uc davis doctors are going viral encouraging people to get the covid shot and putting a new twist to a famous song. take a listen. ♪♪

>> from "hamilton. "it took me a second. their own version of "my shot." they hope that people will actually overcome any fears of getting the covid shot. such a big musical and a lot of people identify with it or just know it. so, yeah, get those shots if you can. it's going to do some good. that's kind of cool. >> they are giving away different kinds of shots. another small step in the recovery at the popular bay area museum gets set to reopen today. make some plans. we'll tell you about it next. plus, governor newsom making calls to appoint an asian american state attorney general. the person at the top of the short list for the job. are as more and more mutations of the covid-19 virus keep

popping up many wonder if we're going to need a booster shot. up next what a top bay area doctor is saying about it. 6:27. you're watching "today in the bay." ♪ ♪ ♪ when it comes to your financial health, just a few small steps can make a real difference. ♪ ♪ ♪

guidance on your terms. confidence feels good. chase. make more of what's yours.

right now at 6:30, we begin outside with a look at storm ranger tracking the skies above the bay area. this as another storm moves into the bay area. the radar is on and kari is all

over it with a look at our forecast coming up in just moments. "today in the bay" continues right now. good thursday morning. thank you for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington. straight to that weather. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking the storm. what are we looking at now? we've already seen a couple waves of rain passing by. most of us are taking a break. we've seen the rain as we continue to see the waves coming in today and spreading across the east "today in the bay" later on this morning. this is the kind of activity we'll see we'll talk more about this and the forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> sounds good, thanks so much, kari. the recent spike in anti-asian violence now leading some to call on new action from governor newsom. this as one of the state's top

leadership positions will open up in a matter of days. cierra johnson joins us live from san francisco. talk about what people want to happen here. >> reporter: yes, good morning, some of the state's top asian lawmakers are saying the time is to have an asian american in the position of the state's top cop after a rash of crimes against asian americans here locally and across the nation and following the state's attorney general possibly moving to the nation's capital. xavier becerra was advanced by the u.s. senate as the health and human services secretary and final approval is expected in the next few days. that would leave his state position vacant. they hope governor newsom picks a filipino american and a democrat from oakland to replace becerra but some state leaders

know there's not a single d.a. of pacific islander but a congressman vying for the open position, adam schiff. schiff served as the lead prosecutor in donald trump's first impeachment trial and was elected to the state senate. as lawmakers work to search for the state top cop law enforcement upping patrol. london breed asked sfpd in areas with a high number of residents and bases. the police chief saying they're partnering with some organizations to increase those patrols. >> now we need to understand not only what was going on and why those attacks occurred because in some cases they didn't include any robbery or thefts but how do we get to the root causes of what's happening and how do we make change?

>> reporter: and mayor breed says while there have been a lot of work still needs to be done. as for xavier becerra and the advancement of the health and human services position we will keep you updated on that as well as who could potentially fill the seat at the state level. developing right now a just announced delay into tomorrow's scheduled first court appearance for the suspect in the atlanta massage parlor shootings. authorities say aaron robert long shot and killed eight people in three atlanta area massage parlors tuesday night and is now apparently talking to investigators and sharing information about his motives. at this point they are not calling it a hate crime. >> he claims, and the chief said it's still early, he claims it was not racially motivated. he apparently has an issue, what he considers a sex addiction, and sees these locations as

something that allows him to go to these places and is a temptation he wanted to eliminate. >> police say once everything is out on the table it's possible hate crime charges will still be considered. violent attacks will be the focus of "race in america the conversation." best-selling author amy tan will be one of our guests. jessica aguirre recently met with her and she says racism towards asians isn't new. >> i think the racism has always been there. anti-asian sentiment that is out there now. and it's frightening because it's not just the sentiment. it's the violence that is

happening. >> much more tonight. jeremy lin as well as educator liz kleine will also join the conversation this is our 11th episode. you can watch it tonight at 6:30. a new case of the covid variant first discovered in south africa. santa clara county health leaders say this is the second such case. it's believed to have spread through communal contact and not through travel. so far four cases have been found. 24 others states have seen this variant including nevada, texas and florida. as other covid variants pop up people are questioning if you will need a booster shot similar to a flu shot. a specialist says only the time will tell. >> experts are divided on the topic right now.

in most extreme, a booster once a year. the least extreme if we have dominance by varieties that we can take care of by the original vaccine the immunity will last for several years. >> many people question as well if you have to pay for that booster shot. the ceo of pfizer talked about that on a news documentary series axios on hbo and says a vaccine costs the u.s. less than $20 a dose. he did say once the vaccine is sold on the open market the price could change. hayward leaders approved a settlement in a lawsuit tied to a deadly police shooting. november of 2018, gonzalez died. officers later determined he rush them with a razor blade that they mistook to be a knife. they were cleared of wrongdoing

but his family filed a civil suit citing the de-escalation tactics used. councilmembers approved a $3.3 million payout to benefit his children. the settlement does not admit any wrongdoing. take a look at this. heart stopping moments. this is video captured of a cliff rescue. the firefighters saved two teenagers who got stuck on the cliff yesterday. you can see they're walking the teenagers down to safety. it's not clear how they got stuck. we can tell you they are doing okay. and new this morning san francisco moving closer to boosting protections for struggling small businesses. this is by allocating $125 million from this year's budget. those funds would go to businesses, fee defrls, waivers and recovery initiatives. the plan goes to the board of supervisors for a full vote.

6:38. our own touch of disney reopening in the presidio at 10:00 a.m. today it's open to members. and then tomorrow it will be open to the public. san francisco city hall getting in the spirit all lit up in green for st. patrick's day yesterday. couldn't miss that. and it was a lively st. patrick's day. people were inside the pub for the first time in months. the only one in the bay area in the orange tier just in time for st. patrick's day. they can now open indoors at 25% compass>> terry:. >> take a look at this. a rare sight to see. wait for it. well, we just showed it. it was people drinking. all right. look, let's get a look at the weather. you could be dancing in the rain

today, kari. yeah. you have to time it right because it's not going to be raining all day. we've seen it coming through in waves and for some of us right now it's taking a break while some of the showers continue in the north bay. most of the rain has been fairly light but may get heavier in the north "today in the bay" by late morning. still some rain in waves. as we go into the evening commute, as we go into tonight that rain starts to clear out. we'll take a break before we are going to track some showers further to the north by tomorrow afternoon. so off and on rain but it won't be rain the whole day. we'll talk about this as well as what's ahead in the weekend forecast that's coming up in a few minutes. mike, it has still been wet. has that caused any problems for the commute? >> we've seen a couple of spinouts or single car crashes.

take a look where westbound is your commute. taillights move smoothly and you see the damp pavement as the headlights come toward us over to the hayward side. the map shows you over near foster city, i've circled the crash. it's a single car crash. sometimes slicker roadways can lead to spinouts. just giving that note out there. look, the sensors are out there. the green highlighting not so much, maybe a little more damp roadways still in the tri-valley and the east bay. the bay bridge toll plaza with a little slowing but no problems. i'll show that you coming up. back to you. >> thanks, mike. all new overnight a house fire in the south bay with one person seriously injured. up next an unfortunate surge still going on right now in the aftermath. plus -- >> reporter: a year into the pandemic. a look at how silicon valley

powered our work from home and distance learning experience and how it brought us closer together. and america has reached its goal of 100 million vaccines far earlier than expected. let's take you out to the big board. stocks not moving very much as a bigger than expected number of americans filed for first-time jobless claims. you're watching "today in the bay."

come experience the grand opening of floor and decor's newest location in pleasant hill! our expansive store is fully equipped

with safe distancing guides, so you can browse our wide aisles and be amazed with our even wider selection. or easily order online, and pick up all the products you need for your flooring project curbside! so come discover the perfect floor at the perfect price in whatever way is perfect for you. floor and decor, now open in pleasant hill for safe in-store shopping and curbside pickup. also open in milpitas, burlingame and san leandro.

good thursday morning. we are under a microclimate weather alert and off and on rain moves through the bay area. we look at the east bay. it is a mostly dry commute as of right now. no rain falling as we go into the next hour or so. we will see the rain chances ramping up by late morning into early in the afternoon. we'll be tracking this. we'll take a look at storm ranger coming up in a few minutes. and as promised that look at the bay bridge toll plaza. it's worth waiting for. a little break in the clouds, still some damp roadways. we'll show you where things are starting to slow more coming up. new overnight a man is hospitalized with severe burns. this is after a fire at a home deep in san jose's foothills. this is new video from the scene. it's a few miles south and happened around 2:30 this

morning. fire investigators tell us a dog died and another dog is still missing. it's not clear how the fire started. new this morning residents being warned about a possible mountain lion attack. authorities arrived before 10:00 last night to an area in wood side. they found a dog with injuries that appeared to show it was mauled and killed by a big cat. it's not clear how authorities were alerted or if that dog was a family owned pet. president biden promised 100 million vaccinations in his first 100 days in office and he's ahead of schedule. >> america will probably reach that goal today. yeah, it's looking that way. we were at 98 million yesterday, marcus, and running north of 2 million shots in arms every day so that sounds right. today is day 57 of the biden administration. he promised it within the first 100. now obviously the president

can't take full credit for what's been a nationwide effort, but it is an achievement nonetheless. america has pushed drug makers to send in more doses. we have astrazeneca doses we're holding on to though the u.s. hasn't approved them in american use. european union leaders this morning saying they may stop drug makers in europe from sending america more doses if europeans don't have enough of them. the u.s. and china will meet for the first time since biden took office today. asking some of the trade restrictions from the trump administration be removed. it's unlikely that will happen. worry over china's unfair trade practices is pretty much a bipartisan issue. john kerry getting heat for this picture snapped on an american airlines flight where his mask is hanging by one strap on his ear. kerry says on twitter the mask

slipped. american airlines says it's investigating. the inspector general of the postal service has completed her investigation into claims that postal supervisors discussed manipulating ballots in pennsylvania during the 2020 election. she's concluded it never happened. the final report says the postal worker who claimed he overheard supervisors discussing it has recanted his story. that claim was a key part of donald trump's claim ballots in pennsylvania were invalid. the report says the postal worker whose name is redacted now claims he had not heard a conversation about ballots at all, rather he saw the postmaster and supervisor having a discussion and assumed it was about fraudulent balance will the back dating. we're covering everything happening in washington on twitter. you can follow me there and share your opinion. i'm @scottmcgrew. as can you see we're still in this pandemic and so many of us working from home.

but for a year we had to turn inward, working, schooling, our kids from home with just the people in our immediate families and households. for a lot of families that meant getting to know each other a little better. >> kris sanchez knows that well. she's live for us in san jose with how silicon valley technology helped us move and connect even though we all had to stay at home, kris. >> reporter: it's hard to believe we really did start working from home and learning from home almost overnight. we didn't necessarily know that we had all of the technology to do that but we definitely leaned on each other quite a bit, and we learned how far technology could take us and where there were gaps. >> it's a lot of togetherness in some of the best ways and obviously some of the more stressful ways. >> reporter: carlos, joaquin, daniel are distance learning in the family room. dad is teaching high school from the bedroom.

mom has a corner office in the garage. >> i think it's really around not finding a balance, honestly, but figuring out how we work better as a team. >> the children were able to learn how to cook for themselves, clean up a little bit more, like do the laundry, the restrooms. >> reporter: sales of san jose zoom spiked by 325% as we began distance learning and working from home in 2020. digital work flow saw 32% subscription increase. revenue for san francisco-based door dash surged by 226% when we couldn't go out. and when we turned to e-commerce paypal saw 140% increase in new users and our need to destress saw sales increase by 163%. the digital divide was glaring cutting some communities off from technology that kept others

afloat. going forward they are hoping for a more inclusive future. >> this pandemic shed light on our ability to do it and now it's just a matter of our will. >> reporter: and we started to see some of that divide close a little bit. there's a lot of work to do still. one thing this family and a lot of others did was get outside more. coming up tomorrow how many more people use our parks and open spaces to make sure their spirits were up and their minds were clear. in san jose, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> kris, thank you. >> you may look for those opportunities to use the parks today. hit and miss because some rain in the works over the bay area. yeah, we definitely have been going to the park a lot. today you might want to bring a towel for the kids because they may need to wipe down the slides and stuff before they go out and play. we'll see some waves of rain passing by as we get a closer look on storm ranger. the rain is falling in parts of

the north bay as we head up to northern sonoma county some of the showers moving through, mostly light rain falling on 101. as we open up the picture there's more rain to come. we are still going to be in with this wet weather throughout the day and then as we take a look at our pollen count this will be helped later on. but right now still pretty high with a lot of tree pollen floating through the air with all of the dry weather we've seen. we are going to see this rain kind of help bring down the pollen levels. as we go into late morning and the afternoon expect the off and on showers to continue and this will be for the evening commute. but by tonight we should start to see the rain tapering off and most of us will have a chance to dry out tomorrow except for farther to the north up around clear lake and ukiah. there may still be some rain in and around the area. we're looking at overall rainfall totals of a quarter to half an inch of rain. still pretty significant, anywhere from 7 to 18 inches to

catch up to normal amounts of rain and we're about to head into a stretch of dry weather going into our first day of spring saturday and feeling more like spring by the middle of next week. how is it rolling for the morning commute? kari, it's moving nicely. the live shot holding steldy with a lighter drive and damp roadways that are drying out. as we look overer who a little slowing on the incline and closer to san francisco really is the issue as we get through the area. a smoother flow than the rest of the bay. a nice drive here. 580 a crash eastbound may be slowing a little bit. we'll track that. up to the altamont pass the green highlighting, damp roadways there and watch vasco still under 20 minutes from brentwood down to 580. again, it may be damp and, again, there's the toll plaza. no major problems. back to you. >> thanks, mike. happening now thrills are

returning. six flags discovery kingdom announcing plans to open april 1st. that's about one month before disneyland reopens. of course distancing rules will be in effect. coming up next a quick look at our top stories we're covering including back to the skies. air travel certainly picking up in the bay area. we'll look at the record tsa numbers. you're watching "today in the bay."

for nearly a decade, comcast has been helping students get ready. we've connected 4 million low-income students to low- cost, high-speed xfinity internet. we're working with hundreds of school districts across the country to sponsor free internet and laptops. and parents are seeing an impact. and now we're turning 1,000 community centers

into lift zones - wifi enabled safe spaces to study. so more students can be ready for anything. i'm trying to do some homework here. 6:57. welcome back. here's a quick look at the top stories we're following including a surge in air travel as more people become vaccinated. >> health leaders are urging flyers to remain grounded. bob redell at oakland international airport. bob? >> reporter: marcus and laura, there are more people heading to the airport because more people are getting those vaccine shots. the latest data from the tsa

screened more people in the past week than any other week in the past year. new numbers just released show seven straight days of over a million screenings each day. that's the longest streak of a million days this year. loosens across the country. the cdc, however, is still advising against leisure travel. more people are making plans. one travel consultant tells us the top three places her clients are going to tahiti, mexico and hawaii. reporting live at oakland international, bob redell, "today in the bay." let's head outside to the golden gate bridge. take a look right there and you can see the clouds are sticking around there and so is the rain throughout the bay area. kari hall has been tracking that for us. kari? we're starting out with some waves of rain coming through.

as we get a look at storm ranger it's showing that most of the rain falling now is in the north bay but elsewhere we are all clear as you get ready to head out the door. this will be changing today. make sure you download the nbc bay area app and you also can look at live views of storm ranger because we'll see the waves of rain coming through. and you'll also get alerts as rain approaches your location so that will help you be prepared as you're out and about running errands today and working. so, of course, we'll be keeping an eye on that. mike, what are you watching right now for the commute? we're watching the rain, kari. we have a break but still damp roadways as the volume builds on the richmond side heading over the bridge to san rafael. another trans bay drive, a smooth drive slowing on the flat section. looks like something is going on. i'll track that and any changes. i use that app to tell me when to walk the dog. i don't want to get rain. >> no one does.

that does it for "today in the bay" this thursday morning for you. we need a big, juicy storm so i can wash off my car. walnut creek this morning. try to stay dry and stay with nbc bay area. the "today" show starts now. driven by hate. new questions over the motivation behind that shooting spree at georgia spas that killed eight people, six of asian descent. >> this was a tragic day with many victims. >> i think it's -- it is a very, very troublesome. >> the lone suspect now charged with murder and due in court, a police captain facing outrage for appearing to dismiss it as a hate crime. >> yesterday was a really bad day for him, and this is what he did. >> but officers in atlanta saying those