northern california. these wildfires causing smoky skies, bringing unhealthy air to us in the bay area. this is "today in the bay." a very good wednesday morning to you. 5:00 right now. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm scott mcgrew. marcus has the morning off. let's get right to meteorologist kari hall. air quality is going to be bad today. >> yeah. and it's probably going to be the worst we've seen so far this year because of the air quality and the shift in the direction of the wind is going to bring in a lot more smoke today. as of now, we haven't had that shift in the wind. still a westerly breeze bringing in some fresh air from the ocean but that will change as our winds pick up later today. we're going to start to see in the north bay very unhealthy air quality that will continue and spread down the peninsula into the south bay as well as the east bay and really settling into a lot of our valleys. it continues tomorrow as we have numerous fires burning out of

control and most likely will continue to expand with some very rapid development over the next couple days due to the high winds that have been picking up and coming in from the north. as we look at the risk here in the bay area, red flag warning that will continue until 3:00 today and we are also going to see our gusts continue up until that time that could reach up to 50 miles per hour. watching that, those wildfires continue to grow this morning and kris sanchez out there live with an update on that. >> well hi, kari. we're not smelling the smoke in the air at this point, but we definitely can feel some of the windy conditions that you're talking about and the caldor fire that we first reported on yesterday exploded in size overnight, largely because of those fires. now the fire went from 6500 acres to 30,000 acres in less than 24 hours and we now know at least twos residents suffered serious burns and one had to be taken to the hospital by

helicopter. the entire el dorado national forest is closed and if you can believe this the evacuation centers are full of residents fleeing for safety. they are closed, though the orders are still in effect. they are now 242 fire personnel on this fire, the caldor fire, which is not contained on any front. meanwhile, the biggest fire burning in california the dixie fire, continues to grow also making for some of those eerie orange skies that we remember from last year here in the bay area. these images are from san jose state's weather research lab and after a month's time the fire still only 31% contained. there are 6,000 fire personnel on that fire and already 1200 structures are destroyed and it's still not fully under control. in san jose, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> thanks for following it for us. the situation seemingly developing by the minute in afghanistan where frantic rush continues to transport thousands of afghan citizens who worked and fought alongside u.s. forces

over the last two decades. >> we learned as many as 15,000 americans are on the ground to help keep the peace. "today in the bay's" jay gray live in washington with the latest. >> scott and laura, good morning. look, the conditions surrounding the effort there on the ground in afghanistan really are shifting it seems almost all the time there, under not only the watchful eye of u.s. forces but taliban fighters there as well. president biden returns to the white house overnight amid growing criticism of his administration's handling of the crisis in afghanistan. >> it's a stain on the reputation of the united states of america, a big foreign policy mistake, a colossal mistake. >> reporter: right now, the military side of the kabul airport is in essence a u.s. base. troops locking down the area as evacuations continue around the clock. >> we'll do as much as we can for as long as we can.

>> reporter: to this point, according to the white house more than 3200 american citizens have been evacuated along with nearly 2,000 afghan special immigrants relocated to the united states. some likely heading hereot mccoy in refugees could ben the next few weeks. the new government promising not to interfere with that promise and vowing not to retaliate against citizens who help the united states. >> we've announced [ inaudible ] and their honor and their life. all those are safe. >> reporter: those who know the region and the taliban well, have their doubts. >> it's a desperate situation. we shouldn't believe one word the taliban says. we have very little or no leverage. >> reporter: the administration does continue negotiations with taliban leaders.

evacuations expected to last through at least the end of the month. jay gray, nbc bases. one bay area group is doing all it can to help. the jewish family and community services east bay has welcomed dozens of people who left their home country and plans on doing more. >> so far this month we have resettled 60 people from afghanistan. we know that we'll have 23 more refugees coming who are currently in fort lee, virginia and we've made a commitment to resettling another 33 people who are still attempting to arrive here from afghanistan. >> once they arrive it's a 90-day process to get the refugees settled into fully furnished home. >> san francisco launching a new effort in the pandemic as delta

variant cases grow. the city is opening a testing site south of market. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson live in the city. we're talking about the possibility of hundreds of tests every day. that's welcome news. >> good morning, scott. that's exactly right. ri intersection of 7th andrandon and behind me things are pretty quiet. you can see a lot of tents and cones but in a matter of hours this will be a full-fledged, fully functioning testing facility that will administer hundreds of covid tests each day. now this is what we do know about this testing site. it is considered a high volume site and it is appointment only. they will offer 500 tests each day seven days a week beginning today. this location is driving through or walk up and the results from those tests will be available in 24 to 48 hours. now san francisco's mayor's office tells nbc bay area the number of covid cases has risen to 230 a day and the goal of this site is to meet the demand

of folks wanting to get tested and help folks who go back to school or work. this site opens as the white house covid-19 team will make a case for booster shots eight months after folks receive either their pfizer or moderna vaccine with the fda approval. those shots could be available as soon as september. now i did have a chance to check the website. there aren't any tests available for today or tomorrow. there are a couple slots open for august 20th. the website did indicate there will be more slots available post august 20th, but again this is the location that you could be interested in if you are in need of a covid test to go back to school or for a sense of mind or if you've been exposed to someone that has covid. cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thanks. new research this morning reinforcing pregnant women should get vaccinated. last week the cdc advised expectant mothers to get the covid vaccine. a study finds women either pregnant or breastfeeding and

received the shot experienced side effects similar to their nonpregnant counterparts in terms of severity. the cdc says 23% of pregnant women in the u.s. were vaccinated by the end of july. an east bay city creating new affordable housing for people trying to make it in the bay. pleasant hill leaders approving a housing project on taylor boulevard and lucille lane. this will replace a vacant office building. with about 3 dozen single family units. right now there's no timeline on when that project will be finished. california's drought may lead to drastic new measures from governor newsom. he may have to ord mandatory water restrictions in six weeks time and talked about it while touring big basin in the santa cruz mountains. the governor is already asking for voluntary reductions of 15%. he says that may change especially if things continue to look bleak when the rainy season returns in early october. we hope the rainy season returns

in early october. >> any rain. it's incredible to watch what we've been talking about, the fire fighting equipment that scoops down into the lake. >> i've seen that happen. >> not much lake. >> right. let's take a look at our reservoir levels, especially for the south bay as we take a look at the percent of capacity versus the historical average and this is the third driest two-year period that we've had where we're seeing our reservoirs on average down to only about 20% of capacity and then when you look across the state, they're mostly only at about half of the level where they should be and what's normal as we look around all of our largest reservoirs, they're at about 40% or less. really concerning to see that as we have more fires burning, we have not yet made it to october where we start to see some of the showers coming back in and we've had some warm temperatures. today we're headed toward the mid 80s for the north bay and east bay down to the south bay. we'll talk about the fire danger coming up.

mike, you're seeing a delay clearing in the east bay. >> we heard about this disabled vehicle here off of the maze. east bay 580 at 24. it may be affecting the transition and the tow from the bridge at the edge of the jurisdtionhey had tew more minu until it arrives getting away from the bay bridge. also that construction. we'll outline that again in concord. i did want to show you slowing that shows up again this morning as folks are heading down vasco, early slowing down toward where all the coffee shops and what not toward 580. a crash in the area as well, but i think it's the road crew doing more traffic control. this should be cleared quickly over there at scott creek road. the off ramp open from 680. >> thanks so much. coming up, saying goodbye to swiping for good. at least when it comes to credit cards. the company now forever changing the way plastic looks and when you can expect that change. plus, something to chew on.

ahead, girl scout cookie season, a new player in the game, why the brand new adventure may just become an instance classic.

california, did you know our homes share power? but when we try to stay cool in a heat wave our supply is pushed to the limit. but you have the power to keep us up and running! “i do?” yup, we all do! with flex alerts. they notify us when to shift our energy use if our power supply is stretched. so from pre-cooling our homes, to using less energy from 4-9pm, together, let's flex our power to save our power. sign up for flex alerts today. make this the summer you taught them what it means to serve. the summer of hauling happiness by the ton.

and bringing home hardware by the handful. where traditions were passed down on the tailgate. and the only thing more powerful than the feeling was the truck that took you to it. make this the summer of ram. right now, get 0% apr financing, or well-qualified returning lessees can lease the 2021 ram 1500 for $309 a month. ♪ ♪ right now at 5:13, we are under a microclimate weather alert due to our high fire danger that will continue for these areas shaded in red up until about 3:00 this afternoon. our bay area hills experience something wind gusts that could definitely be a big risk if we

get any flames. we'll talk about this and temperatures in the forecast coming up. >> that's a concern. over here, no concerns for palo alto. 101 the bay shore freeway moves smoothly as folks get about their early business. let's check in on early business with bertha. hey. good morning, mike. consumers are what's driving concerns on wall street. i'm bertha coombs from cnbc. we've got stocks set to open lower after falling sharply yesterday following a weaker than expected report on retail sales which is sparking worries we could see the economy slow down. retail sales fell more than 1% last month largely due to a big drop in auto sales. the dow snapping a five-day winning streak falling 282 points dragging down by a 4% drop in home depot despite the fact that home depot brought in better than expected earnings. we're awaiting a report on housing starts and later minutes from the fed's meeting last

month. also, we've got earnings so far from target and lowe's which are better than expected and both are actually raising their outlook for the year. meantime mastercard is phasing out the use of those magnetic strips on its credit and debit cards over the next decade as it shifts towards more secure methods such as chips and contactless payments. the magnetic strip technology dates back to the 1960s. it's that old. mastercard says the transition will begin in europe in 2024 where chip cards are already pretty widely used. and in 2027 here in the u.s., where adoption has been slower. meantime nissan is shifting gears and heading backwards. it's unveiling the latest generation of z sports cars that are really a blast from the past. the new z is going to come with a gas powered engine and a manual transmission.

executives say that's the way fans want it. a version with an automatic transmission will be offered. the new z will go on sale in the u.s. next spring. nissan has said it will offer electric versions of all of its models by the early part of the decade and joined other automakers in endorsing the biden administration's goal of boosting electric vehicles to -- up to half of new car sales by 2030. >> wow. >> if you're a manual transmission fan that is great news. i have a friend who loves driving manual and had a hard time. >> i know. there's something about it. my dad had a 280 zx. that's cool. >> all right. good looking car. thank you very much. new this morning, more work opportunities for parents whose children are back in the classroom. the staffing firm people ready says nearly 2 million part-time and flexible jobs were posted in the u.s. in june and july. retailers seeking the most jobs.

also in demand, warehouse workers, personal shoppers, inventory associates, servers and restaurant hosts. >> hostess for the most. an unexpected twist while grocery shopping. while browsing the spice aisle she came face to face with a 10 foot snake. it's nonvenomous python poking its head through the shelves nearly touching the woman's face. i would have thought that was fake. it met its match because the woman is coincidentally a trained snake catcher. how does that happen. she went home, grabbed the snake, catching it releasing it into a woodland. >> we have a snake on aisle 2. snake. >> that's weird. >> they say everything in australia wants to kill you. >> and creepy. how about something nicer, perhaps your next favorite girl scout cookie coming to the

stands outside grocery stores. >> with the pandemic you had to buy online. the girl scouts unveiling a new cookie for the season. if brownies are your thing this may to the trick called adventure fulls. with a brown ki cookie and sea salt. either by stands or on line to support the girls. i'm a thin mint fan but i heard these blow thin mints out of the water. >> is that possible? >> i don't know. love to do some investigative reporting. >> samoas. >> depends on where you live. >> exactly. >> is that true? >> like helmand's and best foods. >> it depends where you live in the country what they're called. east coast is a different thing. i'm a california girl. >> it's interesting. what's your favorite? >> i would say thin mints. >> right. >> i like those ones someone

gives you. >> which ever ones are there. >> we over indulge in too many. >> they go great with coffee so i love them. let's get a look at what we're seeing this morning. an unhealthy air quality has been the big story. this shows near surface smoke. it looks good for san jose but we're starting to see the smoke coming up and down the peninsula into the east bay and it's really bad in parts of the north bay. we're going to see the smoke expand and spread with unhealthy air quality into the evening and just continues tomorrow. we won't have the clear blue sky we had yesterday afternoon. you're going to have a milky white grayish looking sky today because the winds have shifted and it's going to bring the smoke we're seeing from the dixie fire as well as the caldor fire and monument fire into the bay area. take a look at our wind speed forecast and for parts of the north bay it's still going to be gusty at least through noon. we're seeing winds that will

continue to reach about 30 to 35 miles per hour, may even be higher with some of the gusts. and then for the rest of the bay area, the winds are lighter, but with the wind direction, turning more from the north it's going to bring in more of that smoke. so the red flag warning for our bay area hills continues until 3:00 today and then take a look at all of the red flag warnings that we have around those fire zones across northern california and a lot of these fires are not contained. when the wind picks up it just spreads in a different direction and we have more evacuations unfortunately that's going to be the result of what we see for today with these weather conditions. our temperatures today, reach into the mid 80s in antioch, 83 martinez, oakland today reaching 73 degrees and 78 in palo alto. as we go into the rest of the week, this area of low pressure that's bringing in the northerly wind and the high wind gusts will move away but another one moving in by early next week. meantime our temperatures just coming up and down a little bit and actually be a little bit cooler for the weekend.

we're going from the mid to upper 80s today and tomorrow to mid 80s for the weekend. we'll see highs up to about 84 on sunday. that's going to be very nice with a breezy wind. san francisco looking at highs mostly in the upper 60s. you're seeing a clear view to w. westbound with the tailligigs always the case and never changes direction. a smooth flow of traffic here getting into san francisco and getting away from the bay bridging right there. 580 eastbound the bridge crew was able to get permission to take care of the truck. now the folks from san leandro don't need to send a tow truck. that's clear. still have northbound 242 in concord still closed. northbound toward concord off the 680 split may be there for another 40 minutes or so. hopefully clearing up over the next 20 and we're watching the commute direction westbound highway 4 and then 680 or even cutting through down southbound

242 that's completely clear an at speed. there's a new incident near the walnut creek interchange. i will give chp a couple minutes to give us an update. no slowing shows up there. 680 northbound at scott creek road, the crash there for a while, reports it was going to clear in a few minutes. i haven't heard about closures there. we're looking at 101 through san jose. light traffic still. >> up next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. a mom wants to spoil her kids for the day but a company spoils her plans. i'm chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. >> our team is always on social media. over the weekend kris sanchez posting this video of how her saturday started. we all have to do household chores. on the right how it ended rewarded with smoked ribs from her husband. you can follow kris on facebook, twitter and instagram. we're all moms trying to get it done. you're watching "today in the bay."

good morning. it's 5:25. nbc bay area responds to a mom who spent hundreds of dollars to treat her kids to a fun day. >> turns out the place she booked was no longer doing business there. she asked chris chmura's team to help. >> good morning. this is a story about billy bee's, basically a big indoor

playground. its website says you'll hear the fun before you walk in. but allison garner and her kids only heard crickets because the san jose location closed. that was a problem because mom had prepaid $316 for billy bee's passes that were basically useless. next closest location is near l.a. allison expected a full refund. she told us she wrote and called, but crickets again. so she asked us to take a look. we gave billy bee's corporate office a buzz and said it didn't have any record allison reached out. a worker bee took action and sent us a statement saying as soon as we became aware of miss garner's situation we contacted the customer and issued her a full refund. yeah, allison got $316 back. has a refund or hassle spoiled your fun go to nbcbayarea.com or give us a call 888-996-tips.

>> thanks so much. 5:26. coming up, top stories what we're following today including the air quality concerns and smoke from northern california wildfires really drifting into the bay area. plus -- >> and coming up on "today in the bay," it's the end of summer for tens of thousands of schoolchildren because they're heading back to the classroom. what parents need to know for the start of the new school year. and shutting down. maybe. some day. leaders approve a plan to close a south bay airport. ahead the latest on the possible timeline and the concerns that prompted fast action.

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. 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 its ingredients or if you take dofetilide. taking dovato with dofetilide can cause serious

or life-threatening side effects. hepatitis b can become harder to treat while on dovato. don't 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 dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, or if you are, may be, or plan to be pregnant. dovato may harm your unborn baby. use effective birth control while on dovato. do not breastfeed 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. ♪♪

right now, california wildfires sending smoke into the skies. we're tracking unhealthy air quality you'll be dealing with this morning. power still out for thousands from shutoffs. the strong winds leading pg&e to cut electricity for people across california. we'll talk about when the power could be turned back on. this is "today in the bay." halfway through your workweek. it's 5:30 on your wednesday morning. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm scott mcgrew. marcus is off today. we're looking at these smoky skies. you're seeing the worst so far this year. >> especially this afternoon because we have more fires burning and a lot of them out of control and the shift in the wind is going to bring the smoke in. right now air quality is good

for many of our microclimates, except for the north bay where it is moderate right now. i do expect it to get worse as a lot more of that smoke comes in later this morning. notice all the yellows and the reds that indicates unhealthy air quality and we're going to see this directly into the bay area. we have the dixie, caldor and mop new meant fire that have been expanding in size and putting in massive amounts of smoke into the air. we're going to be watching this while we have our own fire danger across the bay area for a lot of our hills elevations above 1,000 feet. winds could gust up to 50 miles per hour up until about 3:00 this afternoon. we're watching that and talk more about what's ahead in the forecast leading into the weekend. that's coming up in a few minutes. it's 5:31. scenes like this, wildfires burning out of control, playing out elsewhere in northern california prompting pg&e to

call for power shutoffs across more than a dozen counties. more public safety power shutoffs are on the horizon at a time when poor air quality will have you want you shutting your windows and staying inside. a look at where homes and businesses may actually go dark and how folks can prepare. good morning, kris. >> hi there, laura. here in the bay area if you are not all charged up, you're going to want to plug in your phones and laptops, anything that you need to get through the day just in case that power goes out at your house. here's a live look at pg&e's psps, public safety power shutoff map. the pink triangles where the lights are already out. 51,000 customers will be impacted in the bay area. napa, sonoma, solano counties could be impacted. that 51,000 figure is for the entire area. now the -- in addition to charging your electronics you may want to make sure your gas

is topped off because without power some gas stations will be forced to close. preventing wildfires by shutting off power is a new way of life. if and when pg&e shuts off the power the lights will be out for at least 24 hours because crews have to go out and inspect those lines before pg&e can once again flip the switch. however, pg&e is giving folks warning and our consumer team did create a how to make sure you are ready in case your power goes out. what you need to think about including things your fridge, your gas, all of that, i'll put a link in my twitter page and on my facebook page as well. in san jose, kris sanchez, "today in the bay." >> thanks. if you want to check out pg&e's planned power outages we can help. we've posted the interactive map at nbcbayarea.com. you click on the link that says map. pg&e power shutoff at the top of the page. i'm also going to tweet it out right now. it's easy. put in your zip code, your address, will give you exactly when those outages could be coming your way. follow me laura garcia nbc.

it is 5:33. more bay area students headed back to school today first day of school around the bay area. of course for many, this year is starting unlike any other school year with that delta covid variant now spreading. >> they get to go back. but with precautions. cierra johnson live in san francisco breaking down not only what parents need to know but what health care providers need to know about the virus in kids. important news here. >> that's right. today is a big day because tens of thousands will be heading back to school. summer officially over for those students in several districts as they begin that first day. so today is the first day of school for san jose unified school district. fremont unified, san leandro unified, fairfield and redwood city unified. and with so many students going back to school, a question on a lot of parents' minds how do i know that back to school sniffle is a cold and not something more serious? we sat down with health

providers to get an answer and learned it's nearly impossible to know off the bat whether it's a cold or covid, but children exhibit a symptom adults often do not, stomach issues. >> children will have more of a g.i. complaint than an adult would, we're seeing more of that with the delta variant. >> reporter: and that doctor says symptoms in children can also include the more traditional covid signs like upper respiratory symptoms, dry cough, runny nose and fever. the best thing to do when a children is showing any of these signs is to see a doctor and that same doctor also says a lot of those kids aren't able to get vaccinated at this point so the best form of defense to keep your young ones safe is by wearing a mask. we're live in san francisco, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> got them all masked up before they head out the door. sonoma county workers will have to get the vaccine. supervisors voted to make all county employees submit proof of

vaccination or undergo regular covid testing that will start september 7th. if an employee has an exemption they will have to get tested regularly during workouts. a new mobile vaccine program, a van will deliver doses of the covid vaccineo people who have had a hard time getting to a vaccination center. it's a custom built van, dispatched to the highest priority areas first including communities with low vaccination rates, work sites impacted by outbreaks and schools. reid hill view airport may close down in a late night vote slayer supervisors approved that shutdown. residents and others have been calling for the closure for years. a recent report elevated the debate tying the airport's use of leaded fuel to potentially higher blood levels in children who live in the east side neighborhood. though those levels are still far below government guidelines. supervisors say a closure won't happen for the start of the new year at the earliest.

much of the air traffic may move to an airport south of the morgan hill area. golden gate transit leaders reportedly say police have been notified about threats need a group of bus drivers. marin i.j. reports workers discovered flyers in agency buildings this week threatening certain drivers tied to up an autoen yo dispute. leaders say the threat is carrying more urgency in the light of the recent vta tragedy. video footage is being reviewed to try to determine who is behind it. district attorneys in some california counties joining a lawsuit seeking to halt the early release of prison inmates. opponents say during the pandemic the state has launched an emergency credit system for inmates who earn good time further shortening their sentences. they plan to hold a news conference later today in sacramento. new details this morning of the former mayor of windsor dominic foppoli facing a new investigation. the press democrat reports the state's watchdog agency looking

into possible conflict of interests he may have head voting on a massive windsor civic center. the fair political practices commission says it received anonymous complaints filed last month saying the mayor had been involved in city council meeting discussions to build that center. the conflict is he owned a business that would likely be impacted by the new development and did not recuse himself from discussion. the former mayor claims he was cleared of any conflict in that project. a bit of a warning for people already struggling to make it in the bay. beware of rent scams out there. one new study by apartment guide finds three of the top ten u.s. cities for rental scams are right here in california. san francisco third behind los angeles and boise. san diego coming in fourth. scams include con artists showing units who don't own the properties and collecting bogus deposit money or excessive fees for background checks. an emergency lifeline extended for san francisco's homeless hotel program. the white house agreed to

stretch covid related reimbursements to cities and states throughout the end of the year. the chronicle reports that means an extension of san francisco's emergency hotel program now helping about 4,000 homeless. concerns about the delta variant triggered fema's new funding which would have dried up at the end of september. new video of the devastation, tropical storm grace is leaving on haiti. that country hit with severe weather after a powerful earthquake. grace battered southwestern haiti with rain causing major flooding and temporarily halting search and rescue efforts after the 7.2 earthquake over the weekend. haiti's civil protection agency says more than 2,000 people died, nearly 10,000 are hurt. >> it is heartbreaking what they're going through. are they getting any relief from some of these storms? >> well, that tropical storm has moved out. it's moved over to the west. as it still, of course, the lingering effects of that when trying to clean up all of the

rubble and rain on top of that. we take a look at where the storm is now. tropical storm grace moving to the west at about 16 miles per hour heading toward the yucatan peninsula. it may likely strength noon a hurricane beforechg that. as we start out this morning looking af now in san jose the air quality is pretty good. our temperature at 60 degrees and a breezy southeasterly wind at 13 miles per hour. that wind is going to start to bring in some more of the smoke as it shifts from south to north later today. so our temperatures reaching 82 degrees and mid 80s for spots like antioch as well as livermore, napa, santa rosa reaching 85 degrees, but you're going to have not as much sunshine as we had yesterday and that may hold those temperatures down a few degrees compared to what we would see without the smoke. we're going to talk more about a warmup in our forecast for the

weekend. mike, you're looking for a slowdown for san jose. >> ramp up over the last few minutes but the speed sensors are showing more of a tale yellow to orange through the south bay. the rest of the bay, good news vasco road not showing slowing we saw yesterday. the construction and crash is cleared and that's great for the drive toward 580. no problem toward the bay bridge. a little bit of slowing on the incline. typical about this time of day right on schedule. back to you. >> thanks. 5:41. coming up new zealand shutting down again. the number of covid cases that's causing the island nation to react so dramatically. no smoking, one city creating a ban to protect children. which city and where it applies and when it will start coming up.

california! all of our homes share power. but heat waves can stretch our supply to its limits. flex alerts remind us when to use less energy from 4-9pm. so we can all stay up and running. sign up today.

it's 5:44. it is a microclimate weather alert day. also first day of school for a lot of students who have to deal with smoke as they head out for recess today and also at pick-up time. air conditioning on, windows up, as our temperatures reach into the low to mid 80s in san jose. we'll get a look at our microclimates and talk about what's ahead in our forecast in a few minutes. >> san mateo bridge picking up the volume. nothing unusual. all these lanes are filled in. the there. a smooth drive getting some company there company here in oakland. leaving hayward across west or heading up north toward the bay bridge you are seeing more traffic. the volume as folks are coming

back on-line, school districts again, big ones coming on line today. fremont. >> well, happening today, r&b singer r. kelly's federal trial starts. he was arrested two years ago and charged with racketeering, sexual exploitation of a child, bribery, kidnapping, forced labor, prosecutors also accused the singer of starting a criminal enterprise that helped him recruit young women and girls. kelly denies any wrongdoing. >> the nation of new zealand taking drastic measures because of one case of covid. streets are empty this morning everywhere following the launch of a strict lockdown for at least three days due to that one news case. new zealand has not reported a case since february and has seen 26 covid related deaths. the town where the infection was reported will be on lockdown for a week. so many northern california schools opening this morning but big day for young people in southern california.

it's the first day of school for l.a. unified. in class learning is resuming. weekly covid tests will be required for everyone regardless of vaccination status. masks will be mandatory. >> new this morning, more of marin off limits when it comes to smoking in apartment complexes. county supervisors voted to ban all smoking and vaping in multiunit residences. a vote comes a month from now and the ban will expand to cannabis. one supervisor tells the marin i.j. leaders in larkspur plan to approve a similar ordinance later today. new research does show the impact of vaping on young people. a university of nebraska study surveyed thousands of middle and high school students. two-thirds said they had at least tried e-cigarettes. 53% who were addicted say they were unable to quit. many say they had tried to stop multiple times. a little more than half believed vaping was harmful.

an update on a's pitcher chris bassette hit in the face by a hard line drive. this video can be tough to watch. bassett went to the ground after he was hit. he was facing the white sox. the a's manager says he's conscious and has been conscious the whole time. hit him right below the eye. melvin thinks he probably avoided any damage but doctors are still observing bassett in the hospital. he got stitches as well. they're doing more tests to see if there's any kind of fractures for what it's worth the a's lost 9-0. certainly our concern. >> wishing him well. >> for bassett. turning this morning a sneak peek at the actors on the hit show "the crown." >> first look at elizabeth as princess diana, dominic west as prince charles, for season five following the royals in the '90s. this will include the queen's

so-called year of disaster in '92. three of her four children separated from their partners. no word if it will include diana's death in '97 or save that for season six. it will be released next year. we had a friend going on a long airplane trip kind of going around the room you should download this and somebody said "the crown." yep. >> just do the crown. you're good. >> the different actors they have portrayed the queen, you know, throughout her years. >> so good. >> it's great. >> i thought i was going to get irritated because the roles kept going to different actors. >> i did too. >> but it's amazing the casting. >> as they get older you have to get new actors. >> not here. okay. let's get a look at the forecast right now with kari. so many concerns. >> yeah. and it starts this morning with the fire danger and the smoke that's going to be rolling back in. that's the reason why we're under this microclimate weather alert and everything has turned red on the screen. here's a look at where we are

seeing our models the near surface smoke and the reds and purples indicate unhealthy air quality starting out in the north bay as of right now, much of the east bay, south bay is all clear. we will see the change as the day goes along. we're going to no longer see the clear blue sky that's going to turn a grayish tint as we've seen a lot of these fires across northern california burn uncontrolled and it's also starting to bring in some some of that smoke into our area. with a shift in the wind take a look at this for parts of the north bay, the wind speeds and direction and for parts of the north bay up around the area as well as winters we're going to see those winds at about 25 to 35 miles per hour throughout the morning and into early in the afternoon. the wind direction brings in the smoke with a mostly northerly wind and going into this afternoon into the evening, the winds gradually starts to relax,

calm down just a bit, but that smoke may already be settling in. we are going to see this red flag warning for these areas in red continue until 3:00 today. this is where those winds may pick up to about 30 to 55 miles per hour. in the valleys at about 10 to 25. with the shift in the wind and increase in wind speed, it could unfortunately cause a lot of these fires already burning spread into different areas that we haven't yet seen them move into as of yet. looking at where we stand now with the total acres burned across california and comparing this to 2020 that we know was a historic year, on this date well, had about 854,000 acres burned in 2020 and this year, already we've burned over a million acres and the average is about 708,000 acres. unfortunately it is already a historic season and it is most likely going to continue.

as far as our temperatures today, we're going to see them mostly in the low to mid 80s for our warmest spots in the inland areas. and then for palo alto, we're up to 78 degrees, 68 degrees in san francisco, and someeemperatures a few more degrees. as we go into tomorrow and the winds calm down before the weekend, we most likely will continue to see more of that smoke, highs in the mid 80s in san francisco, some smoggy conditions there with highs in the upper 60s. and mike, you're seeing the commute building now. >> it's right on schedule. what we expect at the bay bridge, great news. the incline slows a little bit and now moving, pushing over toward treasure island. more slowing towards the san francisco decline as the commute builds over there. that may be the indicator for the metering lights to be turned on. scheduled to be turned on about now. that's what we've been seeing the last couple weeks, preparing for more of a commute. highway 37 seeing a little more slowing as well. pointing out a couple new ones

over here in oakland, heard about a roadside fire that shield blocks a little bit of slowing we see along the shoulder or along the roadway. there's a burger king as you're coming up in towards downtown oakland. see it off of 880. a fire reported in the back of the burger king. the structure i don't think is on fire but that is located you might see the sign there that's what's going on there. over here in concord, better news for the commute. actually didn't matter it's counter commute, north 242 has reopened. just a few minutes early than 6:00 which is great news. your commute westbound and down to 42 or 608 moving smoothly through concord and we'll talk about the speeds in a second. i want to show you the south bay where you have the predictable slowing the volume builds starting about 5:38 right on schedule. we saw slowing and it's holding up right here. it should clear over the next 10 and then come back again about 6:40, 6:30. over here a great drive. vasco road big difference from yesterday. yesterday remember we had about

45 minute delays with traffic control and construction. we did have a crash and slowing but it cleared just after 4:30. about 4:54 starting to clear up. the crew is gone from what i can tell. good stuff. highway 4 no slowing as we talked about. back to you guys. >> happening now, students in ten fresno classrooms are in quarantine days into the new school year. after they were in contact with others who tested positive for covid. the fresno bee reports the district is planning to have a modified quarantine for some students with a negative test can return to the classrooms. the district says students in question can come back with proof of a negative test five days after exposure. this comes as at least two classrooms in oakland are also under home quarantine. >> there is much more ahead on "today in the bay" including deechlt developments in the fraud for for elizabeth hold. a decision that will allow what defense attorneys fear may be damaging evidence. a california veteran calls the

situation in afghanistan heartbreaking. the surprising action he's considering taking in response to the taliban takeover. you're watching "today in the bay." .

welcome back. the search is over for a 22-year-old suspect accused of killing someone in florida that

had part of san ramon on lockdown. police say reynaldo john sanchez is in custody. yesterday police say sanchez fled from san ramon police near bollinger canyon road. students at a nearby middle school had to shelter in place during the search. police managed to locate sanchez thanks to a tip from a community member. one southern california veteran considering returning to afghanistan in wake of the collapse. retired sergeant says watching afghanistan fall apart just heartbreaking. looking to see if there are any jobs that would take him into afghanistan to help people there. he is concerned that the process of destroying and disarming weapons is not been followed. we don't have the history -- the history lesson on afghanistan they're tribalistic and we owe looked that as a country and pretty much every other country that's tried to assist afghanistan overlooked that and really looked at things as like a region and having one

central power. afghanistan doesn't work that way. >> he was awarded a purple heart for his actions when he was deployed in afghanistan the first time. the administration says it's prepared to take more than 20,000 afghans who are candidates for special immigrant visas to the u.s. on bases here. a bay area group doing what it can, the jewish family and community services east bay already welcomed dozens of people who left their home country planning on bringing in more. >> so far this month we have resettled 60 people from afghanistan. we know that we'll have 23 more refugees coming who are currently in fort lee, virginia, and we've made a commitment to resettling so far another 33 people who are still attempting to arrive here from afghanistan. >> once they arrive it's a 90-day process to get the refugees settled into fully furnished homes provided by the

jewish family and community service organization. the state department of justice will conduct its own independent review of the oscar grant case. the announcement comes from california's attorney general. the review will look at another former bart officer's involvement in grant's 2009 shooting death at the fruitvale bart station. the alameda county district attorney's office said no criminal charges would be brought against him. grant's more along with the bart board of directors and other advocacy groups asked the doj to review the case. the officer who shot grant was charged with murder and convicted of involuntary manslaughter. one california man taking legal action against a few businesses in lake tahoe after he was attacked by a bear. according to the guardian the man says back in 2019, he went to take out the trash at his rented cottage. when he opened the dumpster he saw the bear and claims it came towards him. he stumbled twisting his left

leg and ankle and fell on his back. he required surgery because of the injury. he claims the latch on the dumpster was defective and broken for months an seeking $15,000 in damages. right now at 6:00, flames raging in northern california. wildfires causing smoky skies, bringing unhealthy air into the bay area. we've got team coverage on when it's all expected to continue to move in. plus, a third shot almost a certainty for millions of americans this morning. what we now know about the white house's expected announcement today as infections continue to climb across the nation and the bay area. and water woes may soon hit everyone in the state. governor newsom's potential new cutbacks if the coming rainy season doesn't materialize. the third hour of "today in the bay" continues right now.