fire, apple tv, and you can find us on line, wherever you go. i am kris sanchez. marcus washington has the day off. >> yeah, let's get a look at the forecast right now with meteorologist, kari hall. what are we tuning in for here? >> we are looking good today. for the most part, storm ranger showing a dry start this morning. we will see a very active weather pattern across the region but all of the rain for the most part is to the north of us. we have seen the rain just waving up and down the west coast. the clouds will reach back in and we will have a chance for showers in the north bay, but much of the bay area staying dry. martinez, temperatures in the low 50s right now. we will continue to see the cloudy skies. we are headed for the upper 50s

for this afternoon. nice and normal temperatures for early january. we're also going to see the chance of rain in the north bay and peeks of sunshine elsewhere. temperatures hit 60 degrees in san josé and even milder for the next few days. we'll talk more about that and when more widespread rain comes back. that's coming up in a few minutes. >> sounds good. we will check back with you. developing now, law enforcement is still trying to find the person that shot and killed a young recruit for the alameda county sheriff's office. >> this is before he could get his career fully started. bob redell is live in dublin. this has to be a big blow for the sheriff's office. >> reporter: the sheriff's office said they are heartbroken and disturbed. the recruit was shot and killed on his way home from the academy back to san francisco. this was yesterday afternoon around 4:30. somebody shot him on the

macarthur maze interchange. this was as he was approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. last night, as you can see in the video, there was a procession that included the man's parents, sister and girlfriend to take his body to the coroner's office. the chp found him shot and dead inside his car and what officers initially thought was a solo vehicle accident, they don't know what led up to the shooting. there's no suspect information. the young recruit was not in uniform and his car was unmarked. >> we see these stories all the time. sadly, as a guy that has grown up around here, it's hard for me to believe that all these acts of violence are happening repeatedly over and over again, and today it hit home and it's just awful. awful. >> yesterday's shooting happened near another deadly freeway shooting that happened in

november. that killed morris of antioch. this was near the bay bridge toll plaza. her children and fiancée in the car and they witnessed the killing. jasper wu, he was a toddler just a few weeks shy of his second birthday, and he was shot and killed by a stray bullet on 880. reporting live in dublin, bob redell for "today in the bay." >> a senseless crime. our twitter page is reminder that it's a good resource for updates anytime of day. you can find them also online and on our app @nbcbayarea. one group wants to layout its plan to keep schools open safely.

it also says the district has neglected the problem. sf unified scrambled to find replacements for more than 400 classrooms. many teachers tested positive for the omicron variant, while others are trying to navigate nationwide flight cancelations while returning home from holiday trips. with the substitute teacher shortage, only 150 subs were available leaving 250 classrooms without an instructor. >> many times schools can cover inhouse, but not with numbers like that. what we did is we deployed central office personnel, including myself, out to cover classrooms. >> the oakland unified reported 900 students and teachers tested positive on monday. marin health leaders are

suggesting fans be banned from all school indoor sporting events, and indoor assemblies be prohibited. and then the approval for booster shots could be approved for ages 11 to 15. today in the bay's alice barr is in washington. this comes as the president is under pressure to do something about this testing situation. people are willing to get tested, they just can't get the tests. >> it's so frustrating, isn't it, kris? we are seeing long lines all over the country. at this point states across the country are pleading for help from the federal government for more supplies. at the same time many hospitals are overwhelmed and under staffed. president biden out with the blunt message that at this point there's no excuse for being

unvaccinated. today the cdc poised to approve pfizer booster shots for children age 12 to 15. the fda already signed off hoping to give schools another tool as they struggle to reopen. >> most districts have been playing like a game as far as staff shortages go. >> nine states setting records with kids hospitalized with covid as the u.s. tallied a million new cases overall in a single day for the second day in a row. >> right now we have more covid patients in the icu than we ever have since the beginning of the pandemic. >> with hospitalizations surging 41% in two weeks, president biden stressing the unvaccinated are bearing the brunt urging vaccines, boosters and masks -- >> you could still get covid, but it's highly unlikely, very unlikely you will become seriously ill. >> the biden administration

under intense pressure to improve testing across the country as long lines and shortages persist. >> you can't find an at-home rapid test in this area. >> believe me, it's frustrating to me but we are making improvements. >> the cdc stopping short of requiring retesting at the end of the shortened five-day isolation period. instead, urging those without symptoms to keep wearing masks for another five days. president biden falling short on an earlier promise to deliver at-home rapid tests to americans' homes starting now. the white house acknowledging it's still working out the details while saying they are also continuing to set up more in-person testing sites across the country. >> this is obviously a public health problem, and this is a political issue for the president as well.

>> yes, it's becoming a growing problem. you know, of course president biden came into office promising he was going to get this pandemic under control and now we are seeing record numbers of cases. there are things he cannot control. he has been trying to get more people to get vaccinated. that's what would make the difference in turning this around. this testing debacle, that's a black mark that at this point two years into the pandemic, you would think the administration could have a better handle on that and certainly republicans will be watching this as we head toward the midterms later this year. >> thank you, alice. do you want to know the covid stats at your child's school? we have you covered. it's on our school covid dashboard for the districts that offer that information. head to nbcbayarea.com and click on the dashboard and it's there at the top of the home page. how about a live look outside. do you recognize that? it's a different angle of the golden gate bridge this morning. you see the fog and the water

glistening there. kari is keeping track of the rain in the works, but that's later this week? >> yeah, i think most of the bay area will not see rain until friday. we are waking up this morning to a cloudy sky. you can see the fog at the golden gate bridge. our temperatures are feeling much milder. you are stepping out and getting this wednesday started. take a look at the clouds we have over the south bay right now, temperatures going from the low 50s to the upper 50s today. we're just looking at a few peeks of sunshine today but overall nice as we head towards 60 degrees. most of us in the east bay reaching up to 58 degrees in dublin, and also 58 in sonoma and san francisco. just watching the north bay for those spotty light showers. we'll talk about that friday rain coming up. mike, you have been watching the roads. how is it looking? >> we are hoping for traffic to

restore from before the holiday breaks, and now with omicron kicking in there's a lot of businesses holding off. the bay bridge metering lights were turned on before 6:00, but no backup. a little slowing for 37 at the top of the screen. light traffic is what dominates around the bay, so traffic is moving well and a little slowing through hayward and the crash on the peninsula and 101 at broadway is cleared out of the lanes. back to you. >> thank you. keeping you safe from covid. still ahead at 6:25 on the "today in the bay," our consumer team tells you which mask protects the most against the omicron variant. we will show you the latest retailer to cut operations amid this covid surge. but first, since state water

customers are not meeting voluntary rules, you can find the rules and penalty fees online at nbcbayarea.com. more news ahead. you're watching "today in the bay."

when you have xfinity, you have entertainment built in. which is kind of nice. ah, what is happening. binge-watching is in the bag, when you find all your apps, all in one place. find live sports faster just by using your voice... sports on now. touchdown irish! [cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. good wednesday morning. right now it's 6:13 as you are heading out. we are starting out with clouds

and temperatures in the low 50s. it's a cool start but not as cool as it has been. we will see peeks of sunshine today and rain further to the north. we will track that and talk about when we will all get rain, coming up in a few minutes. with the slowing we saw through hayward, not a lot more traffic but a little more. traffic flowing smoothly over the peninsula. and this is one of the bridges that got another increase. that's the cost of doing business of road maintenance, or i should say bridge maintenance. back to you. let's check the futures. wall street set for a mixed open following a split for stocks yesterday. the dow reached a record closed. we will keep an eye on the markets that are opening in about 15 minutes. the automaker here is introducing new products including a utility vehicle.

chrysler showed off the vehicle at the consumer electronics show. chrysler's parent company looks to invest more than $30 million to elect tpaoeu it's lineup. the new store hours for macy's will be 11:00 to 8:00 p.m. monday through thursday compared to 10:00 to 9:00 previously, and the hours the same friday through sunday as those hours are usually more busy. and then you heard the term the great resignation. the department of labor says 4.5 million americans left their positions in november alone. nbc news senior business correspondent, stephanie ruhle,

talks about the mask mandates is just one reason why for the shift. >> dealing with angry customers that don't like the higher prices, and people that went into those jobs didn't go into them for conflict resolution, and that's what the jobs have become. >> more on that coming up on the "today" show after "today in the bay" at 7:00. trending this morning, get ready for your overdose of cuteness. the american kennel club is adding two. >> these are able to herd, hunt and participate in k-9 sports. this is the new russian toy breed, and the pups can be reserved around strangers. they are typically small and not supposed to weigh more than 6.5

pounds, so easy to travel with. looks like a little pomeranian in there. >> yeah, a little russian. i like little dogs. they are easier to travel with. >> yeah, until they get to be 30 pounds like my buddy, cole. he's a tater taught. he's a french bulldog. >> yeah, he's got funky ears. >> mine is about eight pounds but it's a mix from a rescue. >> today is good dog walking weather, and they are not going to cry about the rain. >> yes, it is. we don't have to worry about the wet mornings and paws, and can we get more dogs in before the weather each morning? that would be great. storm ranger is showing a clean sweep for you. for the most part, we will watch the north bay for a chance of those spotty showers, and all of the heavier rain moved well to the north of us. this is where we have seen the

pattern of rain rolling up and down the coast. we will see that continue through tomorrow as well, and then the rain coming back on friday as that all dips to the south. right now we are looking at temperatures in the upper 50s. fremont today headed for 59 degrees, and 59 for a high today in palo alto and sonoma. we will see a high of about 58 degrees, and 58 as well in san francisco. so as we go hour-by-hour, it just shows a lot of clouds today. some of us will get peeks of sunshine and of course that rain once again further to the north. as we go into tomorrow looks like we will all stay dry. by friday morning is when the rain comes back and it's moving so quickly it doesn't bring us much in the way of heavy downpours. we're looking at a quarter inch of rain or less before we dry out for the weekend. looking at one of the computer models, maybe 0.3 of an inch of rain in livermore so we're not

looking at a lot of rain here. once again, looking at dry weather for the weekend. then we take a look at our sierra snowpack. now we are at 150% of normal with some of the best numbers in the southern sierra. we do have an additional light coating of snow over the next few days. if you are traveling on friday, maybe a little slick. we are looking at one to five inches of snow before the weekend. then we go to sunny weather, temperatures reaching into the upper 50s. we will see highs in the upper 50s through monday as well, and a mostly sunny sky. we will see a change in the weather pattern as we have wet weather recently, it has been busy and it will start to calm down for a little while. i hope the rain doesn't completely go away. we'll look at that. mike, you are looking at the bay bridge. >> yeah, it's getting busy.

i saw this picture forming at the bay bridge, a little more slowing at the toll plaza. the metering lights were not turned on until 6:00, and then 25 minutes later we saw some folks hit the brakes before they get to the edge of the screen here. and the incline is where we see the slower drive. highway 57 at the top of your screen, more widespread slowing but just tapping their brakes. more slowing through hayward just around a street. no issues for san josé. no slowing on the sensors for 101 around oakland road. a look at palo alto shows you 101 here. north of here at san mateo, the express project, you will see the signs lit up and they are not charging you for the toll and using the express lanes, but

the signs are lit up. is your mask good enough to protect you from omicron? how do you avoid buying a counterfeit? i am consumer investigator, chris chmura. we'll show you how, next. look at the video that bob redell shared on his instagram page. what that is, it's his favorite pen but his daughter locked it away in her new safe. >> who gave her that christmas president? >> check out bob on instagram, twitter and facebook. he always takes a look back at the many years he has been on the "today in the bay" team. it's 6:21. we'll be back in just a bit.

there's this feeling we chase... like someone upped the brightness on the entire world. like your body is super-charged, but your mind is super calm. it feels like 20/20 vision for your whole being. and we'll chase this feeling, until we can feel it... one. more. time. feel the hydrow high.

it's 6:24 now. you are looking live at a picture of sfo this morning. the picture is not good. the flights are still being canceled there and more agents are out with covid from the tsa. so far tsa says more than 2,600 of its agents have active covid infections, so not just quarantining, and 96% of the tsa staff is vaccinated. and according to flight aware, more than 1,300 flights are canceled today. that includes 63 at sfo, and 18 at san josé. omicron is running rampant,

and doctors are recommending you upgrade your masks. >> chris chmura has a look at choices and how to make sure you don't get a counterfeit mask. >> now that we are back to a lot more mandatory masking, let's look at what you can and should wear. the california department of public health gives us three choices. the best mask for preventing covid-19 include the n-95, the kn-95 and the kf-94. do not buy an n-95 with a vent because that let's particles escape, which defeats the purpose. point your smartphone at this qr code. it will take you to a huge list

of approved masks and manufacturers. the cdc said up to 60% of kn-95 masks are counterfeit and may not do what you expect them to. how do you steer clear of phonies? we recommend shopping with stores you know. if you are online, figure out who the seller actuallys and make sure it's a business that has been in business for a while and will not just vanish once they take your money. >> chris has a how-to video on cleaning and how to care for that n-95 mask. you can find it on our nbc bay area page. >> i didn't know you could clean them and reuse them. a standoff in the south bay has come to an end. we will show you what had been happening all morning long. plus -- >> child covid cases rising at

alarming rates. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now at 6:30, an all-time high. california is seeing cases rise to levels never seen during the pandemic. we're breaking down the trends and tell you why it's not all

bad news. plus -- >> expect to move forward. >> paving the way, san josé could soon become the first city in the nation to require booster shots. the reason the mayor says this step is essential to ensuring the well-being of all residents, not just workers. it was one of california's largest wildfires, and we are getting answers to what ignited the devastating dixie fire. this is "today in the bay." we're broadcasting not only traditionally to your television but you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. i am laura garcia. >> i am kris sanchez. we have a busy morning and the update on the boosters, but first let's get a look at your weather today with meteorologist, kari hall. >> we are starting out with mild

temperatures and a lot of clouds. the rain is holding off so far. in walnut creek you are stepping out the door to temperatures in the 50s right now and it will be cloudy for the next few hours and then head for the upper 50s by late morning and afternoon. we could see light rain in the north bay, but elsewhere we will get peeks of sunshine and seasonal temperatures for early january reaching 58 degrees in dublin today. 58 in oakland as well as san francisco. we will be watching as rain returns by friday. i will talk more about that in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> thanks, kari. new overnight, a man is now in custody following an early-morning standoff that happened most likely while you were sleeping in san josé. it happened at the meridian park across a high school.

the man broke windows of several nearby businesses and parked cars and waved an axe at officers. he was on a stretcher and officers say he's undergoing on mental health evaluation at the hospital. he is expected to face vandalism charges. we are getting a look at new covid cases across the state and california's positivity rate is at an all-time high of 20 percent, and that means of all the tests people take, 20% of them are positive. a month ago we were at 3%. during the delta surge, the peak was 7%. if you are fully vaccinated doctors say the chances you will need a hospitalization is very unlikely. look where we were last year. last january, more than 22,000 people were in the hospital, three times as many as today.

the death rate now within the last 24 hours, 7 7 people died of this disease. this time last year, 671 people died on the same day. you might soon need the third shot of the vaccine to get in the pac center. san josé could require a booster shot, proof of a booster shot to city-owned venues. >> reporter: they will discuss whether all employees must receive the vaccine booster shot. mayor sam ricardo put this out before christmas, if the city council passes this proposal to

have to show proof of the booster, san josé will be the first city in the state and possibly the country to mandate the booster shot. >> it's important for us to be skating where the puck is going rather than where the puck is, and if we recognize from the previous studies, a booster is going to be essential for all of us to be able to get through this pandemic and keep our businesses open and obviously keep people out of the hospitals, which is the most important priority. >> reporter: as you can see, 95% of san josé employees are vaccinated, and 92% of police, and almost 95% of firefighters, and there's less than 10 employees who are not exempt and still refuse to become fully vaccinated and those employees have been docked a week's pay already and the mayor expect those ten employees to comply or

be terminated. i am sharon katsuda. back to you. >> thank you, sharon. so many parents right now have been sending their kids back to class or are planning to in 2022. this omicron surge is continuing to be a big trigger and big concerns. the cdc says the numbers are climbing when it comes to children hospitalized due to the virus. 642 infected children were admitted to hospitals every day last week, and this comes as parents hope booster shots for ages 12 to 15 could provide more relief. i spoke to a doctor who had advice for parents hoping to move their children into the new year safely. >> it's true we are seeing an uptick in pediatric hospitalizations and we are not sure why. certainly some of them are admitted for some other reasons,

and it's respiratory infection season, and nevertheless this is an increase. some of them are, by the way, diagnosed with covid and omicron, and others have covid as a reason for come into the hospital. what is true is that most of the people in the hospital, just like adults, are unvaccinated. of course under 5-year-olds, they are not eligible for the vaccinations yet and that's part of the problem. kids do get sick and it's not the same proportion as adults and every child death needs attention. >> yes, sure. this comes as the fda is recommending boosters for children 12 to 15 and kids 5 to 11 for compromised immuno systems. so a booster shot now?

>> yeah, at the end of the day i think we will all be thinking about a three-dose series, at least. look at the other vaccines, measles, mumps, rubella, vaccines usually come in threes. it's not because three is a convenient number or magic number. it's because the immune system responds best for the long-term with three shots. you give one in the beginning, and then you wait a few months and you remind the system, and when you do that it lasts for years, and be they are hoping the hospitalizations and deaths, getting a three-shot series including a booster would help us in the long run. >> what do you think the best protocol parents could have, and what should parents be doing right now? >> the biggest thing for parents is we don't put all of our eggs

in one basket necessarily for omicron. you have to hit it in multiple places. the most important thing is the vaccine, the vaccine, the vaccine. we know that intervention prevents against not only infection but serious disease. again, you don't want your children to go to the hospital. the second mitigation factor parents can use is, of course, masking. not just a fun cloth mask which i love myself and kids love, but you have to upgrade it for omicron, and you want to tighten it and if it's fogging up glasses, it's not good. >> we are here to help. we are hosting a phone bank tomorrow with the santa clara county health department. it's from 5:00 to 7:00 tomorrow

night. there's the number on your screen. 408-970-2999. make sure you join us. we will post that on nbcbayarea.com as well. last year's dixie file started after a rotted tree hit an electrical line owned and operated by pg&e. that fire burned just shy of 1 million acres. one person died and flames destroyed more than 1,300 buildings. it's the second largest wildfire on record. cal fire's findings confirmed what was previously reported. you can read more of jackson's reports on our website at nbcbayarea.com. taking a live look at the bay bridge right now. there are a lot of lights out there and some of them are not moving.

mike inouye is tracking something that could be a problem this morning. but first let's start with weather with kari hall. >> yeah, you can see the fog rolling across the bay bridge, so we will watch the visibility there as well as the visibility lowering for the golden gate bridge. it's misting and drizzling and making the roads wet, but we are mostly seeing a dry morning for much of the bay area as we watch storm ranger scan around the bay area. we can see the clouds reaching into the bay area, and there will be the chance that the north bay could see more for today, and you might want to keep a heavier jacket and maybe a hood on it, and just in case you do see some of the light showers moving through, we are going to see more widespread rain on friday and we'll talk more about that coming up in a few minutes. >> sounds good. if you are feeling lucky, we have something for you, the record number of cash up for grabs in tonight's powerball

drawing. you wrote this. >> it's been nearly a year since the siege at our nation's capitol. that was one of the rioters. we will look at the culture of extremism that has exploded since. trading is now under way. the markets are looking green, which is a nice thing to see. we will check in more in depth in just a bit. you're watching "today in the bay."

this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities.

i didn't have health insurance, not because i didn't want it. i worried it was too expensive and i was having a hard time paying our other bills. but now for the first time in our lives, i can do both. covered california makes health insurance easier in every way with financial help for millions of us and free assistance to compare your options. covered california. this way to health insurance. enrollment ends january 31st. go to coveredca.com

good wednesday morning. right now it's 6:43 as you are heading out the door. in oakland, we are 40 minutes from sunrise. we will see mostly cloudy conditions throughout today with some peeks of sunshine. you can probably leave the umbrella at home with the rain mostly in the north bay today. we will have more on when we will all need umbrellas in a few minutes. we saw a big backup form at the toll plaza because the incline has a disabled vehicle. they are slowly pushing it off to treasure island. you do see all the lights towards that area, and there has been a change out of the east bay that will affect your drive from oakland. the house panel investigating the january 6th riot requested an interview with

fox news host sean hannity. they were asking about newly disclosed text before and after the attack. the text showed him offering advice and what would happen if president trump insisted on the election results. so far sean hannity has not commented on those requests. the focus of today's report is extremism here in the united states. >> a texas realtor is serving a 60-day sentence for her role in the capitol insurrection. the "today"'s show, kate snow talk to her. >> more than 700 people have been arrested in the wake of what happened last january 6th. one of the most infamous cases, and she's infamous because what she posted on social media all along, not only before and

during the events of january 6th but in the months following, and even after she was arrested she was boasting about being there. she told me she does regret walking inside the capitol building but does not regret going to the capitol grounds and being part what she considered a protest. i asked her about one of the most infamous tweets she posted when she said, i am white and i am blond and not going to jail. you wrote i'm not going to jail. sorry haters. >> sorry haters. i'm sorry. >> did you think you were not going to jail because of all those things? >> no. no. i thought so because i just talked to my attorney who talked to the prosecutor, and i was so relieved, and after that tweet it was, like, you are so screwed. >> do you think that tweet is linked to why you are going to prison? >> i would think so yeah. >> and the judge made note of the tweet and saying she did not

show enough remorse, and now she's sitting in a federal prison in texas, kris and laura. >> thanks, kate. her exclusive interview is part of the week-long series "state of extreme." more will be on "today" show after "today in the bay." if the niners beat the rams this sunday they are in the, and they can get in if the states lose to the falcons. and then raiders need to beat the chargers. can you watch them take on the chargers right here on nbc bay area. it's all on sunday. kickoff is at 5:20. >> it's always fun to root for your team winning instead of somebody else's team losing. >> yeah, the raiders and niners, represented well there. up for grabs in the

powerball drawing, we will get tickets on our break. it's the ninth highest jackpot in powerball history. the odds to win big tonight are 1 in 292 million. we bought tickets for the last one, and -- >> could you imagine you could wipe off the whole morning show. >> yeah, raj is doing the morning show, guys. >> ha. it's expected to be a nice forecast for the weekend, kari? >> yeah, lucky for us we have gotten the rain and everything is all green out there, so it's nice to see that. as we get a look at our temperatures this morning, also feeling a little nicer compared to what we had even on monday as we were heading out to work. a lot of the temperatures have been in the upper 30s and now we

are have the upper 40s in the tri-valley, and then a high of 59 in fremont. san francisco today reaching the upper 50s. we are looking at mainly dry conditions for most of us. i am still watching out for a chance that the north bay could see showers, and then we see for the most part that rain is well to the north of us. today, mainly dry and more of the same tomorrow with peeks of sunshine. by friday, that's when the next round of rain comes in. it starts late morning into the early afternoon, but it moves through so quickly that we really are not expecting a significant amount of rain here. we could see a quarter inch of rain for places like ukiah. it won't do much to add to the reservoirs. i want to show you how the numbers have changed statewide as we look at reservoirs and the

percent of capacity. we were only at about 25% of capacity when the season started, and now we see the numbers coming up. even with all the rain we are still at 32% of capacity, but the biggest changes are locally with some of the smaller reservoirs up to 92.6% of capacity for the north bay. that's great news there. we need a little more rain and we're going to get that before the end of the week, before we head back into dry weather. our temperatures reach into the upper 50s and low 60s. it will being better than last weekend where it was very chilly out there, and we will see the mild weather continue into early next week. mike, you were tracking a couple issues out of the east bay? >> yeah, absolutely. that caused an issue. the bay bridge issue with a disabled vehicle that now is pushed, as far as i understand, off the span and it caused this backup at the bay bridge. it was a lot bigger over the

last few minutes. traffic is light. we are seeing a little recovery at the bay bridge, although there's a build for all of the lanes over on the oakland side. out to the map, you see slowing there and the disable vehicle clearing from the span. highway 4 showing mild slowing. there's a morning commute. the biggest change here aside from the bay bridge is 880 through hayward is a crash on the shoulder, but cruisers just arrived and that's probably a distraction. it's lighter around the bay in general. >> thank you, mike. happening now, can you believe it? thousands are still without power up in the sierra. take a look at the pg&e outage map. look at the seas of green, yellow and orange, and that's from lake orville down to amador.

they say hospitals and critical supply lines are all back on, and pg&e expect to have most power restored by today and some restored by early next week. i hope those folks have blankets up there. >> or generators, right? a quick look at our top stories including a sad one in san josé. a young sheriff recruit shot and the search for his killer. you are watching "today in the bay."

6:54 on your wednesday morning. welcome back. this is the top stories we are covering for you on "today in the bay." law enforcement -- this is such a tragic story. law enforcement is searching for a person that shot and killed a recruit for the sheriff's office. >> bob redell is live. what is the sheriff's office saying? >> the young recruit had been training in the academy in dublin as part of the alameda county sheriff's office and was supposed to graduate in february. they are heartbroken and disturbed over what happened yesterday when he left here and was headed back to san francisco to go home around 4:30 in the

afternoon. somebody shot him as he was approaching the bay bridge toll plaza. last night as you can see in the video, there was a procession that included the man's parents, sister and girlfriend to take his body from the hospital to the coroner's office. i did reach out to the sheriff's office this morning and they told us they would perhaps be releasing the man's name sometime later today. the chp found him shot and dead inside his car in what officers shot was a solo vehicle accident. they don't know what led up to the shooting or what the motive was. the young recruit was not in uniform and his car was unmarked. >> you see these stories all the time. sadly, as a guy that has grown up here, it's hard for me to believe all these acts of violence happened repeatedly over and over again. today it hit home and it's just

awful. awful. >> reporter: the shooting happened near another deadly freeway shooting that took place in november, and that killed morris of antioch. her children and fiancé were in the car and witnessed the killing. and you will remember jasper wu, a toddler on 880 in oakland when he was hit and killed by a stray bullet from people who had been shooting at each other from other cars. reporting live in dublin, bob redell for "today in the bay." a man is in custody after a early-morning standout in san francisco on meridian across from the high school. the man was waving a knife and axe at officers and throwing things at them as well. he was taken into custody around 5:00 this morning. there was an ambulance seen there at the scene, and he's undergoing a mental health evaluation at the hospital and is expected to face vandalism

charges. and then talking about the district's handling of the latest covid surge. they say the district is neglecting its role in covid testing. this comes as more than 600 san francisco educators were out of school yesterday alone creating a major crisis. many teachers tested positive for the omicron variant while others are still just trying to navigate flight cancelations. in the south bay you may soon need the third shot of the covid vaccine to get into a shark's game. the rules committee will be meeting to consider a booster shot mandate for all city employees, and that would also include all those who want to go to the large zap center.

we are hosting a phone bank tomorrow with the santa clara county health department from 5:00 to 7:00 tomorrow night. the number is there on your screen. we will post that. i tweeted it and put it on facebook as well. we will find that on our website as well, nbcbayarea.com. a quick look at the forecast from kari. >> yeah, we're starting out with cloudy skies. we are only going to see a couple spotty showers in the north bay, and we are all dry for the weekend with highs in the upper 50s. how's it rolling out there, mike? >> that crash in hayward is cleared from the nimitz. the commute direction building up and backing up, although no lanes are blocked. this will be a slower drive. the backup has filled in with the bay bridge toll plaza as well, and that's a bit to the north, as you know. >> thank you. thank you for joining us as

well. we will be back at 7:25 with a live local news update for you. >> and we are also preparing for our midday news at 11:00, and we leave you with this beautiful shot from our photographer. have a great morning. we'll see you soon. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ good morning. i-95 nightmare. the fallout grows over that chaos on one of the nation's busiest highways. the interstate finally back open after some drivers were stranded in the snow and bitter cold for nearly two full days. >> i was begging. i was, like, can you please just take my kids. you don't need to take us. take my kids, please. >> this morning, what went so wrong and al's forecast on the new storms expected across the country today. breaking overnight, class dismissed. school canceled for hundreds of thousands of students in chicago