you can watch us on roku, amazon fire and online. a look at the forecast. maybe a breath of fresh air. >> yes, if you are a morning jogger, that's awesome. nothing you will have to be concerned about when it comes to rain. the air quality will be moderate today. aside from that we'll get nice, clear conditions by the afternoon. 41 degrees in san jose and let's take a look at the temperatures across the board. a couple low 40s. overall mild around san francisco. 51 degrees and i do want to show you a spot that has limited visibility, mainly up to santa rosa. down to about three-quarters of a mile and also in through the concord area. everywhere else we're doing okay when it comes to the fog. high pressure does continue to dominate in our forecast. that will impact us the next couple of days. i'll tell you how and will go

through the air quality forecast coming up in a couple of minutes. back to you. 5:00 right now. we begin with the breaking news and efforts to ramp up covid testing for schools. overnight the white house issued new plans to increase the number of tests available to schools nationwide. it includes 5 million free rapid tests for schools every month in addition to 5 million pcr tests. despite the omicron surge, the white house says all but 4% of u.s. schools remain open for in-person learning. one year ago less than half contra costa schools reopened after positive covid cases. yesterday the district says a handful of teachers at two schools participated. two more schools face the threat of a sickout today. the district calls it an unnecessary action. teachers say not enough is being done. the bay area is not the only place experiencing conflict between teachers and schools over covid measures.

chicago schools reopened after a five-day closure due to a standoff between schools and the labor union. covid is impacting everything for empty store shelves to arrive in prices. this morning we have live team coverage. >> inflation is being felt by so many. first "today in the bay's" sharon katsuda is live. sharon, you're seeing some rising gas prices now really factoring in to our budget. >> reporter: that's so true, kris and laura. you can see here it's $4.55. we're definitely paying a lot more at the pump than we were last year. on the aaa website it says the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.30. in california the average is $4.55. last year the average price was

$3.30. today in san francisco the average price of regular gas is $4.83 compared to $3.51 last year at the same time. and in san jose the average today is $4.75 compared to $3.40 the same time last year. experts say this is primarily due to a price surge in crude oil. and if you've been to a store lately you've probably noticed many shelves are bear. economists say it's a situation of people calling in sick combined with the supply chain delays everything from milk to medicine to toilet paper in short supply. economists say the supply problems can be blamed on the omicron variant. >> we have millions and millions of people who got covid and what are they going to do? they stay home, right? if they stay home, they're not moving the food off the pallets and not putting food on the

shelves. >> reporter: companies are bracing for high cost for labor, transportation and, of course, supplies. and we ask how long will this go on? well, with the omicron surge, we're just not sure yet. economists say just stock up but don't go overboard. reporting live, i'm sharon katsuda, "today in the bay." let's continue our coverage now with scott mcgrew. when items are hard to find the prices go up. supply and demand. it is just that easy, isn't it? inflation is actually one of the easiest economic phenomenon to explain supply and demand is 90% of it and then monetary policy is about another 10% of it. we'll get some key inflation data here very shortly, in about 15 minutes, showing how much prices rose last month from a year previous. so these will be december prices. i can't show them to you yet because i don't have them yet but i can show you the previous month's information.

these are november's numbers showing us 6.8% rise in prices year over year. these are really high numbers but they're also logical. in the middle of the pandemic prices fell, right, in what we thought was the end of the pandemic, prices went back up and then some as supply constricted because of those supply chain issues that sharon was talking about. so we're going to get the new numbers in just a short period of time. keep in mind these are not additive. we'll compare them year to year to see how things are going. >> thank you, scott. all right, oakland police are looking for an elderly asian woman seen in this new video here showing her being pushed to the ground in a seemingly unprovoked attack. when police arrived, the woman was gone. this happened in chinatown on

monday. police and chinatown leaders are now working together to try to find the woman in case she needs help. >> we are asking the victim's family to come forward and to report it to the police department asap. >> a witness tells police the victim suffered scrapes on her legs. in an effort to boost surveillance the chinatown chamber of commerce will install 16 new cameras over the coming months. and there is now a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest in the death of a teenager from butte county. the family of tatiana dugger says that she left her home in oroville in january of last year headed for oakland with a man they did not know. she was last seen at an east oakland hotel. then last march a hiker discovered the body of the 19-year-old in siskiyou county. they believe dugger was the victim of human trafficking. happening today a pretrial hearing in the wrongful death

trial tied to a homicide. jurors in 2019 acquitted tiffany lee of killing the father of her children. now his family is seeking financial damages from lee. the jury trial is scheduled to begin at the end of the month. california prisons are reinstituting covid protocols limiting movement of inmates between facilities and alter some everyday activities. right now about 3% of the state's inmate population is infected with covid and that amounts to about 3% of the prison population. supervisors approved a new housing project approved only for teachers. it will be built on grant avenue in palo alto and affordable housing in santa clara and san mateo county. construction is expected to be

completed by 2024. let's take a live look outside in san francisco on this now wednesday morning halfway through our workweek. a nice, clear shot out there. vianey is in for kari this morning. pretty nice temperatures that we've been having. a nice afternoon. it really has been nice. some parts we're waking up to 30s earlier this week and we have high pressure dominating. i want to show you satellite radar. it is quiet but if you notice just to our north there is an active system and this isn't going to impact us when it comes to rain but it will see foggy conditions and up through the north bay mainly. we are going to be noticing the temperatures are quite pleasant again today similar to what we saw yesterday when it comes to the daytime highs. 65 degrees in san jose. 67 in morgan hill and let's take you over to the east bay. 60 degrees in martinez. 65 in fremont. a couple mid-60s down through the south bay and the interior

valley. 61 for san mateo or maybe you're heading to the city. the wind also not going to be a factor. it's nice and light from the west. i'll take you through the seven-day forecast and air quality forecast coming up in a few minutes. back to you. >> sounds good. so do you love your job? next on "today in the bay," glass door is out with the list of the top companies to work for. the silicon valley company is making the cut. and after struggling for two years brown sugar kitchen is closing. we talk with the chef and author tonya holland about the closure. you can find that full interview on nbcbayarea.com. head to our local section there on our front page.

♪♪♪ my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes,

fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us

good morning. it is 5:12 and we're starting out really calm with the weather again so we've had really pleasant conditions the past couple of days, look at san francisco. a live look right now. temperatures in the 50s but we are going to get a little bit warmer into the afternoon. i'll take you through your daytime highs and a look at your weekend forecast coming up in just a few minutes. good morning, scott. well, good morning. happy wednesday to you as well. a particularly happy wednesday for those people who work at nvidia in santa clara. the company has once again been named the top company to work for in all of the united states.

glass door ranked it as the best place to work in a list released this morning. if you look carefully at the data nvidia and the next two companies actually scored the same but glass door put nvidia at the top of the list. other bay area companies in the top ten. meta is still on the top 100 places to work but dropped 36 spots in the latest list from 11 to 47. we've talked how meta has trouble recruiting but lately we've seen a lot of folks moving over to meta particularly experts in virtual reality which, no surprise, call the meta verse. i call it virtual reality because it's a marking term like tesla has people saying giga factory when it is just a factory. meta/facebook has a new board

member joining the company's board further diversifying it and giving the company more executive expertise. mark zuckerberg has a controlling interest, the board works for him. the most important thing we need to talk about is the latest information on inflation. the latest inflation rates. we were talking about this earlier in the newscast. those come at 5:30. fed chairman jay powell talked to senators as part of his renomination process. higher interest rates are indeed coming as the fed works to fight inflation. this is a good reminder that inflation hurts but so, too, does fighting inflation. in the next few months, kris and laura, we will intentionally make it more expensive to borrow money, possibly slow hiring and slow down spending and growth

and inspire people to shop less in the attempt to get inflation under control. in january i think people do. >> everybody is on a budge, on a diet and on a sleep schedule. thanks, scott. a look at sfo and new numbers in from the tsa. it seems fewer people are taking to the skies post holidays and amid the latest covid surge. according to new data the agency just screened over 1 million checkpoints. pfizer is cutting a few hundred sales positions. the company says it reflects a changing environment when it comes to face-to-face meetings. more of it being done virtually during the pandemic. pfizer says it will try to offset the cuts by creating jobs in areas focused on digital efforts. trending this morning a nightmare scenario when it comes

to a california real estate deal, talking about the home seen in the 1984 film "nightmare on elm street." it sold for less than $3 million. the agent says it's a dream home. bad dream maybe. it sold half a million dollars below its listing price. >> did they really the exterior? >>t's a good question. >> i've never seen "nightmare on elm street." >> i'm good. >> marcus would have been like, that's a nice house. >> he totally would want that. >> no thank you. >> maybe we could get something nice up in an area like lake tahoe.

>> it's cold. >> 17 degrees. there's no real reason i'm showing you that camera other than it is pretty. there's no weather happening up there. if you have plans to travel up there you shouldn't encounter any issues. here is a closer look at downtown san jose. 41 degrees in downtown. and 40s and 50s throughout the region. our right now temperature, we're starting out in the low 40s in livermore and it could get even colder as we inch closer. fog and visibility when it comes to the fog a lot of it has been in the north bay and santa rosa. three-quarters of a mile visibility down to 8 miles in novato and only 2 miles in the concord area. satellite radar and what's

happening in the bay area. we have that high pressure sitting here. it does toave a system andimpac us. just some cloud cover. we are going to see moderate air quality down through the south bay. it means if you have any sort of sensitivity, you may want to limit your time outdoors. forecasted highs for today, though, look at th degrees. very similar to yesterday. go out and enjoy today again. 67 in morgan hill. in through the east bay, 62 in concord. 65 in fremont. and around the peninsula we are in the low 60s for san mateo. the winds are nice and light right now around 9, 10 miles an hour. breezy in some areas.

up through the north bay, 65, ukiah 66. take a look at how your seven-day forecast will be shaping up. partly sunny at times but this weather forecast will linger. with the exception of a couple drops notice the rain in through the week. enjoy the sunshine if you didn't get a chance to enjoy it this past weekend. the temperatures will head into thursday and friday. because of that system off in the pacific, again, not expecting any rain out of it. it will keep us cloudy through parts of ukiah, santa rosa and napa. you're looking at 61 degrees on saturday for inland areas, even a couple of mid-60s as well and down through your forecast in the overnight lows, though, when it will get cold into saturday

and sunday night talking low 30s. you know when we get to the low 30s we get frosty conditions for the shelter valley. a fantastic week ahead. back to you. >> it's nice. we're in winter. next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. >> reporter: debt collectors have new pays to pester you. you have new ways to stop the calls and fix whatever the it is they're calling about. i'm consumer investigators chris chmura. we'll show you how next. and before we go to break take a look at these pictures posted on instagram as she was out for a walk in the city. >> how beautiful. >> i know. we live in a gorgeous place. >> we do. >> got to take time to appreciate it. you can keep up with cierra by following her on instagram, twitter and facebook.

new year, new start. and now comcast business is making it easy to get going with the ready. set. save. sale. get started with fast and reliable internet and voice for $64.99 a month with a 2-year price guarantee.

it's easy... with flexible installation and backing from an expert team, 24/7. and for even more value, ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the ready. set. save. sale today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

so you sit down for dinner and the phone rings. that's when debt collectors love to call. >> and they watch that clock. but you can stop them. chris chmura shows us how. >> reporter: let's talk about how to stop a debt collector from contacting you and how mad libs might help. the easiest way to stop a debt collector from calling, texting, or emailing you is to pay them am but don't just blindly pull out your wallet because they're being a pest. they're not always calling about legitimate debt. when they use the phone debt collectors are only supposed to call once a day. uncle sam s

to stop in writing. new rules but debt collectors also contact you by the consumer financial bureau requires them to provide an easy way to opt out. but here's the thing, telling them to stop communicating doesn't fix the underlying issue. they think you owe them money. if they have the wrong person, the wrong amount or whatever, you've got to tell them about it. here is the good news. remember mad libs, the fill in the blank games where you would fill in the blanks? the consumer financial protection bureau has a bunch of templates for letters on line to tell debt collectors to stop it, shove it or both. like mad libs, you fill in the blanks with your name, contact info and such. sending a letter will ideally clear your name and stop the calls. >> thanks so much, kris. 5:24. new york yankees making some history with their latest hire. for the first time ever a woman will manage a team affiliated with major league baseball.

34-year-old rachel balkovec named the skipper of the yankees a ball affiliate in tampa. later this morning on the "today" show she opens up to the long road and the odds that she's overcome along the way. that's following "today in the bay" at 7:00 a.m. up next, the top stories we're following for you including new help on the way for people living out of their cars in the north bay. we'll show you the safe site they will be able to access in the overnight hours. plus -- >> reporter: and coming up on "today in the bay," changes are coming to just how many folks you can have gathered both inside and outside here in sonoma county. we'll break that down coming up next. and before we get a break, take you live outside to downtown san jose all lit up waiting for the sun's arrival. meteorologist vianey arana will have the forecast when we come back.

everyone needs health insurance. covered california is making sure more people can get it. new federal funding of $3 billion is available to help more californians get covered. julie and bob are paying $700 less every month. dee now gets comprehensive coverage with no monthly premium. and the novarros are paying under $100 per month. check coveredca.com to see your new lower price. covered california. this way to health insurance. enrollment ends january 31st.

can you see my wall of smiles? when i first started using genesys technology i was kind of embarrased at all the love and attention i got from my customers. people are so moved by how much i understand about them. they start including me in their lives. that's helen and her friends. i arranged a wellness retreat for them. look at those ladies. such wisdom. mmm. but it's really genesys that helps me understand people and what they truly need. i'm just glad i can help. right now at 5:30, a new health order is now in effect for the north bay. we'll show you the stricter rules and how they could force you to change your plans. and approved -- a new booster mandate set to go into effect in the south bay. not just for city workers. why you may feel the impact the next time you attend a concert or sporting event. and we're asking what

happens after the omicron surge, the change in strategy being talked about in dc and how our lives could change here in the bay area. >> we're all ears. >> this is "today in the bay." broadcasting not only to your television but you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, live on tv and online. pretty soon we'll be knocking on your door, good morning. >> i'm kris. it's time to wake up. >> i'm laura garcia. >> vianey has our forecast and what a nice, mild week. it's good for you because you're doing double duty. >> i would bring binx to work. right now it's about 40 degrees and notice in the temperature trend we'll stay in the 40s the first half of our morning and by 11:00 a lot of sunshine. a mix of sun and clouds to start out our day and by the afternoon another thing you'll notice

temperatures similar to what you see yesterday. take a look at san rafael, current temperatures if you're heading out the door, you may want to bundle up. 45 degrees by 10:00, 11:00. look at that, 52. some areas are even going to be seeing some mid-60s so it will be mild. no concern for the winds. really light from the south/southwest. back to you. >> thank you, vna. the omicron variant continues to spread. cierra johnson is live. these rules are really giving us a sense of travel, time travel. >> reporter: it feels like we've gone back to a year ago.

take a look at your screen. this is what you need to know about large gatherings. the order officially went into effect at midnight last night including anything with more than 50 people indoors or more than 100 people outdoors, gatherings not allowed if they include 12 people at higher risk for severe illness from covid. the order is important to note does not apply to school classrooms or recess activities. the county is advising folks to stay home as much as possible. >> our case rates have never been higher and starting to climb. >> reporter: local physicians are weighing in on tighter restrictions. ucsf physician says the focus should be on hospitalizations explaining two-thirds of the reported covid cases in the bay

area are people admitted for something else. so just how long will the changes be in effect? we're told the new rules will last at least a month until february 11th. a live look in san jose which is now the first california city to have a booster mandate. councilmembers voted unanimously last night to approve mayor sam liccardo's proposal. events with more than 50 there will need to show proof of a booster shot or recent negative covid test that includes s.a.p. and convention centers. all city workers will be required to receive a booster. the rules take effect immediately. the vendors have until february 4th to comply. california may be seeing its highest level soon. that's a projection from columbia university. right now we're seeing some of

the highest levels since the start of the pandemic. the new peak may come next week and then it's forecast to decline by the end of the month. a lot of people are wondering what is life going to look like after the omicron surge comes to an end. doctors are now detailing how we can move forward. expect cases to decline soon because omicron spikes are falling elsewhere as fast as they rise. three of psident biden's advisers are recommending a plan after omicron to continue vaccinations to prevent severe disease and giving antiviral pills to those at risk and giving specific mask recommendations for the vulnerable. we may soon be able to treat covid like other regular illnesses. >> it means that the virus is likely to be what's called endemic. that it's controlled because so much immunity from the omicron

surge, boosting immunity, giving unvaccinated people immunity. >> the white house is promising to deliver 500 million at-home testing kits. most of them won't be available until the end of the month and here is to hoping the surge will be waning by then. we have advice on where you can get tested, which masks and otherupdates on how the virus is impacting our lives. a north bay family of six including four children are safe after some terrifying moments while they were sleeping. an intruder broke into their home late last night. neighbors reported hearing banging from inside the home. police responded quickly enough to locate the suspect who is in custody and is on probation from a previous crime no one was injured but there was some damage to the home.

more options for the homeless in the bay. a virtual meeting on its new safe parking pilot program. the city will open a parking lot for homeless on stony point road. it will have 50 open spots. a live look at san francisco. let's pull the curtain aside. a beautiful start to the day and though we need the rain it does not sound like we will get any anytime soon. things are quiet because of high pressure the past couple of days and this will send us into a stretch of more sunshine. people are ready for a break. temperatures will be in the mid-60s. concord, 62. down through san jose, morgan hill, 67. up to santa rosa, 65. we could see chilly 30s for the first half of our day.

i do want to take you through the forecast. it temperatures will remain in the 60s so, again, cloudy around the coast. conditions remain dry. i had viewers ask about south lake tahoe. today they're going to be in the 40s. down to 19 degrees right now, about 17 degrees. high clouds continue. we're not worried about any wind advisories. this is a good window of opportunity. friday 41 degrees. saturday still in the mid-40s. in addition to that an hour by hour outlook shows the clearing of the clouds. any sort of cloud cover starts to burn off into the midday by about 1:00. clear skies. now i do also want to check in on your traffic because i do have a bit of an update if you live in the south bay you're

going to be driving along 280, southbound 280 on the bird off ramp. there is a pipe that's broken, a flooded street that is currently closed right now. this is the closure to bird street. you may encounter it there. take an alternate route. they have somebody working to fix that. westbound 580 you're looking at about 23 minutes and drive times are usually dying down. and a live look at the san mateo bridge. no issues on the bridges but more slowing because it's about

5:37 and that's typical for our bridges. another update and how the rest of the bay area is. back to you. >> sounds good. thanks so much. honoring an american pioneer. up next on "today in the bay," how the nation is paying tribute to late senator harry reid. plus, a major shortage in blood donations. the new incentive to make sure people get the lifesaving contributions. and president biden says you need to choose sides when it comes to voting rights. and how can you tell if your testing kit is fake? a few key things to look out for when you're shopping online for the hard-to-find kits. a full episode on instagram and tiktok. our handle is nbc bay area. 5:38.

good morning. it is 5:41. conditions will be dry today. it's about 45 degrees in san rafael. we'll stick to the low 40s and then 60s ahead. your daytime highs and what to expect coming up in my full forecast. >> thank you, vianey. everyone onboard an emergency lift helicopter that crashed in the philadelphia suburbs is recovering this morning including a baby that they were transporting.

this is new video from the scene. the chopper went down next to a church. the pilot, two adults and that 2-month-old escaped with nonlife-threatening injuries. >> it was a very controlled drop. it was nuts. >> the pilot is being called a hero for averting what could have been a lot more destruction and making sure that baby was safe. still no word on what caused the crash. a live look at washington where former democratic senator harry reid is lying in state today at the u.s. capitol. reid servinged as senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015. he died last month at age 82 after a four-year battle with pancreatic

the future of the senate very much up for debate. >> scott mcgrew, president biden making a major turnaround with his opinion about the fim buster. yeah, right. biden has been a senator for longer than he's been president and vice president. he values those senate rules. in a major turnaround he called for the senate to change the rules of the filibuster to pave the way for new voting rights. >> it gives me no satisfaction as a man who was honored to serve in the senate. but as an institutionalist i believe our threat to democracy is so grave that we must find a way to pass these voeing rights bills. debate them. letting majority prevail. and if that bare minimum is blocked we have no option but to

change the senate rules including getting rid of the filibuster for this. >> president biden seemed to imply those who oppose changing the filibuster for whatever the reason were siding with racists and segregationists. he said, quote, do you want to be on the side of dr. king or george wallace? do you want to be on the side of john lewis or bull connor? do you want to be on the side of abraham lincoln or jefferson davis? that drew a few gasps from the crowd. biden and senators who want to change the filibuster need every vote, every democratic vote, on their side. they need 50 votes to make this change. it's not at all clear they've got it. vice president harris will sit down with the "today" show's craig melvin to talk about the push for voting rights that happens tomorrow on the "today" show that starts at 7:00. russian officials who met with nato's today in brussels, russia wants guarantees ukraine

will never be april loud to joy nato, something the alliance isn't willing to promise. a cool use of social media to tell you about. transportation secretary pete buttigieg was in l.a. yesterday as part of the push to speed up the ports there. he flew back to washington, flying commercial, posted on twitter he had pretty good wi-fi and maybe people could ask him some questions, and they did. they asked him lots of questions on twitter. i'm on twitter as well. i suppose you could ask me questions. you'll find me @scottmcgrew. >> we like to pester you in person. it will be a while, though. >> thanks so much, scott. renaming a side street to honor a long time lgbtq rights activist. alert alley sits off dolores and they want to rename it sister vish-knew way, a co-founder of

the sisters. it's close to where sister two put on their nuns habit in 1979 to shake up an otherwise quiet easter weekend in the castro. the sisters would become fixtures in the city and nationally social advocates. >> hard to believe they haven't always been there. covid concerns again getting the best of martin luther king jr. events. the group putting on the annual march and parade and the festival is postponing all outdoor events this year. other events will still happen as they did last year in a virtual setting. if you head to the community webpage it does list the events that are still happening. hard to believe but here it comes. 22 days away from all the excitement beginning in beijing. for one winter olympian

challenging traditional gender roles in a highly competitive sport. timothy leduc as the first openly nonbinary winter olympian. >> i never want anyone to feel shame for parts of themselves because they've come into figure skating. i think of skaters in makeup an costume that is unusual or different but maybe they wouldn't do those things because they feel the judges aren't going to give them as good scores. >> his partner wore pants during the team's winning usa 2019 figure skating championship.

something that's actually rarely done by female athletes. >> it seems you would want to flying around like that. >> the winter olympics begin february 3. you can start listening right now wherever you get your podcasts. blood centers are running short on supplies. anyone who gives blood this month will be entered into a raffle for a two-night stay at a ritz-carlton hotel, or how about two tickets to the super bowl? >> experiencing shortages with 10% decline in donors. anyone who gives blood this month will be entered into a raffle.

two tickets to the super bowl february 13th. you can still watch here. >> you can give blood if you've had your vaccinations or boosters or if you've had covid but recovered as well. >> they keep it all clean, too. they need the help. so important. do we need a jacket today? sweater? layers? >> it's a california thing. you need a jacket for the first half and then it gets warm in the afternoon. that's what we'll be seeing, clear skies over san francisco right now. what a pretty shot. we're in the low 40s down to the south bay, 41 degrees. fog and visibility because it's down to a quarter of a mile. pretty dense fog in the north bay, seven miles and in down to

about five miles. we're doing okay when it comes to the fog and if you look at satellite radar we're calm and quiet in the bay area and we have a system but that system will stay off to the north so not bringing us any rain or impacting us other than a drop in temperatures. forecast highs today will be quite comfortable. 65 degrees in san jose. 57 in morgan hill. in through the east bay, pleasanton, 64. around the peninsula also in the low 60s f. you're heading to the city it's going to be comfortable, breezy at times. not too busty. 61 degrees for mission today up through the north bay. santa rosa, 65. i do want to give you an update because we've been talking about the series of storms brought a boost to the drought conditions.

16.6% of california remains under some form of extreme drought. the rain season was at negative 8 inches. that la nina pattern contributed to drying. how could this impact us? we are still seeing some red on the map. this could be increased exposure and the potential for crop damage and river flow decreases. hopefully by the spring when a lot of the water melts we'll get a nice bump there. san francisco, look at this, we will remain dry and comfortable. from 60s to 50s. it will barely be noticeable.

a closer look at how your traffic conditions are doing. i noticed this pop up. i'll go see what that is about. southbound 680 and it looks look there are delays to highway 84. it's about 20 minutes. i'll have an update in a few minutes. thank you, vianey. a heads-up for smokers in alameda county. a new ban in unincorporated parts that starts in july. if you live in an apartment, town home or senior care facility. the ban covers common areas within 25 feet of doors and windows. covid testing chaos still raging across the nation. the new measures san francisco is taking to ensure you get

tested on time. it's like a scene straight out of a hitchcock movie. crows causing huge problems. the debate over how to safely scare them away. plus at 6:00, empty store shelves across the bay area. it's not panic buying. we're live breaking down the stores and struggling so much to keep shelves stocked. 5:53. you're watching "today in the bay."

when you have xfinity xfi, you have peace of mind built in at no extra cost. advanced security helps keep your family protected online. pause wifi whenever for ultimate control with the xfinity app. and family-safe browsing gives parents one less thing to worry about. security, control and peace of mind. with xfinity xfi, it's all built in at no extra cost.

welcome back. you're watching "today in the bay." the leading cause of death among first responders last year, the national law enforcement memorial fund says more than 450 officers died in the line of duty last year. that's an increase from 2020. the leading cause is covid-19. 62 officers were killed by gunfire. with the covid testing crunch impacting cities nationwide san francisco is now hoping to crack down on long wait times. the mayor delivering an ultimatum to hospitals and clinics, test more people faster or you're going to face some fines. >> this health order is so

important and it needs to be followed and right now that doesn't seem be to be the case in all instances. >> we are in the middle of the worst of the omicron surge but we can and weep should and we must be looking to the future. >> the new order requires hospitals and clinics to provide testing within 24 hours of a pash's request. it requires providers to prove that they are meeting the deadlines or face thousands of dollars in fines. if you need hel head to our webpage, click on our testing locations tab at the top in the trending bar. an update in the elizabeth holmes trial. prosecutors will drop three wire fraud counts. those were the charges a jury deadlocked on back january 4th. we're learning holmes' sentencing hearing is scheduled for september 12th. holmes could face up to 20 years in prison.

you'll recall the former theranos ceo was convicted on four counts of fraud and conspiracy. the jury found her not guilty of four other felony charges. >> one of our most viewed stories online. it's right out of the hitchcock movie "the birds." thousands of crows are descending on downtown sunnyvale and we're told that they like to show up around dinner time harassing diners and stealing food off people's plates, always leaving unpleasant reminders they've been there. the city looking at options for solving the problem including potentially using laser pointers which some say is a humane way to scare them away but others say there's a problem but lasers aren't the solution. >> i have real concerns about the use of lasers. lasers can blind the birds which basically is a death sentence for the birds. if they can't see they can't

feed or fly properly. aircraft being accidentally lasered. city staffers will present their final crow go recommendations in weeks. they'll ruin your car wash. from the bay area to washington, dc, the new white house plans to help ease the crunch for schools desperate to widen covid testing. plus -- >> toilet paper, the cleaning supplies. i noticed that the milk is very hard to find. >> more pain for shoppers. prices getting more expensive with some harder to track down. we have live team coverage. scott mcgrew showing another month of simply skyrocketing inflation. >> and another seemingly random attack caught on camera in

oakland. the new video police hope helps find the suspect. and thank you for joining us on this wednesday morning. i'm kris sanchez in for marcus. >> and i'm laura garcia. >> if you're on the go, good for you broadcasting to your television, live on roku, amazon fire, on tv and live online. we've had pretty nice days. i've been enjoying them. oakland, 43. san jose, 43. however, if you live up in san