athlete to win olympic gold in speed skating. the first chinese athletes to enjoy success in these winter sports with this honor in their home country. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please

stand for the olympic anthem. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> coming up, the olympic flame and what the creative team says is an unprecedented lighting of the cauldron. the new frontier. ♪ ♪ eh. ♪ ♪

it's not time to escape. it's time to engage. it's time to plant more trees. hoo! ♪ ♪ time to build more trust. ♪ ♪ time to make more space for all of us. so while the others look to the metaverse and mars, let's stay here and restore ours. yeah, it's time to blaze our trail. 'cause the new frontier? it ain't rocket science. ♪ ♪ it's right here. ♪ ♪

welcome to the future. some assembly required. fortunately, if there's one thing this country has always embraced, it's a challenge. and after almost 120 years of building for those challenges, of giving homes a reason to have a driveway, today we're making electric vehicles that look and perform like they belong in that driveway. by designing, engineering and building for today. for the world and how you move through it. ♪♪ it's why we're taking the vehicles you know by name and making them electric. ♪♪ why we're creating new jobs for american workers and revolutiontizing where that work will be done.

♪♪ not for the few. but for the many. ♪♪ ♪♪ back inside the bird's nest, the centerpiece of the olympic green here in beijing, and inside the stadium, a video is running now, another video connecting to china's stated goal of introducing winter sports to 300 million people, especially younger generations and a process we can all relate to. ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ [ applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> thousands of snowflakes ♪ >> a return to the snowflake theme and from the choir to the videos to the performers, we've seen kids throughout this

ceremony. professor jing tsu, this is a choice that is heavy with meaning. >> yes, this is truly a beautiful, poignant, heartwarming, but also significant. for more than four decades, china had the one child policy. last year, the country had the lowest birthrate in five years. the country has always relied on its reservoirs but now continuous population growth is posing a challenge. the government abolished one child policy in 2016 in hopes of reversing the trend. it is now encouraging families to have three children. ♪♪ ♪ thousands of snowflakes

competing ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ applause ] >> ladies and gentlemen, the olympic flame. ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ >> and so the final individuals who will handle the olympic flame, usually it is a victory lap around the host country. not the case with the tour of the flame here in china, eliminated because of covid restrictions just a few days. that will have six different handoffs here on this flame. >> that's right. and the six olympic athletes that we see represent the different decades, '60s, '70s, '80s and '90s. the first, born in the '50s, an

olympian in speed skating and 11-time national champion, zhao. >> and handing off now to an athlete born in the '60s, gold and silver medallist in short track, li yan, member of the chinese national speed skating team and she makes her way around, worth noting here that if they do that with the decades, then the folks who will eventually light the cauldron will be those born in the 2000s, so they'll be young athletes, much like we saw with the young athlete in japan lighting the torch. naomi osaka, the tennis star doing it seven months ago. >> and always a matter of great speculation and suspense, the handoff continues. our next athlete, born in the '70s, two-time gold medalist in short track.

china's very first gold medal in the olympic winter games. >> yang yang. >> cutting past the viewing area where the olympic dignitaries are located. there is no traditional cauldron here in the stadium and what folks will begin to realize is that snowflake will be part of the cauldron lighting. see that momentarily. most of these winter athletes, in this case, summer games athlete from the '80s. handoff to su born in the '80s, the 100-meter asian record holder, a track and field sprinter. and two more handoffs to go it have the organizers' comments, regarding the cauldron, that it would be unprecedented, a major reform of the opening ceremony,

so we await that with bated breath and the handoff continues, born in the 1990s, joe young, three-time gold medalist in the short track. got those golds in the 1,500-meter race. >> three gold medals, two-time consecutive gold medalist in the women's 1,500-meters. >> we've been told that two athletes will complete the lighting of the torch, so there will be a handoff to two athletes born in the 2000s, both of whom will be competing in these winter olympic games. there is that handoff now. zhao born in 2001, the first ever chinese athlete to qualify for nordic combined in an olympic winter games and the one of great significance here, cross-country skier born in

2001, competing in these games, and according to state media, she said a member of the uyghur minority. of course, those are the people from the region in northwest china that has attracted so much attention in the conversation of human rights and that ethnic minority and comments from the united states government among others of genocide being committed against the uyghurs. so, a very significant moment here. >> this moment is quite provocative. it's a statement from the chinese president, xi jinping, to choose an athlete from the uyghur minority. it is an in-your-face response to the western nations, including the u.s., who have called this chinese treatment of that group genocide and diplomatically boycotted these games. there will be much discussion about this choice. ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ snowflake, snowflake, float into the night ♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪

>> and with uniqueness but also unmistakable messaging, the opening ceremony of the beijing games. ♪♪ ♪♪ she is fast. she really is. that's fast. ♪♪ drumming calms me down! ♪♪

space. the boundary of human achievement. the new frontier. ♪ ♪ eh. ♪ ♪ it's not time to escape. it's time to engage. it's time to plant more trees.

hoo! ♪ ♪ time to build more trust. ♪ ♪ time to make more space for all of us. so while the others look to the metaverse and mars, let's stay here and restore ours. yeah, it's time to blaze our trail. 'cause the new frontier? it ain't rocket science. ♪ ♪ it's right here. ♪ ♪ ♪♪ we are back on this friday evening in beijing, china, with a reminder that a special edition of the "today" show comes up next here on nbc. as we've watched this opening

ceremony with its beauty, with dignitaries on hand, with fans in the stands, more than many of us thought, and a very unique cauldron for this opening ceremony with the olympic flame now surrounded by those snowflakes listing the delegations, all 91 delegations involved, but as we said when we saw the two individuals light the cauldron, savannah, this certainly will be part of the conversation, not just how it was lit but more importantly, who was doing the lighting of the cauldron. >> no question about it, that choice by xi jinping to have one of the members of the uyghur population, the subject of much scrutiny, the population that the u.s. says has been the subject of genocide in northwestern china, to have a member of that community as one of the two that would light the olympic flame, i have to turn to andy browne in this moment and ask you, it does seem so striking and so provocative by xi jinping, and a real message. >> very much in line with recent

chinese diplomacy, savannah, faced with western criticism and aprobrium, double down, never apologize. this was a repass to president joe biden for skipping these olympics, and a message to the west, china won't be lectured to. >> certainly with everything else we've seen, the message is double edged. there's one to the outside world and there's one to the chinese people and in this last message, chinese people will have seen a guarantee, an affirmation of national unity, and so for the message of the night, we know that this is not going to change the world's mind, as the director of this ceremony doesn't expect it, but meanwhile the message is out there and we'll have to see if there are any takers. >> 56 ethnicities in china, hahn chinese covers over 50% of the

population, ethnic minorities and the uyghurs. just one quick point from an olympic history standpoint in terms of lighting the flame, i mentioned naomi osaka, a recent athlete. we just saw two athletes that are going to compete in these games. we've seen other messages sent, cathy freeman in australia in 2000. the u.s. has had muhammad ali and the miracle on ice team. great sports legends of those times light the flame. so you can have different meaning. each country has its opportunity as we clearly come to andy and jing, the message that was sent by china. >> it obviously was a choice and as we've been saying all along, the opening ceremony, yes, it's always a beauty, a spectacle, something to behold. there are artistic choices, and there are political choices, and this is a place where those things meet. >> more on this and a look ahead to what is going to come up in the field of play and beyond at the olympics on a special edition of the "today" show, which is coming up next here on nbc.

we thank andy browne, jing tsu for their expertise, with savannah guthrie, mike tirico here from the bird's nest, the national stadium in china. as the 24th winter olympic games are open. okay, it's go time. team usa on the largest gig-speed network. which means this mega fan never misses a second. it's gig-speed wifi that's “mikaela shiffrin” fast. ok, that's fast! speed's cool, but does yours block threats? yup, even for these upstairs all-nighters rocking wifi speeds faster than a gig. can your internet do that? learn more about gig-speed wifi, or get started with xfinity internet for $19.99 a month for 12 months. click, call, or visit a store today.

care coalition, it's so good to see you all! alright! let's brainstorm. any ideas for new members? i'd like to nominate alaska airlines. this neck pillow i'm dating says great things! a caring airline?! wait, those exist?! it says here they were the first airline to switch from plastic bottles to boxed water. they also hire a lot of people from caring professions. i'm seeing former teachers and nurses. it's settled! alaska airlines is officially in the running! round of applause! breaking right now at 6:00, an arrest in the beating of a 49ers fan at sofi stadium. ahead in a live report, the new details we have from overnight about the suspect as the victim remains in a coma. >> and more breaking news, better than expected. the latest jobs report just coming out. scott mcgrew breaking down the

surprising numbers in light of the latest covid surge and how wall street is reacting. >> plus, let the games begin. opening ceremony just wrapping up for the winter olympics. hopefully you areatching and now you're watching "today in the bay." we are live in beijing for you this morning as the games kick into high gear. this is "today in the bay." starting this friday off right. opening ceremony and now "today in the bay." thank you so much for making us a part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. we also broadcast online at nbcbayarea.com and you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire and apple tv. we'll get to all the breaking news we're following for this friday morning, but first want to take you back to beijing, live, where the athletes were just treated to a pretty dazzling spectacle in the opening ceremony. janelle wang will be joining us live during the next four hours as we do a special "today in the

bay" broadcast. >> so right now we want to get a look at the forecast right here in the bay area. meteorologist kari hall working hard to keep track of numbers for us this morning. it started out nice and cold, too. >> yeah, nice and cold is a nice way to put it, because our temperatures have been dipping close to freezing in some of our inland valleys. it's 34 in morgan hill and 34 in concord, 37 in napa, and 45 in oakland. so this chilly start will start to feel a little bit better as we go into late morning, into the afternoon. take a look at our temperature trend in pleasant hill, a big warm-up by lunchtime, we're in the upper 50s, low 60s for the middle of the afternoon. around the bay we're going to see mid-60s for this afternoon, santa rosa, morgan hill reaching 64 degrees and 60 today in dublin. this weekend will also trend a bit warmer as our dry weather continues. i'll talk about that in the forecast in a few minutes. laura and marcus? >> thanks, kari. breaking news to tell you

about from overnight while you were sleeping. an arrest in the beating that left a bay area 49ers fan in a medically induced coma. that fan was attending sunday's championship game down in los angeles. "today in the bay's" bob redell live for us this morning. talk to us about whatorng to k nbc, our sister station down there in l.a., inglewood police spoke by phone with the suspect first and then arrested him last night around 11:00 in the city of montebello, located in the eastern part of los angeles area. the 49ers fan, jason luna -- excuse me, daniel luna of oakland, he remains in a medically induced coma after he was punched in the parking lot outside sofi stadium during sunday's nfl championship game. the arrest comes after the mayor of inglewood announced yesterday that surveillance video of the fight shows the suspect interacting with someone in a vehicle, a vehicle which police were able to identify. the mayor says the surveillance

video is blurry, it's not great quality, but he did watch it and says it shows luna wearing a 49ers jersey, the suspect in a rams jersey. he says the altercation between the two men only lasted about five seconds. >> mr. luna pushes someone from behind. that person, when mr. luna turns away, pushes him, takes another step toward him and punches him, it looks like in the mouth area. mr. luna falls on the back of his head. >> reporter: security guards found luna in the parking lot. they called paramedics. luna, again, is in a medically induced coma at harbor ucla medical center. luna, who is 40 years old is the owner of a peruvian restaurant in oakland that was closed again yesterday. neighboring business owners say they're heartbroken to hear about the attack, especially after luna worked so hard to keep his restaurant going during the pandemic. reporting live, bob redell,

"today in the bay." >> thank you very much. 6:30 right now, and happening today, a pretrial hearing for a former executive facing criminal fraud charges. last month jurors convicted his former girlfriend, elizabeth holmes. balwani is facing similar fraud charges. they will look at possible other evidence once the trial gets under way. 6:31 right now. the first pinnacle moment in the within the last few moments in beijing. the opening ceremony, you saw it right here on nbc bay area. >> "today in the bay's" janelle wang is live outside of the doors where all the action was taking place this morning. janelle, i'm sure, certainly, a beautiful sight out there this morning. >> reporter: it is such a beautiful sight here. the open ceremony, as you just watched on nba bay area, they had fireworks three times in the

program. it just wrapped up. it is friday night here, 10:32 now. it was such a beautiful night. it's the official start of the games. let's show you some highlights. it was an oscar nominated director who did the opening ceremony. he also did the summer games in beijing in 2008. he said the show, he made it a little bit shorter because of the cold weather here and the pandemic. fewer performers. but you saw technology played a huge role, lasers, light show, special effects. it was quite a scene. now, the white house did not send any political dignitaries here, it is diplomatically not coming to the games. but russian president vladimir putin was here, and china's president, xi jinping. the flag bearers were nominated by their fellow team usa athletes. speed skater curler john shuster.

alaina meyers has been in isolation for almost a week now. her first test came back negative. she needs two tests to come back negative in order to be released from isolation and then she starts competing later next week. so let the games begin. competition in full swing. you're going to see jamie anderson performing tonight in slopestyle. we've been talking about her the last couple olympics. these are her third olympics. she has two gold medals in slopestyle and a silver medal in big air. she's considered a veteran but she says she loves being a role model to younger snowboarders. so a lot of action and we are so excited. my photographer and i are headed to the mountain that is furthest away. it is usually a four-hour drive, but we are taking the bullet train and we'll be up there in 50 minutes.

>> wow, that is fast. and janelle, i know medals haven't been given out yet. some competitions have already started. you should know that the medal count, they're going to start giving them out tomorrow, some of them? >> reporter: that's it. right now the medal count shows zero. some preliminary events, qualification rounds. but biathlon, speed skating, men's moguls are going to have medals handed out tomorrow. you can watch it all here on nbc bay area. >> a lot of fun. thank you. >> we love that you're there, all bundled up, too. thank you so much. we've got layers on here in california, as we take a live look outside. it is a pretty cool start across the bay area. clear skies out there, where the clouds give us that blanket this morning. kari has a look at our forecast. >> yeah, we're looking ahead to the weekend where you might want to practice some of those skis and all of those events that

you're watching in the winter olympics. we're going to see some great weather at palisades tahoe this weekend. they're preparing for a busy weekend. they've got a lot of lifts and runs open and temperatures in the upper 30s, low 40s as we look at high temperatures. santana row will have our big celebration this weekend for the lunar new year with our own mike inouye there and temperatures reaching into the mid-60s. we're going to have great weather throughout the weekend. mike, you have a few spots you're watching for traffic. >> that's right, kari. one of those, hopefully it's santana row with people joining us. but we're going to go to the bay bridge toll plaza, where the metering lights were turned on just about 6:30. not a big deal. it's friday. we don't always see the metering lights on. look at the map on the san francisco side near the bottom left of the screen. that's where we first saw slowing down the decline and that often will trigger them to turn on the metering lights.

highway 37, highway 4 showing some slowing. recovery here for the nimitz northbound from 238 up to about davis street. we had a crash and debris reported in separate reports. there were a number of reports coming through the area. but no injuries reported for our crash. initially five vehicles were reported there. slowing starts north 101. >> saying good-bye to "the office". the reason one of the largest tech companies is leaving we hind one of their buildings. >> and a proposal to set up a covid commission the same way we have a january 6th commission. let's take you to the big board where the dow is mildly lower this morning. >> plus, a heartbreaker, the bay area city you might want to avoid when planning a date this valentine's day. we're going to tell you the reason why. stay with us. you're watching "today in the bay."

good friday morning. it's 6:39. as you're heading out in santa rosa, it's freezing again. right now 32 degrees and we'll have a very chilly start around the bay area. as we look at our trend for today, a lot of sunshine, definitely a lot more than yesterday, as we head for the low 60s this afternoon. we'll talk about the dry weather in our forecast and if there's any changes coming up in a few minutes. >> and the view is crystal clear

here, also looking at the north bay. south 101, starting to pick up volume a bit. keeping pace at the speed limit. we drive all the way down into san francisco along the north bay. however, another portion coming out of westbound, vallejo slows down. that's highway 37. >> reporter: good morning. very happy friday to you as well. a really fascinating and unexpected development this morning, as we got the january jobs report. now, early data convinced economists that this report would be grim, maybe even a negative number. instead, it was very solid. 467,000 jobs added to the economy last month. what do we make of this? we're still sorting through the data, honestly. but jobs numbers show how many people show up to work and we expected it to be low or a negative number because of omicron. so did people not get sick?

did they show up to work anyway? did the american economy really gain that many jobs in the middle of a new wave? if so, that is absolutely amazing. now, the unemployment rate did tick up a tenth of a percent. we don't normally care about small movements month to month. we're just looking for trends. and, also, remember, the unemployment rate measures the people who want a job but haven't gotten one yet. lately the problem has been a surprising number of people don't want jobs. they are voluntarily unemployed, and they don't count in the unemployment rate. so maybe a tick upwards actually shows some of those people are coming back. all right, it gets even weirder. labor economists also take this data of past numbers. look at december, which initially was reported as a gain of 199,000, went up to 510,000. november adjusted to 647,000 from the previous reported

249,000. these changes alone, along with this month's report, add nearly 1.2 million jobs that a couple hours ago we didn't know we had. now, the stock market, which had been recovering a bit from yesterday's fiasco is trying to figure out what to do. you would think investors would be celebrating about this, but in fact they're probably worried the fed is looking at these numbers thinking we were worried the economy is growing too fast and now the new numbers show we're growing twice as fast. it's not every day that at 5:29 you have a certain idea of what the american economy is doing and then when the jobs numbers are released at 5:30 and you pick up 1.2 million jobs, you really do need to get your reading glasses on and start reading the report. i don't know what happened. >> i forgot to carry the two. >> you know, marcus, i'm almost thinking something like that. wait a minute, oh, we leads the

wrong number. it's that weird. >> we'll continue to follow. thank you so much. especially if there are changes like that. new this morning, a bay area tech company is now letting go of one of the largest office spaces in san francisco, as it keeps more employees at home. according to san francisco gate, the corporate messaging platform service slack will sub lease its face on 45 freemont street close to the millennium tower. the company says it will keep its main headquarters open on howard street. employees will have the option to work in offices but will mainly remain a digital first company. trending this morning, ten days away from valentine's day. if you're planning to do something special, let's hope you saved money. >> yes, because wallet hub is breaking down the most expensive major cities to celebrate the most romantic day of the year. san francisco coming out on top at number one. seattle, honolulu, orlando and san diego all cracking the top five there.

the website, it actually finds 27 key metrics to include restaurant costs, the number of jewellers and flower shops per capita. they say the average lovebird is expected to shell out $175 for valentine's day. i would say that's a bargain in some places. >> you would be a good boyfriend, then. >> i would think to think that i can be. >> should we rent a thing saying available? >> no. >> a number on the bottom of the screen. >> i'm busy. >> i wish we had more time with this newscast. we've got to get to the forecast. kari? >> yeah, we're all wearing red in support of american heart month and showing lots of love to marcus as well. let's get a live look outside in san jose. we're starting out with this beautiful clear sunrise and also very chilly temperatures. we have some upper 30s right

now. and then after our start in the 30s, we'll see the trend headed for the upper 50s at 11:00, and 63 degrees at 1:00 today. so a nice warm-up after the chilly start. we'll see mid-60s in santa rosa and morgan hill and dublin today headed for 60 degrees. you're noticing the seven-day forecast looks a lot warmer next week and, boy, it seems like it just can't come soon enough for a lot of people across parts of the upper plains and midwest. you've probably heard about the big ice storm and the snowstorm that's still ongoing as temperatures dip to the single digits and below zero in bismarck right now. we're seeing cold air surging off toward the east, so the east coast getting a lot of big, heavy snow and ice. now, looking at our weather, not a whole lot going on. that's been the case throughout much of the month of january and now leading into february, and we're going to continue to see high pressure continuing to keep it dry over the next few days,

and also into at least the middle of next week. so more dry weather. and then take a look at these temperatures. san jose going from the low to mid-60s today to the mid-70s next week, even upper 70s. in february, it's going to be close to 80 degrees as we go into the next week. and of course we've been watching all of this dry weather like, okay, where is the rain? unfortunately, it's not coming any time soon. and so we're going to continue to see a lot of sunshine, these chilly mornings, and mild afternoons. and, mike, you're seeing slowing for highway 101? >> yeah, it's a new little spot, but it's pretty compressed compared to our usual pattern. let's take you to san martin. north 101 shows the slowing. it's really compressed there and the little bit of slowing we saw north of there in morgan hill, that was because of a crash which has moved to the shoulder, from what i understand. so very light slowing. no problem over the santa cruz

mountains. another build happens at 101 at about 680, and clear up the peninsula. in the east bay we may have a second crash around davis. but i think that's still a recovery from the earlier crashes. typical spots, highway 4, 47, bay bridge toll plaza metering lights are on. not a big backup at the toll plaza. very little, in fact. we take you to the richmond bridge. the live camera shows we're starting to stack up with cash lanes. they're all, of course, electronic tolls but we show a smooth approach coming off the east shore freeway. next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. >> we have two new cases with one common thread, zero action from the company to help people get their money back. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. nbc bay area responds next. >> reporter: we're shining a light on african american pioneers in our community and

nationwide, including american author, professor and activist, bell hooks. her work spans from print to film. she's published more than 30 books on a large range of topics. also in 2020, bell hooks was in ""time" magazine's 100 women of the year issue. it's 6:48. we'll be right back.

okay, it's go time. team usa on the largest gig-speed network. which means this mega fan never misses a second. it's gig-speed wifi that's “mikaela shiffrin” fast. ok, that's fast! speed's cool, but does yours block threats? yup, even for these upstairs all-nighters rocking wifi speeds faster than a gig. can your internet do that? learn more about gig-speed wifi, or get started with xfinity internet for $19.99 a month for 12 months. click, call, or visit a store today.

everyone celebrates the finish line, but what about the starting line? i went through 12 treatments of chemotherapy. ♪ i am african american and i am surrounded by people who aren't. ♪ i didn't become a snowboarder until after i became an amputee. we all win when everyone can get to their starting line. ♪ . good friday morning. it is 6:50.

as you're heading out in the tri-valley, we're starting out very chilly. temperatures slightly above freezing, and we will see a lot of sunshine today. a nice warm-up as we go from the 30s to the 60s by this afternoon. we'll talk about what's ahead in that weekend forecast, the seven-day is coming up in a few minutes. >> we're looking at a nice, easy drive for the north bay. holding pretty steady with volume. this is southbound 101, san raphael, volume build as you're approaching san pedro. in the east bay we saw the backup at the richmond bridge. the bay bridge has no backup, but metering lights. the metering lights are just past the toll plaza as things slow as you get to the incline. and you lose half a lane. a smooth flow, nonetheless. we'll show you what's unexpected coming up. >> thank you so much. 6:51 right now, with just one month down, 2022 looking to

be busy for our responds team. >> consumer investigative chris chmura is here to look at the problems they're solving, as well as money they're getting back for viewers. >> we received a flood of more than 100 new complaints. we're working on getting back to everyone and we will. here are a few cases we just put in the books. his newspaper suddenly stopped arriving. this dragged on and on. bare ree expected a refund for the missed papers. barry got a $36 refund. next, kathleen in san francisco asked for our help in getting $1,600 back for tickets she bought to a concert that was canceled. kathleen expected a full refund, but the ticket company kept her money, until we sent a note. kathleen got her $1,670 back. we've taken on a bunch of concert ticket cases lately for a lot of different folks around the bay area. if you are in the same boat, trying to get your refund, try

our secret weapon. it's section 22507 of california law. it says you get a refund when shows are postponed or canceled. tell them 22507 means your money back. all your money. if that doesn't work, tell us. we'll tell them again. our number is 888-996-tips. or you can go to nbcbayarea.com and click the response option from the main menu. have a great weekend. >> it is 6:53. we've got disturbing new video of a man being robbed and attacked in front of his east bay home. a witness believes the victim was targeted in an oakland's chinatown and followed. thieves took his rolex watch and hit him over the head. chinatown's chamber of commerce president believes asians may be even specifically targeted this time of year. >> we know that during the lunar new year they realize many traditions, people may be

carrying cash or the red envelope being given out to the children. >> he says the victim is staying away from his home. police do say they're actively working leads in this case. 6:53 and a new push for a bay area community to help protect mountain lions. "today in the bay's" tom jensen tells us leaders say that the cougars need the land more than people do but not everyone is buying that. >> reporter: it's been an issue for years up and down the peninsula, cougars coming into contact with communities, and it's not just in woodside. >> you see mountain lions in redwood city and san bruno. it's like, okay. >> reporter: buy yolgt say the run-ins are inevitable as cities and towns encroach more on wildlife habitat. the town of woodside is ending all new building because they say mountain lions are threatened and need the land to survive. >> i totally agree with it. i feel like it's okay to maybe

rebuild parking lots, but everything else, not so much. >> to protect the wildlife? >> yep. >> they're trying to keep things small, rural, so i can appreciate that. >> reporter: under california law, threatened species are given the same protections as endangered species and town leaders say they can invoke the protections to halt building. the move prohibits owners of larger properties from splitting their land to develop new housing that's desperately needed and encouraged under senate bill 9. state senator scott wiener who was a coauthor, said, i'm all for mountain lions, but he said people need homes, too, and he said he predicts legal challenges to this moratorium on building. in an interview, mayor dick brown says every house that's built is one more acre taken away from habitat. but some question the town's motives. >> this is a clear attempt by the town of woodside to thwart housing laws in the middle of a

housing emergency. >> i think it's silly. i think people in woodside don't want low income people and i don't think the mountain lions are going to discriminate against multi-unit housing. coming up next, the top stories we're following, including opening ceremonies for the olympics. we're live with full coverage. plus -- >> reporter: and we have new data coming from the state health department on the benefits of getting your booster shot, plus what los angeles is doing in regards to the mask mandate as we approach the deadline. >> and an inside look at the great resignation. we investigate the pivot workers are making during the pandemic. we'll be right back. you're watching "today in the bay."

bay," another bay area city launching new proof of booster shot requirements. we're moving you forward the next time you head out in the south bay. >> plus, a pandemic pivot. workers here in the bay area and across the u.s. are leaving their jobs at unusually high rates. we investigate the life changes people are making. >> and freezing temperatures in parts of the bay area this morning. a look at the warm-up in the microclimate forecast. this is "today in the bay." and a very good friday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i'm marcus washington.

we're extending our special "today in the bay" newscast for anr half hour we're also oadcasting onlinet nbcbayarea.com. you can also watch us live right now on roku, amazon fire and apple tv. >> that's right. let's take a look at the olympic flame burning bright in beijing. what an opening ceremony. it was on pretty early this morning. coming up at 7:45, janelle wang will have a look at some of this morning's highlights. >> moving you forward on the pandemic front and new changes when it comes to both where you go and what you wear. we have live team coverage this morning for you. >> kris sanchez following the new booster rule that's taking effect in the south bay. let's start out with "today in the bay's" cierra johnson breaking down the change in mandates when it comes to wearing masks. there's some encouraging new data behind all of this. >> reporter: yes, good morning, laura. we've been navigating this pandemic for nearly two years now, but the data recently released shows a little bit of good news in terms of the cases