right now at 3:00, a south bay plan to help you make it in the bay. oakland teachers are hitting back after the district moves to close or merge several schools. the new legal action by teachers to keep the campuses open and bay area county is getting ready to ditch the mask mandate, there's one county holding out, where you have to mask up in indoors even if you are vaccinated.

>> there's a lot happening in beijing, we will get to the olympics coverage in a moment. the maskt rules are changing. a week from today, nearly every county will drop the in door masking rules. every local county has weighed in on whether it will follow the state's plan to allow fully vaccinated people to take off their masks in most in door settings. you can see 8 of the 9 counties will drop the mask rules you see the county in red the most populoused area, will require to keep masks on. >> they say that they are just not ready are yet. nbc bay area has her reasons and the public reaction. a lot of the south bay restaurants took a hit in the omicron surge, so the dropping of the indoor mask requirement was good news but did not last

long. they do good business in good weather, but not so much in wintertime, they were annoyed to hear that santa clara county will not be joining to drop indoor mask requirements. >> it's frustrating. it's fair to say a lot of us are frustrated and we are ready for it to be normal. >> we knew, and our county, we want to be safe and i support that. so, i kind of felt like we were not going to change anything yet. >> the public health officer said she respects the decisions by other counties but decided to hold out until some time in march so three key metrics can be reached, first, 80% of residents being vaccinated has been met, but the hospitalization rate has to be safe and stable and the average rolling new cases has to be below 550 cases a day. >> we still have very high levels of community transmission and higher than at any other

point in the pandemic preomicron. >> reporter: the health department is reevaluating the metrics to focus exclusively on omicron and dr. cody said readjustments will be made. but at this point, not enough to have this county join the others in taking masks off next wednesday. in campbell, robert handa. >> let's look at santa clara county's numbers in the last 24 hours more than 19,000 new tests were reported. of those new tests there's been more than 2300 new cases. the positivity rate in santa clara county is at about 6% and last month, 16%. >> governor newsom chose oakland for signing a bill. the mexican restaurant is a small business with more than 25 employees. the target demographic for the new legislation. as a small business owner himself, he is proud of the

state's pandemic progress. >> we started relatively modestly, seems like a year and a half ago, we built on it, a few billion more, working with the legislative leadership and here we are, four plus billion dollars to grants adding another 150 million dollars today. >> the governor said the money is more than a handout, lay ago better foundation for california's economic recovery. >> and from mask rules to vaccine mandates we are following all the changing health orders for you. go to nbc bay area.com and click on covid-19faq on the trending bar and that's where you can find answers to commonly asked questions to help move you forward. >> it was a late night decision that impacts thousands of families. at 1:00 a.m., oakland school district leaders voted to close two schools by this summer and five others will be closing by next year. the district said that cuts are need to get finances in order. this is not sitting well with many parents, students and

teachers. here is melissa colorado. >> i absolutely don't ever want to do this again. i can tell you that. >> he is referring to the board decision to close the following seven schools by next year, due to the declining enrollment and budget management. community day school in parker k-8 school will close sooner, by this summer. community day school is small with anywhere from 10-15 students, it gives expelled students one last chance to graduate. >> currently the only alternatives in heyward, but there's county programs in oakland. i feel the district needs to work with the county to provide an option in oakland. >> the board voted to merge two schools, rise academy and new high land academy. la escuelita and hillcrest will no longer offer classes for middle students the class sizes

will grow but they will be able to spend money wisely and use savings to give teachers a raise. >> people are still very, very angry, and i believe that, in the long run, it's going to be better for the district and it's urgent because of the financial situation we are in. even though there were weeks of teacher and student led protests and even a hunger strike to keep the closures from happening, this said they could not ignore the pressure from the state to fix the problem. >> there's ten -- there's ten million dollars in funding that is tied to this decision. >> today the union announced it plans to take legal action from stop the district from closing schools and in what could be another painful blow to the district, the unions's president said teachers could still hold a strike vote. >> we take it on in the wake of

the greatest surge of the pandemic in the most destructive health crisis in the history of this nation. and it is unthinkable that we would have to consider school closures in this moment as well. >> that wassa colorado reporting, this is not just in oakland as an issue, across the bay, in los altos, these high school students protesting on behalf of oakland, students at los altos high walked out of school to voice concerns of the cuts in the east bay. they have signs saying solidarity with oakland. let's get you to the olympics, team usa struck gold for the first time thanks to lindsay jacobhe will is, she took home the top spot in snowboard. and i'm so happy that i put the

last run down. you have to fight for it. >> you remember are chloe kim, she is all grown up now, still dominating half pipe. they will try to be the first woman to win back-to-back gold in tonight's finals. >> she has the sweet smile and a killer on the half pipe. winning the first medal for team usa is great news but the magic of the olympics is the journey to gold. i was with jacob ellis16 years ago. >> 16 years in the making. >> gosh, i remember you were there live to see it. i remember watching it on tv. talking about the 2006 and the lindy was 20 years old and just about to win the gold middle. and then that, just before the finish line, she wants to just

have fun, and went for a grab on the board and that caused the fall and she lost the race. she has been living with that mistake for 16 years. it threatened to define her career, for all of her success in the sport it would be the one thing that most of us would remember until last night. that win gave us not only the first gold these games but forever rewriting her story. now, during the games we have seen plenty of examples of athletes putting their bodies on the line. let's take a moment to honor the olympic hockey referees, they are taking on the chin this year. in the case of this one ref, her upper lip. she got a stick to the face. you see it there. ouch. then you have this ref being laid out by a swiss player in their game with the russian team. and because he was wearing a camera you can see how it looked from his point of view. not how exactly it felt.

so, by now, we have seen all the heartbreaking pictures of mikaela shiffrin after missing the gate. the same thing happened to this athlete and she was not going to deny her chance to finish the course. she hiked back up to the gate she missed and now, that is no easy fete on a steep icy slope, just so she could say she completed the course. and raj, she was disqualified when she missed the gate. so she didn't necessarily finish officially, but i can imagine maybe you think it's your one shot at the olympics and the one shot to do the course, i think i would have done the same thing. saying i did the course even if it did not count. >> the dq had nothing to do with it. it was finishing the race. >> it was giving it your best and doing it your all. >> and everyone loves garvin because he sticks up for the

refs. >> they deserve their time in the sun. >> well done, thanks. >> san jose helping people make it in the bay. the work that is getting started to concrete new affordable housing. >> covid tests in the south bay, where you need to go to get your hands on the testing kits. >> and we are indeed in the mid 70s for february. find out which bay wraer set a record high and your full forecast coming up. >> right now the tide grows of states and places rolling back mask restrictions, what the cdc has to say about it, plus should members of congress be allowed to trade individual stocks. what is driving that question tonight when we see you back here for "nightly news."

it's an ongoing crisis in the ukraine, the white house approved a pentagon plan to help

americans escape ukraine if russia attacks. there's 30,000s of americans in ukraine. moscow is adding pressure by staging military drills in the region. ukraine is pushing more arms in the west and they want sanctions announced in advance to help deter russian aggression. lester holt will talk exclusively with president biden about the issue. that interview is tomorrow. the conversation is the president's first sit down interview of the year. well, was she targeted or was it an innocent victim, a 67-year-old woman was killed in the east bay as she rode in a car. investigators say they believe the shots were fired from someone in another car this was the fourth homicide in the year in antioch, there were 13 all of last year. >> in the south bay, the big homeless camp near san jose

international airport is mostly gone, that leaves leaders working out what to do with it. the faa's airline to move people out of the camp is june 30th and san jose does not have enough emergency beds so the city may seek an extension. >> in tonight's making it in the bay segment, san jose is moving forward in the battle to build more housing for the homeless. what is the plan and the price tag. >> reporter: 76 private apartments will be built for unhoused residents. city officials say it's one step of many that are needed. >> it is not a secret to anyone that we suffer from a shameful

scourge of homelessness in the valley. tenants will get to live her rent free. and they will maintain the park. part of the goal of eventually getting as many people as possible in to permanent housing. >> investment and prevention. investment to get people in doors quickly and then really investing in permanent housing. >> the ground breaking comes the same week as santa clara county announced $75.5 million to go toward six new affordable housing projects. in some ways this is step one. >> it gets people off the street and because the construction is high quality. it's going to be around 25, 30 years or more. and it can be used for permanent housing as we stabilize the population. >> the new program has been created for the people who will live here and that way, we

ensure that their needs are being put first. >> as for this development, officials tell us this should be built in six months. costing about 20% of typical apartment construction. scott, thank you, a lot of people showed up, if you live in santa clara county, you can get free at home covid testing kits. the first handout was at the today los altos library, you see people driving and the traffic was backed up for a mile. so many people showed up the county ran out of the rapid antigen tests and the n-95 masks. they ran out in an hour. the goal is to have supplies at convenient locations. testing is critical, an average of 2,000 people test positive in the county each week. >> we know now infected with covid-19, and

their dayser they are able to give themselves an antigen test, they are able to come back in to the community. >> today was los altos and tomorrow they will be handed out at libraries in coopertino and we have posted the addresses and times on nbc bay area.com. >> taking to hawaii where they are reversing plans and won't require tourists to be boosted. you may remember the governor of hawaii had planned to add booster to the safe travel plan. but the declining numbers made him change his mind. hawaii would have been the first

state to make this requirement. back in the bay area, another small fire in february here's what it looked like just a few hours ago. this is just outside of the beach off the shoreline highway. two acres have burned so far, but firefighters say that forward progress has been stopped and you and i were talking a short time ago about the weather there. it's dry and breezy and that of course could impact the firefight. >> absolutely, when you consider the three biggest impacts when we are watching for elevated fire it's the three elements. how warm are the temperatures. how is the humidity and how is the wind? we are expecting to have high winds and will monitor it closely. the sunshine has been beautiful. great shot of san francisco, it presents it's own issues and i will get to it in a second. let's talk about how the dry weather is impacting us and of course the heat, you are not imagining it, we are seeing record heat here in oakland and downtown hit a new high. daily record of 75.

beating the old record of 74 set in 2006, and there's a potential that we could be seeing more highs not just for this afternoon but heading engine to -- heading in to thursday and friday. there's a beach hazard affect and right now in san francisco, it's 60. and over the next couple of hours we will get to see breezy winds. san jose 76 degrees and only dipping in to the 50s. and throughout the bay area, look at this, mid 70s, you would not think we are in february. but the concern paired up with the wind which is of course breezy around the coast line and again i areas, it's how low the humidity is. we are not getting recovery in the overnight hours which is what we typically see. anything above the 40% is better than below. we are talking about relative

humidity. we are falling beneath the 20% mark in a lot of areas throughout the region and the temperatures heading in to the next couple of days are expected to be warm, and setting the potentially new high in wednesday and thursday and friday. this is tomorrow at 7:30. 77 in san jose, and upper 70s expected for your friday afternoon. if you are anywhere in the bay area, expect to see the heat. if you are heading town to l.a., of course, it's a big game on sunday. they are under a heat advisory through sunday because l.a. is seeing highs in the 80s and 90s and that includes engelwood, that is where the super bowl is. you have to stay hydrated as much as we are excited, remember to drink the water. san francisco wharks is going on with the region? high pressure has been sitting over the region. keeping any real chance of storms from the north and south, and unfortunately right now the

model runs should know real chance of rain for the next 7-10 days. so the warmest days right now will remain through saturday and then heading in to monday and tuesday, there's a potential for more win to pick up as we get the approaching system jnorth. notice the rain staying in the seattle area. not a lot of rain until the 19th or 20th of february. we will stay dry for the next couple of days. seven day forecast, near record highs for we cool off a little bit heading in to monday, but even then we are going to be in the upper 60s and then that elevated fire danger will continue in to monday night, tuesday, and wednesday with gusty hills and that could mean anywhere from 30-40 plus mile an hour winds heading in to the start of next week. for now, saturday and sunday, hazy skies and we will see if we break any more records. again, oakland, new lives today,

75. >> very nice, i like her here in the afternoon. >> i know. >> you like being here with you guys too. >> thank you. >> up next, celebrating buster, how the giants will honor his legendary career. stay with us. i didn't become a snowboarder until after i became an amputee. we all win when everyone can get to their starting line. ♪

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crunch time! i'm dipping into the latest innovation by combining heinz secret sauce and potato chip crunchers for the perfect bite. my heinz dip & crunch bacon cheeseburger combo. only at jack in the box. a famous couple is coming to the de young museum, they are on a six city tour, they were originally unveiled in 2018. they arrive at the museum in mid june. their official portraits are the first to be painted by black artists. >> the baseball season may not start on time because of the labor dispute between the openers and players. that is not stopping the giants from celebrating buster posey. we have to do it in a big way. after 12 years in the big

leagues he retired in november. the giants are making, mark the sound, may 7th. >> okay, may 7th. >> don't miss it. >> buster posey day at the oracal park, it's the first time we can all gather, fans and everyone to celebrate posey's career in person since his retirement. buster led the giants to three world series titles and was the national league mvp in 2012. >> going to be a wonderful day. i asked you earlier, are you ready? you have your water? you have the -- >> is it this week? >> it's this weekend. >> i have to pack my bag. >> so, but actually, raj, the festivities will kick off tomorrow. >> in a big way. and here is a look at sofi stadium. tomorrow at this time, the red carpet will be rolled out for the nfl honors award shows right there at sofi, i will be down there speaking with the league's biggest stars current and past. i have been to nine super bowls

now. >> no way. that is fun. >> it's a lot. but this guy, the grounds keeper has been to every one of them. he is 93, he is the sodfather. like that? his first super bowl was at the l.a. coliseum when the packers won. now he is back in southern california at the new stadium. >> i have been around the world working for the nfl. but this crew they have at sofi stadium here is the best crew i ever see in my life. i mean, they are so dedicated. >> 93 going on like 73. he is awesome. his budget for the first super bowl by the way was a thousand bucks. this year, his budget $750,000. got to keep the grass green. you can watch the super bowl here on nbc bay area or stream it live on peacock or watch it on in a moment.

let's take a look at the olympic flame burning, you can see the bird's nest behind the stadium. it's another star-studded night. chloe kim goes for the gold. >> nightly news starts now. tonight, a major turning point in the pandemic. new york ending its indoor mask mandate as covid cases plunge, new york, the one-time epicenter, lifting its strict masking rules for businesses, but leaving them in place for schools. massachusetts, rhode island and illinois also making annocements today on masks. but the cdc director pushing back, warning we're not there yet. also tonight, the figure skating controversy in beijing. why the ceremony to award the russians their gold has been delayed. plus snowboarder lindsey jacobellis

winning the fir