we are live in beijing to break down what to expect tonight. plus -- >> the city of san francisco is lifting the indoor mask mandate for most settings, beginning next week. we'll tell you why they feel comfortable going along with the state and most of the rest of the bay area. several schools in oakland set to shut down in a matter of months. opponents of the plan say they're not being down without a fight. ♪♪ but nbc 4 starts right now. thank you for this special olympics edition. i'm jessica aguirre. >> a week from today, a mask will be coming -- eight of our nine local counties will drop of state guidelines and drop the indoor mask mandate. find your county. santa clara county, we should highlight is the only holdout.

mask will stay on indoors until cases and hospitalizations drop. again, that's just for santa clara county. we'll hear from the health doctor, dr. sarah coty, and her reasons. here as more from san francisco. >> reporter: the indoor mask mandate will soon be lifted in most settings, it got around fast. >> it would be nice to get back to normal, but we had to do what we had to do. >> yeah, it's good. it's good. >> it's okay. i don't pay much attention. you know, whatever they say. >> reporter: dr. seussen phillips says the timing makes sense here, with the local numbers going in the right direction. >> because our case rates are coming down, and because of our immense level boosting in the city. we're able to align with the state. >> reporter: the change means starting on february 16th, people will be able to intersupermarkets, salons,

restaurants, just about any indoor setting without wearing a mask if they're fully vaccinated. masks will still be required at hospitals, shelters, schools, because of fell rules, all public transportation. businesses can still require masks if they choose. anyone can wear a mask indyers if they like. lifting the mandate in most places l.a. week is a rerelief for some, also a concern for ears. we have a population of children who have been waiting very expectantly for vaccines to be available. that expected in about a week, so i'm wondering why we can't wait a bit longer. >> reporter: the fda is meeting this weekend to consider vaccines for children. a decision is expected next tuesday. dr. phil lips says she recommends everyone continue wearing masks indoors, but she's comfortable making this next step. >> what we're able to do now is

remove the legal requirement of that order, saying that it is mandated by the health officer and by the cities. really it's coming back now into the hands of the people of san francisco. i'm confident with it being there. >> reporter: nbc bay area news. businesses in contra costa counties are reacting. some local businesses may not make the change, meaning they'll still require masks indoors. we spoke with some business owners saying they're going to take a wait-and-see approach. >> i'm going to talk with the rest of my staff and see. we have the option of requiring masks if we want to. it's whatever everyone feels comfortable with. >> reporter: the county says the data supports the change after reaching a high of about 2800 new cases per day back in january. now the average has dropped to about 1,000 new cases per day. this morning as santa clara county public health officer h

ranks, dropping indoor mask restrictions. santa clara county says the policy is not likely to change under march, at some point, depending on keep milestones. the first marker has been hit. more than 80% of residents are vaccinated, but 9 hospitalization rate needs to remain at a safe and stable level. the rolling seven-day average for new cases needs to be below 550 per day. >> our job is to following the science to keep our community as safe as possible, and to ensure that we continue to protect the people who are most vulnerable. dr. cody says she's optimistic about possibly lifting the requirement next month and says the public health department is reevaluates metrics to focus more on omicron. now we're constantly updating

our streaming app with the latest application. super easy, download it for your apple tv or streaming device. you canically on what to know, and watch how state lawmakers approved paid sick leave for covid patients. in the wee hours of the night, the oakland school district made a tough decision to close seven schools by the end of next year and merge other schools. now the district is facing two unexpected curveballs from the teachers union -- immediate legal action and a possible teachers strike. here is more. >> i absolutely never want to see this again. >> reporter: oakland school board vice president is refers to the for the board to close the seven schools by next year. and bucket manage. community day school in, k through 8 will close even sooner. community day school is a small program. it gives expelled students one

last chance to graduate in ousd. >> currently the only alternative is in hayward. there are county programs in oakland. >> reporter: the board voted to merge two schools. rice academy, and new highland. las escuelita will no longer offering middle school for students. this could possibly use savings to give teachers a raise. >> a lot of people are still angry, but i believe in the long run it's better for the district. >> this is not okay. this is not acceptable for students to have to defend their schools. >> reporter: today the teachers union announced plans to file a complaint. the union president says he's prepared to orrize a strike society.

one of the loutest critics of closure plan, mike hutchinson joined other elected city leaders this afternoon in front of the oakland city hall to appreciate the state legislature to give the district more money and more time. >> we now have leadership in sacramento that's going to advocate for us, instead of selling us out. >> reporter: anybody bay area news. turning to our winter olympics coverage. a lot is happening in beijing. it's just 8:00 a.m. thursday there. theres see the flame burning very bright. it was another devastating race for mikaela shiffrin, but not all bad news for team usa. the americans picked up more medals today, including their first gold of the games. nbc's liz mcloughlin is live in bay engine and some olympic gear to show us.

>> reporter: that's right, jessica. you may have seen this cool jacket on the slopes on team usa's snowboarders. it's their official uniform. volcom is the brand. it's actually a surf, skate and snowboarding company that started in california. this jacket has all sorts of cool little features, one of which is red, white and blue rabbit's foot tucked into the pocket. this lucky charm seems to be working for the powerhouse u.s. snow-dooring team. team usa got i golden moment. flying ahead of the pack, the end of a long race and long road for the five-time olympian. it's been a journey. quite a journey to get to this moment, and it's just finally happened for me. chloe kim is following the

upward momentum, going for a second straight goal tonight, after finishing first in the qualifiers. >> i'm so honored to be here and just earn joying the moment. >> reporter: hope after heartbreak. mikaela shiffrin breaking down, after failing to finish her second consecutive race. >> pretty much everything makes me second-guess, like, the last 15 years, everything i thought i knew about my own skiing and slalom and racing mentality. >> reporter: an outpouring of support for the skiing star with three more chances for a comeback. meanwhile, nathan chen is halfway to singles gold, after a record-shattering short program. that was liz mcloughlin

reporting. another big night for the winter games. again, that begins right here, 5:00 tonight. don't miss it. an unusual fire. it happened this morning near levi stadium. sky ranger was overhead. downbelow it a garage. firefighters found the garage on fire with a tesla inside. that tesla was unplugged. the homeowners weren't home. no word yet on what sparked the fire and if tesla had anything to do with it. the homeless encampment near the airport was mostly gone. it was removed last year, but it has city leaders pondering of future of the lot. the plan is working through city hall calls for a dog park, a disc golf course, and a wildflower meadow. the faa's deadline to move camp residents is june 30th, but san

jose doesn't have enough emergency beds, so they may need an extension. hitting the streets to solve a problem. santa clara county's new plan to address mentality health issues. you may consider your paystub to be private. we found otherwise. i'm chris chmura. and we have temperatures in the 70s. 73 degrees. we'll talk about record highs, and how much this dry weather will last, in my full forecast, stay with us. weather on nbc bay area news is brought to you by --

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we're following breaking news, a well-known former bay area baseball player has died. jeremy giambi. he passed away at the age of 47 at his family's home in southern california. he played three season for the a's. he's the younger brother of jason giambi. new york today, the whole state lifted its indoor mask requirement one week ahead of california. during an appearance in oakland today. governor newsom is talking with experts about the next step

here. softening some of the restrictions will be part of the endemic plan california, the governor says. an endemic plan is a way for residents to live with covid in an educated and informed way, according to the governor. the real purpose to oakland was to sign several bills to help small businesses, including extending covid sick leave. he was with a small business with more than 25 employees. that's the target demographic. the governor says, as a small business owner himself, he's proud of the state's pandemic progress. >> we started relatively modestly. we built on that, working with the legislative leadership, and here we are, four-plus million, adding another $150 million today. >> reporter: the governor says the money is more than a handout. he says it lays a better

foundation for california's economic recovery. if you live in santa clara county, you can pick up free at-home tests today one library ran out tests. and they also ran out of the masks. the goal was to offer the supplies at a convenient location. public health leaders say testing remains critical. an average of 2,000 people in the county test positive for covid every week. >> we know now that if people are infected with covid-19, and their symptoms resolve after five days, they are able to test themselves with an antigen test. if that's negative, they can come back into the community wearing a mask. this is one way people can use the antigen tests being distributed today. >> reporter: today was loss al to say. tomorrow they'll be handed at

librarying in cupertino and milpitas. friday gilroy and saratoga, and saturday morgan hill. we have posted all addresses, sites and times on our website. supervisors approving funding for mobile mental health units. four additional trained staff will be a call to respond to people in crisis, potential to help de-escalate situation that involve police. >> what could turn into a tragedy, can on which be de-escalated, calmed down. if you have something there with the right expertise, right united states and talent to provide help rather than create a situation that becomes even more fraught. >> the mobile crisis health team has already been operating in other parts of the county, which is recently experienced a fivefold increase in calls for help. well, if you think about it,

your salary is very personal information. who knows how much money you make. >> there is a good chance a data broker does. chris chmura has been asking how. >> it turns or millions of companies are sharing their own employees' paystubs every pay period. one says it has for more than half the country's workforce. another company cause scooping up paystubs. at the electronic frontier wonders if workers know this is going on. >> employees should be able to make the choy. >> reporter: so why? what do companies get out of it? we'll dig into all of that tonight at 11:00. we'll also help you see the payroll info that the data brokers have on you. if you have a consumer problem,

sharing it with us on call us. i'll join you again tonight at another reminder of how long it's been since we've had any rain. a small brush fire broke out in the north this morning. this was outside of stinson beach. two acres burned. firefighters stopped it from spreading quickly. we're talking about our warm weather, which we can enjoy the sunshine, but also there's a big issue with the water and lack the rain. >> normally we see these conditions in october. these are concerns when it comes to elevated fire danger, low humidity, high temperatures and, of course, the breezy winds. this is supposed to be one of our wettest months. we haven't seen significant rain for over a month. right now it is making for lovely skies in san francisco. of course we've been seeing plenty of sunshine, but also record warmth already.

downtown wormt in oakland, beating the old report from 2006. we're going to go to the beach hazard statement. it's been beautiful, but there are some things to look out for if we're letting to the coastlines. what are we expecting tonight and into tomorrow? we have already seen gusty winds for the elevation above 1,000 feet. if you live anywhere, expect breezy winds, at least through tomorrow afternoon. look at that. 75 in san jose, 72 in concord, 71 in san francisco. it is likely we may even hit new record highs again. as far as our winds go, it is still breezy in some spots. expect to see some of those breezier winds for the north bay mountains and the east bay hills, at least through tomorrow morning. typically we see a nice recovery overnight. we haven't seen too much of that.

they have fallen below the 21 mark, up there napa, now starting to climb over the 40s, but it's dry out there. we aren't expecting, unfortunately, any rain in sight. we've had this ridge of high pressure dominating this dry air mass for the past several days. thursday, 3:00 p.m. temperatures also looking relatively high. 77 degrees in san jose, oakland 77, san francisco 75. we could hit new record highs heading into friday as well. 72, 74, look at this, hayward 71. in san francisco, we're going to stay in the 70s. i do want to go over the beach hazard statement. i know the sunshine is tempting, but there is going to be a beach hazard statement in effect until 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. we're talking about dangerous sneaker waves and rip currents. just admire it from a safe distance. this is going to in place for the coastline heading into tomorrow. i also want to mention we have

super bowl sunday coming up. currently l.a. is under a heat advisory all the way through sunday, highs in the 80s and 90s. it could potential hit a record high on sunday, so we'll be looking out for that. what's the culprit? why haven't we seen any real rain. you can see we've got hurricane, and that's been sitting over the area, blocking any real chance of rain to the north and our south. right now the long-range outlook is looking dry, not just for this week, but for the next 7 to 10 days, maybe even longer than that. for now it looks like we're going to stick to the 70s, with some relief heading into monday. overall we're going to keep the sunshine and dry weather for a while. back to you guys. >> are you rooting for the rams? >> i'm actually a chargers fan, to be fair. you can look at my instagram post when they were in san diego

back in the day. >> we believe you. we believe you. [ laughter ] >> good job. >> that was fair. that was fair. good to see you. the chargers, they're not in it, but all eyes are in l.a. super bowl is, what, four days ago. roger goodell today facing some tough questions about the racial inequality in the nfl. first, watch the action live, as our athletes strive for gold. then relive all the great moments in every newscast from first thing in the morn to late at night. don't miss my live reports with exclusive access behind the scenes for a deeper dive, go digital. from must-watch stories to tracking bay area athletes, get complete coverage with nbc bay area in all our digital platforms.

oak. here's a look at where the medal

count stands. a u.s. is tied with several counties. russia norway are still leading the pack. today nfl commissioner roger goodell admitted again the league has to do a better job of increasing diversity at the top level. 77% of the players in the nfl are black, but still only four minority coaches in the league. here's a look at warm, hot sofi stadium. the league has been under fire following a lawsuit from former dolphins coach brian flores, alleging racism. commiter goodell said the league will not tolerate raidism, and admits the nfl has fallen short on minority hiring. what we want to see is the outcomes, right? we had to be black head coaches in the nfl, coaches of people of color, and eventually gender.

>> we've been talking about it for years. at some point they need to address it better. goodell says they'll bring in an outside expert to look at the rooney rule that mandates teams interview at least one minority candidate for head positions. they will examine other league policies to see what they can do. so that is part of the super bowl, to address the problems in the league as it stands. >> and as we get closer and closer, it will be super warm. up next, chloe kim, it turns out, has a sweet tooth. we're joined next on "the olympic zone." >> we'll see you soon. ross is next. \s

[rumbling] ♪ ♪ hoy te he mirado sin quererlo ♪ ♪ te he mirado a mi lado pasar ♪ ♪ me tuve que tragar mis sentimientos ♪ ♪ no supe de tu aliento ♪ ♪ nomás te vi pasar ♪

coming up on "the olympic zone" when crumps are donna heartbeat, the finish line in a flash, what is keeping watch for the winner? the new technology tracking olympic ice for the first time. plus the young u.s. men's hockey team going up again go lie eat. sam brock finds out if they believe. >> how many times have you seen "march cal on ice." like 400,000 times. and the bond between these best friends. >> she's someone who has become so near and dear to me. >> that i link