major improvements in their fight against covid. the big changes starting today that may lead to larger events and reviving some struggling businesses in the process. this is "today in the bay." here we go, friday morning. 5:00 right now. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. if you're up right now, we know you've got a busy morning. if you're on the go, we're not only on television, you can catch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. >> here's a live look at sofi stadium in inglewood and the olympic flame in beijing. this weekend nbc bay area has the super olympics. they're all going on at the same time. let's just say this morning we will not be ignoring itst we've got live coverage from beijing in just about five minutes, and ahead at 55, we're also live a the forecast. meteorologist kari hall tracking

what we can expect today. >> yeah, it's time to get up and get moving, get this friday started. we're starting out with clear skies across the bay area and chilly temperatures. san jose right now at 49 degrees. we're going from the upper 40s to seeing all of this sunshine and a farmers market is going to be nice. temperatures in the upper 60s. we'll be at 70 degrees at lunchtime so enjoy it outside as we are also going to most likely set a few more records today. we had numerous records set yesterday afternoon, so we're still going to be well above normal. very close as we head into the weekend. we'll talk more about the weekend forecast in a few minutes. >> thank you so much. moving you forward, as the bay area emerges from the latest surge in covid cases, most counties are rolling back masking rules. as of today, one county ready to allow large gatherings again. "today in the bay's" sharon katsuda is live at one popular spot in sonoma county and this

is a moment that so many businesses have been waiting for. >> reporter: yes, laura. happy friday to you. i'm actually smiling under this mask for this story. this is an exciting story. santa rosa, we're here at the epicenter of sports and entertainment and you can see behind me how huge this complex is. it's 130,000 square feet. you can see a trampoline park behind me. right now it's really quiet, but starting today they get to fill this place up and do the things that they normally did before the health order. so with me right now is jenny, the general manager. good morning. >> good morning. >> so tell me about the pandemic, how did it affect your business? >> it was devastating. we went from seeing anywhere between 4,000 and 5,000 people on the weekend to basically empty. we went down to takeout. almost 15 months of complete shutdown, very limited exceptions. we were able to run some child care camps, but mostly we were just running takeout food from our restaurant, doing patio

seating. and for a facility our size, it was devastating. >> and child care was so important, you're saying, to keep that going for the community. >> absolutely. most of the child care centers were forced to shut down. a lot of families who were working and able to work didn't have anywhere for their kids to go. the schools were shut down. so we tried to provide at least some low cost options for them to be able to get back to work if they could. >> last month the omicron surge hit and then you have the limit on gatherings. what was your gut reaction when that happened? >> disappointed, frustrated, i think is how i really felt. we were just kind of picking back up and getting back to a regular business and it was a huge halt. i think particularly the calls for people to stay at home, it kind of made everybody feel like it was unsafe to come to the facilities that had worked so hard to be safe and clean and follow all of the guidelines.

but then they were told it's not safe to go out and it went back to very limited visitors and probably cut our business, i would say, easily in half. >> let's take a look at what got us to this point. now, the county health officials in january set the 50-person maximum indoor and 100-person maximum outdoor restrictions on gatherings when they saw covid cases rise at a rate faster than any other time since the pandemic began. contact tracing showed that more than half of those cases came from large gatherings. now the cases have dropped by about half since the omicron surge and the health order expired last night. the count health experts say certai last month's findings. >> the unvaccinated was clearly at risk, but we're finding even among our vaccinated people residents who had underlying health conditions, and particularly senior citizens, were also at risk.

we've experienced nearly 50 deaths -- or over 40 deaths since the start of the year and 40% of them were people over the age of 65 who were vaccinated, although many of them were not boosted. >> reporter: and that's why health experts are still encouraging people, if you haven't been vaccinated, get vaccinated and get boosted. it's very interesting, we're going to talk more at 6:00 with jenny, but she says, you know, with the mask requirement being lifted as well next week, people will not have to be wearing masks in this facility. but it is up to the individual, because some people, of course, say they're still going to continue wearing their mask. back to you. >> that will be exciting and it's nice to see some businesses able to survive. thanks, sharon. san mateo county lifting the mask mandate in five days, following state guidelines. but it's only for people who are fully vaccinated. however, leaders in burlingame

say don't ditch the masks just yet. face coverings will be required inside all city facilities, including city hall and public libraries. and we are constantly updating those changes. you can go to our nbc bay area app with the latest information, including where you can get free masks as well as covid-19 tests. you can download it for free to your mobile device. the first full week of the winter olympics coming to an end with team usa having a lot to be proud of. when it comes to gold medals we're on a rebound. shaun white giving us one last olympic memory with a lot of emotion. we may have a spoiler alert, especially if you're following every drop of the puck. >> janelle wang is live in beijing. get to the good news this morning for the u.s. women's hockey team. >> reporter: yes, really good news. team usa advanced to the semifinals. they don't know who they are

playing yet, but the reigning gold medalists say they are ready to face off. let's take you to the match that happened overnight, the quarterfinal match took place. usa versus czech republic. four-time olympian and palo alto native hilary knight scoring a goal for team usa. the u.s. wins 4-1. >> sticking to our game. we've worked hard all year and trusting each other, knowing that we can do this. >> reporter: men's hockey, the team which does not include any nhl players, easily won their first game against china 8-0. they are facing rival canada next. the puck drops just three hours from now. the big story of prime time, shaun white, the final olympic games for the five-time olympian, the 35-year-old killed his second run, serious air. he landed all his tricks. it was the best out of three, and unfortunately it was not enough. he just missed the podium, finishing fourth. afterwards, a final bow.

[ crowd chanting ] >> reporter: shaun white at the bottom of the halfpipe to cheering fans. my photographer captured this moment. just overcome with emotions, realizing that his 16-year olympic career is coming to a close. congratulations to shaun white. five-time olympian, three gold medals and a snowboarding legend. shaun white will be live on the "today" show. you can watch that right after "today in the bay," beginning at 7:00 a.m. now, we want to give a shout out to our very own joe ann reed of al oh palt oh. she competes in biathlon and overnight she competed in the 7.5 kilometers sprint. not the finish she wanted. she finished 34th out of 90 athletes. we also have an update on palo alto's vincent zhou who tested

positive for covid earlier this week. we'll have that coming up at 6:00. >> sounds good. so hard not to be emotional with some of these athletes. the shaun white thing, i feel like -- >> what an amazing career. >> we saw him grow up, really. hey, if you're keeping track of team usa's overall medal count, here's a spoiler alert. we're going to reveal the count now as we play music. >> if you don't want to see it, turn your head. when the music stops, come back. ♪ ♪ here we go. developing for you this morning, one man sadly dead after being hit by a car in san jose. this happened at 8:30 last night on almaden expressway and foxworthy avenue. police say the driver stayed at the scene and is cooperating with the investigation. this is the 12th traffic fatality in san jose this year.

new this morning, get ready to pay more for power and gas. state regulators have just approved a new pg&e rate hike. the state pucu approved a 9% increase and this will be a second rate hike in the same year after a similar increase took effect january 1st. pg&e expects the average monthly bill will increase $14 a month, which adds up to nearly $300 more per year. it takes effect next month. taking a live look outside on this friday morning, it's been spring-like temperatures in the afternoon across the bay area. you kind of feel guilty for liking it because we should have some rain right now. kari has a look at our forecast. >> it shouldn't be this warm, right? we should have a little bit of rain, cooler temperatures, but we're starting out with some upper 40s, low 50s, as you head out the door and we're heading back to the upper 70s for this afternoon. another spring-like day but we

will see changes ahead and we'll talk about that in a few minutes. mike is seeing light volume as far as traffic this morning. >> exactly, which is actually great news for folks out there. my traffic flow is uninterrupted. look at the map. it's all green top to bottom from the south bay, along the peninsula, where we do have the activation of those express lanes. we'll continue to talk about that. but there's no change to the routes and a smooth drive through all of contra costa county. back to you. >> thanks, mike. bottoms up, coming up this morning on "today in the bay," no need to cry in your beer any more. beer week is back. details on the return of one of san francisco's popular events and how it's different with covid concerns still high. >> reporter: beer is getting more expensive. everything is getting more expensive. we know inflation is worse. what do we do about it? we'll talk about it when "today in the bay" continues.

good morning. the time is 5:14. let's get you out the door and ready for the day in the east day. fremont starting out with temperatures in the upper 40s and it's going to warm up as we go into late morning into the afternoon. feeling like another spring-like day. we'll talk about a cooldown in our next week's forecast coming up in a few minutes. >> yes, we're looking at a smooth flow of traffic. green sensors dominate. i thought i saw a burst of

traffic through fremont, a great drive, though. it was just a trend. i guess everybody decided to leave at the same time and now everything is back on time through this portion of the nimitz. >> reporter: well, good morning. very happy friday to you as well. let's follow up on yesterday's news that inflation hit 7.5% in january. that is absolutely breath-taking. grocery prices are up 12% from this time last year, natural gas is up 23%, used cars up 40% from this time last year. so what happens now? clearly the federal open markets committee will raise interest rates. wall street thinks it will be a half a percent, some fed governors say it's going to be more like a quarter percent, they're hinting that, anyway. either way, the cost to borrow money goes up. when does that happen? well, if everything behaves as it normally does, it would happen after the fed's two-day

meeting in march. so march 15th and 16th, with the rate hike coming on the 16th. remember what they told cesar, it's not totally out of the realm of possibility, though, that the fed could just announce out of the blue it's raising rates today, maybe. it's very rare. we haven't seen an emergency rate hike since the mid-90s. we talked about the supply chain, we've talked about that to death. the reason, say, cars are more expensive is because the manufacturers are having trouble getting the parts. but that's just half of it, and the fed cannot do anything about the supply chain. the other half is the consumer. americans are well paid, the economy is doing exceptionally well. we have a lot of money and we're spending it, chasing a limited number of goods. and the fed can do something about that. make us essentially less rich, less likely to spend, more cautious, slow down business,

and that's what it's going to do when it raises rates. the president has no control over the fed, but it will be interesting politically for joe biden. some voters blame him for inflation, but suspect those same voters probably are going to be angry if the fed successfully slows down our red hot economy. the president spoke with our lester holt and we'll have clips coming up in about a half an hour, and of course on the "today" show as well. one other bit of news, not quite so serious, has to do with wordle, and in order to show wordle on tv i had to play it this morning. so i don't see solve it, but look away if you don't want to see today's wordle halfway solved. as we reported earlier this month, "the new york times" bought wordle from the fellow who invented it, last name wardle. today is the first day you can only find wor site. if your win/loss record didn't

go with it, you're going to be very angry. despite the promises that it would, people are up in arms this morning because they had these winning streaks, now set at zero. the times says it was a mistake and they're looking into it. but some people had some very good winning streaks. >> so everybody is even starting now, unless you got those little -- >> it's all nice unless you were the one at the top. >> go finish it, scott. >> i'm on it. 5:18 right now. san francisco is kicking off beer week today. >> oh, yes, that event is back from hiatus. more than 200 venues are participating in the ten-day celebration of all things beer. with so many businesses suffering during the pandemic, organizers say this event gives people a chance to return to a sense of normalcy. >> it's not just about trying to get sales up, although that's part of it.

it's also about how we used to come together in bars and restaurants and tasting rooms and in some ways san francisco helps provide some of that social glue of us being able to reconnect. >> beer lovers, that festival runs through february 20th. for details on how to get tickets, visit nbcbayarea.com and search for beer week. >> it's funny, because i thought you said beer lovers. >> that was a complete change from -- what was it, dry january? now we go into beer week. >> we need it to be a wet february, though, when it comes to the rain. >> yes, we do. we're talking about record high temperatures and highs in the 80s and upper 70s across the bay area. let me show you all the records that were set yesterday with those temperatures that were reaching into the upper 70s across the bay area, even up to

87. some of these were all-time record high temperatures for the month of february, so we're going to possibly see just a few more of these records set for today. not as many as our temperatures come down a couple of degrees, but still unseasonably warm for this time of year. now, we are going to see some changes going ahead in the forecast, but we're still looking at extremely dry weather conditions here. a lot of clouds out there, but nothing coming our way as far as rain. up until early next week we will see a low sometimes call them an inside slider, and they're really starved for moisture. at least for the bay area it doesn't look like we'll see much of that. there may be light snow for the sier i may be moving its position enough to maybe, by the end of the month, allow for some rain to come in. we're once again still in this weather pattern for at least the next week or so, with no rain in

the outlook except for a few spotty sprinkles. only one computer model is picking up on it. and each day with the warm and dry weather our sierra snowpack is dropping. we're at 80% of normal. hopefully we do get some light snow next week. this coming as temperatures drop. take a look at concord. the weekend is still very warm, but early next week we'll be digging sweaters back out of the closet once again and we'll see high temperatures in the low to mid-60s and it will be windy on valentine's day as we make the transition from unseasonably warm to something more normal for early february. mike, the word for your word is green. >> yeah, green as in go, i guess, for the maps. we wish we saw some green for the rain on your maps. hopefully that will change. there are the green sensors. you're going to be spending more green for some folks, because the express lanes are active and so we'll talk more about what it means to maintain the advantage

along the peninsula, 101, the tollway is active as of 21 minutes ago. smooth drive, highway 4 and out of the area, vasco road at the limit. back to you. >> coming up next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds. >> one viewer is stuck with a broken appliance, another sees 4 grand go missing on an app. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura and i'll show you how we got their cases to the end zone next. >> this morning we are shining a light on african american pioneers in our community and nationwide, including american political activist hugh newton. he taught himself to read, later attending merit college in oakland, as well as san francisco's school of law. he would then go on to co-found the panther party in oakland. in 1980 his ph.d. dissertation, war against the panthers was the title, a study of

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5:25 for you this morning and we all know this, the nfc championship did not go the way 9ers fans wanted. still, we are excited about the super bowl because it's here on nbc bay area this sunday. >> speaking of champions, let's talk about our team champions, chris chmura has some of his

team's most recent touchdowns. >> when you have trouble, you want to make sure you get every dime and quarter back. let's start out with responde. just did refereeing in san jose. he said he paid 890 for a brand new stove. it stopped working. he flagged the store for a replacement but the model was discontinued. what happened next? nothing. we got josé his $890 back. our goal was to help james in san jose recover almost 4 grand his money app had fumbled. it withdrew money from his bank without his permission and passed it off to a stranger. james tried to correct this himself, but the app sidelined his request. our team ran with it. james was soon the receiver of $3,933. we added both cases to our scoreboard, bringing our total

toed 6.4 million back to viewers like you since 2016. nbc bay area responds and telemundo 48 are your fight for the little guy teams. if you need help, give us a call. the number is 888-966-tips. in spanish 844-408-4848. have a great weekend. next here on "today in the bay," the top stories we're following, including new details on last night's deadly shooting in san francisco at a b.a.r.t. station. >> also an update on a fire that caused a huge scare for people living in laguna beach, where containment stands this morning. plus -- >> reporter: new express lanes just opened on 101 here on the peninsula. the expected impact on your morning commute. you're watching "today in the bay."

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right now at 5:30, a deadly shooting terrifying riders at a san francisco b.a.r.t. station. why officers were in the right place at the right time to at least make an arrest. >> the traffic in the express lane, that's good. >> good news for commuters who will get behind the wheel this morning. starting today, your drive may get a little easier if you're willing to pay up. a live report on the bay area's newest express lane. this is "today in the bay." here we go, friday morning. thanks so much for making us a part of your morning.

i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. if you're on the go, we broad cast not only to your tv, but you can watch us on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, online. the app. >> a lot going on in the news. shaping up to be a big weekend in sports. super bowl takes place on sunday. the rams are taking on the bengals and here is a live look at sofi stadium this morning in inglewood. we have live coverage coming up ahead at 5:45. >> right now let's take a look at the bay area forecast. meteorologist kari hall is tracking what we can expect. >> yeah, we're waking up to a clear sky, cool temperatures, and it's going to be a great weekend. we start out with some cool temperatures in walnut creek. we're also going to have the need for a jacket in oakland, all around the bay area as you're heading out this morning. and we have some low 50s here as you're heading to work. but then take a look at our trend going into late morning, lunchtime it's going to be perfect for going outside. upper 60s as we head back into the mid to upper 70s this

afternoon. we may see a few more records set later today. we know it's not supposed to be this warm and we will eventually head back to february. we'll talk more about that in the forecast coming up. and, mike, you were also looking at something new happening today. >> yeah, a little bit of change out there. first we'll look at the sensors. it's lighter traffic, obviously. the map here doesn't show a lot of change. let's talk about contra costa county first, where we do not see any early slowing. fridays we tend to see that start later. it started at highway 84, as well as the altamont pass and that's no surprise. on the peninsula the sensors haven't changed, but there has been a change. the express lanes are active now through another section through san mateo county. for those who have been taking advantage of those lanes, that was a great break that they had. but this morning out there on the roadways, bob redell is

checking out things. people are going to need a key component. what do you have, bob? >> reporter: good morning. of course you're going to want to make sure you're enrolled in fas trak and have one of these fas trak trans responders in order to use the new express lanes behind me on 101. you can take a look at the map that we put together so you get a sense of exactly what we're talking about. the lanes run in both directions of highway 101 between the santa clarita county line and redwood city. a total distance of 13 miles. what's changed? the old hov lanes are now express lanes. if you're a solo driver, you can drive now in what used to be the hov lane, but you must pay using fas trak. your toll will be based on the amount of traffic on the road, anywhere from 50 cents per zone to several dollars depending on congestion. carpoolers with three or more people, they're still free as long as they have the fas trak

flex trans responder to indicate that you have three or more people in your car. drivers with valid clean air stickers will qualify for a 5% discount on the toll. the toll lanes are expected to reduce congestion during the morning and evening commutes along this very busy silicon valley corridor. >> the fact is that our traditional carpool lanes were bogged down and not meeting federal performance standards. and that is really what gave the impetus to the development of the express lane network. and we expect the buildout around the region to continue until roughly 2035. >> reporter: so taking off on that point, today marks the end of phase one of the 101 express lane project. phase two will extend the express lanes in both directions of 101 from whipple up to 380.

when that is completed later this year, drivers will have a horseshoe of express lanes they can access from the peninsula down south to 237, across 237 to 880, and up north towards oakland. reporting live here in east palo alto, bob redell, "today in the bay.." it is 5:35, and still no word on the identity of a man who was shot and killed last night at san francisco's b.a.r.t. station. the shooting lapped shortly before 9:00 p.m. on the b.a.r.t. platform. nearby officers responded quickly, arresting a man. police are not saying if they've determined a motive. happening today, a former us air force sergeant accused of shooting and killing a expected plead guilty. steven carillo originally plead not guilty to the death of david patrick underwood, guarding a federal building in oakland in

may 2020 during protests against police show that he will change his plea this morning. prosecutors say carillo has ties to a group of far right anti-government extremists. one week after the shooting, authorities say that carillo ambushed deputies in santa cruz county, killing one of them. he's pled not guilty in that case. all evacuation orders now lifted in southern california's laguna beach where bushfires started about 24 hours ago. we covered it as breaking news yesterday during our 6:00 a.m. hour. it burned about 150 acres, but firefighters managed to stop it. all homes were saved. last night it was 20% contained. let's take a live look outside. it is 5:35, and taking a look at the bay bridge. look at the cars moving along. people are up, ready to go, and hopefully they have "today in the bay" on the go as well. >> take us on the go.

kari has a look at our forecast. maybe you're a lucky one heading to tahoe. >> it's going to be a beautiful weekend there. temperatures have been very warm. i want to show you our tahoe report for palisades tahoe. we're going to see temperatures reaching into the upper 40s today, so you're skiing with a light jacket on. and we still do have about 98 inches of snow in the upper parts of the mountain. at the base we have about 49 inches of snow on the ground. and we are going to continue with sunshine as we are going to see our temperatures head for the low 50s for highs this weekend. if you want to keep it a little bit closer to home, we have the lunar new year celebration happening in redwood city at the courthouse square. our temperatures are going to be perfect, still kind of warm, though. middle of the afternoon reaching into the low 70s there in redwood city. and if you're making plans to head to the coast and the warmer conditions, today will be the warmest day, and then we'll see our temperatures starting to head down just a little bit for the rest of the weekend.

and we're also going to have some perfect weather for the beer week kickoff that we have in san francisco and other parts of the bay area. you'll want to check out the website for that and buy your tickets. it's going to be in the mid-70s today and it will reach into the upper 60s by the end of the weekend. mike, we have to pay for the weekend, so how does it look heading to work? >> yeah, got to get to work. we're looking over toward the maps where we haven't had a lot of change since the last time we take a look. the little slowing continues for 84 out of pleasanton and livermore and out of the altamont pass. little blips just above where it says san jose for 101 north. but farther south there's no slowing in san martin or morgan hill, but there may be a new incident. i'm checking the monterey report and i'll let you know if that is a problem heading out of the area toward gilroy. your travel times are great for highway 4. a little slowing for vasco

heading toward 580. no major concerns, but a nice, easy drive right now. getting over toward the bay bridge, we have a slow flow down the east shore freeway, at the limit from highway 4 to the toll plaza where things will moving smoothly. >> thank you. a promising change for anyone who drives electric cars. coming up next on "today in the bay," the new federal help that will spark access to charging stations across california. >> reporter: and president biden is speaking about his potential pick to replace justice breyer on the supreme court. >> and we are counting down to the super bowl. after our break, we are live from sofi stadium with a look at what you can expect from all the behind-the-scenes action. plus -- >> i didn't know what to expect. i thought, i don't know what it is, but it's going to be awesome. >> the unique way one bay area man is helping his community and

making friends along the way, one pancake at a time. we'll tell you all about it. 5:39. you're watching "today in the bay." there's this feeling we chase... like someone upped the brightness on the entire world. like your body is super-charged, but your mind is super calm. it feels like 20/20 vision for your whole being. and we'll chase this feeling, until we can feel it... one. more. time. feel the hydrow high.

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your closet next week as all of this changes. we'll talk about that coming up in a few minutes. >> over here on this side, the live cameras just showed the crew cleared from the golden gate bridge. this side of me, the map shows what i'll show you on our live camera in san jose, a little slowing of north 101 up to oakland road. no surprises. we'll show you how things are shaping up in san martin coming up. it is 5:43 right now. new overnight a chaotic situation unfolding in a phoenix, arizona, neighborhood. that's where police say five officers have been shot and injured and a suspect is barricaded inside a home. they just gave an update saying one of the officers is in critical condition. they also say the scene is still very active. we'll continue to follow that. 5:43 this morning, and president biden says he's done a deep dive on about four candidates to fill that soon to

be empty supreme court seat. >> scott mcgrew joins us. that's what the president said, about four. >> reporter: right, so is it five, about it three? court watchers have a pretty good idea who is on the list, but aren't quite sure how many candidates are being considered. president biden has been very specific that it will be a black woman he chooses and he's going to keep that promise. he says whoever he picks to replace retiring judge steven breyer will be someone who acts like steven breyer, same ideology, same skill. the president sat down with our lester holt. >> what's the number you're at, four, five, six? >> well, what i've done is i've taken about four people and done a deep dive, meaning thorough background checks, to see if there's anything in the background that would make them not qualify. >> is it important that you believe they'll get a vote from the republican side? >> well, i think whomever i pick

will get a vote from the republican side for the following reason. i'm not looking to make an idealogical choice. i'm looking for someone to replace judge breyer with the same kind of capacity judge breyer has, with an open mind, who understands the constitution and interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation of the constitution. >> reporter: you can see more of lester holt's interview with the president coming up on the "today" show right after "today in the bay." that's at 7:00. meanwhile, former president trump is vociferously denying a report he flushed presidential papers down a white house toilet. this allegation made by "new york times" reporter maggie haberman in a new book. she gave the website axios a look at that book. we have not read that book as of yet. the "washington post," the first to report and nbc has confirmed, that officials from the national archives have asked the justice department to look into whether

federal law was violated when someone from the trump administration took presidential documents to mar-a-lago as trump left office. we'll be watching what happens there, and again president biden on the "today" show at 7:00. we'll be talking about it on social media. on twitter you'll find me @scott mcgrew. the super bowl now just two days away. the cincinnati bengals take on the l.a. rams and the bay area will be well represented. among the bay area, offensive coordinator brian callahan, and if his name sounds familiar, rings a bell for you, his dad is former raiders head coach bill callahan, who actually led oakland to a super bowl in 2002. brian calls his father his biggest fan. >> my dad has been my biggest mentor and my most ardent supporter, if you will. he's been a huge person for me to lean on outside of just being my father.

>> other bay area natives include running back joe mixon, who went to oakley's freedom high, and the quarterback who went to san jose's oak grove and michael thomas, a safety from stanford. >> for some, super bowl sunday is not all about football. it is also about the halftime show and, of course, those ads. >> and the snacks. "today in the bay's" jennifer is live outside the stadium to talk about what everyone is buzzing about this year. >> it's been a while. hello. if you're one of the people who watches for the advertisements, you're not alone, and you know the companies go all out to impress viewers. many ads hope to make a happy impression and sell some laughs, along with their products. plus companies pay big bucks for just 30 seconds on the super bowl stage. this year an ad costs around $6 million. it's a much bigger business than football's early days when players wore their city's name

and leather helmets. back in 1947 a rams player who had gone to art school painted the team's helmets. this is believed to be the prototype. >> his one night in a garage launched a billion industry that we now all love to wear, to be proud of whoever our team is. >> reporter: yeah, and that simple bit of flair evolved into just a branding bonanza. you pay $50 for a simple t-shirt with an nfl logo these days. big business started back then and that player carried little paint cans around with him for years in his duffle bag to do touchups for his teammates after particularly rough games. >> that is amazing. >> i love that. >> before you go, i know you mentioned commercials as well.

halftime show, also something a lot of people are anticipating. you've got mary, snoop, dre. it's going to be the best, in my opinion. >> reporter: it's going to be off the hook. and dr. dre said yesterday it's just amazing that it's taken so long for hip hop to take center stage at the super bowl. they want to make it a show to remember and that people are talking about for all the right reasons. so hopefully they will make it come true. but they've been rehearsing back there and turning the speakers around so we can hear a lot of music that isn't there to throw us off. >> that will be fun, though. i know a lot of people say there's going to be a snoop dogg concert and they're playing a football game there, too. thank you so much. kickoff is around 3:30 on sunday afternoon. we will have an entire day of super bowl coverage. that is on top of our olympics coverage that's going on as well. >> can't wait. 5:49 right now. trending this morning, a san francisco man reaching out to

his community during the pandemic with something sweet, pancakes. >> i love a good pancake. so curtis kimball says he was inspired to connect with his neighbors by hosting a pancake party last month. he put hum humorous flyers to let everyone know about it. when more than 75 people showed up, the story went viral. he's planning another event tomorrow in front of his home. >> everyone felt great and they came up to me and everyone was like super refreshed, and i started to hear a lot of friends who were like, oh, that's such a good idea. i was like, definitely, everyont their own pancake parties to reconnect with their communities. what a great idea. >> that's one thing you don't see, you don't see a lot of communities getting together with neighbors. i don't know my neighbors. that's good to do. >> now that we're kind of inching out closer to being able to be with each other.

kari has a look at our forecast. got to get the kids ready for school. >> yes, you do. let's get started this morning with the need for a jacket and also warming up again today. let's check out mountain view as we drop off the kids, it will be in the upper 40s. windows down at the pickup line as we head for the low 70s by this afternoon. and we will have another day near record highs. i don't think we'll set as many records as yesterday, but take a look at our forecast for today. santa rosa reaching into the upper 70s, but the record is 81. we don't want to break any records that were set in 2020. that means things will be worse and will see those high temperatures headed for the our overall weather pattern, there may be changes aheste as well, will most likely not bring us any rain, but could bring light snow flurries to the

sierra. definitely much cooler temperatures as it moves in. it's going to be windy. then we may start to see high pressure moving out of the way enough to open up the door for rain by the end of the month. so that means the near term is going to continue to be very dry and this weekend, also, very warm with our temperatures in the mid to upper 70s. early next week, gusty winds on valentine's day as our temperatures in the valleys reach into the low to mid-60s. then we'll see more of that very cool weather, but it's about normal for early february. and then in san francisco we're still going to have a warm weekend, but definitely cooling off by early next week. and, mike, you were checking in on a crash on highway 101. >> yeah, 101, san martin, we had a crash that cleared without incident. now as we look at the map, we do see a predictable little bit of slowing heading north toward morgan hill. a little build also for san jose, 101 at 680, up to oakland road. tri-valley holding steady with 84.

there's a new incident, a disabled vehicle on 24, but it's outside, that's the good news, slowing across the bay bridge a bit. there's a build on the incline heading toward the tunnel itself. i don't think there are incidents, but i'll double-check. no metering lights or backup at the toll plaza right now. >> thank you very much, mike. 5:53 and new this morning, the interstate highways nationwide. for california, it will mean more than $380 million available through president biden's infrastructure plan over the next five years. it starts with $56 million available this year. to get the money, california must submit a deployment plan to both the energy and transportation departments. happening now, san jose is getting closer to approving room for 21 new cannabis sdpenzryes. if approves, the cap

dispensaries would move to 37. the council will debate the ordinance next week. it would also allow zoning for delivery only. it is 5:53, shaking things up when coachella returns. still ahead on "today in the bay," one headliner now threatening to pull out. details on allegations he's making in a bizarre dispute. plus at 6:00, an olympian may soon be back on the ice despite being shut out from his signature event. we're live in beijing covering it all. and restrictions lifted. we're also live in sonoma county where large gatherings are coming back. we break down the new rules next on "today in the bay."

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. ♪ ♪ 5:37 right now. welcome back. you're watching "today in the bay." the omicron subvariant ba.2 is now becoming the dominant strain in some countries. new data out of south africa shows ba.2 is rev prevalent, but case numbers are still dropping. some experts say the second version of omicron won't lead to a new surge, however others say it's too early to tell. >> anybody who says that ba.2 is going to not make any difference or if anybody says that ba.2 is going to make an enormous

difference and cause another wave, or anything in between that, they're just guessing at this point. >> the world health organization says ba.2 is easier to catch, but seems to be mild. >> let's take a live look at sfo this morning. as of this morning, people flying to the united kingdom face fewer restrictions. fully vaccinated travelers and children under 18 can now skip testing. those who are not fully vaccinated still need to test within two days of arriving, but they don't have to self-isolate unless they test positive. and all travelers will need to fill out the passenger locater form with contact information, travel history and vaccination status. new this morning, coachella headliner kanye west is threatening to withdraw, demanding an apology from fellow headliner, billie eilish. it stems from a viral video of i lish pausing her concert to a fan could recover after media.

west accused her ofo bring scott out during his performance, but only if eilish apologizes. she responded by saying literally, never mentioned scott. this week, yelp is out with its best pizza anywhere, number one pie can be found, no other place, right here in the bay area. berkeley's cheese board pizza tops it all. the rankings are based on volume and ratings from yelp reviews. other bay area pizza in the area include zacharys and little star pizza and we're just going to say we agree. >> cheese board is really good. my girlfriend, julie, has brought them and they're

amazing. right now at 6:00, a step in the right direction. >> hospitalizations are down significantly, deaths are half of what they were a month ago. >> one north bay county seeing major improvements in the fight against covid. the big changes starting today that may lead to larger events and help revise some of those struggling businesses. >> hiking rates again. the added cost coming to your fg&e bill, amounting to hundreds of dollars every year. >> reporter: and i'm janelle wang live in beijing. we have an update on palo alto figure skater vincent zhou who tested positive earlier this week with covid and i sit down one-on-one with olympic gold medalist, nathan chen. this is "today in the bay." >> here we go, friday morning. getting you started with your day.