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.

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, take us with you. we're broadcasting to your tv, but you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. >> let's get a live look across the bay area. take a look, a beautiful site that you can see from across the bay area this morning. it's going to heat up this weekend. >> it sure is. let's check in with meteorologist kari hall. she's got a look at the strange warming temperatures. >> yeah, it's a little bit of a taste of spring in the middle of what should be winter, and we are going to have another day like that as fremont starts out with temperatures in the upper 40s. but then take a look at our afternoon temperatures, headed for the low 70s. and, yeah, we're not supposed to be that warm. we should be only in the low 60s for highs. we're starting out cool across the bay area, as we go hour-by-hour, we can see the temperatures headed back for the upper 70s. 77 in san jose, 76 in san martin and livermore reaching 75 degrees. that continues into the weekend. we'll talk more about that

coming up in the forecast in a few minutes. >> thank you so much. moving you forward as the bay area emerges from the latest surge in covid cases, in days most counties are rolling back masking rules. as of today, one county is ready to allow large gatherings again. "today in the bay's" sharon katsuda joins us live at a popular spot in sonoma county this morning. this is a moment that a lot of businesses that have been struggling so much have been waiting for. >> reporter: yeah, laura. happy friday, and i have to tell you this place is amazing. this is epicenter sports and entertainment in santa rosa. it's 130,000 square feet of a lot of fun. take a look. i want to show you. this is the play structure here. this was the area that was closed the longest during the pandemic because of all the shared surfaces. they have soccer fields, a trampoline area. but because of the limit on gatherings that happened last month, they had to make a lot of adjustments.

so with me right now is jenny, the general manager. tell me, what has been some of the adjustments you've made since the pandemic? >> since the start of the pandemic, we've made significant changes to our cleaning protocols, really all of our protocols. we've changed a lot of our internal processes, software. we really went to work on improving the business and when we were able to reopen, to make it the best that we could be. with the gatherings, we had to cancel some of our larger events, ticketed events. we do comedy shows and live music and we had to postpone a lot of that, as well as some of our larger breakfast and lunch meetings. but those were the biggest changes that we had to make over the last month. >> now since the health order is lifted and there's no limit on gatherings, you're having a super bowl party here this weekend. tell us what's in store this weekend. >> it will be fantastic. we have a comedy show tomorrow night. it's going to be a lot of fun. tickets are on sale on our website. we're having a huge super bowl

party on sunday to celebrate just being back open, getting everybody back out. we have a live music show next saturday night, so we're going to have a lot of fun things coming up, definitely trying to get people back. >> that is great news. let's take a look at what got us to this point. now, back in january sonoma county health officials set the 50-person maximum indoor and 100 mf person maximum outdoor restriction on gatherings when covid cases rose at a faster rate than any other time since the pandemic began. contact tracing showed that more than half of the cases came from large gatherings. now the cases have dropped by about a half and the health or expired last night. the county health experts say certain groups should be extra cautious based on last month's findings. >> the unvaccinated population was clearly at risk, but we are 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 -- 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 saying make sure if you're not vaccinated yet to get vaccinated, and to get boosted. now, next week, also, the mask mandate will be lifted here in sonoma county, and so jenny is telling me, though, that people will still be able to drop their masks if they want to here, but also have the option to keep them on because some people feel more comfortable with that. back to you. >> one day, sharon, we'll be able to see your smile once again. thank you so much. 6:05 this morning. san mateo county is among those lifting the mask mandate in five days. but this is only for people who are fully vaccinated.

and leaders in burlingame says don't ditch the masks just yet. face coverings will still be recovered inside all city facilities, including city hall and publicly libraries. we are constantly updating our app with information surrounding the changes. you can see where you can get free masks, as well as covid-19 tests and make sure you download it for free on your mobile device. 6:06 and olympics one-on-one, you'll see only on nbc bay area. here's a live look at the flame burning bright in beijing and the u.s. is on a serious rebound right now in the medal count, thanks in part to figure skating superstar. >> "today in the bay's" janelle wang is live in beijing. i understand nathan chen has given you a bit of an update on palo alto figure skater, vincent zhou. >> reporter: that's right, he's from palo alto. he's been in quarantine since earlier this week after testing positive for covid. he came back.

that positive test came back on sunday, after he skated in the team competition and helped team usa secure a silver. his teammate, nathan chen, told me today vincent hopes to test negative and test out soon and envelope in the exhibition gala on closing day, next sunday, february 20th. on instagram vincent zhou wrote a message congratulating his teammates for their spectacular performances and thanked his followers for all of their support saying, quote, it means the world to me, i appreciate you, heart emoji. nathan chen won gold in the men's individual on wednesday night and i was able to sit down with him one-on-one today right here in beijing. >> what's next? you're going back to school, back to yale? >> uh-huh. >> do you know what you're going to study or do after figure skating? >> for sure. still more thought that i have to put into that, but right now definitely enjoying the olympics and the rest of the experience, this month, and then head back

to yale in august, so then i have two more years before i graduate. and then from there, i need to decide what i want to do still. >> do you know what you're going to major in? >> i'm majoring in statistics and data science, so a lot of math. >> smart and talented athlete. we have an update on kamila valiyeva. the 15-year-old tested positive for a banned substance, a heart medication that can cresson durns. the test was taken back in december. now, the latest ruling, she can compete. but that ruling is now being appealed by an agency that says she should be suspended. a decision will be made before the latest competition next week. she is the gold medal favorite. she's the only female figure skater that can land a quad in olympic competition. two of the three skaters on team usa female are from the bay area. alyssa liu of richmond,

california, and fremont's karen chen. we can't wait for the competition next week and we'll have to see what happens with the russian skater. i want to show you the souvenir shop. there's usually a long line all day. you can see people checking out right now. not much merchandise left. it's empty. but my photographer and i did get inside last week at the start of the games and there was stuff on the shelves, we're talking about pins, key chains, pillows, anything with the mascot, the panda, bing dwen dwen, so that is all sold out now. pins that everybody collects, i want to show you. my photographer got the pins, he has one here. it's a ski jumping panda. he has this one here as well, and then look at this, he got this fancy one that talks about the olympics in china, and then i want to show you this one. it's a panda with a rifle.

it's the biathlon panda. so he got all his pins. i've got a handful. there are no pins left here. so they are really just selling out like crazy, especially the bing dwen dwen panda. >> i was hoping you were going to bring us stuff back. >> yeah. >> that was supposed to be a surprise. >> oh, act like we didn't say anything. thanks, janelle. >> if you're keeping track of team usa's overall medal count, here is the spoiler alert. we're going to reveal the count now as this music plays. >> be sure, if you don't want to see it, close your eyes for just a few seconds. once the music stops, open your eyes. ♪ ♪

here we go with the day's news. 6:10 right now. new this morning, get ready to pay more for power and gas. state regulators have reportedly just approved a new pg&e rate hike. the state puc yesterday approved a 9% increase that will also 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 per month, which adds up to nearly $300 more per year. it takes effect next month. 6:11 on your friday morning. taking a peek at downtown san jose. a nice, cool start to our morning, but the finishes have been rather warm. let's check in with meteorologist kari hall to see if the trend is going to continue. >> yeah, we are still looking at some very warm weather. we start out wearing a heavy jacket or coat and then we're going to see our temperatures really warm up, so maybe just some short sleeves. so taking a look back at

yesterday's high temperatures and all the records we set, some of these records with the star beside it were the new record high for the month. we had that at sfo, as well as salinas where temperatures made it into the upper 80s. we're still looking at more of the same today, just maybe not as many records set. we'll be watching that. we'll talk more about it coming up in a few minutes. mike, you were tracking a possible hazard at the bay bridge. >> that's right. when we took a look at the span -- we'll show you the camera, the last look we saw showed slowing up the incline and that's what we have still. a disabled vehicle reported somewhere around treasure island. the crew should be arriving on scene. it does look like traffic continues to move. things are slow as you head across the span. no metering lights at the last check. there's also on the right a disabled vehicle outside the tunnel, a smoother slow, just a little bit of slowing into

orinda. another issue for the upper east shore freeway, there may be a disabled vehicle and hazard debris in the roadway. we're watching for a gentle build outside of those two areas. >> thank you, mike. still ahead, business and tech with scott mcgrew. >> reporter: yesterday we talked about inflation, today we're going to talk about what to do about it. we'll take you out to the futures as well. looks like not a whole lot of motion ahead of the bell at 6:30. >> and, also, bottom's up. no need to cry in your beer anymore. beer week is back on tap. details on the return of san francisco's -- one of their most popular events and how it's different with covid concerns still high.

happy friday. the time is 6:15. we're walking out the door to temperatures in the low 40s in novato, but it's going to warm up once again and head back into the mid to upper 70s. we'll talk about the weekend ahead coming up in a few minutes. >> and i think the crew has helped clear that disabled vehicle just past treasure eye lan. look at the backup at the toll plaza. hov lanes are green. some movement once again past the 880 over-cross. >> reporter: well, good morning. very happy friday to you. let's follow up on yesterday's news that inflation hit 7.5% in

january. that is breath-taking. grocery prices up 12% from this time last year, natural gas up 23%, used cars up 40%. 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 of the fed governors are hinting more like a quarter percent. either way, the cost to borrow money goes up. now, when does that happen? if everything is completely normal, 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. now, it's not totally out of the possibility that the fed could just announce out of the blue it's raising rates. thould be very rare. we haven't seen an emergency rate hike since, i think, the '90s. we've talked about the suppl

the reason cars are hard to find, they're more expensive, manufacturers can't get the parts, right? but that's just half of it. the fed can't control the supply chain. the other half is the consumer. americans are well paid, the economy is doing extremely well. we've got a lot of money. and we're spending it chasing a limited number of goods. and the fed can affect that. it can make us essentially less rich, less likely to spend money, more cautious and slow down business. and that is exactly what the fed is going to do. now, the president has no control over the fed, but it will be interesting politically for joe biden. some voters blame him for inflation, but i expect those same voters are going to be angry when the fed successfully slows down our red hot economy. the president spoke with lester holt and we'll have more clips coming up in a half an hour and on thetoday" show as well. one other bit of news, maybe not quite so serious, it has to do

with wordle. in order to show you wordle on tv, i had to play it today. so i didn't solve it, but you should probably look away if you don't want to see any correct letters on today's wordle. so as we've reported earlier this month, "the new york times" bought wordle from a fellow who invented it whose last name is wardle. today is the first york times" site. it's not on the old site. no t new york times failed to transfer over everyone'sstreaks, despite promises they would. so people are really, really angry. their winning streak is now zero. "the new york times" says it's looking into it. it was some kind of mistake. but now you've got to start all over again. >> i thought they could go back and bring them over later. i guess not. >> we're all starting out even, at least. >> reporter: i'm suspecting once lost, always lost. we'll see. >> if you're that good, don't

worry. >> scott mcgrew gave you hints today, too. thanks so much. so cheers to that. san francisco beer week is kicking off today. >> the event is back. they had a break last year due to covid. more than 200 venues are participating in the celebration of all things beer. with so many businesses suffering during the pandemic, organizers say this event really gives people a chance to return to a sense of normalcy. >> it's not 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 of that social glue of us being able to reconnect. >> now, the festival runs through february 20th. for details on how to get tickets, visit nbcbayarea.com and search beer week. >> you may need a cold one by

this afternoon as temperatures keep warming up. it feels like spring out there. i almost feel guilty for liking it because we need the rain. >> i know. we do need the rain, but it's really not that bad to enjoy the warm weather. we don't normally get these kinds of breaks from the chilly temperatures and they'll be back next week. let's wake up and head out the door and enjoy this beautiful day as we are waking up to a nice sunrise. take a look at our record high temperatures and the ones that may be set today. we had all kinds of records set yesterday afternoon. in oakland i do think we'll set a new record, but a lot of these other numbers will be very close. and then you can see what the old records are. we don't want to be anything that happened in 2020. so let's just keep it the way it is. and we're also going to continue to see dry conditions. notice this low that slides down the coast. we call that an inside slider. a lot of times they're starved for moisture, but may be able to bring in light snow for the sierra. doesn't look like much for the bay area, but it will draw down

much colder temperatures and a big change for early next week. then this high pressure starts to move out of the way and may open the door for rain toward the enof the month. so we're still dry here over the next several days. as we run the computer models out, about ten days it shows maybe a tenth of an inch of rain toward the end of the month. so we'll be watching that. in the meantime, we're looking at a very warm weekend. our highs in livermore reach into the mid to upper 70s. only some low 60s for highs next week. then it gradually starts to warm back up. for valentine's day it's going to be windy and much cooler, so be sure you're able to snuggle up with somebody. now you're tracking two issues for i-80, mike. >> yeah, but hopefully less snug ling on the span itself. the map shows you what chp just reported. all lanes are clear, the disabled vehicle cleared just past treasure island. the backup continues at the toll

plaza and the backup continues because of debris in lanes, west 80, typical spots for slowing throughout contra costa county and the north bay. south bay there is a new incident in san jose. 6:22 right now. 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. >> this morning we are shining a light on african american pioneers in our community and nationwide, including american political activist huey newton, who taught himself how to read, later attending merrit college and san francisco school of law. he was a co-founder of the black panther party. his dissertation was sub titled a study of oppression in america.

we'll be right back. ti a study of oppression in america. we'll be right back. he was a co-founder of the black

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[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 ♪ 6:26 this morning, and we all know the nfc championship did not go the way 9ers fans wanted, but that's okay. we are still excited about the super bowl because it is right here on nbc bay area this sunday. >> speaking of champions, let's talk about how our team champions your cause. consumer investigator chris chmura has some of his team's recent touchdowns. >> when you have trouble, you want to make sure you get every

dollar, dime and quarter back. we have two new cases to share. our consumer investigator did some refereeing for josé in san jose. he said he paid 890 for a brand new stove. well, it stopped working, so he flagged the store for a replacement, but that model was discontinued. so what happened next? nothing, until arland tackled it and got his money back. our goal was to help james in san jose recover almost 4 grand his money app had fumbled. it withdrew the 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. his $3,933. we added both cases to our scoreboard, bringing our total

to $6.4 million back to viewers like you since 2016. nbc bay area responds and telemundo 48 are your faithful fight for the little guy teams. if you need help, give us a call. the number is 888-996-tips. in spanish, 844-408-4848. new express lanes just opened along 101 on the peninsula. we're going to go live with the expected impact on your morning commute.

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right now at 6:30, a deadly shooting, terrifying riders at one san francisco b.a.r.t. station. why officers were in the right place at the right time to make an arrest. plus -- >> the traffic in the express lane, more is good. >> good news for commuters getting behind the wheel this morning. starting today your drive may be a bit easier if you're willing to pay up. a live report on the bay area's newest express lanes. >> and record-breaking heat. meteorologist kari hall is tracking some unseasonable temperatures for the wen. this is "today in the bay." a very good friday morning to you, and thanks so much for starting your day with us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. as you're getting your day started, don't worry, we're not only on television. you can take us with you if you watch us live on roku, apple tv, amazon fire and online.

>> let's get you a live look at the olympic flame in beijing and sofi stadium in southern california. this weekend nbc bay area, we've got the super bowl and winter olympics all going on at the same time. and we are certainly not ignoring that. it's going to be a great weekend. we've got live coverage from both locations later this half hour. >> first let's get you started with a look at the forecast this morning. meteorologist kari hall tracking those numbers. >> we've got a lot going on this weekend and we're starting out chilly this morning. we are feeling mid-40s as you're heading out the door for many spots. as you're getting the kids ready for school in mountain view this morning, we're starting out with upper 40s. jacket for the start of the day. short sleeves for pickup time. windows down as we'll be in the low 70s. we are going to have another warm day as we head into the upper 60s by lunchtime, 66 in napa. then our afternoon highs will reach into the upper 70s in the south bay, as well as the north bay. we'll talk about one of the many events going on this weekend in the forecast coming up.

mike, you are tracking changes out there. >> yeah, those events happening now as we look at the map. we see speeds improving across the bay bridge on the san francisco side, after that disabled vehicle cleared just past treasure island. the backup is still by the bay bridge toll plaza. that should start to loosen up. good news, no big rig tires in lanes, an easy drive for contra costa county. a little clearing as the disabled clears north 101 at oakland where i circled in san jose. and a live look at palo alto shows you green sensors are moving smoothly and this is a section that sees change. we've converted from hov lanes to toll lanes and folks have been taking advantage of those toll lanes along the peninsula for a while. this morning they've been activated as far as the toll goes, and you've got critical information for folks who want to remain that advantage through

the area. >> reporter: good morning, mike. yes, the express lanes on 101 behind me opened at 5:00 this morning and if you do want to use those lanes, you want to be enrolled in fas trak and have one of these fas trak flex tran responders in your car. this shows where the lanes were just activated. the lanes run in both directions of highway 101 between the santa clarita county line and whipple avenue in redwood city. this is for a total round-trip distance of around 13 miles, which is about 6 1/2 miles each way. what's now express lanes. if you're a solo hov lane, but you must pay using pass bed on the amount of traffic on the road, so it will be near from 50 cents per zone, to several dollars. carpoolers with three or more

people, you're still free, as long as you have the transponder to wait you have three or more people. cars with two people or drivers with valid clean air stickers will qualify for a 50% discount on the toll. they're expected to help with congestion along this very busy silicon valley corridor. >> the fact is that our traditional carpool lanes were bogged down and were 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: today marks the end of phase one of the 101 express lane project. phase two will extend the express lanes in both directions

on 101 from whipple up to 380. that will be completed later this year. when it is completed, drivers will have a horseshoe of fm the peninsula down south on 101 to 237, across to 880, and then up north toward oakland, again completing what i was just mentioning, a horseshoe shape. reporting live in east >> thank you so much. 6:36 right now, and developing this morning, still night at san francisco's civic b.a.r.t. station. the shooting happened shortly before 9:00 at night on the b.a.r.t. platform. officers who just happened to be on board a train sitting at the station responded quickly and arrested a suspect. police are not saying if they've determined a motive. happening today, a former us air force sergeant accused of shooting and killing a federal security officer is expected to plead guilty. steven carillo originally plead

not guilty to the death of david patrick underwood. underwood was guarding the federal building in oakland in may of 2020 during protests against police brutality. court records show that he will change his plea this morning. prosecutors say carillo had ties to a group of far right anti-government extremists. one week after that shooting, authorities say carillo ambushed deputies in santa cruz county, killing one of them. he has pleaded not guilty to this case. a follow-up this morning, all evacuation orders lifted in southern california's laguna beach where brush fires started just about 24 hours ago. it burned about 150 acres. firefighters last night stopped it in its tracks. all homes were saved. last night it was 20% contained. 6:37. let's take a live look outside at the bay bridge this morning as we get started with your day. a little fog, but still nice and

pretty clear. meteorologist kari hall has a look at what we can expect temperature-wise today. kari, you say another warm one for us? >> yes, it's going to warm up quite a bit, and maybe you're going to be hitting the road and heading to tahoe this weekend. let's take a look at this forecast for palisades, where our high temperatures are headed for the 50s. so more of that snow will be melting. but we do still have 98 inches of snow in the upper parts of the mountain and we do have a lot of lifts and trails open for the weekend. let's bring it back home and celebrate the lunar new year, and in redwood city we are going to have some perfect weather. still warm as we start out with some low 60s and head for the low 70s during the middle of the day. very comfortable there. then if you're going to southern california, very warm temperatures. in fact, they're going to be talking about the fact that this may be one of the warmest super bowls they've ever had on record. then we go into the afternoon with some low 80s there. temperatures falling for the

afternoon into the evening back into the lower 70s. here we're also going to have some warm weather in santa cruz, reaching into the mid-70s. by the end of the weekend we're still seeing 70s, so i think that's going to be a popular destination and another thing to check out, beer week in san francisco. we are going to have mild weather here. mike, you're looking at changes ahead for the weekend. >> and changes right now on the peninsula. we talked about this all week and it happened at 5:00 a.m. this morning. 101, the stretch between palo alto and redwood city, active express lanes, make sure you have the fas trak set at bob talked about. all the way through saturday and sunday nights, overnight closures eastbound across the san mateo bridge. it will remain open, but only one lane. san jose sees slowing at the bottom, tri-valley, typical. build for hayward. the bay bridge toll plaza still shows backup, but it's better

movement. back to you. 6:39 right now. a promising change for one who drives electric. coming up next on "today in the bay," the new federal help that will spark new access to charging stations across california. >> reporter: well, he haven't given us a name yet, but president biden is speaking to some degree about his possible picks for the supreme court. let's take you to the big board. not much movement. traders are curious about what the fed is going to do about all of this ar counting down to super bowl. yes, we are live from sofi stadium with a look at what to expect behind the actual gates.

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good friday morning. right now at 6:42, it could be another record-breaking day for oakland. we're starting out with temperatures in the low 50s, but headed back into the upper 70s. we'll talk about more warm weather in our weekend forecast coming up. >> and we're looking at the slower drive through hayward that now yields a little more traffic across the bridge from hayward over to foster city. 92 westbound, no problems, though. things are sorting out here. i'll show you changes for the south bay coming up. >> reporter: president biden says that he's done a deep dive on about four candidates to fill a soon to be empty supreme court seat. >> that's what the president said, about four. >> reporter: about four.

so is it five, is it three? we don't know. court watchers have a pretty good idea who is on the list, but they're not quite sure how many candidates are being considered. now, president biden, who has been very specific that it will be a black woman that he chooses, and he says he's going to keep that promise. he says whoever he picks to replace retiring judge stephen breyer will be someone who acts and thinks like stephen breyer, same skills in the court. 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 on them, meaning a thorough background check, 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 here. i'm looking for someone to

replace judge breyer with the same kind of capacity judge breyer had, with an open mind, who understands the constitution and interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation of the constitution. >> now, you can see more of lester holt's interview with the president coming up on the "today" show. that's at 7:00. and, of course, we'll be talking about it on social media. the president is also going to speak about inflation numbers as well, again, on the "today" show and on social media you can see where to find me @scott mcgrew. >> thank you so much. the white house is ready to roll out a new plan. this is to have charging stations every 50 miles on enter tate highways nationwide. for california, it will be 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 submit a development plan. 6:45 and the super bowl, two days away.

and the bay area will be well represented among the so-called bay area bankles. offensive coordinator, brian callahan, his father former raiders head coach, coach bill callahan. he led the oakland raiders to a super bowl in 2002. >> my dad has been my biggest mentor and my most ardent supporter, if you will. he's been a huge person for me lean on outside of just being my father. >> other bay area natives include running back joe mixon, who went to oakley's freedom high, quarterback awuzie, and michael thomas, the safety from stanford. now, for some, sunday is not only about football. >> that's right. "today in the bay's" jennifer bjorkland is live outside of sofi stadium with a look at what everyone is buzzing about this year. >> good morning, if you're one

of those people who watched the super bowl just for the advertisements, well, you know the companies go all out to impress the viewers of the super bowl. they have that captive audience and many of the ads hope to make a happy impression and sell laughs along with their products. companies pay some big bucks for just 30 seconds on the super bowl stage. this year an ad costs around $6 million. it is much bigger business than football's early days when the players wore their city's name, no logos, just plain leather helmets. back in 1947, a rams player who had gone to art school decided he was going to paint the team's helmets. this is believed to be the prototype. >> his one night in a garage launched a billion dollar industry that we now all love to wear, to be proud of whoever our team is.

>> reporter: just a simple bit of flair that started a revolution. the nfl logos that now, you know, they're licensed and you pay zillions of dollars for a simple t-shirt that has one of those logos on it. the player who actually painted those first helmets, for a few seasons, he carried around little paint cans in his duffle tag to do touchups after particularly rough games. so he did start a revolution, and changed the game forever. >> he should have copyrighted it. >> i know you were talking about the commercials, also a big thing for a lot of people. let's talk about the halftime show. you've got mary, snoop, dre. the performers, how are they getting ready? >> reporter: it's going to be great. they were all talking about how it's been too long. it's taken this long for hip hop to take center stage at the super bowl.

well, they are keeping it under wraps for now. the list is a closely guarded secret. and during the rehearsal, since it is open air and it is a loud performance, they've been turning speakers out not to give us a clue of what they're playing, but playing other music just to throw everybody off. it's still going to be a surprise, super bowl sunday, even though it's right here behind us and there are people in the neighborhood that have been kind of cruising around hoping they can hear. they know when the rehearsals are going to be. nobody has a clue. >> they're hoping for a free concert, right? >> the ultimate surprise. love it. >> thank you so much, jennifer. kickoff is coming soon. 3:30 sunday afternoon. we will have an entire day of super bowl coverage for you. that's on top of our olympics coverage, so stay with nbc bay area. >> you know what, stay with us right now because you're going to get a look at what you can expect from the weather today. meteorologist kari hall working hard to keep us up to date on the forecast. another warm one, kari?

>> it's hard to get dressed because we're waking up to temperatures in the 40s and then it reaches to near 80 degrees. so it's like a heavy jacket for the start of the day and then summer gear for the afternoon. take a look at what you're stepping out the door to now. temperatures in the low 40s right now. and then as we take a look at high temperatures and how that compares to our record high for today, 81 is the record in santa rosa. i don't think we'll set that, but we may set a new record again in oakland for the third straight day. and in san jose we'll reach into the upper 70s, which may be a degree or two below that record-high temperature. we're still dealing with high pressure that's keeping our weather dry, but a low will slide in and may provide a little bit of light snow for the sierra. this doesn't look like it's going to bring us any rain in the bay area, but we may see a change in the weather pattern that could allow by the end of the month for these weather systems to return to the bay area and maybe bring in a little bit of rain.

but that is a ways off, so a lot can change between now and then. each day with dry conditions, our sierra snowpack is going down. we're at 80% of normal, some of the lowest numbers in the northern sierra. as we go through the seven-day forecast, we're going to continue to see warmer temperatures for the weekend. really nice and comfortable, but we will go back to our normal weather for february and we will have those gusty winds to accompany that in as we are celebrating our valentine's day, temperatures in the mid-60s. going toward the middle of next week, also temperatures much cooler. then we look at san francisco. it's still going to be a warm weekend, but we are going to be digging out sweaters against next week as the gusty cold 60s return to the bay area. mike, you've been watching the roads and all the changes happening for the weekend. >> it is friday but we still have traffic out there. first our live camera in san jose caught the slowing, brake-tapping and folks getting

congested just north of 680. then the speed sensors changed on the maps as well. north 101 building up through the traditional section, as well as highway 87. typical pattern, lighter and later start. we're looking at gentle builds for the east bay as well. and then a smooth flow, your usual suspects slowing, including the bay bridge toll plaza, where the metering lights are on but good recovery after an earlier disabled vehicle was cleared. we continue to see a better flow at the toll plaza. back to you. >> thank you very much. 6:52 right now. and happening now san jose is getting closer to approval room for 21 new cannabis dispensaries. if approved, the cap on dispensaries would increase to 37. this week planners approve the proposal. it now moves to city council, which will debate the ordinance next week. it would widen the zoning for delivery only pot businesses. >> next a quick look at top stories, including the just-approved added costs soon

coming to your pg&e bill, amounting to hundreds of dollars each year. plus -- >> reporter: i'm janelle wang, live in beijing. a lot of action at the winter games and a lot to celebrate. i'll have a live report. this is "today in the bay."

6:55, welcome back. moving you forward with a look at the top stories here on

"today in the bay." >> starting with a developing story in san francisco. still no word on the identity of a man shoot and killed last night at the civic center b.a.r.t. station. the station was shut down in the aftermath. the shooting happened shortly before 9:00 p.m. on the b.a.r.t. platform. officers who just happened to be on board on train sitting at the station responded quickly and arrested a suspect. police are not saying if they've determined a motive. happening now, sonoma county this morning, has lifted the restriction on large gatherings. here's a live look inside the epi center in santa rosa, an entertainment venue, hoping for a big boost in business this weekend. county health leaders last month set a 50-person cap for indoor gatherings and a 100-person cap on outdoor events. health leaders now believe the county is past the peak of its winter surge. >> get that fas trak ready if you would like to make better time driving through the south bay. new hov express lanes start

operating on 101. this is in both directions between the santa clarita county line and whipple avenue in redwood city, spanning about 6 1/2 miles. in fact, we've got a live look for you this morning. tolls will be based on the amount of traffic and cars carrying three or more people are exempt. >> get ready to pay more for power and gas. state regulators have approved hike. the state puc yesterday approved a 9% increase. this will also 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 will all take effect next month. >> the first full week of the winter olympics now coming to an end, with team usa having a lot to be proud of. a little slight spoiler alert here, if you're following every drop of the puck. >> hockey, u.s. women's hockey there, "today in the bay's" janelle wang is live in beijing

with good news for hockey fans. >> reporter: yes, team usa women's hockey, they advance to the semifinals. they don't know who they are playing yet, but the reigning gold medalist say they are ready for the matchup. now, earlier overnight the quarterfinal match took place. usa versus czech republic. four-time olympian hilary knight scoring a gold for usa. men's hockey, their first preliminary game, there are no nhl players on the hockey team, but they beat china 8-1. their next game, their rival, canada. i said 8:00 a.m. earlier, but it's actually 8:00 tonight. my time conversions are whacky here. we're 16 hours ahead of you. i'm trying to do the math and i get tired this time of the night. let's talk about the big story on prime time last night. snowboarder shaun white, his last run.

not the ending he wanted, but an incredible career. five olympics, three gold medals. shaun white is going to be live on the "today" show next coming up at 7:00. that's going to do it for us. it is the weekend here officially, friday night. we're going to check out ski jumping and we're going to go back to the plut train and i e you monday on "today in the bay." >> thank you so much. it's a jam-packed night on nbc bay area. ski jumping, short track skating, skeleton, skateboard cross and alpine skiing. watch all the action beginning at 5:00 tonight. >> a quick look at the forecast before we go. >> yeah, we're waking up to mild temperatures. it's going to warm up again today. headed for the mid to upper 70s throughout the weekend and much cooler on monday. >> and it's here, folks. the express lane activation on 101 through palo alto, up in toward redwood city, or vice ver va. just remember to have the fas

trak flex to take advantage of those express lanes. >> there you have it. we've made it to friday. >> yes, we did. got to make it through the weekend. remember, nbc bay area is our one-stop shop for all things olympics, and of course the super bowl this weekend. have a great weekend. see you monday. good morning, on defense. facing growing crises here and overseas. president biden sitting down with nbc's lester holt, a candid one-on-one with the nation's struggling economy with inflation soaring to its highest level in 40 years. the decision by more -- >> when with americans expect some relief? >> the decision by more governors to lift mask mandates, and the deepening fears that vladimir putin will order a russian vegas of ukraine. >> if he does, the ent circumstance for ra chan worldwid changes overtime. >> the exclusive conversation