part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. if you're on the go, we broadcast not only to your tv, but you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. >> let's get you started with a live look outside. this is where storm ranger is tracking that light rain from overnight, as well as what we can expect today. but the question is, will that rain stick around? meteorologist kari hall is here with a closer look at that. >> it's going to be off and on today and we're seeing in some spots it's off, other areas it's on. that's why we need storm ranger to give us a high-level view of what's going on. you can get the same tool on your smartphone, nbcbayarea.com, download the app. it's been off and on for marin county and we're seeing it mostly off for san francisco, as well as much of the peninsula. we are seeing rain moving into the santa cruz mountains and changing over to snow as you go up in elevation. we've seen the showers, also, around the san ramon area and

moving toward walnut creek. we are still looking at more rounds of rain moving in, also the potential of storms later today. we're going to be tracking all of that and we'll talk about the colder air rolling in along with that rain and snow. more on that coming up in a few minutes. >> thanks, kari. developing across europe, leaders are preparing for the possibility of war. this, after russian president vladimir putin declared two separate regions of ukraine independent and ordered russian troops into those areas. that decision triggering a big economic consequence for russia overnight. "today in the bay's" brie jackson is live in washington following it all for us. germany just hit the brakes on a major project following putin's actions. >> reporter: yeah, this is a huge project, marcus. good morning. well, german chancellor olaf schulz says the country will halt the approval of the nord stream 2 gas pipeline, the $11

billion project is designed to bring gas from russia to europe. german regulators had yet to give the green light and with russia's recent actions, the chons lore is halting approval. russian president vladimir putin is recognizing two key regions of eastern ukraine as independent states and ordering troops into those areas. during a rare emergency meeting of the united nations security council, the u.s. ambassador warns that russia's deployment is a pretext for war. the u.s. has now imposed limited sanctions against the two breakaway regions of eastern ukraine, following putin's announcement. the order prohibits new investment, trade and financing in those areas. officials say more actions aimed at russia are still to come, as even more sanctions are expected today. >> sanctions and actions of the security council, i should underscore, only part of our response. we've also been increasing substantially the amount of security assistance that we provide to the ukrainians.

>> reporter: russia continues to deny plans to attack and is further criticizing the west. the ground commanders say they've been under fire from russia's newly recognized separatists and have fired back. meanwhile, secretary of state blinken will meet with the ukrainian foreign minister later this afternoon here in washington, d.c. the ukrainian president says his one goal is peace in ukraine. marcus? >> it's a goal for a lot of countries. brie jackson in washington this morning, thank you. the impact from the russia/ukraine conflict would likely affect everyone to some extent. in economic terms, uncertainty is already driving up prices at the gas pump. russia is the world's third largest oil supplier and for bay area ukrainians with loved ones at the epicenter, the images are leaving them outraged. >> i am appalled by this. i'm disgusted by this. i'm really frustrated and worried for the family i have in

ukraine and for what that means to world order. >> in a worst case scenario, experts warn a full-on conflict likely would push u.s. gas prices to new all-time highs above $6 per gallon in the bay area. we'll have continuing coverage on the growing tensions overseas. when we're not on air, you can get the latest updates on our website. head to nbcbayarea.com and click on the link in our trending bar. 6:04, happening today, hundreds of san francisco teachers' jobs are on the chopping block. school board members may be ready to sign off on lay just notices to solve a massive budget shortfall. >> "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live with this. according to the union, the fts has gone out and now it's a matter of whether the board approves the plan. >> reporter: good morning. the plan is expected to receive a vote later tonight at the board of education meeting. according to the teachers union, 400 district employees have received those possible layoff notices. so according to a presentation

given by sfusd, the district is attempting to reduce annual spending by $125 million, and they say the way to achieve that plan is by reducing the workforce. take a look at your screen. that same district presentation explains that there are six categories of staff members that could potentially see layoffs. they include the credentialed united education of san francisco members, 151 of them, classified, 37, about 20 administrators with the uasf, 51 unrepresented management positions, 30 positions within the seiu union, and 12 unrepresented individuals. so the district did note in its presentation that the numbers could potentially decrease, but they will not increase. we have reached out to the district for comment and have so far not heard back.

so some of those individuals that received layoff notices will hold a rally before the board meeting this evening. they're expected to share what they think about the potential layoffs and we're expecting to hear from parents who are concerned about the potential layoffs and what they could do down the road for the student, as well as the district. so a lot we will continue to follow. we will of course keep you updated both here, on air, as well as online and social media. we're live in san francisco, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> thank you. 6:06 this morning. bay area authorities are looking into more cases of hate-filled fliers left on people's doorsteps connecting jewss to the pandemic. they were placed inside plastics bags containing rice. some of the same things happened over the weekend in palo alto. similar fliers left on doorsteps last month. berkeley leaders say these messages of hate will not be tolerated.

>> we defend free speech in berkeley, however we do not defend hate speech. >> it's still not clear if any of these cases are linked, but the same thing has been happening in other cities across the u.s., including huntington beach. berkeley police are among the agencies investigating. an unusual ripple effect being forecasted in connection to our climate in crisis. ucla researchers say the larger volume of wildfires is leading to greater rates of stream flow due to erosion and burn zone areas. consequently, they say over time the greatest rate of stream flow will impact water supplies and likely alter water cycles. over the last 35 years, forest fires across the western united states by year are covering 11 times more terrain. taking a live look at downtown san jose, you're waking up to a little bit of rain across the bay area. we're breaking a 44-day streak without having rain. so we certainly welcome it.

kari has a look at our forecast. >> that's the longest we've ever gone in the middle of our rainy season, so it is nice and a welcome sight to see this rain, even though it's not a lot. in between we've had clear skies and we do see a lot more rain that could be heading our way later this morning into the afternoon. let's go hour-by-hour. i want to help you plan your day. it looks like for the north bay there may continue to be a break in that rain, but then you head down the peninsula, parts of the south bay, where there could not only be showers, but also snow on some of our bay area hills. and then we are still looking at a chance that we could see the rain returning by the afternoon, in parts of the north bay, we're going to also see that moving into the east bay. where we see some of the heavier downpours, there could be thunderstorms and small hail. notice the changeover in colors as you go up to some of the hills and around the mount saint helena area, as well as mount hamilton, we could see snow going into this afternoon and into the evening. mike, you were tracking a crash

in berkeley. >> i am, and noticeable slowing for the upper east shore freeway coming toward golden gate right there on our little picture. the crash was closer to university and i think there may have been a traffic break because i saw a lot of slowing farther up and things are starting to recover. chp says there may be a lane blocked. the bay bridge toll plaza will see a lot more traffic and the metering lights are on. highway 37, 4, will start to see more traffic through contra costa county. a typical pattern. the metering lights have been on for about 25 minutes now, almost a half hour, and the backup just starting to fill in the middle lanes. the rest of the bay typical pattern. san jose easing up from the first burst. but there's rain across the peninsula, so damp road. back to you. >> thank you so much. here's a question, will uncle sam give you enough money back? coming up next on "today in the bay," we're going to talk about

the concerns many americans have when it comes to their tax returns. >> also, a tuesday like no other. ahead, we break down the special date on the calendar and explain why county clerks everywhere are bracing for a very busy day.

- [announcer] the more we learn about covid-19, the more questions we have. the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. it is 6:12 and time to head back to work. let me get you out the door in the north bay. we're checking out napa. starting out with some upper 30s, more clouds. it's going to be windy and off and on showers, especially this

afternoon. we're watching out for a chance where we could see small hail along with cold temperatures rolling in. we'll talk more about all of that in the forecast coming up. >> we're looking at the san mateo bridge. the taillights, we did have a disabled vehicle which slowed things down a bit at the high-rise. that's all clear now. we're building here as we are at the bay bridge, as we are around many of your usual suspects. we'll point those out coming up. >> breaking news just now, the white house has changed its language it uses to describe the russian move into ukraine. it is now calling it, frankly what it is, an invasion. the white house and american media have been waffling on what to call the incursion, despite the fact it involves troops crossing a border. moments ago, the british prime minister told parliament it was an invasion, moments later the white house changed its language. this is an important development, because logically this would spark america's

toughest sanctions. it's certainly a developing story. we'll monitor it for you very, very carefully. now, let's take a look at what the markets are reacting. these had been small numbers that are gaining some acceleration to the downside, as wall street reacts. again, the sanctions that may be ahead could be very severe. the sanctions biden signed yesterday applied to just a small section of ukraine in places we didn't really do business with, anyway. other financial news this morning, bitcoin significantly lower. supporters had claimed it would be one of those investments investors would move to in tough times, like gold. but in fact bitcoin is at its lowest level in two weeks. other cryptocurrency like ether and xrp are down as well, which means if you bought bitcoin during that super bowl ad for coinbase, you lost money. the coinbase ad was a hit. you remember it was a bouncing dvd screen saver, except it had a qr code you could scan with your phone. the ceo of san francisco-based

coinbase went on twitter to talk about how it was the company's idea, they broke the rules and no ad agency would have done that ad. only to have the ceo of the martin ad agency reply, except an ad agency did do that ad. the technology reporter for the "wall street journal" published a piece yesterday called nfts and crypto are marketing schemes. i've linked that on twitter and facebook. if you're still interested in cryptocurrency, and there's no doubt people make money on it, vicky nguyen is going to talk to experts coming up later on the "today" show. >> do you think there's a danger of people thinking they're going to get rich quickly? >> absolutely, absolutely. >> what are red flags people should look out for before investing? >> there is virtually no regulation about any of these players or about the industry in general. you have to, i believe, look at it as more or less speculation. >> that's coming up, of course, on the "today" show.

back to the breaking news, the white house has changed its language, it's astounding, what was it, 10, 20 minutes ago, you and i were talking about the waffling that the white house was doing, even though troops had crossed the border. they weren't ready to call it an invasion. that change came during our newscast and we will continue to update that for you. >> very much so. thank you very much, scott. 6:16th morning, and with tax season under way, a new survey finds two-thirds of adults have at least one worry about the possible refunds. do you think you know what they are? they include concerns that their refund will be smaller than usual, won't make a big impact due to inflation, or will be delayed. about 70% of americans say tax refunds are important to their overall financial situation. the most popular plans for their refund are to save some or all of that money, pay down debt, or use it for day-to-day expenses. trending this morning, pretty cool day today, wouldn't

you say? today is a pretty good day. when you think about the month, the date, the year and the day of the week. >> it's february 22nd, 2022. so 2/22/22. begging the question what happens 200 years from today? well, we won't be around for that. so let's celebrate this super tuesday. some county clerk's offices are expecting a mini rush in weddings. people, i guess, consider it a lucky day. maybe some babies will be born today. >> that would be cool. >> maybe at 2:22 this afternoon, right some. >> that would be good. >> buy a lotto ticket if that's the case. >> luck for us today as well, because we've got rain in the forecast. but let's talk about a drink. it's national margarita day, and that means deals at places like chili's and b.j.'s, but josé

cuervo is offering a free trip to mexico. it includes a visit to a oldest distillery. you have until midnight and you must be 21 to enter. >> there you have it. cheers. >> today so is twos-day, taco tuesday. >> that's a good combo right there. >> i need to go play the lottery. too many twos going around. >> we're also celebrating rain. >> this is our second day of getting rain. it started late last night and we'll have another round of rain coming in. and we've seen it off and on. it's not a lot, but let's talk about what we've measured so far. a few hundredths of an inch and we're seeing rain in marin county, as well as near the coastline, a couple of spotty light showers in the east bay. we're watching more energy from

the north that will bring us another shot of rain late morning into the afternoon. let's go hour-by-hour. we'll take a look at where it could be raining at 9:30 this morning. it looks like the north bay is taking a break and parts of the east bay, for the most part, not seeing any rain. could be in parts of the south bay, and there's a lot of colors on there because the system is so cold, we could see some snow and a wintry mix as you go up above 1,000 feet. so the hills getting in on some winter weather, and then the rest of us seeing scattered showers. we'll also see brighter colors going into this afternoon because we will also have a chance of thunderstorms, and occasionally this time of year we get these storms that drop some small hail, covers everything. well, we do have that chance today, especially with this colder air that's forcing a lot of that moisture up higher into the atmosphere. so we're looking at 44 days, that's how long it took for us to finally break that dry spell. that was the longest we've ever gone in the middle of the

winter. the last time it rained was january 7th and now we're back to that kind of weather with the additional rainfall totals reaching about a tenth of an inch of rain or less. some of the lower amounts may be in the north bay, but that's where temperatures will dip going into tonight. we could dip down into the upper 20s and low 30s. all of these areas shaded in purple included in the freeze warning that starts early tomorrow morning and goes through friday morning. very cold air in place, but it will be drying out, and our temperatures gradually get more comfortable heading toward the end of the weekend. we'll be watching out for one more slight chance of rain on sunday and then temperatures warming up early next week. >> the backup was over there coming into berkeley out of richmond. we'll show that to you in a second. it's less of a back upthere and more of a backup at the bay bridge toll plaza. we had a big backup going through berkeley for a crash

approaching university. things are sorting themselves out through richmond and making their way to the toll plaza. highway 37, more build. but 242, 680, the walnut creek interchange moving smoothly. really, the tri-valley sees a lot more slowing for 680 southbound, there's a crash, and just south of 284 where it merges in with the traffic coming from livermore. that could be an issue for these two main routes. south of there, everything moves smoothly. the first burst of traffic cleared from san jose. more traffic coming out of san martin, per usual. back to you. next on "today in the bay," nbc bay areass you might want to ask how those stars got there. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura. i'll walk you through how to spot a fake review next. >> and as we head to break, take a look at this lovely photo that

cierra johnson shared on instagram, taking a break from reporting to snap a little one. well, don't forget, you can keep up by following her on twitter, instagram and facebook. we'll be right back.

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tell us that review might be suspicious. >> reporter: to help you spot a fake review, we asked three people who track bogus reviews for their tricks. amber, a federal lawyer, steve at the better business bureau, and kay, a fake review crusader. tip one, always click into the reviewer's profile, look at other reviews. you might be surprised how many fake reviewers post copycats over and over and over. and impossibly fake ones like multiple reviews claiming they visited multiple businesses all around the country all on the same day. tip two, when you're looking into a business, look past the stars. kay showed us a dentist's page where reviewers were talking about speedy delivery and great packaging at a dentist's office. also, see if a business got a surge of reviews after a dry spell. kay says that is a sign that the business bought reviews in bulk. >> it screams of something

fishy. >> amber said you've got to hunt for intel. >> our best advice is to take the time to look at multiple sources. >> tip three, see if the review site has flagged any reviews. on yelp look for this compensated activity alert. tip number four from steve at the bbb, look for brand mentions. steve says that paid reviewers are known to drop brand names into the middle of their reviews. real people don't do that. coming up next, the top stories we're following today, including 44 days later, rain finally coming down in the bay area. meteorologist kari hall is tracking just how long it will last. >> and breaking news just coming into our newsroom, and a deal for u.s. women's soccer. the landmark settlement involving equal pay on the playing field. >> reporter: 3g cellular service coming to an end in parts of the bay area. the reason some businesses think this is a bad idea that could endanger lives.

>> and don't forget, after taking a break during the olympics, "this is us" returns with a new episode at 9:00 p.m., then an all new episode of "new amsterdam" at 10:00, followed by bay area news at 11:00. you're watching "today in the bay."

breaking now at 6:30, europe preparing for the possibility of war. a new declaration overnight by russian president vladimir

putin, as russian troops move into ukraine. within the last half hour, the white house agreeing this is an invasion. scott mcgrew breaking it all down. he'll join us in one minute to explain what's happening. >> plus, the end of an era. one major carrier getting ready to shut down 3g service. what you need to know if you're relying on older phones or devices that use the technology. >> also rain and snow. parts of the bay area seeing light showers overnight as the sierra gets some fresh powder. meteorologist kari hall tracking it all, including the chilly temperatures this morning. this is "today in the bay." winter making a bit of a come back here. good tuesday morning to you. thank you so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. don't forget, we're not only here on television, but you can catch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. take a live look this morning at san bruno.

this is our storm ranger tracking overnight showers. great news for us this morning. let's bring in meteorologist kari hall with a look at how we're doing so far. >> we're going to put storm ranger to work today. we are going to see some off and on rain. we could see the red scan there that's right now getting a look at both the north bay, the east bay, as well as the peninsula, with some off and on light rain. this is the first round of what will be two round of rain coming in. the next one is farther to the north. it will be rolling in later this morning. we're already seeing snow in the sierra tapering off for a little bit, but there will be more. as we deal with cold temperatures, the next few mornings are going to dip into the 20s and 30s. scattered showers and even a chance of thunderstorms today, and occasionally we get these storms that could possibly bring in some small hail. we'll be watching out for that today. also snow coming down to 1,000 feet at times, and then for the sierra, up to a foot of snow possible. there may be even more in some

of those upper elevations. we're watching all of this and we'll be tracking it. i'll have another update in a few minutes. >> we'll check back with you. thank you. 6:31 right now. and to the breaking news, a major change this morning from the white house. it is calling the russian incursion into ukraine an invasion. >> scott mcgrew, the white house and american media have been waffling on that term. >> just an hour ago i was sitting in this very chair showing you headlines from american newspapers where they were walking the tight balance beam, reluctant to call the russian incursion an invasion. that was a huge victory for vladimir putin. he had succeeded in confusing the world by claiming some areas of ukraine, a sovereign country, were actually independent, and that they wanted russian troops to come join them. the area, donbas, has been occupied by separatists for years. the change in language by the

white house this morning that this is indeed an invasion, changes the math on upcoming sanctions. biden had said if they invade, we will react with the toughest of sanctions. yesterday biden signing this order that forbid investment in those two regions in ukraine. it meant very little. there's not a lot of major investment in rural parts of eastern ukraine. it's mostly farmland. also brand new this morning, germany has delayed an agreement with the russians to build that gas pipeline, nord stream 2. germany was reluctant to threaten that because we need natural gas from russia to stay warm. the announcement is something russia took notice of. the number two man in russia angry tweeted about the decision that came from germany saying germans and europeans are going to face crippling energy prices. the united states and ukraine

called an emergency meeting last night. the russians have a permanent seat there. in fact, the russians chaired last night's meeting about the russians. and as you might imagine, not a lot was accomplished. >> that's the president of ukraine last night, volodymyr zelenskyy, addressing his nation on television, saying we are not afraid of anyone or anything. we will continue to monitor what is happening here. a lot is happening, as it is only about 4:00 in the afternoon kyiv time. we will have the latest on social media and nbc bay area as well. >> also developing this morning, today one of the country's largest wireless carriers will shut down 3g service. some industries are asking for a delay and this could affect more people than you think.

>> reporter: correct. when they turn off -- at&t turns off their 3g service, it's not going to affect people still stuck on the flip flown. keep in mind, a burglar alarm, car crash detection system, medical alert devices still rely on this old 3g technology, so some companies, industries are concerned that when at&t shuts down 3g service on cell phone towers like these and other service providers follow suit later in the year, that this could endanger lives. so these industries are asking the fcc for at&t and others to delay this turnoff of 3g so that there's more time to upgrade the equipment. at&t tells nbc news that they have been transitioning customers off 3g and that now less than 1% of mobile traffic runs on that old technology. this is a technology, of course, that is less efficient than the current 4g and 5g. but critics point out that 2

million home and personal emergency systems still operate on 3g and 80% of those customers are seniors. that's the concern for the danger. companies have known since 2019 that this day would come but a worldwide chip shortage and supply chain disruptions have delayed production of new equipment. we spoke with david burgess who runs a company that sources and installs cellular networks. >> what it will have a bigger impact on is so-called iot systems or machine-to-machine systems, connected systems, embedded systems, things like burglar alarms and point of sale terminals, atms, connected cars, things like that that have cellular communication capability built into them that was probably built into them several years ago, and may be difficult to update. >> reporter: and this is a

gentleman from san francisco who still uses a 3g flip phone for a number of reasons. he doesn't want to be surveilled and it's not as big of a deal if he loses the flip phone compared to if he lost an expensive flip phone stored with personal information. >> if i'm going to be strong-armed into using a smartphone, i'll go kicking and screaming, but i'll do it. i'll be very unhappy. it is interesting. there are parts of san francisco where if i left my apartment stark naked in the morning i would get less attention standing on some corner stark naked than i would using a flip phone. people point at you and they laugh. >> reporter: i think he's got a pretty good point there. roger visited his t-mobile store after we spoke. it turns out his old flip phone will work on the 4g network. the message is if you're still

on a flip phone check with your service provider. at&t today, t-mobile by july, verizon by the end of the year. reporting live, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> and it will affect a lot more people. we have more details now. at&t's 3g shutdown will impact muni's arrival time display signs. according to the transit agency, starting today about 650 electronic signs at transit shelters will go dark and push-to-talk buttons will no longer operate. muni is working to replace the equipment but cites delays due to global supply chain issues. breaking news for you this morning, u.s. women's soccer stars have reached a settlement with u.s. soccer federation in a long simmering dispute over equal pay. as part of the deal, the national team members will receive $24 million, but that amount falls short of what they were originally seeking in damages, which was $67 million. a new legal appeal is set to be heard next month.

the settlement also calls for restructuring pay rates going forward, including new world cup bonuses. plans for a new a's stadium move forward, but the a's are not giving up on other plans. they have narrowed down their las vegas search to four locations near the strip. they started surveying sites there and last week the team confirmed negotiations are still in play. last week oakland council members approved the eir for the proposed stadium near jack london square, but there's still a lot of work to be done to reach the final deal. let's take a peek outside. we're talking about rain in the bay area. that means some fresh snow in the sierra. this is a live look at the palisades tahoe camera. great news for ski lovers, maybe an extension of the season with a new round of fresh snow moving through. kari has a look at our forecast. how much can we expect?

any more? >> yeah, about 6 to 12 inches for some of those spots like palisades. maybe even higher as you go up in elevation. so we're looking at still some light snow on highway 50 heading up in elevation to the way to south lake tahoe. that will wind down for a little while. there's another round of rain and know that will be diving in later this morning into the afternoon. hour-by-hour our outlook shows there will be some spotty showers near the coast through late morning, but then we'll start to see it ramping up again around 2:00 to 3:00. this is also where we could have thunderstorms and hail, and notice the change in colors, we could have more snow on some of our bay area mountains. mike, you have a warning about an upcoming closer. >> i have a couple warnings. this one is in san francisco, today avoid the off ramp of north 101 at vermont from about 9:00 a.m. it will reopen tomorrow with restricted access for the next week because of construction. today it's completely closed.

you'll have to pass by, use the 7th off ramp and get down on city streets to get back to vermont. keep that in mind. a week from today they'll have the closure to clear the cement barrier. a typical drive sorting itself out throughout the east bay. atypical, more slowing at south 680, just starting to move better. i think they cleared the crash just south through 680. both avenues through the tri-valley have extra slowing. we did get a call from a very nice person saying she swerved to avoid a box south 85, so do watch for that. back to you. >> take it easy as you head out the door. we know silicon valley, but have you heard of lithium valley? the white house and governor

newsom. mr. have a meeting today about lithium in the golden state. >> reporter: mask mandates, for the indoor areas, we know a bay area community is talking about making a change and so is the cdc. i'll tell you what to watch for. plus -- >> when that's happening, that's not your problem, that's their problem. >> tackling disparities in tech. the way one east bay program is helping young black youth get their footing. we're going to talk about that and much more this morning. it is 6:42. you're watching "today in the bay."

good tuesday morning. right now at 6:44, in the east bay we're waking up to mainly clear skies. it's cold and it's going to be windy today. we're also watching out for a chance of another round of showers, especially this afternoon. a lot of changes ahead. we're going to talk about that in the forecast coming up. >> and we're looking at recovery for the tri-valley. south 680, all lanes cleared just past the merge. now we have slowing across the san mateo bridge. we'll check on why that might be happening coming up. governor newsom will appear virtually with president biden today. this is a push to expand california's lithium production and development. the imperial valley is often referred to as lithium valley and perhaps has the highest amount of lithium anywhere in the world. the industry still in its very early stages and development. moving you forward as we await new mask guidance from the

cdc, some bay area communities are still in limbo. one may lift its mandate today. another is holding firm, despite pressure from some residents that live there. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez joins us with where we stand right now. >> reporter: i know we travel all around the bay area, wherever our day takes us, so we always have to have our masks because those guidelines are different, and a lot of folks are calling for more uniformity and we might get some soon. we know that the city of vallejo is going to talk about lifting indoor mask mandates today. they keep their indoor mask mandate longer than their county did, which is solano. right now santa clarita county down to the south is the only bay area county with an order to keep masks on indoors. again, vallejo city council could make a move today. we could also see some uniformity tomorrow as the cdc updates its indoor masking guidelines. right now the agency is considering where the benchmarks should be set in terms of hospitalizations and severity of

disease in the community, when requiring masks indoor or outdoor. but some state leaders are deciding for themselves, some dropping mandates over the last few weeks. if you take a look at the map here on your screen, i'll show you states in orange now have no mask mandate at all. nevada, for example, lifting mandates even in schools and medical settings. new york doing things a little differently, requiring masks on public transportation and in health care settings as well. california and the other states in yellow have requirements for unvaccinated people to mask up in some situations, and the green states require masks in some situations for people, whether they're vaccinated or not. now, on average, covid cases are declining across the nation and here in california, and here in california 82.8% of people 5 and up have at least one covid vaccine, so that moving in the right direction. we are continuing this conversation about the masks on

facebook, if you join us there. you can tell us what you would like to see as we wait for the guidance from the cdc tomorrow. laura? >> boy, that map was interesting to see the rest of the country. thank you so much. 6:47 this morning. and here as nbc bay area, we have been celebrating black history month all month long, and this morning we're going to continue by introducing you to a local organization's work. it has really been making a difference in the community by helping guide young black males into positions in both tech and leadership. >> as "today in the bay's" cierra johnson explains it truly takes a village to help mold the next generation of greatness. >> we're founded in oakland, california, in 2012, and we now operate programming in oakland, richmond, los angeles, and are launching our first site in detroit this year. >> reporter: it's an organization that originated right here in the bay with a simple mission. >> the hidden genius project trains black male youth in

technology creation, and leadership skills to transform their lives and communities. >> reporter: and brandon nickelson, executive director, has been there since the begin. he's seen the organization grow and develop just like it's participants. the program now reaches beyond the borders of the bay area and has touched the lives of more than 8,000 youth. nickelson says the program model allows the students to receive hundreds of hours of hands-on guidance in what they call the intensive immersion program and that guidance more times is coming from folks that look like the youth being served. african americans thriving in an industry that has long struggled to reflect the public. data gathered from the site zippia found that nearly 70% of computer programmers in the united states are white, 15% are asian, 8% identify as hispanic or latino, and less than 5% of those working as computer programmers are black. >> what we try to convey is,

listen, when that's happening, that's not your problem, that's their problem, these companies. those who choose not to recognize your brilliance, they're going to cut off their nose. >> reporter: and the brilliance in these young participants is evident. with past participants going on to receive awards and bringing the program full circle, coming on board as full-time facilitators, continuing the mission to grow the network of support. in oakland -- >> the future, i think, is bright. >> reporter: cierra johnson. >> the future looks a lot like our young people. >> reporter: -- for "today in the bay." >> 6:50 right now. great to see rain finally in the bay area again, kari. >> it only took 44 days for this to happen, and that was a record. we had never gone that long in the middle of winter without seeing at least some measurable rain. but it is back and it's not a lot, but we're going to be watching it today, really cheering it on as we get colder temperatures. take a look at the rain that's farther to the north of us.

that's the next round. maybe a little bit of a break in between, but we're still seeing light snow falling in the sierra. the seven-day forecast is coming up at the bottom of the screen as we go hour-by-hour. and it does show that we could have a late morning break in the activity, cold temperatures will continue, but then we start to see it ramping up again around 1:00 to 2:00 this afternoon. notice the light green that we have here that shows some light rain, but there may also be some pockets where heavy rain falls and even a chance of thunderstorms. where we see pink, that's a wintry mix. our bay area hills and mountains also getting some snow. as this activity continues through this evening, we're looking at mainly about a tenth of an inch of rain or less before that tapers off. but as we mentioned, it took 44 days and finally the dry spell has been broken. the last time we had measurable rain was january 7th. take a look at what our models show with how much additional rain we could see.

possibly a few hundredths of an inch. the other big story will be the temperatures. it's really going to get cold tonight. we're talking about protecting your plants and also making sure that you're taking care of your pets and livestock. we have to deal with these freezing temperatures over the next few days, as we could see some temperatures, especially in the north bay, dipping down to the mid-20s. we have that chance of showers and hail today, and then tomorrow our temperatures only reach into the upper 50s. morning temperatures near freezing. and it gradually gets milder as we head through the rest of the week into the weekend. but we're also going to see highs in the upper 60s early next week, while san francisco has some chilly temperatures and highs in the low 50s. mike, how is it looking right now heading out? >> kari is online, but stay with us here, because i'm showing you the san mateo bridge camera, which shows no slowing. it was slow for about five minutes. i don't know why, but i thought i saw some flashing lights,

maybe a disabled vehicle. but good recovery there. typical build, but san jose, your usual slowing. we've been seeing this for a couple of weeks extending toward santa clarita county for northbound 101. the tri-valley is smooth, no surprises for contra costa county or the bay bridge toll plaza where there's the backup. back to you. >> thank you so much. 6:53 and happening now, possible new life for an outdoor dining program in oakland. a city committee will discuss making the flex streets program permanent. it launches during the pandemic back in june of 2020. ever since, restaurant and retail shop owners have been able to sign up online for a free permit to use sidewalks, parking lanes to serve customers. if the resolution does not pass, the current program is set to expire at the end of the month. >> and a quick look at the top stories, including breaking news for you. a lot to digest in europe overnight. that includes russian troops moving into ukraine and within

the last hour the white house clarifying its response to russia's actions. scott mcgrew has been following this and has the very latest on how this could change the dynamic across europe. and teacher jobs on the line in san francisco. we're breaking down the possible cuts being decided today. but first, meteorologist kari hall is back in the studio and you can join her live on facebook, right now she's talking about the overnight rain and snow, and the cold temperatures. you can find her, meteorologist kari hall on facebook. we'll see you online and back here in just two minutes.

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come be a part of it. plan your next vacation at iloveny.com 6:57. welcome back. there's a lot to get to this morning. here are the top stories on "today in the bay." >> we begin with breaking news, the white house declaring the movement of russian troops into two regions of ukraine overnight an invasion. scott mcgrew, that should change the way america chooses to react and sanction. >> good morning. the white house has for weeks and months really promised sweeping sanctions if russia invaded, but up until a few minutes ago the white house and a lot of the american media had really been waffling on that term "invasion". even though the russian troops had moved across the border. just before 6:30 this morning, the white house declared it an invasion. so we are watching the

administration for new sanctions that could cut russia off from world banking or something lesser. this is a picture of president biden citing sanctions yesterday, but they only affected the two regions russia had declared independent, mostly farmland. there was still american investment russia's economy is hard to sanction in the sense that it's fairly minor. it's only about half as big as italy's economy, about the only place we can really hit them is gas and energy. western europe needs the gas and emergency. >> thanks, scott. bay area authorities are looking into more cases of hate-filled fliers left on people's doorsteps. in one case the notes were left on doorsteps in the east bay hills placed inside plastic bags. the same thing happened over the weekend in palo alto. similar fliers left on doorsteps last month in san francisco. it's not yet clear if the cases are connected.

hundreds of san francisco teachers' jobs are on the chopping block. there are six categories of staff members that could see layoffs. the list is on your screen. school board members may be ready to sign off on the notices to solve a budget shortfall. >> let's get a look outside. the sun is rising and it's looking nice and clear for us this morning. meteorologist kari hall talking about rain that we saw overnight. >> yeah, we had a little bit of rain. the roads may be wet. storm ranger showing that we do have showers near the coast and parts of the north bay, but it will just be off and on tod havf some thunderstorms and small hail. things quiet down the rest of the week. mike? >> things are quieting down for the most part across the bay. the bay bridge toll plaza shows the biggest backup. in fact, we're seeing some break in the lanes just off the hov lanes. over he smooth flow of traffic

through san raphael. >> you can see the three-day weekend for a lot of folks is over. back to work. >> that's what's happening this morning on "today in the bay." we'll be back at 7:25 with live local news updates. >> join us for nbc bay area news and our midday news at 11:00. the "today" show is coming up next. have a great day. ♪♪ good morning. on the ground. vladimir putin sending troops into eastern ukraine heightening fears of a full-blown invasion at any moment. the u.s. calling it a clear and unprovoked attack. during an emergency eting of the u.n. security council overnight. >> in this moment, no one can stand on the side lines. >> the white house already imposing sanctions, vowing more to come. will that be enough? and is there any chance of a diplomatic way out of this crisis? straight ahead, complete coverage from washington, moscow and the front lines.