ukraine. the game had to be postponed because of the conflict going on in the ukraine nation. we'll see if they make it to the world cup. so what we can expect from the draw, teams were divided into four different pots, and from those pots there will be distributed into eight different groups. for mexico and the u.s., those familiar with international soccer, mexico and the u.s. are in pod 2, which means they can avoid teams like germany and netherlands who are powerhouses and we will only face one of the world champions on pod 1, like france or maybe spain. but also qatar, because they take the first position as the host nation. all of this will be decided just in a couple of hours and you can obviously watch it on telemundo. it will start at 8:30 a.m., so you can join us. and then after the drawing is over i will bring you everything that happens and i will see you then. >> so exciting. right now at 6:00, heavy military losses and new signs of

cracks in the russian invasion. the latest setbacks for vladimir putin and his push to conquer ukraine, and the stunning revelations in russia's takeover at chernobyl nuclear power plant. plus -- >> the bottom line is, if we want lower gas prices, we need to have more oil supply right now. >> will president biden's latest order lead to some relief at the pump? the outlook for bay area drivers and the new fare cuts for some bay area rail commuters starting as soon as this morning. this is "today in the bay." a good friday morning. thanks so much for making us a part of your morning. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia. welcome to april fool's day. one of my favorites. a reminder you can watch us on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. >> we're going to get a look at the commute in just a bit. first, we want to get you out the door with the fork. meteorologist kari hall has been

tracking it. >> it will start out cool but warming up today. that's a live look in dublin. temperatures in the low 40s to start. but then look at the trend going into late morning into early in the afternoon, reaching into the low 70s. it may be a little warmer than yesterday. when we compare our high temperatures and what we're expecting today to what's normal for april 1st, so for santa rosa, we're about 5 degrees, 6 degrees above our average high temperature. we're also going to be much warmer in concord and as well as in san jose. we are going to continue to warm up in the forecast and we'll talk about that coming up in a few minutes. >> thank you. russian forces this morning taking new hits in ukraine. this as a critical resource gets cut off for refugees. now, first, word of a new targeted strike overnight by ukraine forces. nbc's brie jackson is following multiple developments here. what about the strikes by ukraine? >> reporter: good morning,

marcus. well, a russian official is blaming a recent blast at an ail depot in russia on two russian helicopters air strikes. it happened in near the russian/ukraine border. nbc news could not independently verify who was responsible, but did see fire coming from the depot. the claim marks the first time russia has accused ukrainian forces of launching an air strike on russian soil. no one was killed or hurt in the blast. meanwhile, a blow to humanitarian efforts overnight, the red cross is being blocked from bringing aid during mariupol's evacuation effort. this comes despite a growing humanitarian crisis in the city, which has faced heavy shelling for more than a month. residents remain blocked from access to basic essentials, including food and water. and if you can take a closer look at this, this is a tweet that was sent out overnight by the kyiv independent. a media outlet based out of ukraine's capital city. it says since the conflict

started, nearly 18,000 troops have been killed, ukraine has lost 625 tanks, 143 planes, and 131 helicopters. this all comes as nbc's richard engel says russian troops have severely suffered a shocking setback at chernobyl. >> reporter: russian troops have suffered many setbacks here in ukraine, some of them self-inflicted, and now ukraine's state nuclear agency says that russian troops have begun to leave the chernobyl nuclear site, which is still radioactive after the 1986 nuclear meltdown, after russian troops began digging trenches into the contaminated soil and contaminating themselves. i'll have the full story coming up on the "today" show. >> reporter: and that report is at 7:00 a.m., right after "today in the bay." it's worth noting that overnight australia agreed to send armored vehicles to ukraine after the

ukrainian president, volodymyr zelenskyy, requested it. >> one thing you can say is that ukrainians are putting up a big fight here. brie jackson in washington this morning, thank you. for people trying to make it in the bay, new hope for a let-up in skyrocketing gas prices, but it's not just drivers who have been feeling this pain. starting this morning some relief for rail commuters as well. "today in the bay's" bob redell joins us live in palo alto with a look at what kind of relief we're talking about. >> reporter: well, for people who take caltrain, we're here at the palo alto station, it's a major discount for the month of april, which starts today. starting today and running through this month, people who ride caltrain will get discounted fares of 50%. caltrain is doing this to reward its loyal riders, it says, and of course we know to try to lure new people to its rail service. the discount, by the way, does not apply to people who use go pass. incidentally, regular train service resumes monday for caltrain. you might recall that they had

to reduce service earlier last month to accommodate electrification signal work. with regards to people getting in their car this morning and wondering when is the price of gas going to drop, some experts predict a drop of 20 cents per gallon in the coming weeks as a result of yesterday's announcement that the united states will tap into the strategic petroleum reserves. even with the price decrease, you can see that gas is still expensive and going to be. you take a look of this map at the nine counties in the bay area, according to the overnight numbers we are averaging anywhere from around $5.80 to around $6 for a gallon of gas. so even with that 20 cent drop you're looking at well over $5 per gallon. yesterday president biden said our government would release a record 1 million barrels of oil a day from u.s. reserves over the next six months. prices at the pump have been rising, as more people return to work during and after the pandemic, and the price has

skyrocketed after russian president vladimir putin invaded ukraine. so how significant is the release of what will turn out to be around 180 million barrels of oil? u.s. drivers use more than 7 billion barrels of oil a year, so this release represents about 5% increase in supply. >> theoretically stations could be getting lower prices as early as tonight, but most of them only fill their tanks every three to five days, so it will take probably until the weekend to start seeing more down-drafts at the pump nationally. how long will it last? well, it could last maybe several weeks and prices may, if we're lucky, stay below $4 for portions of the summer. but it's a little too early to call because the situation remains very volatile and could change. >> reporter: the "today" show will have a full report on the impact of the release of oil on gas prices. that report starting at 7:00 this morning. reporting live in palo alto, bob

redell, "today in the bay." >> thanks so much. hopefully we'll see relief soon. south bay leaders are launching a new team to fight the fentanyl crisis. santa clara county is creating a new group made up of law enforcement and addiction experts, along with parents whose children have overdosed. it will include a public service and social media campaign to warn about the dangers of fentanyl. also, outreach by letting drug dealers know about the consequences of selling drugs laced with fentanyl. the new program launches in two weeks. new this morning, a covid outbreak reported at a north bay elementary school. students are being required to wear masks again for the next two weeks. the district says the school had over 20 covid infections over the last week, and that included six staff members. in the meantime, more bay area counties are offering the second covid oofrt shot for those 50 and up.

check around if you're looking for one. 6:08. let's take a live look across the bay area. san jose, walnut creek, oakland and san francisco. take your pick. should be a nice spring day ahead. no kidding there, kari. >> yeah, we're going to warm up nicely for today. and it's great to see the clear skies around the bay area. let's get you out the door in martinez. i want to show you how the day will shape up. upper 40s at 8:00 and at lunchtime, take it outside. 67 degrees. it's going to be so comfortable. only reaching into the low 70s today with the sunshine continuing, and then this evening we're in the upper 60s at 6:00. let's go through all of our microclimates and stop it right here at 4:00, because that's most likely when we'll be hitting our high temperature, with hayward at 66 degrees, and san martin reaching 75 degrees, san francisco will be in the low 60s with some upper 50s at half moon bay. you can see the range in temperatures from the coast to the inland valleys, and this gets even more extreme as our

temperatures heat up. so we'll talk more about that coming up. vianey, you've been tracking numerous slow spots for the commute. >> dublin was one of those areas. i did double-check and see if there were any other issues along 580. there was an earlier crash still causing some delays through there, so keep that in mind. we've also got a couple of other spots. this crash just popped up along -- where is that, the south bay near this area. i need to double-check the exact location. i just saw that as i was walking out to do the report. let's see how drive times are doing, northbound 101 from 85 to 85, 19 minutes. and northbound 280 from highway 101 to 85, about seven minutes. making it in the bay becoming less realistic for more and more people. >> now people are moving because they've simply been priced out. home prices are up 15% nationwide from last year.

>> coming up at 6:25, the reason experts say people will continue to move elsewhere and where why the crunch may not ease up soon. >> it's jobs friday. we've got all the latest charts and graphs coming up. let's take you to the futures this morning. the dow industrial, the markets liking what they're seeing as well. looks like we'll start the day in the green. >> trimming the install talk t. bay area hair stylist with a unique offer for her clients. stick around. that and much more here on "today in the bay."

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happy friday. it is 6:13. we're going to have a beautiful day. you just need a jacket for the start, but it's going to be really comfortable this afternoon. as you're heading out in cupertino, it's in the mid-40s. take a look at this trend. upper 60s by 1:00 and we'll see all sunshine today. we'll get a look ahead for the weekend forecast and if there's any rain and even the outlook for april coming up. >> and a live look right now. 880 in both directions in oakland is moving along. no accidents to report in that area, but i do have an update on your drive times throughout the bay bridge and other bridges coming up in a few minutes. >> good morning. very happy friday. it's april 1st. now, that means a couple of things. first of all, it's april fool's day. high-tech companies used to publish all kinds of silly news on april 1st. google was particularly good at it. true story, google announced gmail on april 1st, 2004, and

that confused us for a whole day. we didn't know if gmail was a real thing or not. april 1st marks the start of the second financial quarter. it's also the first friday of the month, so that's jobs friday. the bureau of labor statistics just announced 431,000 jobs were created in march. that means in the first quarter alone america added 1.7 million jobs. unemployment rate drops to 3.6%. as you might guess, a lot of job growth is in leisure and hospitality. jobs have been plentiful. in fact, there are still more jobs out there than people that want to take them. so economists are always very pleased when we top 400,000 jobs in a month. so this is 11 straight months of gains above 400,000. the video game industry just announced it would cancel this year's mega conference called e3, that's electronic entertainment expo.

it was all digital last year and was supposed to return to normal this year, but organizers said rather than hurry back, they'll just push the return to next year. now, we've talked about how a strong economy creates higher interest rates, mortgage rates continue to climb. a 30-year fixed now above 4.67%, the highest it's been since 2018. mortgage brokers say they're still busy as procrastinators who missed out on 2% mortgages try to lock in something in the 4%. >> maybe we should have refinanced last fall. pay attention to everything. does the report say anything about how many people are still working from home? >> the jobs report, 10% of americans are still working from home. i suspect that number is much higher in the bay area. the other really interesting one is adult women. 3.3% unemployment rate on adult he women, which is lower now than adult men.

we were worried or concerned about how many women would come back into the workforce because the pandemic was particularly dependent on women and care at home. and they seem to have come back. in fact, they're now back at a bigger rate than that. >> i think it's been an eye-opener for women as well to try to find that work/life balance. we were a all striving to have our own careers, now it's like the 1950s. i'll have a martini at night. that's fine. thank you so much. here's a question for you. how much do you reveal to your hair stylist when you go in for a haircut? >> some people it's a lot. one woman in san rafael is offering something to change that. not revealing anything at all. she's calling it silent haircuts. the idea came a few weeks ago when people still were dealing with impacts from the pandemic. her clients can request to engage to not talk at all.

she says some people really need just a few minutes of silence. >> some of my clients i've known for 25 years and we are friends and so there is that desire to catch up, and a couple of those clients have even said, you know, like i would love to catch up for five minutes and then i would love to be quiet for the rest of the time. i'm like, great, thank you for asking for what you need. >> a lot of people are interested in this. i want to know what you think about this. you can follow me on twitter. i want you to take the poll we have down there. as of right now, 50% of the people who voted so far are saying that they could go either way. they're 50/50. >> probably depends on your mood maybe. >> you were saying you were best friends with your hair stylist. >> i was literally her manaquin

when she was in beauty school. we catch up and have lunch after. >> you get your haircut in la? >> yeah, my parents live there, too. >> she's fancy. >> i get my hair done in l.a. >> side note, this shot reveals how short i am. look at this. >> we are up a little bit. >> follow me. side note. i couldn't help but notice it. >> a tall forecast to keep up with today. nice weather. you can get out and enjoy it. a friday. >> friday is going to be beautiful. maybe your salon will have the doors open letting in that breeze. as we take a look at our view right now in walnut creek as the sunrises, it is a clear start. let's head to the south bay and check out temperatures for this afternoon. reaching 75 in morgan hill, downtown san jose reaching 72 degrees and temperatures in the mid-70s for the east bay, 73 in

pleasanton and upper 60s for oakland. 59 for a high today in daly city, san francisco also in the upper 50s. but you head toward the mission district it's a little warmer, reaching 65. 68 in mill valley and 73 today in santa rosa. seven-day forecast is coming up at the bottom of the screen. a lot of dry weather over the next several days. this strong area of high pressure is going to build and heat up temperatures for the middle of next week. that may move out of the way and allow for some rain to come in by the end of next week. we'll be watching out for that. as far as our outlook for the month of april, unfortunately it still shows we're going to have above normal temperatures, really not a surprise knowing that we do have some hot temperatures coming your way for next week. then we're also looking at below normal rainfall. so there's really not much of a chance that we could see some really big storms to help us get caught up to our normal amount of rainfall, especially at this point so late in our rain season. let's check out napa because we

do have a lot of changes in temperatures with highs in the mid-70s today, 80 tomorrow, upper 60s on monday. then going straight up, reaching 88 degrees for early to the middle of next week, on thursday up to 88. then a drop-off again by the end of next weekend. a lot of changes. you want to make sure you're prepared for it all. a gusty day on sunday as we get some slightly cooler temperatures, but that's coming down from the upper 70s we'll see on saturday. san francisco, mostly staying in the 60s. it's going to warm up by the end of next week as well. vianey, how is it looking heading through the tri-valley? >> we don't have any sigalerts. this is pretty standard for the dublin stretch along 580. i want to go to the south bay because i told you a crash popped up earlier and i did check up on it on the chp traffic reports. this is along westbound 85 near the camden avenue exit. there is an accident that could potentially cause some delays

through that area in the south bay. so a quick look at drive times, so far we're doing good, between 15 and 20 minutes, 101, 280, 85, we're doing good. >> thank you. searching for an affordable home. next here on "today in the bay," for the first time home buyers out there, good luck to you. we're going to tell you about the new out of state location californians are considering. >> and in the final episode of our streaming series "saving san francisco" we go to jail and talk one-on-one with a homeless man accused of terrorizing a san francisco neighborhood. here james durgin in his own words. episode 6 comes out on monday, but you can watch the first five episodes now by downloading our nbc bay area app or just ahead to nbcbayarea.com/saving san francisco.

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pack up the moving boxes, as people continue to struggle to make it in the bay there are a record number of people looking to leave the san francisco bay area as a whole, even as our state is transitioning out of the pandemic. red fin just completed a study and san francisco is number one in the country for people considering moving away. i spoke with red fin chief economist darryl fairweather to find out why. >> people are looking for places more affordable, especially with inflation and housing costs getting higher. it's not affordable for a lot of people to stay in the bay area.

>> we saw a lot of people leave the area when they had the opportunity to work from home. i know a lot of people from san francisco moved up to tahoe, for example. so now that people are returning to the office, we're still seeing this uptick? >> yes, during the pandemic people were moving because of a lifestyle change, maybe they wanted to live somewhere that had more natural beauty or wanted to be closer to family. now people are moving because they've simply been priced out. home prices are up 15% nationwide from last year, rents from up 14%. and it's especially expensive in a place like the bay area that has always been more expensive than the rest of the country. that's motivating a lot of people to move some bl elsewhere they'll have more disposable income. sacramento is the number one in-state location and then seattle is the number one out of state location for people leaving the bay area. >> that's something, because i thought you would say arizona, texas. we saw a lot of people moving there. idaho.

>> yeah, if you look at austin, for example, most of the people moving in from out of state are coming from the bay area. the bay area is sending people all over the country, so everybody is complaining about californians moving in. >> everybody is leaving. >> it is 6:26 for you right now. kari has a look at the weekend forecast when we come back. plus -- >> reporter: it's taken years to complete and millions of dollars, but thes rapid transit corridor is officially complete and we're live with how it will make your commute a little easier. you're watching "today in the bay."

right now at 6:30, the rules for mega events like concerts and sporting events are now consistent all across the land in california. i'll tell you what that means for your next night out on the town. >> it took half a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars, but san francisco's new rapid transit corridor opens. we're live this morning to explain how it may improve your commute. this is "today in the bay." a very good friday morning to you. thank you for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. a reminder you can watch us live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv, and online. i want to get you started with the day. take a look outside right now. look at the bay bridge as we get started. when it's friday, it always looks good, right? >> it could be raining out there

and we would be happy. >> but it's friday. we're going to get a look at the commute. we saw cars on the bridge moving about. we want to talk about the forecast today. how is it looking? >> it looks good. let's get a look at our san jose camera as the sun is set to arrive in about 21 minutes, and so we are going to see a nice clear start to the day. temperatures in the upper 40s right now. we will see our temperatures trending into the low 70s for later today. i mean, i really think this weather is just perfect. and then when we compare what we are going to see versus what is average for april 1st, we are actually going slightly above and we do have much warmer temperatures headed our way. we'll talk more about that coming up in a few minutes. >> thanks so much, kari. just into our newsroom, police in one east bay city are ramping up patrols after a report of a student being assaulted. one parent in albany tells police their child was assaulted while walking to school on wednesday. now, police will beef up

presence when children go to and from school district, and the investigation is ongoing. moving you forward on rolled back covid restrictions. starting today you no longer have to show that proof of vaccination to attend large events anywhere in the state. "today in the bay's" kris sanchez is live at the shark tank this morning in san jose with what you can expect. i'm excited about this because finally we're emerging out of this pandemic. >> reporter: yeah, it sure does feel like we are starting to move forward, and when the san jose sharks take on the dallas stars, getting into the s.a.p. center might be a little bit quicker because people are not going to be digging around in their bags for their vaccine card or proof of vaccination. those requirements are now gone away, and there's some consistency across the board. let's take a look at what we're talking about. as of today, april 1st, to attend a mega event, vaccination testing will be recommended, highly recommended indoors, but not required. that is for events with 1,000 or

more people inside or 10,000 or more people outside. there are no capacity limits related to covid either. now, thea.p. center will continue many of the safety protocols put in place during the pandemic, like contactless purchasing, sanitizing stations, bringing air into the arena. this is a chance to finally maybe host a sell-out hockey crowd, something they have yet to do this season. it was hard to compete with other venues like the chase center, for example, where covid restrictions eased a little bit sooner in time to sell out a few warriors games. after two years of changing guidelines and a lack of continuity, the sharks president is happy the rules are now more consistent so they can throw those doors wide open. >> do i have to have a vaccine and a boost or just a vaccine? how do i do that? do i do it digitally, a physical card? every venue, every restaurant, every public building had slightly different rules so there was mass confusion. what happened over time is

people said it's too much trouble, i don't want to come anymore. >> reporter: and that was especially true because sports fans are regional, so we have people coming from all across the state to come see the san jose sharks and the warriors and such. so remember, though, under state guidelines, businesses can have their own rules, concert promoters, event promoters can establish their own rules, too. so just make sure you keep the vaccine card handy. you just won't have to flash it to get in the door. >> just like you've got to keep the masks handy. thank you so much. we're also moving you forward on the transportation front. transportation project years in the making. san francisco's first rapid transit corridor opens today on van ness avenue at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. "today in the bay's" cierra johnson is live this morning to explain that. she's on van ness and she's going to show us what drivers and those commuters will be dealing with. >> reporter: yes, good morning.

we are moving you forward, literally and at a faster pace. it's all because of these red lines. this is the rapid bus transit corridor. i believe we have a map. we can take a look at your screen. it's that red line. this will reduce your commuting time because it gives the bus lane its own individual separated section. sfmta estimates it will reduce your transit time by as much as 32%. so this corridor, again, reduces traffic along van ness by creating a separated bus lane and it will allow buses to travel without getting stuck in traffic. there's new boarding platforms. that's what i'm standing on right now. it will allow passengers to board buses a little easier without standing on the side of the street. and this construction also worked on some of those underground utility lines, some of them needed to be updated as they were built about 100 years ago.

if you've driven this corridor and wondered how long have they been working on it, well, construction started back in 2016. before that there were years of planning and it all came with a $346 million price tag. now, traffic is starting to pick up a little bit and we've been out here for a couple hours now. we actually have not seen a bus take this red lane. our first live picture we saw folks waiting at what is being called the designated spot, but noticed that the bus was in the lane where they were originally scheduled. they had to run over. we're working to get answers if there's an exact time buses will start using those lanes. but we're being told today is the day for those buses to start using the red lanes. we're live in san francisco, cierra johnson for "today in the bay." >> when you say easier and faster commute, a lot of people are excited about it. thank you. happening now, authorities expanding the search for a girl that they say was abducted by

her stepfather last summer. >> katuana whisenaut was last seen with her stepfather. the chp put out the initial advisory for three counties. it's now expanded to the entire state. flores ramon does have family in santa rosa. this is the car that he was driving, a 1993 silver toyota corolla. testimony resumes in the trial of sunny balwani. the trial took a break yesterday and in the week plus since it started, two witnesses have testified. both former employees who talked about many failures of theranos blood testing equipment and technology and balwani's influence over staff, including the company's founder, elizabeth holmes. holmes is now awaiting

sentencing after a jury convicted her back in january. let's take a live look up in tahoe. going to palisades. shall we? yes, that is very refreshing. >> i want to go skiing now. >> no joke here, although it is april fool's day. it's only a matter of time where ski season starts to melt away. the sierra snowpack will be front and center this morning because state water leaders will conduct the second to last snow survey of the season. everyone is bracing, unfortunately, for those meager numbers that we're most likely to get due to this historically dry winter. and as we wait, things are already heating up. folks are trying to get in those last runs, just like the end of the day that you try to do. let's check in with kari. she's got a look at our weekend forecast. >> such a beautiful shot of palisades. you do need to get there soon, because we are seeing those temperatures warming up for the afternoons and a lot of that snow has been melting. you're looking at highs in the upper 50s for the next couple of

days. and there's still a lot of snow in the upper parts of the mountains, about 90 inches. but in the lower we're at 27 inches. a lot of groomed runs ready for you this weekend. closer to home, a look at san jose, and it's going to be a nice weekend to walk around downtown and check out the art galleries. temperatures in the low 60s at 7:00 when it begins, dropping down to the mid-50s. just wear a nice warm jacket. and you probably won't need that in santa cruz today, as highs reach up to 70 degrees. a lot of sunshine. we have upper 60s for the rest of the weekend. just a little more sunny, windy and sunny on sunday. as we get a look at paso robles, you'll enjoy highs in the mid to upper 70s. if l.a. is in your weekend plans, a touch cooler, upper 60s today and mid-60s for the rest of the weekend. enjoying a little bit more of our taste of home and the sunshine, maybe going out for a hike in sonoma valley, we have

highs that will reach into the upper 70s tomorrow. vianey, heading out for work, we've had kind of a slow drive through the tri-valley. >> the tri-valley especially. i want to get started with this shot of dublin. the good news is there are no accidents to report around this stretch. we had an earlier crash that has been cleared. but of course i did take a look at the south bay crash that had popped up earlier and it does look like it's along westbound 85 near camden avenue. the speed sensors are not showing big slowdowns, but you may encounter that. also we've been keeping a close eye on things going on in the city. i want you to keep in mind that saturday or any time that the warriors play in the city that there is going to be traffic delays expected, as all the fans head over. doors open at 4:00 p.m. and a couple of delays you might expect, 280 and of course the bay bridge as you're driving into the city when the game starts and leaving once the game ends. back to you. >> thanks. where is arianna fitts?

six years after a little girl just vanished without a trace, the reward that's now being offered to find her. >> washington talking about gas prices. we'll fact-check some of the things the president said. let's take you to the big board. the dow industrial is up 83 points. we got good job news. >> and stanford women's basketball team two wins from history. we're going to talk about the big hurdle they face tonight in the final four, including a legendry coach and program. but first here is our investigative reporter, jaxon van derbeken. >> reporter: good morning, laura and marcus. i'm jaxon van derbeken with the investigative unit. you might wonder what the racket is behind me at the sinking and tilting millennium tower. contractors are moving on to the next phase of the fix. but has the city signed off? watch my exclusive report right now at nbcbayarea.com/investigations.

large out-of-state corporations have set their sights on california. they've written a ballot proposal

to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless, but read the fine print. 90% of the profits go to out-of-state corporations, leaving almost nothing for the homeless. no real jobs are created here. but the promise between our state and our sovereign tribes would be broken forever. these out-of-state corporations don't care about california. but we do. stand with us.

right now at 6:44, let's get a live look outside on your way out the door. we are seeing a clear view and also chilly temperatures in some spots. low 40s right now in dublin. it's going to warm up quite a bit today. headed for the low at 1:00 this afternoon. we'll get a look at all of our microclimates and take a look at our outlook for the month of april and also the big warm-up headed our way. we'll be talking about that coming up. >> and, hey, there, south bay commuters.

northbound 101 from highway 85, about 21 minutes, no delays along 280 or 85 in both directions. also, the metering lights are still off at the bay bridge toll plaza. it's a friday light commute this morning. back to you. >> thank you very much. it is a quarter until 7:00 and today marks six years since the disappearance of a young mother, later found murdered in san francisco. and her daughter who has never been found. on april 8th, 2016, police discovered the body of nicole fitts in mcmclaren park. that was one week after she and her 2-year-old daughter ariana had last been seen. the girl would now be 8 years old. police and the fbi will provide an update on the case along with a $100,000 reward now being offered. oil briefly fell below $100 a barrel a day after president biden announcing use of oil from

the strategic pet toll yum reserves. >> you often tell us the president cannot control oil prices, but it seems it worked in this case. >> there are a number of factors at work. the promise to release 1 million a day was a factor. oil fell hard. my point about presidents and oil and gas prices is this. energy prices are set at the worldwide level. set by the markets themselves. no person sets prices, even powerful oil companies cannot control oil prices beyond changing how much they produce. president biden couched his language as he announced his plan to release millions of barrels of oil from the strategic reserves, saying you might not see huge effects on prices at the pump. buttigieg is speaking about gas prices right now. we'll talk about that in a second. first point, markets, not presidents, set energy prices. as for the strategic petroleum reserve, most presidents tap it

at some pointment congress sometimes does, too, selling oil to raise money like the 2017 tax cuts, partially paid for by selling off oil. president trump had proposed selling off more than 400 million barrels of oil from the strategic reserve to raise money for the federal budget. congress said no in that case. president biden also asked oil companies to hurry up and start drilling more, increase production. pointing out many oil companies are not drilling on federal lands, despite permits to do so. >> to help execute this first part of my plan i'm calling for use it or lose it policy. congress should make companies pay fees on wells on federal leases they haven't used in years, and acres of public land they're hoarding without production. >> two fact-checks here. first of all, there are laws that say use it or lose it and there are a lot of reasons they're not using it. among them it could be that it's hard to find workers, hard to find supplies, and fear of

investing in new projects because what happens if oil prices go down. russia won't be in ukraine forever. live pictures of the press conference where secretary put buttigieg spoke a moment ago. they are talking about the car emissions requirements that have a lot to do with mileage. other news, march jobs report, the bureau of labor statistics just said 432,000 jobs were created last month. that means that the first quarter alone america added 1.7 million jobs, unemployment rate 3.6%. president biden will be speaking about that report shortly. you can hear all of that on our midday news coming up at 11:00, and of course on social media as well. on twitter i'm @scott mcgrew. >> thank you. bay area basketball fans will be fired up tonight at 6:30. that's when stanford women's team are now just two wins from a historic repeat tip-off in the final four. the cardinals are taking on another basketball powerhouse,

the university of connecticut, in the second semifinal. now, the men's side, the final four tips off tomorrow. north carolina takes on duke and kansas battles villanova. 6:48 right now and you might be wondering, you've seen all of us this morning wearing blue. today is the kickoff of autism awareness month. >> and it's such an important topic to talk about. would you believe it or not, 1 in 27 boys are affected by autism, 1 in 116 girls are impacted. here's what parents need to know. kids can show signs as early as 18 months. up to 40% are nonverbal and 70% have gastrointestinal problems. for many families this also takes a toll financially. the average cost for special services is around $60,000 a year. >> and it hits close to home for us here at nbc bay area's "today in the bay." our very own meteorologist kari hall is dealing with that. >> so both of my children are on the autism spectrum. my son is 10 and my daughter is

5. you see her there with a feeding tube. she does have the gastrointestinal problems, where she had severe acid reflux and she's nonverbal, so we just didn't know that she was going through a lot of problems there, but she's working with her therapist in that picture and we got the early intervention and that's really all you have when it comes to autism and so over the years we've just learned so much and we have this big community support, but i wanted to let parents know of a few things that you should look out for when you're dealing with this or if you have a baby. you may notice that they have little to no eye contact and toddlers, you're talking to them and they're kind of looking around the room. they may have a few or no words by 2 years old, 24 months, and then you may call his or her name, so we would be like, bella, and she would just continue doing whatever she's doing. then you start to think is there a hearing problem and they do the hearing tests and things like that. you kind of troubleshoot all of

that ahead of time. then you may notice that your child is rocking or spinning or flapping hands, kind of doing motions that are not something that you normally see kids doing, and that may also be one of those signs or something to look out for. they may also be sensitive to smells, sounds, texture or touch. they may have problems wearing certain clothes because there are tags in them, or you may notice they kind of overreact to sounds where they're covering their ears or you can tell it's painful. they may have a really hypersensitive sensory overload for sounds and sights and all of those things and touch. and then you may also notice that they have repeated actions or rituals. you may notice them lining up cars or doing something repeatedly that you don't normally see other kids doing, and so those are maybe something that you need to talk to your pediatrician about. >> early detection here is the best thing, because you can get some help. >> yeah, you can get help.

that's what you need to do, really, by 2 years old in order to kind of help turn around some of those behaviors, or help them cope in a way or at least build some way of communication between you and your child. and so those early detection, the therapy, the really intensive therapy is much needed because that's the only tool we have at this point. >> exactly. and a strong mom like you are with both kids. >> and a great sense of community. that means everything when you're going through something like that. >> we're a family here. >> yes, we are. >> we're going to celebrate autism awareness month all month long. >> absolutely. let's get you started this morning. as you're getting up and getting the kids ready for school, our temperatures are starting out cool. you do need the jacket for our morning hours, but then as we go into today our high temperatures are actually going up above what we normally see on april 1st. normal is about 67 degrees in santa rosa, but today we're headed for 73. and in concord we're well above our average high temperature, reaching into the mid-70s.

san jose, looks like they'll head to about 73 degrees. average for april 1st is about 67. we do have even warmer temperatures in the forecast as the high pressure builds. by the end of next week we may have some record heat with some parts of the bay area hitting 90 degrees. it's going to be super early to have weather that hot, but at least it doesn't last that long and there may be the opportunity for us to get some rain by the end of next weekend. the climate prediction center not really surprisingly saying that for the bay area we're going to have slightly above average temperatures throughout the month of april, and then our outlook for rainfall really is kind of hard to see, but we know this has been the case for us, below average rainfall possible and most likely throughout the month of april based on those overall weather patterns. but our temperatures are all over the place. we are in the mid-70s today in livermore. it cools down by sunday into monday. then you can see the steps going right up. just be prepared for those

temperatures spiking up to 88 degrees next thursday. and then coming back down. so we are looking at a lot of changes here, but still no rain. all the changes are happening in our temperatures and it will be windy on sunday as we get that slight cooldown, and in san francisco it will stay in the 60s until early next week. how is it looking for the morning commute? >> it's pretty busy overall, but it's moving. in the south bay, northbound 101 from high away 85, about 22 minutes. no issues along 280 or 85. i want to give you a closer look in oakland because this tends to be one of the busiest spots around this hour. moving along, an earlier crash has been cleared and still no metering lights at the bay bridge toll plaza. back to you. >> thank you so much. it is 6:54, and happening now, a new statewide push to hire more literacy coaches in schools. last year state superintendent tony thurman established a goal to have all third grade students reading by the year 2026. education leaders are asking to

hire more literacy coaches as part of legislative measures to establish new initiatives. supporters argue six in ten third grade students tested below grade level during the 2020 school year. a quick look at the top stories, including a big change at large venues everywhere. what to expect at your next concert or sport outing. and, finally, go time for san francisco's long-awaited rapid transit project. how it could improve your commute. that and much more ahead. we're back in two minutes. you're watching "today in the bay."

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it is 6:57 for you right now. welcome back. we are moving you forward with a look at the top stories on "today in the bay." >> that includes another big step in the return to normalcy. the next time you're headed to a large venue in the state, you don't have to show proof of vaccination. at s.a.p. it all starts with tomorrow night's sharks game. also starting today, vaccination and testing recommended, but no longer required. this is for indoor events with more than 1,000 people and outdoor events holding more than 10,000. all covid related capacity limits have also been dropped. happening today, san francisco's first rapid bus corridor finally opens after more than five years of construction. the corridor runs along van ness from market to bay street. here is a live look at the

completed project. it cost just under $350 million. they predict service will move 30% fa for drivers as gas prices continue to skyrocket. this map shows the average cost per gallon in the nine bay area counties between $5.80 and $6. some analysts forecast a 20 cent drop in the near future with yesterday's announcement in the u.s. that they're tapping into the petroleum reserves. we have a live look at the palo alto caltrain station as well and starting today caltrain discounting all fares 50% for the month of april. the discount does not apply to go passes. regular train service will resume on monday. >> and we are looking forward to the weekend as we take a live look across the bay area this morning. meteorologist kari hall has been tracking what we can expect. >> san jose is winning that shot. it's going to be a beautiful day and our inland temperatures mid-70s. we'll keep you up to date a tul the changes next week.

>> we had some trouble spots in the tri-valley, but the bay bridge, fly light commute. no metering lights are on. good on the drive times. >> that's a hopeful start to the weekend. thanks for joining us this morning. >> don't forget to join us for our midday newscast today. have a great day. easing the pain. gas prices down slightly overnight after president biden orders the release of 180 million barrels of oil from the nation's emergency reserve. >> this is a wartime bridge. and provide a historic amount of supply for a historic amount of time. >> will it be enough? with the busy summer driving season around the corner. and russia's new move to put the squeeze on gas fires. breaking overnight. russia launches new air strikes in mariupol, even as tens of thousands attempt to flee that war-ravaged city.