in school with all my friends, my teachers and all the people in the school. >> more students across the bay area are just hours away from their first day of school, but there isn't enough staff on hand to teach them. >> a lingering concern this morning and one district's last-minute workaround. starbucks employees at one san francisco hold a make or break vote. beware of another price hike. the new shortage driving the prices of some of your favorite foods even higher. we'll take a closer look at the tomato trouble in california and the toll it's having on kitchens nationwide. this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire tv, apple tv and online. it's wednesday morning, hump day. thank you for joining us, i'm marcus washington. >> i'm laura garcia.

we'll have a check on the traffic with mike in a moment. first let's get to meteorologist kari hall. still warm today. is this the beginning of the cooldown? >> we'll start to have the cooldown over the next few days. it won't feel any cooler today as we're dealing with spotty showers. it just moved through the south bay, through palo alto. now heading to the north. it's affecting parts of the east bay heading over toward dublin and will be approaching san ramon soon. we'll see the off-and-on showers moving through the bay area and that high humidity with us into the afternoon. we're closely monitoring this because there could be some lightning strikes especially later this morning into the afternoon. we know that the brush, the vegetation is extremely dry and a lightning strike could start some new wildfires. we're very concerned about that today, especially in the north bay as we go into this afternoon, even though the temperatures are coming down a couple degrees, it's still going

to be hot as many kids are back first day. we'll take a look at the forecast and what's ahead for the weekend in a few minutes. moving you forward on book to school and a big day on tap for more bay area students, some of the districts are heading back to class today. that includes fremont, gilroy, napa, san jose, redwood city and san francisco which is actually still filling open positions. "today in the bay's" ginger conejero saab is live in san francisco. are they trying to do anything to ease parents' concerns? >> reporter: laura, they have reassigned and recruited, all that just in the nick of time. today is back to school in san francisco. tens of thousands of students are headed back to classrooms just like the ones behind us. it's still quiet here. of course, that will all change in a couple hours as students head back to school. here in san francisco, joining them will also be teachers, at

least enough for now to fill classrooms. earlier this month the district said it was about 100 teachers short. an sfusd spokesperson says the district will have every classroom staffed thanks to credentialed personnel. that doesn't mean every vacancy is filled. as of monday there60 vacancies still left. last year the number was 40. many of the classrooms are being filled by staff who are normally in leadership and curriculum roles. they are certified teachers who will sem rarely be filling in. physical therapist kelly cummins says she's focused on making sure classes are ready for students today. >> is my fifth school to check into today. everyone is like, we'll see what happens tomorrow and the rest of the week. we'll make it work. >> reporter: something else you may be interested in, this back-to-school vaccination rates

among children. sfusd is not making vaccination a requirement this year, but take a look at the numbers. san francisco's numbers are well above the state vaccination numbers for both ages 5-11 and 12-17. they're at 77% and 90% respectively. those percentages are from the chronicle. masks for students are strongly recommended by the district, but those as well are not required. the district is also encouraging families to test their students before head back to class today. as far as the district is concerned, their work is not done. when it comes to teacher recruitment, they are still actively finding teachers to fill roles permanently instead of finding temporary fixes in time for back to school like today. live in san francisco, ginger co >> i'd love to teach kindergarten this afternoon if they'll take me. thank you, ginger. we're providing continuing coverage this morning on everything you need to know as

your kids return to skol. don't forget our website is also a great resource with important district information including school start times, protocols. that's all at nbcbayarea.com. 6:04 this morning. workers at san francisco starbucks have become the first in the city to unionize. this is at 18th and castro in the castro. the vote comes as starbucks asks the national labor relation board to halt union elections citing excessive involvement. a victory for a san jose church penalized during the pandemic. a state appeals court has ruled calvary church will not have to pay $200,000 in pandemic-related fines from 2020 and 2021. a lower court held the church in contempt of court for violating state and county limits on indoor public gatherings. the appeals court reversed the ruling saying governor newsom's

ban violated freedom of religion. santa clara county hopes to collect more than $2 million in penalties against the church for violating other orders incluesing face mask requirements. california's drought is having a big impact on crops. shoppers are already dealing with sky-high inflation. sam brock is taking a look at the fallout from the growing tomato shortage. >> reporter: good to be with you. there are so many items that we love that are attached to this little fruit, vegetable, depending on how you categorize a tomato. the bottom line is the list goes on and on. ketchup, salsa, soup, tomato sauce, tomato paste and pretty essential for things like, i don't know, pizza. a lot of these products have been elevated already. the rising cost of fuel and labor, increases in the range of 23% to ketchup to 16% or 17% for

paste and tomato sauce. that does not include what's going on in your golden state of california where you're looking at a drought that's the worst the state has seen in more than 1,200 years t. increases are going to be baked in. farmers tell us right now we have not felt yet the impact of this severe drought on store shelves just yet. they're seeing a decrease of 10% of production in northern california. as you go farther south into fresno and beyond, more like 20, 25%. those reductions have not been passed on to the consumer yet which is why there's real concern the inflationary pressures on tomato products are going to continue to go up. we talked to suppliers, the guy who ordered the ingredients here at this pizzeria in downtown miami. he said a couple weeks ago he called his supplier and for the first time ever found out they didn't have tomatoes to offer. that was rectified in the coming weeks. we'll talk about the market

dynamics and how people are reacting to the possibility of having to pay more or not have access to basic loved foods like this. that's all coming up on the "today" show. >> just going to change our diets, right? look at this. what a beautiful sunrise this morning. this is in the south bay overlooking san jose. warm temperatures, summer certainly feels like it's hanging on. kari has a look at the forecast. >> we had the return of monsoon moisture today. it's been pretty active. any time it's a monsoonal sunrise or sunset, get the cameras ready. there are showers moving through especially across parts of the peninsula over towards the east bay. we have rain falling right over san mateo right now. as we move towards the east bay, we've seen the showers moving through dublin and starting to push to the north as well. we're seeing scattered showers approaching hayward and livermore. it's not a lot of rain. it's just enough to make your car super dirty and then it's

gone. then we're getting those kids out the door for school this morning in fremont. a great first day there as we start out with upper 60s, but feeling very humid as we head toward mid 80s today. we've got to fill up the car, mike. what's it looking like? >> options under five bucks. from gas buddy we found gas in danville at expressway on san rah mow valley boulevard, $4.79, top on the list here. next is national on r in concord on clayton road, $4.99 a gallon. arco in san francisco, on phelps street also $4.99. the green highlighting along the peninsula, kari talking about the light rain, hit the rest of the south bay earlier. some debris from a crash earlier as well. there were reports of rocks and nails and a sweeper that was needed. i didn't get an update on the

sweeper coming through. less slowing through the area. maybe they're reopening the lanes and clearing the activity. i know north 101 is clearing there. backing up is building -- the backup is building. over to you. 6:09 right now. first flooding, now concerning video. coming up at 6:25, theft accusations from residents of a san francisco luxury high-rise recently forced from their home. we'll hear the response from building management. tired of waiting around in airports? how about getting you there higher and faster than ever before. let's take you out to the futures as well. we had five days of gains. it looks like we're not going to it looks like we're not going to get six. californians have a choice

between two initiatives on sports betting. prop 27 generates hundreds of millions every year to permanently fund getting people off the streets a prop 26? not a dime to solve homelessness prop 27 has strong protections to prevent minors from betting. prop 26? no protections for minors. prop 27 helps every tribe, including disadvantaged tribes. prop 26? nothing for disadvantaged tribes vote yes on 27.

frmgts good wednesday morning. at 6:13, happy first day of school for kids at the unified school district of san jose. we'll start out with upper 60s and partly cloudy. it's going to be a very muggy day. we're headed for the upper 80s, and you may want to make sure you're finding somewhere nice and cool for the afternoon. we'll talk about that, the chance of thunderstorms and lightning and a look ahead to our weekend forecast coming up. i'll add to that. fremont unified school district first day of school as well.

-- headlights heading past tesla towards the silicone valley. good morning. very happy wednesday to you. stocks moved up again tuesday. those were the fifth straight day of gains. they're at a new three-month high. american airlines, we'll talk about them in just a second. man u, that's manchester united, the soccer team as in glory, glory man united. elon musk said in a tweet yesterday said he'd buy the team and then said it was just a joke. he earlier said he'd buy coca-cola so he could put the coke back in. he also said he'd by twitter. that one is supposed to be real. he's not buying man u. the uk got a new estimate for inflation and it's 10.1%. 10.1% higher prices than this

time last year. that is much worse than we're seeing in america. our inflation rate is actually sinking, and a lot of this is lower gas prices. oil now below $90 a barrel. we get the fed minutes today. that should give us a better idea what the federal open markets committee wants to do about interest rates. we assume they'll keep hiking them. we get retail sales numbers today. they're expected to be stronger because gas prices are lower. they're not spending the money on restaurants. less money spent on eating out, online buying up 3%. american airlines says it will buy 20 supersonic airliners from boom aviation. boom hasn't built these planes but they're working on it. boom says the planes will fly nearly twice the speed of sound. the company said you'll see them at airports in 2030. we talked before about the company's ceo and founder, a former real estate agent, former amazon software guy who knew nothing about airplanes and is now heading this gigantic airplane company.

>> not bad. >> it will be really cool. >> we can look back at 2030 and say, remember when we were talking about -- >> planes flying twice the speed of sound. >> what else we're looking back at today, 1998. >> what a year. >> that's when scott mcgrew joined nbc bay area. a very special day. we're celebrating all things scott. he's always kept our viewers involved, bringing expertise to the team and we're much better for it. >> we learn so much from scott. you're not alone in the celebration. our director there, corinne, she's celebrating 23 years here at nbc bay area. she's been through a lot of technology over the years, changing technology. >> changing buildings, the works. everything we have here. we can't forget our producer kat.

she's our 5:00 a.m. producer, she's celebrating one year here with "today in the bay." >> i'm sure you can give her advice. >> during the commercial break you saw bob redell talking about how important it is -- >> another long-time member of the team. >> we're all part of the community. my kids went to pioneer high school. now my oldest who was 4 when i moved here. >> which is blowing my mind. his kids are men now. >> he's a san jose firefighter, training to be a san jose firefighter. we are part of this community and our family is part of this community, all of us. >> and family, we share food, too. >> cupcakes. >> i'm not going to dare try to eat those on tv. corinne and kat as well. >> the works. we're celebrating. >> don't need an excuse to have cupcakes. >> also it's wednesday. >> that's right.

it's wednesday. >> a hot wednesday. >> it has been, kari. congratulations for everybody celebrating today. we're also going to be celebrating with kids taking their first of the school year picture. i'm just going to bring in a little rain to kind of cleanse things off for the new school year i guess. we're starting out with monsoon rain, spotty showers, as we're seeing it move up the peninsula and approaching the south city area. we're seeing this little cell moving through san mateo and millbrae right now, right over the bay with some of the heavier showers. it's not a lot of rain, and really won't help us out with the drought at all. it does come through fairly quickly, and it's moving out quickly as we see some of the spotty rain also right over san ramon and livermore. that's getting ready to approach 580. it's already had its issues this morning. we see the monsoon moisture, all of this green showing where we

have mid-level moisture moving through. we'll be watching parts of lake county later today because it's going to possibly rain and maybe even some storms move through. drier air back behind that. these little spotty showers will be popping up today. at any point you can see rain moving through. so if you have the nbc bay area app, it will give you an alert and you won't be surprised. you'll have some time to get ready. we're also very concerned about the potential of lightning. so now a red flag warning going up for lake county. this is where we have the highest potential of some lightning strikes. we know that the hillside, the mountains are very dry. with one lightning strike we can see new fires start. very concerning there. even though temperatures coming down a few degrees, look how hot in antioch today, reaching 100. 77 in san mateo while san francisco will be in the mid 70s. north bay highs reaching 95 in ukiah and 84 in napa.

in concord it will be hot over the next several days. the temperatures come down on sunday. that's going to be the best day of the weekend. in the near term, a lot going on here with heat, humidity and the chance of storms and lightning. i'll keep you up to date on all of that. mike, you have a new crash in livermore. >> you mentioned 580 had its issues. kari talking about the light rain along the peninsula. there may be damp roadways. keep that in mind. it's been a while so there may be grease. west 580 we have a slower drive out of the altamont. ering cleared after a cluster of three accidents. they all cleared. a new one west 580 around spring town. damp roadways on vasco which is starting to build. a smooth drive through dublin despite the bigger volume of traffic. next on "today in the bay," nbc bay area responds.

>> how can you get an insurance company to pay you every single penny you're owed after a disaster? a really boring home video. i'm consumer investigator chris chmura,

welcome back. it's 6:23. new accusations at a problem-plagued san francisco luxury high-rise. it started in june when a water pipe burst led to flooding at 33

teham sanchts forcing about 500 tan nantz from their home. a new surveillance video appears to show a worker taking something from a desk inside the unit. the contractor was let go soon after. they said we have security on the premises 24 hours a day, seven days a week and the safe keeping of our residents' belongings is our utmost priority. contractors no longer have access to residential units. whether a fire, flood or other issue damages your home, you'll have some work to dorks paperwork. a big part is documenting what you lost so your insurance company will pay up. >> there are steps you can take today whether you own or rent to make sure the paperwork tomorrow is easier to do. consumer investigator chris chmura will walk us through how to do that at-home inventory.

>> a home inventory is a list of everything that you own and insure. if you have to file an insurance claim, you have to prove what you have before you get paid. having a home inventory can help. this is your not-so-secret weapon, a smart phone. use it to record a video, nothing fancy. just walk through every room and go slowly. make sure the clip records everything in each room. talk about what you see, show the brand names and model numbers. speak about where you bought your stuff, when and how much you paid. your narration now might help jog your memory later on. go all over, open every drawer, every cupboard, every closet. >> make sure you're not just sticking with the house. so many people have stuff in their garage, too. >> when you're done, upload your video and any photos or misplaced during a disaster. an insurance industry survey found 80% of people in the past year didn't have an inventory or

didn't update it. maybe that's because it's a bit of work. it doesn't have to be. >> there are a number of tools available, many available through your insurance company probably for free. >> ask your agent about those tools and apps. after all, that's why you pay them a commission. >> thanks, chris. next here are the top stories we're following this morning including dial back some of the triple-digit temperatures. new power concerns amidst the summer swelter. >> reporter: a flex alert has been issued for today. the steps you can take to keep your house cool beforehand. moving you forward on california's p-k expansion. experts stressing the importance of early education. why transitional kindergarten is needed now

right now at 6:30, hot weather lingering in the bay area. a new flex alert is compounding concerns about the power grid. the measures you need to take today. meteorologist kari hall tracking whether or not we need to worry about the triple-digit temperatures. the growing monkeypox outbreak may soon have a new name. the growing debate among health experts. a look at the monkeypox term, it really has little to no meaning.

two new covid sub variants moving into the united states. we're breaking down the risk of another surge. this is "today in the bay" streaming live on roku, amazon fire, apple tv and online. 6:30 right now on your wednesday morning. good morning. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. you know what? it is a big day for a lot of students across the bay area. a lot of those kids head back to school. what does that mean? a lot of cars on the road. mike will be getting us through that. mike, maybe that's part of the back-to-school -- >> these folks in oakland heading over into san francisco, one of the major districts where we're seeing school come back online. if you're heading through san francisco, lots of school kids on the roads. watch those crossing guards as well. the bay bridge backup top of the screen, 37 over on the right, highway 4, also typical slowing. it's kind of holding there right now as folks are getting used to this new school year for areas like fremont and the south bay,

san jose unified as well. big school district coming online. kari talking about monsoonal motion tour. in fremont a small grass fire. we have moisture in the air but dry, grassy areas. >> we have that concern as well. let me show you this sunrise. we have not only wildfire smoke, we have monsoon moisture. we've got fog, all adding to spectacular hues in the sky as the sunrises this morning. it's raining lightly in san francisco. seeing some of the monsoon showers moving into the city just in time for the kids to walk out the door. they may need a little rain gear. later today they won't need that. upper 60s. it's going to be a muggy day. but take a look at some of the showers moving through, moving up the peninsula, into san francisco, with light rain that will continue over the next several minutes. it's moving through burlingame as well as the south city area

and moving over toward the east bay as well. we'll be tracking that and the chance for lightning in the forecast coming up in a few minutes. the hot weather in the bay area and around the state triggering a flex alert for late ther afternoon. >> "today in the bay's" bob redell joining us live from livermore. staying cool can get tougher for people when you combine that with conserving energy. >> correct. good morning, marcus and lawyer. the california independent system opinion rarity cal iso issued a flex alert from 4:00 this afternoon to 9:00 tonight over concerns that our electrical grid could be stressesed by today's heat as more and more people crank up that ac. what iso is asking you to do during this flex alert, turn off all unnecessary lights, lights you aren't using. avoid using major appliances during that time and set your thermostat to 78 degrees or higher. before the flex alert goes into effect, there are things you can do to keep your house cool.

you want to pre cool your home by lowering the thermostat before 4:00, close your window shutters, shades and curtains to keep the heat out and charge your electronic devices and cars in advance. that last suggestion just to help conserve energy during the flex alert. the bay area is in the midst of a little heat wave. for example, yesterday concord hit 103 degrees. livermore where i'm at, very similar temps. hot weeks like this significantly increase the risk for wildfires. cal fire tells us these kind of heat waves are a reminder that the fire season is almost year-round and it's stretching resources like never before. >> there's no way we're going to reverse it. it's only going to get worse. we just have to adapt. we have to build resilient communities. >> reporter: it was so hot yesterday in the east bay, b.a.r.t. had to slow some of the

trains down to 44 miles an hour or less to prevent potential problems in the heat. this is a new policy after tracks warped in triple-digit heat in june which triggered a minor derailment. live in livermore, bob redell, "today in the bay." >> very concerning. thanks, bob. 6:34 this morning. happening now the world health organization meeting just getting under way. this is to change the name of what we call the monkeypox virus. some argue the term may be derogatory. others suggest it could have racist connotations. w.h.o. leaders have addressed the problem and believe a name change might be in order. that's leading to today's public forum. dr. peter chin hong says calling it monkeypox is also biologically false. >> this virus is not predominantly occurring in

monkeys. it's a rat disease or rodent disease. i think the w.h.o. is trying to get away from naming things based on places, naming things based on people and based on animals so not to stigmatize things. >> last week the u.n. health organization renamed two of the vary russs. there's concern about ba.4.6 and ba.2.75. while covid cases right now are dropping, infectious disease experts say the trend could change, especially after seeing it spread across places like india. >> it certainly increased its prevalence in india, from nearly undetectable in the middle of may to now it's making up as much as 40% of cases in india.

>> as of last week, ba.4.6 made up about 2% of cases in california. experts believe it's moving just as fast as delta once did. speaking of moving, moving you forward on back to school. california in the first year of the three-year rollout of universal transitional kindergarten or pre-k. children turning five years old between september 2nd and february 2nd are eligible for the program, allowing them to start kindergarten at the age of 4. the student to teacher ratio is 12-1, half of the current t-k ratio. many of these children didn't get the same social interaction going into the pandemic. >> so now going into school, this is going to provide those opportunities for them, and in a school site, there's so much support with teachers and other professionals like myself,

professionals like myself, speach-language pathologists and school psychologists who will monitor the children and make sure they get the early intervention they need which is really crucial for development. >> universal transitional kindergarten provides a more play-based and developmental-based curriculum along with literacy, math, social studies and art. you're going to want to slow it down out on the roads. taking a live look outside over san jose right now. cool start to the morning. the coolest part of the day if you want to get out and walk or jog. >> i waited until after 8:00 to take my dog out last night. too hot. >> still hot today. with the rain moving through, the high humidity, as soon as you step outside, you'll break out into a sweat. now that the humidity is here, we'll be watching that rain. also, as kids head out for the first day of school in fremont, happy first day. upper 60s.

it starts out quite warm compared to what we normally have with our mid 50s as our typical start. we'll head up toward about 85 degrees with high humidity, but mostly sunny skies today. take a look at all of our microclimates. we'll reach 95 in concord this afternoon. combine that with the mugginess, and that heat index will be a factor today. macking it feel just as hot as it did yesterday. up to 90 today in novato. san francisco in the low 70s. mountain view reaching 84 degrees. we'll see mid 90s from morgan hill today and 98 in fairfield. we'll talk more about what's ahead as the humidity drops and look ahead for the weekend. mike you're doing predictive traffic reporting. >> the first part, you've got to watch the maps every day as i do over here. the slowing predicted westbound. that's your build. we'll zoom to 37, typical the first to show the slowing before

5:00. overnight we've been talking about that. i'll save you about 45 minutes if you can get through the area out of vallejo and toward 121 before 8:00 p.m. before they close the westbound direction. the rerouting is about 45 minutes longer as you travel up and over that closure. over here in san francisco, giants are playing oracle park again. we'll see the crowds just like the last couple nights. the rest of the bay shows a smooth drive. san jose shows a build. once again a new crash looks like 101 at oakland road. we'll check with chp. back to you. workers at one bay area sta bucks store taking an important stand. ahead on "today in the bay," the decision that is the first ever for the city of san francisco as the coffee chain tries to put the brakes on a growing trend of unionization. a big presidential win for president biden but a landslide loss for one of trump's foes.

we'll take a look. ♪ drop it like it's hot ♪ ♪ ♪ >> oh, yeah. snoop dogg dropping a new breakfast of champs, a creation that may soon be coming the a table near you. a quick happy birthday to executive producer ariel. she'll be off the rest of the week for well earned time off. on behalf of the entire team, a big happy birthday. >>

good wednesday morning. the time is 6:42. it's the first day of school for a lot of our largest school districts. we're kicking it off with some rain. take a look at scattered showers moving through, now moving through the peninsula, san mateo, burlingame, south san francisco now moving into the city as well. around the bayview and richmond districts, we'll be tracking this rain and the potential solve lightning in the forecast as fremont heads back, upper 60s as you walk out the door. we'll check that out in the forecast in a few minutes. looking at a bigger backup building from north 101 through san jose. there is a crash north of here at oakland road. we're sparse on the details. the backup has already arrived in the area. we'll talk about that and what your options are coming up. president biden signed what

he says is one of the most important bills ever to cross his desk. >> the inflation reduction act puts up billions to fight climate change. >> that's right. makes prescription drugs cheaper in some cases, gives tax breaks to people trying to save money at home while setting a minimum 15% tax on big corporations, some of which have not been paying tax at all. no new taxes for regular taxpayers. the new law should also reduce the deficit. it brings in more money than it spends. it's not quite the build back better bill biden had first pitched, but the white house says it's a sign they're getting things done. >> presidents should be judged not only by our words, but by our deeds, not by our rhetoric, but by our actions. not by our promise, but by reality. today is part of an extraordinary story that's being written by this administration and our brave allies in the congress. >> liz cheney lost her bid to keep her congressional seat in

wyoming tuesday. it was a landslide. her opponent backed by donald trump won easily. cheney, of course, stood up to trump and voted for his impeachment and criticized trump for his attacks on democracy. a trump spokesperson told "the new york times," quote, she may have been fighting for principles, but they are not the principles of the republican party. cheney was well aware she was going to lose and said the loss was worth standing on those principles. >> two years ago i won this primary with 73% of the votes. i could easily have done the same again. the path was clear, but it would have required that i go along with president trump's lie about the 2020 election. it would have required that i enable his on going efforts to unravel our democratic system and attack the foundations of our republic. that was a path i could not and would not take. we must be very clear-eyed about the threat we face and about

what is required to defeat it. i have said since january 6th that i will do whatever it takes to ensure donald trump is never again anywhere near the oval office, and i mean it. >> cheney, of course, will still be in congress for the rest of the year, will go back to washington to further investigate trump. she'll be on the "today" show coming up at 7:00. i've seen the clip. she says she's thinking about running for president. trump lawyer rudy giuliani will be in georgia today, forced to testify before a grand jury investigating trump's attempts to overturn the election. nbc has reported giuliani's lawyers have advised him he's a target of the criminal investigation. this piece of paper i've been holding, a late add, former vice president pence said at a breakfast this morning, a political breakfast that he is considering or would consider an invitation to testify before the january 6th committee. no request has been made, and

the remarkable thing is not that he would consider it, but that he's speaking about it at all. he never has. we'll talk more about that on social media. on facebook you'll find me @scottmcgrewtv. no negotiation involving striking kaiser mental health workers. this is at kaiser in santa clara. this is now day three of the mental health workers strike involving about 2,000 workers in northern and central valley in california. they're demanding higher pay, increased staffing and shorter wait times for patients. kaiser saying they're making a fair offer to the workers and hired 200 new clinicians since last year. we love to bring you certain stories. the weirdest foods or products that we can find. yes, we do that every morning, not every morning, but most mornings on "today in the bay." this one takes the cup.

>> it's chipotle's water cup candle that smells like lemonade. it's a tribute to beverage themes out there. you know the ones that ask for a free water cup, sneelk a little something else at the fountain? they see you. so the fountain treat there, the candle, goes on sale tomorrow. mow move over cheerios. snoop loopz. the rapper says they'll taste very delicious, fo shizzle. he also has a line. >> 29 crimes. >> i purchased it. i haven't had it yet. why not? >> him and martha stewart, i've gotten both of those. >> maybe adult consumption.

>> don't want to send your kids to school on that. >> i called laura very early this morning. we wanted to match the sunrise. you brought the yellow. i brought the orange. take a look behind us. we coordinated this. >> look at that. bam. >> mike and i bringing the gray and the brown. >> you've got the fog covered. >> it's so amazing out there. we have the monsoon moisture. this is all courtesy of wildfire smoke, monsoon moisture and the marine layer fog all working together to give us this. some of us hosting pictures on the facebook page. i love those. i also want to see your kids going back to school. this first day of school picture, starting with temperatures in the upper 60s in the south bay. it's going to be muggy today, so the kids may be complaining that it's so hot. you may want to dress in short sleeves and shorts and also pack that water bottle to stay

hydrated today. we're going to be watching a lot going on. there's rain moving again. yes, we're starting out with quick-moving showers. this will be possible at any point today. right now it's affecting not only your 280 drive, but 101 through the peninsula. heavier rain moving through burlingame, pushing into south city as well as moving into san francisco. we're going to see the showers that start out today. that continues to move through with the first wave there may be more scattered showers developing, especially for the north bay, going into this afternoon. any of these cells may also produce rain heavy enough to give us hail and possibly lightning. that's what we're really concerned about. they raised the red flag for lake county. this is where we'll have the highest potential of lightning-sparked wildfires for today. make sure you have the nbc bay area app to get alerts if anything is coming your way. as far as these temperatures, even though the numbers look

lower, it's going to feel just as hot as yesterday. tomorrow when the drier air comes in, a high of 83 will feel like 83 in fremont. mid 90s in fairfield. friday it starts to get hot again, reaching 101. we're keeping the mild weather near the coastline. take a look at our seven-day forecast. a lot of changes today, hot, humid, a chance of thunderstorms. for tomorrow, drier, 94 degrees. slightly hotter on friday. milder for the weekend. san francisco in the mid 70s today, will bring it back to the 70s tomorrow and to the weekend. mike, what's the update on the crash in san jose? >> chp hasn't undated but i've seen the speed sensors easing up. it was enough to ripple back and cause more of a backup approaching tully road. the build on capital expressway and 87. this is right on schedule. you can take 280 around that backup and jump on to 87 north of the slowing through downtown.

with all the volume, stay the course. i think 101 will sort itself out to about standard. possible for wet roads on the peninsula as the rain just traveled through. the bay bridge has the biggest backup, the metering lights are on, of course. 6:51 right now. happening now, plans falling into place to provide families in need free dental screenings. it involves western dental and orthodontics and the health plan of san mateo. this will be offered to children of all ages with an emphasis on kindergartens and first graders. a quick look at the top stories this morning, including the summer sizzle lingering in parts of the bay area as a u new flex alert takes effect over concerns about the power grid. we'll talk about measures you need to take today. >> reporter: let this be your alarm clock. today is back to school in san

francisco. ahead we'll tell you what the district is doing to make sure enough teachers are back in the classroom. let's continue our back-to-school coverage with our morning announcements from nbc bay area. we want to have those nbc bay area and bay area superintendents saying good morning to you. >> so, as we start the school year, definitely student safety is still a top priority. we have our masking policy in place. we're still asking all students to wear a mask. it is strongly recommended. we're following the state guidance. we're also encouraging families to test their students before the start of the school year. go to the website to see how to access testing before the school year begins. >> thanks, dr. wayne. we've been showing you those

different area district superintendents throughout the month. you can see them all if you missed any of them, on our home missed any of them, on our home page, go to californians have a choice

between two initiatives on sports betting. prop 27 generates hundreds of millions every year to permanently fund getting people off the streets a prop 26? not a dime to solve homelessness prop 27 has strong protections to prevent minors from betting. prop 26? no protections for minors. prop 27 helps every tribe, including disadvantaged tribes. prop 26? nothing for disadvantaged tribes vote yes on 27.

6:57. welcome back. we're moving you forward with a look at our top stories on "today in the bay." >> including hot weather around the state, triggering a flex alert for later this afternoon. a live look outside across the bay area. the flex alert issued over concerns the grid may face an overload. this is mainly due to higher ac use. the alert starts at 4:00 p.m. and lasts through 9:00 p.m. california independent system operator advices you turn off unnecessary lights, avoid using major appliances and set the thermostat at 78 degrees or higher. moving you forward on back to school. a big day on tap for tens of thousands of san francisco opportunities. the problem is the district is still filling some open

positions. "today in the bay's" ginger conejero saab is live in san francisco. sounds like there's a last-minute solution here. >> reporter: that's right, laura. the district is reassigning and recruiting teachers, and they tell us they have enough to fill classrooms for this back to school. earlier this month the district said it was short 100 teachers. now they say every classroom will be staffed with credentialed personnel, many of whom are in leadership and curriculum roles. that doesn't mean every vacancy is filled. as of monday, there were 60 vacancies left districtwide compared to last year's 40. when it comes to covid, vaccination is not a requirement for students this year. neither are masks. families are encouraged to test their students before they head back to the classroom. as for the district, they are actively recruiting teachers for more permanent roles. live in san francisco, ginger conejero saab, "today in the bay." >> thank you, ginger. new this morning, workers at a san francisco starbucks have reportedly become the first in the city to union nine.

this is at 18th and castro in the castro. the vote comes the same week starbucks asked the national labor relations board to halt union elections citing excessive involvement by union organizers. unions now represent starbucks workers at more than 100 locations nationally. another look at the forecast before we go. >> been all over the place. we have off-and-on showers, hot today and humid. we're watching out for the chance of lightning as well. you want to make sure you have that nbc bay area app so you can get alerts. we can see a mixed bag of weather for today. >> looking at a chance of recovery here, 101 moving better at our camera at 680. the earlier crash cleared around oakland road. still jammed coming up past story. there's the bay bridge towards san francisco. it's rarely clear. >> no kidding. slow down in the school zones today. a lot of kids heading back to

school. got to be careful. they're riding their bikes, walking, taking the bus. good luck kids. >> we'll be back at 7:25 with another look at your local forecast and weather. >> that's right. join us for nbc bay area news midday at 11:00 a.m. have a great day. try to keep cool. good morning. it's wednesday and we're talking politics. liz cheney going down to defeat in wyoming. >> and she'll be right here with us in an exclusive live interview. it is wednesday, august 17 and this is "today." ousted -- liz cheney loses big iner home state. wyoming voters going all-in with the opponent hand-picked by former president trump. >> his clear and unwavering support from the beginning