please take care of yourself and each other. good night. i'm not happy with the way that pg&e handled the wildfires. yeah. yeah. i totally, totally understand. we're adding a ton of sensors. as soon as something comes in contact with the power line, it'll turn off so that there's not a risk that it's gonna fall to the ground and start a fire. okay. and i want you to be able to feel the improvements. we've been able to reduce wildfire risk from our equipment by over 90%. that's something i want to believe. [skateboard sounds]

to go, and now she's reportedly being indicted. what we're learning about the charges against oakland's former mayor. good afternoon. i'm audrey asistio. welcome to nbc bay area news at 4:30. the department of justice is preparing to release new information on the fbi investigation into sheng thao. we are tracking other stories on this thursday as well, including another fbi raid. we are just learning about this one, targeting a bay area councilman. our robert honda is looking into what agents might have been looking for. also, as crews make progress on the wildfires in la, some sense of normalcy is returning. the work being done to reopen schools for students displaced by those flames. and putting a hold on the citrus harvest. how the fear of ice raids could lead to higher prices at the grocery store. our damian trujillo is talking to his sources in the ag industry about fears in the migrant worker community. but let's go ahead and begin with that

breaking news today. two months after former oakland mayor sheng thao was recalled, she is now facing criminal charges. the san francisco chronicle is reporting a federal grand jury indicted tor today following a corruption investigation. it comes after fbi raided her home. you might remember back in june. at the time, she said she wasn't the target and denied any wrongdoing. agents also went to the homes of members of the dewan family, owners of cal waste, the recycling company that has a contract with the city of oakland. the u.s. attorney's office has scheduled a news conference tomorrow, where investigators are set to make an announcement about the case. all right. now to another fbi investigation surrounding a bay area politician. agents served a search warrant at the home of a san leandro council member yesterday. so let's go ahead and bring in our robert honda, who has spent his day digging into what exactly happened there. robert, what are you learning? well, you mentioned the controversy surrounding the former oakland mayor sheng thao, and this case

would apparently be connected. when you kind of look at the surface evidence again, nothing has been proven or there's no charges involved in this case. but city councilman brian azevedo's home was raided by the fbi yesterday morning. and as youentioned earlier, sheng thao home was also raided by the fbi last june. that isn't the only connection, though. both of them were involved in a 2023 trip to vietnam that was sponsored at least partly by the duong family, and it seems as though many of the people involved in that trip are sort of connected somehow in this fbi investigation. so that's what the speculation has been by many people here, that the raid on brian azevedo's home is connected to the sheng thao case. we will probably find out more from the department of justice tomorrow, but apparently those dots are being connected between sheng thao and brian

azevedo. a lot going on there. you mentioned that the raid happened yesterday morning. i know you got to speak with a neighbor out there today. what did they tell you? well, i talked to a number of neighbors, actually, and some of them who saw the fbi raid going down and weren't sure what was going on and others who heard about it. and of course, everybody seemed to know that that was brian azevedo's home. so they knew that there was something going on. some of them that we talked to, though, weren't really that aware of the sheng thao controversy. so they hadn't made that connection in their own minds. some of the people that did, though, told me that they felt as though the fbi raid is pretty much an indication that he is somehow involved, directly or indirectly, whether he's guilty of anything that hasn't been proven. and of course, he and his family and people here at san leandro city hall have been saying that he is innocent until proven guilty. and a lot of the neighbors actually made that point as well, that they

don't want to jump to any conclusions. but seeing the fbi and not, say, the police or somebody else conducting this raid certainly was something that was significant in their minds. a lot of new developments today. shirley will learn a lot more tomorrow, but really looking forward to your full story later on this evening. thank you, robert, for that preview. all right. we're going to take you to southern california now where there is some reprieve amid the deadly wildfires. this is new drone video over malibu showing damage from the palisades fire. red flag warnings have officially expired for much of the los angeles area, and fortunately, the high winds that were expected yesterday didn't materialize. that gave fire crews a chance to make some progress with both the eaton and palisades fires. evacuations have also been lifted for several neighborhoods near the palisades fire burn zones, but some will have to wait at least another week before they can return to their homes. and we do have an update today for thousands of students impacted by the eaton fire in altadena.

five schools were severely damaged by that fire. more than 10,000 of the district's 14,000 students were evacuated from their homes in the devastating days that followed, and nearly 1400 district employees live within that evacuation zone. a number of the evacuation zones, some of them actually lost their homes. teams have been clearing tons of debris from campuses and sanitizing the properties. all students are expected to return to campus by early february. the district says it will reopen schools in phases over a two week period. but i am confident in the pusd. i'm confident in the leadership of the pusd that we will bounce back. students in los angeles unified school district returned to school on monday. the eaton fire is now 55% contained at more than 14,000 acres, and the palisades fire is 22% contained and more than 23,000 acres. the combined death toll in both fires is now

up to 27 people. let's bring in our meteorologist, vianey arana. now, vianey, you have been staying on top of this, and it looks like the winds have definitely calmed down for them. certainly good news here. when it comes to containment, if you look at the dials the center number represents the wind speeds. but we've also matched the temperatures right up there. and if you notice this percentage here also revealing that humidity, which is a big component as well when we're talking about elevated fire conditions. now we've seen a nice recovery with that humidity, especially around the coastline. notice there near topanga beach, now at about 72% areas closer to the water, including santa monica at about 60%. still a couple areas a bit drier. this is pretty normal into the interior. notice right there stone canyon reservoir at about 28%. but the significant decrease in the winds is going to be very great for that containment. notice i took this forward through the next couple of hours. and this is what it looks like right now. so let's take a look at what we're looking ahead for, because it is expected right now that we could see the return of some gusty

winds as we inch into that sunday, monday, tuesday window, not just for southern california, the return of the santa ana winds, but also for the bay area. so we're going to monitor the wind for next week. and this is what the models right now are showing for us here locally. notice the purple colors here. that's going to bring some concern for extreme fire weather, because we could see the gusts upwards of 4050 plus. and that of course the strong gusts possibility is going to mean the offshore winds start kicking up sunday into monday. so we're going to monitor as far as any wind advisories here locally. but we're also expecting to see the winds kick up as well in southern california right now. and just to give you an idea, we've had an unusually dry january. the last bay area rain was friday, january 3rd. so far, 60% of annual rain typically happens between december and february, so we're running a bit behind. but we'll be back with your local forecast and what we can expect in the next 24 hours and the weekend coming up. in just a few minutes, i'll send it back to you. all right. vianey. thank you. and you can find resources to help victims of the

southern california wildfires and develop an emergency plan for your family at nbcbayarea.com. we're also posting updates on the wildfires and investigations underway right now to immigration fears that could lead to fruit shortages in the future. the kern county farm bureau announced that the citrus harvest is on hold because of recent ice raids. farm workers are too scared to pick up the crops. our damian trujillo spent his day looking into this for us. damien, i understand you've been busy talking to ag leaders about this. yeah, it appears some of those workers started returning somewhat reluctantly, still in fear of some of those ice raids that took place in kern county last week. but it's not the same. and the california farm bureau is looking at the situation to see what any action, if any, actions they need to take because of what's happening there in kern county, several arrests that were made by border patrol agents there last week of undocumented immigrants with criminal records and some who just happen to be bystanders were also taken in,

according to some news reports out of that area. so that has concerns for people who live on the other side of california, here in the central valley of salinas and the salinas valley. they fear that what happened there. the fears are going to trickle over to the salinas valley. they count on 55,000 migrant farm workers to harvest their crops during peak harvest season in the salinas valley. it's a $4 billion industry there, and they worry that it's not just the actual action of ice raids, but the fear of potential ice raids might keep some of those folks from coming in and harvesting those plants. so they are concerned. so, damien, you know, amid the uncertainty and the fears, a lot of people are wondering how could this impact all of us? i see you're standing there right in front of a safeway at the grocery stores. will we see citrus prices increase? well, not only citrus, but a lot of other crops as well. whatever is being picked from lettuce and tomatoes to broccoli, everything that goes on your caesar salad,

your pizza, everything. those prices might go up again, because if those vegetables and fruits are believed to die on the vine because nobody is there to pick them, then the growers are going to have to import these fruits and vegetables from south america. and then you have import prices and tariffs and everything else that goes along with the importing products. and so if they're going to pay more to get that product to you, you're going to pay more at the cash register as well. all right damien, thank you. looking forward to your story as well later on this evening. we'll see you then. and it's not just the immigration policy president elect trump has vowed to change. he's promised a long list of significant changes when he takes office next week. on several occasions, the president elect has said he would quickly pardon people convicted for their role in the january 6th attack on the capitol. and when it comomes to foreign policy, m. trump is promising to end the war in ukraine. as for the economy, trump plans to implement a 25% tariff on products imported from mexico

and canada. because importe pay tariffs, they usually pass the higher costs on to consumers. so that means products coming from mexico or canada would cost you more. he also wants to cancel the electric vehicle mandate. that's the order that president biden signed back in 2021, setting a nationwide goal aiming for 50% of new cars and trucks sold by 2030 to be zero emission. trump is also pledging what he calls a made in america auto industry, and another one of trump's most frequent promises is the commitment to increase oil drilling in the united states. and when it comes to transgender rights, the president elect wants to end gender affirming care practices. he's also pledging to limit trans athletes participation in women's sports, and he said he would cut federal funding for schools, pushing critical race theory, gender politics and other political content to students. still ahead, a warning from california's attorney general what he is promising to do to

anyone looking to price gouge amid the southern california wildfire recovery. also, she saw the tragic images and jumped into action. yes, right there, four year old girl starts a toy donation to help the victims of the wildfires. our ian cull talked to her and her neighbors as well, who are also pitching in. but before we head to break, we want to know what trending story would you like to see later on in this newscast? have a survey up right now on my instagram, and you still have a little bit more time to vote for one of these stories you see right here. new stamps will bring back childhood memories. comedians who receive mark twain prize or new star pick to headline vegas sphere.e'll tell you w

scott bettman because he he got an update today about the housing market in the bay area and it sounds pretty good. scott. yeah. audrey, this is kind of what we were waiting for. the latest numbers from redfin showing both in san jose, the south bay and san francisco. we have seen more housing

inventory, more homes for sale on the market. it seems that sellers are now saying, hey, you know what? the market is just so hot and the prices are so good, we are actually going tput more homes on the market. obviously, that's very good news for potential buyers because you have more choices and less of a chance that you're going to be outbid by 15 or 20 people each time. so now things are starting to see some action. and the last time we saw this was in the spring. and so it's kind of good when even with cold weather, we're seeing some homes on the market getting some movement. yes. all right. we'll see you at 6:00. you bet. a miraculous close call has turned into a devastating blow. less than a week ago. this house you're looking at was actually spared from the palisades fire. neighboring homes were destroyed, but this residence was largely untouched by flames. but today, a landslide sent a mix of mud and wildfire debris from the property above. and you can see there that home now appears to have been split in two and pushed off its foundation. all right, so many

of us can feel helpless, right, when we see natural disasters like the wildfires in l.a. county. but a very young girl in san jose is showing the world that help starts with simply taking action. in fact, her action inspired an entire neighborhood. nbc bay area's ian cull talked to her and her parents today. okay, ian, explain to us what exactly what exactly did she do? yeah, it all started when she was watching breaking news of the fires. like so many of us last week, she was watching with her parents. that's when her dad says four year old amari walked into her playroom and started gathering her toys, telling her parents she wanted to give them to the kids in la. then, after she asked about where those people will live and some more discussions, they decided to make a flier,, pasit out to some friends and school families, then neighbors asking for help, gathering goods to donate, and in a matter of days, they collected enough to fill two pickup trucks with clothes, diapers, formula and toys. because you need to help other

people. why do you need to help other people? so they have enough stuff, and a lot of us have more than we should have. and if we can help these people, they're starting from scratch. basically, they have nothing. and i feel like we're fortunate enough to have, you know, we still have a roof over our head. and sweet little amari realized that. so how are they getting those donations to la? yeah. so they actually sifted through news articles and found another group that was planning a donation drop off, and that one was in santa rosa. so they connected with them, dropped off the donations last night, and everything they collected is on the way south as we speak. and if you don't have an amari in your neighborhood to inspire you, but would like to help out, the red cross says the easiest thing to do and sometimes the best thing is to donate money. those financial donations will allow us to get the things what they need, get financial assistance and work with the people needs on field, on site

and of course, keep providing them with a safe place to stay and make sure you've vetted the organization you're donating to. you can find a how to help section on our website, nbcbayarea.com, and you'll hear more from amari and her dad coming up at 530. all right. great job amari. looking forward to that full story for her. thanks. the state's attorney general is keeping an eye out for price gougers. since the fire started last week, there have been several reports of scammers and property owners preying on victims, hiking up prices for goods and rentals. ag rob bonta says special agents will investigate leads that came directly from victim complaints and the impacted areas. bonta also announced a new website to report price gouging in those areas. state law prohibits boosting a price by more than 10% of what it was before a state or local declaration of emergency. violators face jail time or fines of up to $10,000.

back here now with meteorologist vianey arana to tell us what it looks like. it was just absolutely beautiful out there today. comfortable temperatures. audrey, look at this live look of downtown san jose. i mean, it really has been pleasant and the skies have been clear, but that's going to make for chilly nights. let's get right to your microclimate forecast to talk about what we can expect in the next couple of hours. and up ahead now, right now we've got several 60s still on the map, a couple of upper 50s. but aside from that, i mean, these temperatures are definitely comfortable satellite showcasing those clear conditions that we've kind of been enjoying the past couple of days. and i want to talk about what we're going to look at in the next couple of hours. so it's about 63 deges right now. you're going to notice we're going to start to dip down into those 50s and 40s by about 10:00. not bad with the temperatures right now, but you're going to see what's going to happen tomorrow morning. now, 59 right now in san francisco, we're going to dip down into the 40s as well. by about 10:00, walnut creek at about 62 degrees. and notice it gets a little bit chillier here a lot sooner. at around 8:00, we start

to see some 40s out in walnut creek. and here's what we can expect. at about 1 a.m. we see this frost advisory go into effect for the highlighted areas in blue we can expect low to mid 30s. we could see as well some patchy frost for the highlighted areas. and here's how cold we could get. this is taking it through tomorrow morning. we could see a couple of 30s several 30s in through parts of the north bay down through parts of the interior as well. so bundle up tonight and into tomorrow. good news though, by the afternoon we will warm up just slightly into the 50s and 60s for tomorrow into friday. and just looking ahead into your 7-day forecast. also keep in mind we could see some patchy morning fog along some areas for tomorrow morning. now saturday and sunday temperatures look fantastic as well. we're of course monitoring for that wind event heading into sunday and monday we're going to see the winds pick up and notice we stay with those 30s overnight. so make sure to join us once again at 5:00. chief meteorologist jeff ranieri is going to go into more detail about those wind chances for next week. send it

back to you. all right. vianey, thanks. at the anchor desk with our janelle wang, who's working on the 5:00 news. hi, audrey. well, no suspects. limited leads in wanting the public's help. vallejo and solano county leaders pleading for information about the shootout over the weekend that put a four year old in the hospital. she was an innocent bystander during a gun battle in the streets. and we are just weeks away from one of the biggest events in san francisco. every year, the lunar new year parade. but this time, the crowds will be even larger. the high profile event coming to the city the exact same weekend. all that and more coming up at five. all right. looking forward to janelle seeing a little bit still to come. top trending stories voted by you on my instagram survey. also, it is the newest, hottest place for donuts in the city. we'll show you why people are willing to wait more than an

nice to meet ya. my name is david. i've been a pharmacist for 44 years and i'm from flowery branch, georgia. when i have customers come in i recommend prevagen. number one, because it's effective. does not require a prescription. and i've been taking it quite a while myself and i know it works. and i love it when the customers come back in and tell me, "david, that really works so good for me." makes my day. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription.

survey. some news out of bikini bottom. the u.s. postal service is announcing new stamps for 2025 that are guaranteed to unlock some childhood memories. here they are. yep. spongebob squarepants and goodnight moon stamps collection includes four spongebob designs, as well as eight goodnight moon stamps featuring images straight out of the 1947 bedtime story. and as always, i will be posting links to the other stories you voted for on my instagram. thank you so much for voting. okay. san francisco 49ers george kittle is a finalist for the usaa salute to service award. the nfl made that announcement today. the award recognizes and honors the military and veteran community. although kittle has never served, his uncle and grandfather did. and kittle has donated more than 400 and 49ers tickets to military heroes and hosts them at every game, he and his family also created an app that offers free mental health resources for veterans. the usaa will announce the award

recipient in three weeks. okay, expect to wait in a long line if you want to get into a new upscale donut shop in san francisco. take a look. this was the line today to enter george's donuts just opened last friday, and according to the chronicle, donuts sold out within hours and now customers are being limited to six treats each. each donut costs about 4 to $5. now we're trying to keep up with the demand. it's a problem, but a good probl to have. it's really. yeah, it's been quite nice. there's like a lot of choices for everybody. the vegan gluten free options. yeah, i would recommend. we're told george's makes more than donuts though, including cinnamon rolls and coffee cake. also serve salad sandwiches and wine. thank you so much for joining us. at 430. jess and janelle are working on the 5:00 newscast next, and we are back in two minutes.

involving former oakland mayor sheng thao sheng thao has reportedly been criminally indicted. the details were uncovered at this hour. also increased calls for change after a toddler is shot in vallejo. the plans being discussed right now. two major events coming to san francisco on the same weekend. how city leaders plan on making sure the lunar new year parade and. nba. nba all star game are both safe. the news at five starts right now. thanks for joining us. i'm jessica aguirre and i'm janelle wang. we're going to begin with breaking news out of oakland, seven months after the home of former mayor sheng thao was raided by the fbi. the san francisco chronicle is reporting she's been criminally indicted by a federal grand jury, senate counsel and those who supported the recall. efforts to remove sheng thao from office are now weighing in. nbc bay area's velena jones joins us live in

the east bay with the latest. velena, what are you hearing? well, those reported indictments come after months of investigation and speculation. and tonight, it is worth noting that the fbi has not confirmed either of those indictments. now, this all comes after the fbi raided then mayor sheng thao home back in june, taking away veral boxes. the same day, agents raided the homes and businesses of multiple members of the dewan family who own cal waste solutions in oakland. recycling contractor tor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claimed she was not the target of the investigation. she also publicly criticized the fbi for the timing on the raid, noting it happened amid a growing push to recall her from office. those recall efforts ulultimately succeeded. tonight, those reports of tao's indictment have recall supporters celebrating while leaving some members of city council concerned. this is really concerning and