what volunteers in the east bay are saying about reaching that goal today, and why raising money now is so important. and as the bay area welcomes in 2025, the chp says it will be out in force to make sure people celebrate safely. more on the maximum enforcement effort that is officially underway and people are already starting to

line the san francisco waterfront for the big fireworks show tonight, as restaurants and businesses hope the crowds will give them an economic boost as they ring in the new year. [music] >> this is ktvu fox two news at 730. >> good evening, i'm claudine wong. thousands of people are getting ready to pack the embarcadero for the annual fireworks show. the skies are expected to be clear with chilly temperatures for the festivities at midnight. many bars and restaurants in the city are hoping for a busy night, with plenty of customers enjoying an evening out tucked under the bay bridge, the high dive bar may have one of the best views of the night's entertainment. several residents say they are eagerly waiting for the celebration to begin. >> i have friends and family that i'll be with, and we'll be watching the their barges on the bay with fireworks on those barges, and at midnight they'll

be blasting them up sky high. you need to save it. >> san francisco police said although they don't have any credible or specific threats, they will have a large police presence. they are urging people to get home safely by using public transit. if you are on the roads tonight, keep in mind the chp will be out there with you. the highway patrol's maximum enforcement period is underway, which means all hands on deck for the law enforcement agency. ktvu henry lee took a ride with the chp for a look at what they'll be watching for on the beat with the california highway patrol in oakland on new year's eve. >> ktvu shadowed officers jesse ricard and nathan hale as they prepare to crack down on dangerous drivers on new year's eve. first, they had to check their weapons and make sure they're slick. top all white dodge charger, nicknamed the polar bear, was in good working order. 96 out of the requested the first order of business, checking out a license plate issue at the dmv on 85th avenue in east oakland. the officers

referred the driver to oakland police, and then it was back on the streets, going back and forth on 580, focusing on driving to arrive, especially during the holiday season. >> we're focusing on speed enforcement, reckless driving, distracted driving, driving under the influence. >> they pulled over this infiniti g37 near 35th avenue not because it was stolen, but because it had a clear cover on the back plate and tinted front windows. but there was a surprise explanation. >> technically, his is still illegal window tint, but he does have a prescription for it, like a medical. yeah, so sometimes i don't know. yeah, yeah. so it has to be a 5% or less and then it has to be removable. i don't believe his is so his is still technically illegal, but he did try and get a prescription for it. it is a real prescription. so we're just going to give him a verbal warning for it. >> they then came across this jetta rolling on the freeway with a flat tire, possibly because of a pothole. >> don't. do not stop here. do not block lanes. keep driving, keep driving. >> the officers ended up putting on the spare tire themselves at

a gas station. the driver was appreciative. >> i'm just really grateful. i thought i was in trouble for a second because i was on the freeway and my tire popped, and i was kind of in a, you know, kind of not going slow. >> we could change your tire. get her on her way and get her home to see her family. so it's really it's not just about writing tickets. it's not just about enforcement. we just want everybody to be safe for the holiday season. >> a traffic break here. a traffic break, is a rolling roadblock where the chp weaves across all lanes back and forth to slow traffic. other cars behind them are not supposed to pass here. they did this break because of this nissan sentra stranded in the center divide of 580 near park boulevard. with the traffic slowed and eventually stopped, the officers escorted the sentra to the right shoulder where it's safer. so the chp message this new year's is simple drive responsibly so that everyone can safely ring in 2025. in oakland, henry lee ktvu, fox two news. >> well, waymo will be out and

running in san francisco on this new year's eve, and the company says it has plans in place to deal with people who may be too inebriated and fall asleep in the back of those driverless cars. the chronicle reports that waymo vehicles first realized something is wrong if no one opens the doors when it gets to its destination, then waymo employees who can see the live cameras in the car can look to see if someone has fallen asleep. waymo says that employee will try to wake up riders and call 911 if they do not respond, but reportedly that has not happened yet, and bart is going to be running special extended service for people celebrating. tonight. it is. new year's eve. service will operate on the orange, the yellow and the blue lines. the last east bay bound train running through downtown san francisco will be at 1:30 a.m, and the last southbound train headed towards millbrae will run through downtown san francisco at 210 in the morning. meantime, the san mateo county transit district, another option for tonight. samtrans will be

offering free rides tonight starting at 8:00, and those will run through three tomorrow morning. after that, the transit agency will be running a sunday schedule for tomorrow. the detailed routes can be found on the sam tran's website. all right, let's take you out to the roadways. here is the golden gate bridge toll plaza at this hour. and you can see from this live picture traffic moving along just fine. a steady stream of drivers. but keep in mind, a lot of people head on into the city from the north bay to watch those fireworks, so things could get a little busier later. and let's take you over to the east bay and the bay bridge toll plaza. that is also a good looking scene. i've taken a look at the roads all across the bay area, and everything looks to be smooth sailing right now, so just be safe if you are headed out on the roadways this evening to celebrate and welcome in 2025. well, new. at 730, a firefighter was injured fighting a house fire in alameda county. officials say that fire broke out around 8:00 last night in the unincorporated cherryland

neighborhood, near hayward. the firefighter's injuries were not life threatening. fire crews say two elderly residents we displaced from the townhouse on nset boulevard near oakland avenue. the cause of that fire is still under investigation. well, local food bank is asking for help to meet its giving goals so those in need won't face food insecurity. the food bank of contra costa and solano serves tens of thousands of families, and they have set a holiday challenge of raising enough money for 3 million meals. right now, they say there are about $500,000 short of that goal. we spoke with volunteers sorting food at the warehouse in concord on this new year's eve. >> a paying it forward. yeah, at some point i may need it. somebody i know may need it. it's something to do that i feel good about doing. and i can do. >> food bank officials say they're hopeful that they will meet their challenge. they say they raised about half the money for the whole year. during this holiday season. well, new at

730, the city of vallejo has named its next police chief. jason todd, who has been serving as interim chief, has been chosen to serve as department's permanent chief. he took over as interim chief in 2022 and served for over 27 years with the san jose police department before joining vallejo in 2021. the city says he's helped to stabilize staffing levels, improve the relationship with the community, and helped to implement state reforms. chief todd says he hopes to continue the work and momentum in elevating the vallejo police department. [music] well, for homeowners in fire risk areas, the search for insurance can be an uphill battle. today, the insurance commissioner announced a plan to solve that. why? consumer advocates are skeptical. and santa cruz businesses say they hope people looking to welcome in 2025 also bring with them a much needed economic boost.

>> and in weather, here's our live camera looking out toward san francisco and the bay bridge. no fog, no rain to track for tonight, at least here in the bay area, but some scattered high clouds and some cold temperatur . we'll have your fore st for new ea

released his long awaited emergency regulations, and the hope was that it would help address the state's home insurance crisis and bring home insurers back into the state for people who are living in fire prone areas. but as ktvu tom vacar tells us, the solution isn't that simple. >> this is what the deputy

insurance commissioner told ktvu on december 12th about the new emergency insurance regulations, essentially effective immediately. >> under the reforms, we're putting in place, insurance companies in order to utilize these risk tools like like modeling, they have to write more policies. that's the change, and we'll enforce that through our rate authority. >> the promise was that the regulations would force insurers to sell policies equivalent to 85% of their statewide market share, including in wildfire areas. >> we think that long term, this is going to help stabilize rates, because right now people are experiencing balloon premiums and rate spikes, but they're not getting the benefit of increased competition. >> consumer watchdog, the major consumer advocacy group overseeing the department of insurance, counters with this. >> if we look at what happened in other states in north carolina and florida, we're

going to see rates go up 40%. >> the group says the regulations are seriously flawed. >> there is no legally binding commitment in this document that they have to cover more people. but we're all going to be paying more. there is nothing in all of these like, you know, 70 pages of regulations and explanation about the cost impact on consumers added to rates going forward will be the cost of so-called reinsurance policies insurance companies buy to protect themselves for massive losses, like we saw during california's worst wildfires. >> another danger pagan california home insurance rate increases, in part to the worldwide catastrophe bond market. >> we will be paying for the risks of hurricanes in malaysia. >> independent insurance agent karl sussman, who stands between what policies the insurers will provide him to sell and the customers who must be able to afford them. he says whatever

happens will not likely cause massive additional spikes. >> it is going to make it infinitely easier not only to obtain coverage, but to get competitive bids from more than one company. when there are more options, there's more competitiveness in the marketplace and prices will tend to go down. i think we've seen the worst of it as far as the prices go. >> consumer watchdog says it will sue in court either to block implementation of the new rules or set them aside altogether. tom vacar, ktvu, fox two news. >> all right on this new year's eve, meteorologist mark tamayo. looking at the weather and everyone has the same question because fireworks, i mean, those shows have been, you know, affected by low cloud cover. >> yeah, i think we're conditioned because of the summertime fog. yeah, the july fog. so if you're like a if you're at a fireworks aficionado, you might want to. this is your night, right? this is your night july. yeah.

because yes, the weather will definitely behave tonight. no rain. that is good. yeah, we're looking pretty good for tonight as we head into your new year's eve forecast in san francisco. and we are not expecting much in the way of rain or anything like that. just some high clouds drifting overhead and some cold temperatures. so definitely bundle up with a thick coat and sweater or something like that. temperatures dropping off into the upper 40s by midnight. so definitely a chill in the air. in fact, cold enough that we do have a frost advisory for the north bay inland valleys and the santa clara valley that begins tonight 10:00 until 9 a.m. on wednesday, the first day of 2025. here's the satellite and the radar. as you can see, some clouds streaming over the bay area. in terms of rainfall, the bulk of the rain is focused up to our north, right along the north coast, up in eureka, right around crescent city. this is where i spent new year's in 1999, up in up in eureka, my first television market. so yeah, some high clouds drifting into the bay area right now, and there's a slight chance of a sprinkle moving into the north coast of california. and also maybe actually right around mendocino county, and a slight

chance closer to sonoma county, right around the coastline. but as far as current numbers out there, we do have partly to mostly cloudy skies. temperatures have cooled off into the 40s for fairfield and livermore. san jose 54, san francisco 51 and santa rosa 50 degrees. here's our live camera looking out toward san fraisco and the bay bridge. and we're always concerned about the fog, as claudine mentioned. but fear not for tonight we just have some high clouds drifting in from the north, and that's just about it. after the fireworks tomorrow morning, we're expecting some cloud cover. a frost advisory as we talked about 30s and 40s to start things off for tomorrow. so in the short term, increasing high clouds as this moisture moves in from the pacific, as we expand the view, we have our next storm developing the jet stream here and right about here. this is our next storm developing. and that will be into your friday forecast, especially by the afternoon hours. so here's the plan for midnight. in fact, those clouds actually might break up a bit. and then into tomorrow morning we'll thicken up the cloud cover. slight chance of a sprinkle up in the north bay, but the main action

once again, as you can clearly see, is focused up to our north. so that's for your thursday. and then on friday we're going to bump up those rain chances, especially during the afternoon hours. so we have that chilly start tomorrow morning. highs will be in the upper 50s to the 60 degree mark. some frost in the morning, partly cloudy skies and the first few days of 2025. you can see showing up here in our five day forecast. partly sunny into thursday. we will bump up those rain chances into friday, especially by the afternoon hours, and the first weekend of the year should be dry with the sun, cloud mix and temperatures in the upper 50s to right around 60 degrees. so looking pretty good over the next few days with that one rain cloud in your friday forecast, claudine. all right. >> we can't really complain about that. mark. thank you so much. well, a bay area man on the autism spectrum says he struggled to find a professional job. that is, until he caught the attention of san francisco - man, i need some serious help with this health insurance stuff. - check out covered california. it's a free service from the state that helps you get health insurance. millions of people have used it. - wait, for real? - mmm hmm,

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such as those on the autism spectrum, often have difficulty finding employment. a bay area man is trying to highlight that issue in the hopes of changing it. as ktvu andre senior shows us, he received a major assist in his efforts from the sheriff of san francisco. >> i'd say give it about 30s. >> weeks after life changing opportunity, adam sherman is contemplating next steps for a man who few have been on so far, he's fresh off the opportunity of a lifetime, serving as campaign manager for paul miyamoto's reelection bid for san francisco sheriff. >> make sure you just get out and vote. >> it's a multifaceted role. everything from helping to organize fundraising to putting out media blurbs and other forms of publicity. >> but in an election season filled with many campaigns and the people who head them, sherman situation is different because he is on the autism spectrum, something he's proud to talk about, but one that's kept his ambition tempered. and he's not the only one.

>> there are 5.5 million autistics in america who are at that age where they can be working and professionals, and yet barely one fifth of them are professionally employed. the rest are either unemployed or chronically underemployed. >> and sherman was no exception. graduating from san francisco state university with a degree in environmental studies with a special concentration in social justice, he found himself unable to find a job in his chosen field, so he took a job stocking shelves at trader joe's. but while he couldn't get the job he wanted, he donated his time volunteering with various community organizations. it was that effort that got him noticed by miyamoto's team. >> he was actually on one of the teams that were doing safety patrols in chinatown, and so his commitment to the community was already evidenced by that volunteer work. >> that commitment and a reputation that preceded him, landed sherman that coveted job, leading miyamoto's critical reelection bid, helping the incumbent snag more than 80% of the votes. and trusting your

election campaign to anyone is a big deal. but miyamoto told me sherman's autism was never a factor in his decision. >> i don't think i even asked any questions about whether or not he'd be able to do things. >> the autism society and advocacy group hopes more companies and organizations actually adopt sheriff miyamoto's thinking, because they see hiring someone on the spectrum is actually good for the bottom line. >> we look at different ways of information processing and different ways of executive function. we might have folks who think in a very systemized way, but we might have folks that think from a bottom up sort of perspective, and that can bring a lot of creativity and other pieces. >> the organization cites research that shows companies that embrace neurodiversity are likely to have a competitive advantage, and businesses employing autistic individuals report increased innovation and problem solving capabilities. >> i think the idea that when we're open to bringing in neurodiverse and autistic talent to a workplace, understand that there's sometimes let's figure

out where the best fit could be. let's talk to the individual. where do you think your strengths are? >> it's a conversation that sherman wants to grow in public discourse, dealing with the struggles in this book, living beyond normal an autistic autobiography. >> i really want to bridge the divide between the neurotypical or normal brained people of society with the neurodivergent or autistic people like myself. >> andre senior, ktvu, fox two news. >> when we come back, a look at some bay area new year celebrations. but first, a quick look at the san francisco ferry building tonight, some people walking through as the hours left in 2024 quickly run out to make room for 2 5. you're tchi the

some people will be counting down the new year in the city's downtown area, and officials are hoping for some safe fun tonight. the santa cruz police department has set up a safety enhancement zone along the downtown corridor to deter any illegal activity with increased police presence during this time. a triple fine is in effect, which means that fines for being out with alcohol in public and other illegal substances will increase to make sure no one gets a little too crazy on new year's eve. while some residents say it's the

responsible move, others see it as a deterrent. >> i think it's a deterrent to have people come out, and i think that i think that at this time we need to encourage people to get out and go to stores, you know, be out in public. >> and the holidays come at a crucial time in downtown santa cruz as businesses are still struggling to rebound from the pandemic, and some business owners are hoping the influx of people tonight will be a boost to the santa cruz economy. that's going to do it for us. thank you for watching. have a very, very safe new year's eve. we'll see you tomorrow at 730. make sure to download the fox local app to your smart tv and your phone. that's where you can stream our newscasts stories and find exclusive content right on your tv and your

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