melanie woodrow has a look at the decisions being made. melanie: tighter restrictions are underway in sonoma county as the fight against the omicron variant continues. >> you do what you got to do. >> everything we have done since the onset of this pandemic has been to protect the health and self the -- safety of our residents in sonoma county. melanie: the move is to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. people should shelter-in-place. other counties are not amending their health orders. libby schaaf says while she has not heard of any changes in alameda county, she is limiting her out of house appointments including canceling her registration to the u.s. conference of mayors and washington, d.c. >>>> it will be my last annual meeting in d.c. as the mayor but i do not think it is prudent to travel and to be around a lot of people you do not know. melanie: contra costa county tells abc 7 news it is carefully monitoring case rates and hospitalizations but has no plans to change health orders at this time. karen county health officials

saturdays are at 39% and sundays at 36% in the newsroom melanie woodrow abc 7 news melanie. thank you in oakland. the city planning commission is meeting right now and is expected to recommend final certification of the environmental impact report for the howard terminal ballpark development plan the 3500 page document provides a detailed analysis of the 55-acre project if approved today the city council will likely vote on final certification next month today on midday live mayor libby schaaf called today's action a huge milestone for the project. this environmental piece really sets the stage because it shows how this really is being held to the highest environmental standards, and it's not going to exacerbate pollution or congestion. mayor schaff says she hopes all aspects of the ballpark plan will be settled before the end of this year and while we're talking sports in the bay area the south bay could soon be home to a world-class cricket stadium major league cricket and santa clara county have entered into negotiations to transform 14 acres at the fairgrounds in san jos

melanie woodrow has a look at the decisions being made. tighter restrictions are underway in sonoma county as the fight against the omicron variant continues. >> you do what you got to do. >> everything we have done since the onset of this pandemic has been to protect the health and self the -- safety of our residents in sonoma county. melanie: the move is to prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. people should shelter-in-place. other counties are not amending their health orders. libby schaaf says while she has not heard of any changes in alameda county, she is limiting her out of house appointments including canceling her registration to the u.s. conference of mayors and washington, d.c. >> i>> it will be my last annual meeting in d.c. as the mayor but i do not think it is prudent to travel and to be around a lot of people you do not know. melanie: contra costa county tells abc 7 news it is carefully monitoring case rates and hospitalizations but has no plans to change health orders at this time. karen county health officials say t

reporter: melanie woodrow, abc seven news. ama: office is threatening to redirect the money.edirect the money. >> that means the police academy classes already struggling with recruitment for police departments won't happen. that means no more backfilling of officers. no more getting police officers on the streets and -- in the numbers that we need to ensure safety. ama: the mayor introduced a safety public funding measure to ensure critical services continued through the end of the fiscal year. have increased their use of overtime pay due to staffing shortages. each department has lost about 10% of its staff in the last two years. dan: in the east bay, a couple is speaking out tonight after their u-haul truck packed with irreplaceable things will stolen, just one day -- was stolen just one day before they were set to move to los angeles. we spoke with them about what happened. reporter: inside this truck, irreplaceable things for one couple. they were planning to move to southern california this week, but now are on a search for their missing items. >> all my furniture, hous

. >> but now as melanie woodrow explains, two suspects have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors. reporter: these are the images most of us are familiar with from november, as people burglarized multiple luxury retailers. but there was more crimebeyond union square . >> there are also multiple cannabis dispensaries that were hit around the same time. reporter: connected cannabis was one of them. the san francisco district attorney announced charges against named people, including three accused of brutalizing cannabis dispensaries. >> these are not petty thefts. it is not misdemeanor conduct, it is felony conduct. reporter: two suspects were arrested connected to the cannabis burglary and have pleaded guilty. tracy mcrae says she's not surprised. >> it goes to our that you can come here and basically get away with everything. reporter: the das office says one suspect pleaded guilty to misdemeanor second degree commercial burglary. the other to misdemeanor trespassing. >> which is no different from someone being on your front lawn, where there is a no trespassing sign. and you telli

melanie woodrow has the story. >> when it comes to san francisco's meaning and sinking millennium towerthe number one concern is the building. >> hopefully to the positive satisfaction. that will begin recovering. >> the government audit and oversight committee held a hearing to discuss a proposed fix of 18 piles instead of the 52 pile fix. >> how many can we actually install and accomplish the problem objectives? >> i am not sure i know how to respond that you did not all asked that question at the beginning. why would you over design something and spent tens of millions of dollars more than you had to? course a retrofit caused the building to sink even more. >> this is a lot worse than the disease. question department -- >> the department of building inspection is providing help for the project. they have until the end of february to determine whether or not to accept the new proposed fix. roger pike is not affiliated with the project but has been highly critical of it. >> i don't think this passes the smell test. the design team is panicking because they are out of the settlement agr

melanie woodrow is on that story. >> negative covid-19 pcr tests results for as little as $200 with office to turn the test results around in as few as five minutes or just one day. >> this is the continuing theme of scammers taking advantage of certain situations. >> marcus rescue says check point software is seeing an influx of people selling fake negative covid-19 pcr tests results as omicron cases continue to grow. the fake test results are for sale on apps like telegram where some sellers are claiming to register the results to a hospital database so that buyers can use the negative results for travel. >> that is a big distinction compared to creating fake documents of card stock. >> dr. peterson hung worries what this could mean for someone using a fake test result to enter the united states. >> there may be future variants that can be more lethal. if you are bringing in somebody from another country with a variant like that and you escape order control, you could potentially have serious consequences from a national security perspective. the sellers take payment in cryptocurrency wh

reporter melanie woodrow has that. melanie: negative covid-19 test results for as little as $200 with offers to turn the test results around in as few as five minutes or just one day. >> this is a continuing theme of scammers taking advantage of situations. melanie: this cybersecurity expert says they are seeing an influx of people selling fake covid-19 test results as omicron variant cases continue to grow. the test results are for apps like telegram where some sellers are climbing to register the results to a hospital database that buyers can use the negative results for travel. >> that is a big distinction compared to creating fake documents. melanie: professor dr. peter worries about what this could mean for someone using a fake test result to enter the united states. >> there may be future variants more lethal and if you are bringing in somebody particularly from another country with a variant like that and you escape border control, you could potentially have serious consequences from a national security perspecti

melanie woodrow has the story. nie: when it comes to san franciso's leaning millennium tower, the number one concern is the building safe. the structure engineer of record answered that question. >> it demonstrated to our san francisco and hopefully to the city's building will remain safe and that it will begin recovering. the oversight committee -- melanie: the oversight committee held a meeting to discuss 18 piles. >> how few piles can we install and accomplish the project? >> i am not sure i know how to respond that you all did not ask that question at the beginning. why would you over design something and spend tens of millions of dollars more than you had to? i am not buying it. melanie: a retrofit that began in may caused the building to sink even more. >> it looks even worse than the disease. melanie: the department of building inspection is providing oversight of the project. >> it is normal practice to allow the contractor to determine the means and methods. melanie: the engineering design review team have

melanie woodrow is on the story. >> negative covid-19 pcr tests results for as little as $200. doctors can turn the test results around in as little as five minutes or just one day. >> this is taking advantage offf these situations. >> check when software is seeing an influx of thick negative covid 19 pcr tests results as omicron variant cases continue to grow. the thick test results are on apps like telegram. that way buyers can use the negative results for travel. >> that is over the big distinction compared to creating fake documents of card stock. >> dr. peter chen hong worries about what is mean could mean for someone using a fake test result to get into the united states. >> there could be future results that could be -- variants that could be more lethal. if you are bringing somebody from another country with a variant like that and you escape border control, you could have serious consequences. >> the crypto currenc traceable and they seem willing to negotiate. one writing how much could you afford? this is a whole process. while a buyer may get what they want in the sh

melanie woodrow has more on the arrests. reporter: the san francisco police department says it arrested four people for shoplifting at this market street safeway on wednesday. the commander of the field operations a pyramid road division says in addition to shoplifting charges, two had outstanding warrants. >> this was a planned operation based on discussions we had, not only to provide visibility but enforcement to try to address some of the ongoing shoplifting issues that have been impacting some of their locations through the city. reporter: the safeway, once open 24 hours, had to reduce hours because of shoplifting. this video shows an entire isle of products locked up to deter shoplifting. a spokesperson says safeway is proud to partner with sfpd and the stores committed to crating a positive expense for shoppers. >> our goal is to make sure the community feel safe when they frequent establishments. reporter: this san francisco supervisor -- >> we are really happy sfpd is showing a presence. reporter: sfpd say they cons

. >> melanie woodrow, abc 7 news. kristen: people from more than 100 grassroots organizations marched with martin luther king the third, demanding congress passed voting rights legislation stalled in the senate. the group marched in the frederick douglass memorial s saying if they can pass an infrastructure bill, it is time to do the same for voting rights. julian: many are volunteering around the bay area as part of the martin luther king jr. day of service. food banks are especially in need of help, many facing staffing shortages because of the omicron variant. tim johns was at the second harvest in san jose, where volunteers were helping out. >> with the latest surge in the pandemic, food banks are experiencing the worst staffing shortages they have faced in years. >> volunteers make up about a quarter of our workforce. we can't do this work without them. >> diane works for second harvest may food bank based in san jose. she said the situation has gotten so desperate in recent weeks that second harvest is consideri

i-team reporter melanie woodrow joins us from the newsroom to explain why. melanie. >> this in part has to do with a federal partnership program that does not exist for boosters. another reason might be messaging. when the booster first became available it wasn't perfectly clear who should get it. >> they're one of the most vulnerable populations. residents and staff at skilled nursing facilities or nursing homes. populations hit hardest at the start of the covid-19 pandemic. yet an abc7 news i-team data analysis found not all eligible vaccinated residents or staff have received their covid-19 boosters. >> people are not -- understanding the booster is powerful. reporter: our data team looked at self-reported data to the federal government coming from the centers for disease control and prevention and the u.s. centers for medicare and medicaid services. for california as a whole, as of january 9, this were 1,120 facilities reporting. with just 36% of eligible staff members and 53% of eligible residents having received a booster. ucsf proffer dr. peter hong. a

. >>>> reporter melanie woodrow has the story. reporter: just before 7:30 this morning, they responded to san francisco international airport after receiving multiple calls for a suspicious man. >> appeared to be armed with a handgun. reporter: they would not specify tactics they used but the incident happened around -- occur last around 45 minutes. please have not said how many officers fired their weapons or how may shots were fired. san mateo district attorney's office was initially investigating until this afternoon and the attorney general's office was called in to take over. san mateo county district attorney says that is because the guns the suspect had not real firearms. >> what they determined was those two firearms were airsoft gun's. in other words reporter: reporter:, replicas. >> whenever there is an shooting of an officer of what is determined to be an unarmed person, the district attorney's office the stop conduct the investigation. reporter: the suspect also had a knife. he sent pictures of the two guns. >> they ab

you can find them online but melanie woodrow finds this fraud could have international implications.ea, moving forward and finding solutions, this is abc 7 news. >> san mateo county workers are scrabbling to clean up a mess uncovered by the abc 7 news i team. several million dollars worth of precious ppe purchased with your tax dollars left outside in the rain. good evening, thank you for joining us. i am ama daetz. >> dan begins with coverage you will only see in -- with us. >> we all know how important masks and hospital gowns and other protective gear is as the pandemic surges. this seems hard to believe. top county officials did not know that thousands of boxes of ppe removed outside and forgotten for months until i told them. >> i got a tip on a recent rainy day and went straight to the san mateo county event center, gate nine and could not fight believe what i found. thousands upon thousands of boxes containing all sorts of brand-new personal protective equipment. soaking in the rain. stacks of boxes collapsing.

melanie woodrow spoke with her today. >> on may 29, 2020, drove to the oakland protests in the wake of george floyd's murder. according to a criminal complaint, korea fired multiple rounds at underwood, killing him. >> i miss being able to pick up the phone and talk to my brother. i miss laughing with my brother. >> carrillo shooting and killing someone else. he said this while beind this wd arrested -- as they await charges, underwood's sister is now suing meta platforms inc., formerly facebook, alleging the social media platform connects users to extremist groups. >> had it not been for facebook, they might have never met. >> underwood's attorney anticipates facebook will seek to shield itself from litigation. >> they are much more than a publisher. they are an active art is pen, and they are recruiting people to come onto their site. once they are on their site, they use a lot different algorithms that will bring like-minded individuals together. >> the civil liberty director at the electronic frontier foundation says lawsuits like this one can be difficult to win. >> it is really h

. >> but now as melanie woodrow explains, two suspects have pleaded guilty to misdemeanors. are the images most of us are familiar with from november, as people burglarized multiple luxury retailers. but there was more crimebeyond union square . >>

melanie woodrow has more on the fear religious leaders say has become all too familiar. anger says they first began active shooter training following the pittsburgh tree of life shooting. >> this is survival, life or death. since then, the machete attack in new york and most recent hostage situation at a texas synagogue have made security training continuously necessary. >> we still have to make sure this type of thing never happens again and if it does, we are well trained, well prepared, and we have to use any means necessary to prevent casualties. >> one of the texas hostages has credited taking in active shooter class with enabling him to survive. being prepared for the unthinkable has become a way of life for local religious leaders. >> i stand up and up and up andd about my husband and daughter and worry what might happen. i keep going. i'm not going to stop. i have a community to serve and i believe we have to build the world that we want with love. to turn our congregation into a fortress. i lament so much that we have to spend resources on this, but also what it

. >> melanie woodrow has the story. >> lord thomas is one of several having tech pencil -- having tocancel customer reservations tonight. >> i cannot tell you the level of stress personally and in our industry right now. >> san francisco restaurant arizona is closed for the evening after staff members tested positive. >> we had two folks out. one was my executive chef. >> thomas is the executive director of the golden gate restaurant association. >> definitely a restaurant by restaurant case-by-case situation. not only do you use -- do you lose the revenue but your having to make this asians on, can you pay staff who are not there? >> humberto is hoping to reopen tomorrow after covid forced him to close for 10 days. >> one my going to do? i have employees. i am sick. i want to make sure everybody is fine before they come back to work and allow enough time to get well. >> he says the only silver lining is the restaurants were closed on one of the slower weeks of the year. it definitely has the bottom line. >> financially, it is a big blow. >> he says when the restaurant to reopen, the

melanie woodrow has a look at the different decisions being made. >> tighter restrictions are underway in sonoma county as the fight against omicron continues. >> everything we have done since the onset of this pandemic has been to protect the health and safety of our residents it >> the move is aimed at preventing hospitals from becoming overwhelmed while sonoma county is recommending residence shelter-in-place and only leave -- other bay area counties are not amending health orders. may our of the oakland says while she has not seen changes in alameda county, she is personally limiting her out of house appointments including her registration to the u.s. conference of mayors. >> it is sad for me. it will be my last meeting in d.c. as mayor. i do not think it is prudent to travel and to be around a lot of people you don't know. >> -- tells -- they they t carefully monitoring hospitalizations but has no plans to change health orders at this time. marin county is approaching a targeted approach, reducing spectators to 50 people. the county implement did that restriction with the goal of

melanie woodrow has reaction from the police department. >> these are the images most of us are familiar with from november as people burglarized multiple luxury retailers, but beyond union square, there was more crime. >> there are also a lot of cannabis dispensaries that were hit around the same time. >> connected cannabis was one of them. days later, the san francisco district attorney announced felony charges against nine people, including three years of horizon cannabis dispensaries. >> these are not petty thefts. this is not misdemeanor conduct. this is felony conduct. >> two weeks later, two people connected with the cannabis burglaries have been arrested. >> it goes to our reputation that you can come here and basically get away with anything. >> originally charged with four felonies each, the da's office says one suspect pleaded guilty to misdemeanor burglary and the other to misdemeanor trespassing. >> which is no different from someone being on your front lawn, where there is a no trespassing sign and you're telling them to leave and then refusing to. >> jenkins is a volunteer

melanie woodrow has the story. >> san francisco newlyweds who wanted to be proud of their wedding and share photos with family matters who could not be there due to covid are now terrified to show their faces captured on their special day. >> it is disappointing. >> they asked not to have their identity revealed after someone jumped out of their car and attempted to steal the camera at california and powell streets. photographer mendoza says he held onto the camera because the photos were not backed up and he had another camera previously stolen. >> looking back, i realize the danger, my life was at risk. >> he ended the couple hid in a nearby parking garage. >> we blame the criminal, but i feel the city has gone to a horrible place. >> nothing is more important than to make sure the people who live in this city, who work in the city, who visit san francisco feel safe as they walked on the streets. >> today the san francisco mayor and the police chief announced the 2021 crime statistics for the city. homicides are up as our gun violence victims, which includes fatal and nonfatal incid

. >>>> reporter melanie woodrow has the story.ng, they responded to san francisco

melanie woodrow has the story. reporter: homelessness is the number one issue people care about in san francisco according to a poll by emc research conducted between january 4 and nine of this year. the poll surveyed 500 voters. bernstein says san francisco business leaders asked emc to conduct the pole. >> we did phone email and texting. reporter: the poll was conducted in english and chinese with steps taken to make sure it was a representative sample. geography, age, affiliation. reporter: cop below homelessness, car and home break-ins followed by housing inability ability. they spent 20% reduction in officers according to the mayor. it is why she is asking for supplemental funding. >> when you're in need of support from enforcement because you've been assaulted or robbed or anything has occurred, the police should be expected to show up. reporter: 74% of those polled support an increase in funding for the police department. 50% strongly in 24% somewhat. 26% were opposed 16% strongly and 9% somewhat. the mayor'

melanie woodrow has that story. >> when it comes in san francisco's leaning and sinking millennium towercern, is the building safe? >> we have demonstrate it to our satisfaction and hopefully it will be everyone else's satisfaction as well. the building will remain safe and that it will stop settling. >> a hearing was held to discuss a new proposed fix of 18 piles instead of the initially proposed 52 pile fix. >> how he pounds can we actually install and accomplish the project? >> i'm not sure i know how to respond that you all did not ask that question at the beginning. why would you overdesigned something and spend tens of millions of dollars more than you have? >> a retrofit that began in may to write the sinking holding because of the building to seek even more. >> here and here looks a lot worse. >> the department of building inspection is providing oversight. >> it is actually normal practice to allow the contractor to determine the needs and methods. >> they have been told until the end of february to determine whether or not to accept the proposed fix. >> this engineer is not aff

melanie woodrow has more on the arrests.er: the san francisco police department says it arrested four people for shoplifting at this market street safeway wednesday. the commander says in addition to shop lifting charges, to individuals or booked on outstanding warrants. one had drug possession >> this was a planned operation based on discussions we had, not only to provide visibility but enforcement to try to address some of the ongoing shoplifting issues that have been impacting some of their locations through the city. reporter: the safeway, once open 24 hours, was forced to reduce hours in november due to rampant shoplifting. a viewer showed a video of a store of an entire aisle locked up to deter shoplifting. a spokesperson says safeway is proud to partner with sfpd and the store is committed to creating a positive expense for shoppers. >> our goal is to make sure the community feels safe when they frequent these establishment. >> this issue has been plaguing our city. we are really happy sfpd is showing a presence. rep