wilson walker breaks down the vote. >> reporter: rarely a dull moment with the oakland city council, and tonight that proved to be true. they voted on both items that pertained to policing, and one of them they voted on twice, as a councilmember wanted to go back and revote to have more clarity, as they put it. this is effectively what will happen. the city administrator will go on a hiring spree. they will get a recruiter to try to fill the empty spot at the oakland police department. they have been losing about eight officers per month due to just attrition. that has brought the department to below their minimum staffing levels. this came after hours of debate today. >> we keep having that problem, that problem for 18 years, and now i have a police commission, and i have eight of us being creative. mr. administrator, with all due respect, i would like to see what is your plan and procedure before i can approve another academy to move forward. >> the number of police that have currently been hired and deployed is less than the number that was actually approved. now, some people thou

kpix 5's wilson walker on another number that may surprise you. 4 here in walnut creek, they added more officers after a november caravan robbery here at the mall. today, the governor was in dublin, promising more help against crime, no matter what the statistics say. a >> these organized retail mobs are expressing themselves in a way that has a profound impact on our feelings of safety. >> reporter: retail crime was governor newsom's target today as he announced more plans to crack down on the type of eye- popping scenes that have been making headlines. the governor said it, it is not about numbers. >> the last full year analysis shows that property and larceny crimes are down 11%. stats me nothing in terms of your feelings. >> it was brave of him to acknowledge that, that he is not responding to any kind of real dramatic shift in what is happening with crime. mag creme brulee richmond is a criminal justice professor at the university of san francisco. we asked her about the comments. >> the public concern is what they are attending to, not so much the actual crime statistics and what

wilson walker has more on that theory. >> i am told traffic at this testing site has doubled in the last week as omicron and the holidays have combined to raise the virus concerns. but, what if the variant is not terrible news for us here in the bay area? what if it is something that might help us out a little bit? >> reading and listening to coverage about how much more contagious omicron is than delta, and with the holidays, we are planning on getting together with family. >> reporter: the latest variant is driving a run on test and canceling holiday parties. >> yes, several. the people that they are inviting, some of them don't know, so therefore, they don't feel secure with it. >> reporter: health experts say there may be a silver lining in the omicron surge. it is going to touch a lot of people and it probably won't make them very sick. >> if in fact it is relatively benign, let's say it is less severe as an illness and the people becoming hospitalized is much lower than delta. >> reporter: matt willis says for the vaccinated encountering the variant might simply produce a mild immu

kpix 5's wilson walker reports that residents are frustrated and fearful. >> reporter: as crime searches, city leaders are again revisiting the debate over policing how many officers, and what percentage of the city's budget. we were contacted by one resident from east oakland who says she and her neighbors are tired of debate, and want to see changes. >> to have nearly 70 less officers a year later is going to have an impact on our ability to address public safety. >> reporter: the chief is again calling for more officers. so is the mayor. >> that analysis will make the case that additional police staffing is needed in the wake of this violence spree. >> reporter: is more officers the answer? >> i live in deep east oakland. i would say that it is partly the answer. >> reporter: she reached out test to express her concerns about crime. she said it's not necessarily about numbers, but it is absolutely about responsiveness. >> it appears in the community in the flatlands, we are not as important as people in other areas. when we call the police, the answer we get is, there are things that

police have arrested two suspects and as a kpix 5's wilson walker reports, investigators are closing in on a third. >> no names or photos today from oakland police. >> reporter: chief armstrong says they are working with the district attorney's office on homicide charges. he expects three of those in the near future. >> we have made it two arrests in that case, we feel strongly we have identified a third suspect as well, but we are closing in on this investigation. >> reporter: it was the afternoon of november 24th, when thieves ambushed television news crew working blocks away from city hall in downtown oakland working as a guard for that news crew was former police officer kevin nishida. he was shot and died two days later. the investigation, police say hinged on the white acura they showed in this photograph. last week the police say the public health almost immediately. >> we do think the community for all of the information they brought forward to help us solve this case. i believe that their assistance was key in identifying that vehicle. >> reporter: me to suspect you have bee

kpix 5's wilson walker is asking whether that is possible. >> talked with a lot of people around the tenderloin today, a number of them scoffed at the notion that the city would be able to completely rid the streets of drug dealers, >> just imagine if you had to walk your kids with people shooting up and selling drugs and because the sidewalks were so packed with people, you had to walk out on the street. >> reporter: maryland and is promising an end to drug use on the sidewalks, something the city is trying to do at least on specific blocks over the past few months. >> as i walked down this block, i saw that there was no one, no tents, no drug deals, it was just empty. i think one of the things that has helped is that these guys were here. >> reporter: walk two blocks to the north and the problem explodes. this in the neighborhood home to the cities densest concentration of children. >> i know there are people who will say it is unreasonable to close this down, but they don't live there. for those of us who do not live there, we have to have compassion for those who do. >> reporter:

wilson walker has the story. >> reporter: a week ago, omicron, the latest variant to be making headlines, now it feels like something else altogether. it is changing plans and behaviors and the holidays. >> i'm getting my covid shot, the second one. >> reporter: angie clemens was lucky enough to have an appointment for that shot, because the walk in line at san francisco's kaiser line was so long that people brought chairs, and for many of them, the very was on their mind. >> i'm over it and i'm sick of it and tired of it. it kind of shifted the last few days to i had better get serious and take this seriously, and wake up and start back to march 2020. >> reporter: the industry that suffers about the in 2020, variant anxiety is like the ghost of holidays past. some have even decided to close temporarily out of an abundance of caution. >> of course i worry, but you have to do what you have to do to survive. >> reporter: trellis restaurant was saved by the patio last year. now, customers are demanding it again. >> they are confident that they would like to be outside. most of the reservati

wilson walker has more from mt. tam. >> reporter: northern california finally about to get another bout of beneficial rainfall. the clock is really about to start taking on this rain here. >> they refer to it as the storm door opening. >> reporter: on a clear day ahead of the next atmospheric river, rn county is still cleaning up out of the last one. crew started repairing a bread that has been closed by a side since the late october storm. while the next system is not expected to be as strong as the last one, it is badly needed. moran added new water restrictions, and sonoma's reservoirs are still near historic lows. >> we are hoping that we can get this weather pattern changes enough that we get a regular series of storms. >> reporter: that is what it will take no matter where you live. >> we really monitor precipitation in the northern sierra, by shasta lake particularly. >> reporter: contra costa water district as part of the central valley projects, looking at reservoirs far below historic averages. >> in typic

kpix 5's wilson walker on where things go from here. >> reporter: over the course of the 10 hour meeting, a lot of people on both sides of the vote made a point to acknowledge that the situation here is unacceptable, a disaster him a pick your word. with the vote of the board, it is now official. the neighborhood is in a state of emergency. no one is really sure what is going to happen next. >> they are so figuring that out i think. the director of the department of emergency management has been tasked with making this work. she and her people have done an amazing job during the pandemic, and now they are trying to take on this new public health emergency. they are going to try to stand up a facility to serve up to 100 folks at least initially, and get them off of the sidewalk and indoors. >> reporter: the supervisor was one of the eight votes for yes this morning. >> the bureaucracy is hard. figuring out how to do this legally, bring the different departments together, that would be the hard part. >> the truth is that we have a united group on our instant management team that have very

wilson walker, kpix 5. >>> no verdict in the fraud trial of former theranos boss elizabeth holmes. she's accused of intentionally deceiving investors in patients about the capability of the company's blood testing technology. while jurors deliberated for a 3rd day, they sent a note to the judge, not about a verdict, but to hear audio recordings played during the trial. legal experts say the longer a jury deliberates, it is typically a good sign for the defense. >> that means they are talking. they may be trying to compromise on certain cans. they may be throwing out certain counts. you don't want a delay if you are the prosecution. >> jurors will now take a short break and resume deliberations on monday. >>> still ahead on kpix 5 and cbsn bay area tonight, another christmas , another covid surge , but -- >> rates are at one 10th of what they were a few months ago. >> why experts say we are in a very different place and then we were in the 2020 holiday season. >>> the christmas travel rushes here in california, we believe in what if? after all, if is our middle name. like, what if w

wilson walker, kpix 5. >>> another crackdown is coming in the tenderloin. rampant public drug use and violence is prompting the san francisco mayor to declare a state of emergency for that neighborhood. the mayor says too many people are dying in the city, especially from overdoses. the state of emergency will allow the city to waive certain laws to quickly address a rising number of deadly fentanyl overdoses and crimes. it would also allow the city to cut red tape to connect on housed people with city programs. >> this is necessary in order to see a difference, and order to reverse some of the debts from overdoses and the assaults and attacks at other things happening in this community. >> the board of supervisors must approve the emergency declaration next week. >>> taking a live look at at san francisco city hall, the former public works director has agreed to plead with you to a string of bribery and corruption charges during his time in office. the plea agreement for mohammed nuru was filed today. it follows a 2020 federal complaint alleging a long- ru

. >> is kpix 5's wilson walker reports, the vote comes as oakland business leaders are pushing for safer streets. >> reporter:, sides have reached a near decade hi, just as the number of officers has reached a decade low. once again, oakland discussing policing and public safety. >> four times this year, i have seen people jump into cars and steal stuff in front of my eyes. >> i was held up on gun point walking on a saturday afternoon right outside my church in central oakland. >> reporter: just as oakland city council started their meeting, faith and business leaders gathered in chinatown to send a call in part for more police officers. the city is now losing eight officers per month through attrition, and that has driven the force below its authorized level of 678 officers. >> i think we need to bring that up. the opd staffing. that's below the previous authorized level. >> we need 850 police officers, i believe, an order to make our city, just to protect our citizens, and we are way below that. >> reporter: the city council plan would boost the force by finding two additional police a

wilson walker takes a look at how it is also affecting local creeks and reservoirs. >> reporter: if you try to get outside when the rain stops today it was easy to get caught in the next round. >> earlier on, i did not expect it to continue like this. >> reporter: the wind and rain came roaring back this afternoon, the upper mountain was closed and traffic on the lower roads was forced to crawl when the more intense cells moved through. >> these days, it seems to come all at once. right? >> reporter: down and sent to selma, the rain stopped long enough to allow the creek to fall back after rising through the morning. >> i remember 82, and then in 2005. >> the storm was just about perfect. >> this is great. i mean, it's what we need, you know? not much higher, but it is really needed. >> reporter: they october the storm was a boon for marin's water supply, that is not the case for others like mccaw seo. >> we are still about 11% lower than the typical average for this day, i think that really just speaks to the dry conditions that we have had for much of the year and it tells us that we

as wilson walker reports, they are closing in on the third. >> no names or photos. >> reporter: police chief armstrong said they are working with the das office on homicide charges. he expects three of those in the near future. >> we made two arrests in that case. we identified a third suspect as well. we are closing in on the investigation. for mac it was november 24 when thieves ambushed a news crew working blocks away from city hall. working as a guard for that news crew was a former police officer. he was shot and died several days later leaving behind a wife and two children and three grandchildren. the investigation hinged on the white acura that was showed in this photograph. the public helped, almost immediately. >> we think the community for all the information that they brought forth. i believe assistance was key in identifying the vehicle. >> reporter: the suspects have been arrested. both were taken into custody for charges unrelated to the case. >> whether other departments as well. the charges forthcoming. permit the case moves toward the das office. >> the investigation

wilson walker joins us with more. . >> reporter: everyone knows we got some temporary relief, at least stopped the bleeding on the drought, that atmospherish river. but you go about a month or so with, you know, no rain at all, you can lose the ground saturation that you accumulated, luckily enough, during that one storm, that starts to fade out. talking with the sonoma water folks up here, they were pointing to some evidence that it hasn't totally dried out, but it's certainly starting to dry up a little bit. the inflows into lake sonoma here have pretty much stopped. inflows into lake mendocino are still coming in, which is good news, but there is evidence that the rain that we got is starting to fade out a little bit, as far as the ground goes. we've had a little bit of rain here and there, enough to sort of keep things wet and this next round of rain is going to keep things wet, but long term, we ned a lot more rain. have a listen. >> yeah, that rainfall was nice, that big storm, it helped, but it didn't get us out of this drought. we're still in a drought. there's no question abou

wilson walker explains why. >> reporter: if you have travel plans this weekend, maybe you will try top up to tahoe and back during the off hours, you should know what will happen on interstate 80. >> a lot of the over crossings were built in the 1950s and 1960s, and we built a new one between highway 12 and interstate 80. now that we have switched things onto the new on-ramp, the new bridge, we will have to demolish the old one and the only way to accomplish this is to close all of interstate 80 overnight. >> reporter: will work late saturday night into sunday morning and hope to be wrapped up by 9:00 but the interstate will be closed and the detour will be around this and they, 780 come around to reconnect during the closure, all of this part of the project that will be completed next year. the stoppage of green valley road on 80, you will be sent all the way around. it might cause backups, even in the off hours. something to be aware of this weekend. >>> a new investigation suggests a vallejo police officer did not have objective reasoning when he shot a suspect. this happened in ju

. >> wilson walker is on the edge of fairfield to show the demolition job that will close the freewaytraffic is pretty much back to pre-pandemic levels. i know a lot of people hate sitting on the freeway, and will often get up at the crack of dawn to beat the traffic. if you try to do that this weekend, you will run into an interstate 80 that is closed. >> we recognize there is no good time to close interstate 80. this is a major closure. we don't do that this often. >> reporter: a rare full closure of interstate 80 set for late saturday night and early sunday morning. it will allow crews to get rid of the old highway 12 flyover now that traffic is flowing on the new one. >> the old bridge was built in 1967. it is about 406 feet long. >> reporter: engineers the day demolition may take 2 weekends, given the proximity between the new construction and old. >> now we will do it on only one, which put a strain on additional resources. >> reporter: it means the full shutdown, which will send all east and westbound traffic passed so soon bay. >> depending on what direction you're coming into

kpix 5's wilson walker went to some of those places today , and they all have one thing in common. >> reporter: it will be a couple weeks before we really understand more about the variant, just how transmissible it is, and how does it affect people, and respond to vaccines. but let us go back to the fundamentals. the bay area is highly vaccinated, in some cases as much as 85, above 90%. that will do really well for us. other places, maybe not so much. >> i was reluctant, but with everything going on, it is better to do it the not do it. >> reporter: i get the feeling you had a little encouragement. >> yes. she's been all over me. >> reporter: gina masters came in for his first vaccination shot today. health officials will tell you that is really all you or they can do right now. >> besides doubling down on what we've already been doing, which is pushing vaccinations. >> reporter: four contra costa county, the one area of ongoing concern is the eastern stretch of highway 4, where vaccination levels have trailed that 75 to 85% target zone, possibly problematic if an aggressive variant

wilson walker, kpix 5. >> the key is so far. the good news we have heard more rain is on the way. paul heggen will be along in 15 minutes to timeout the next system. >>> santa clara county just detected new cases of omicron and it is becoming a growing concern across the world. joining us live now is dr. art reingold, the head of epidemiology at uc berkeley school of public health. thank you for joining us. are you seeing in your studies the same thing mother there are signs pointing to a winter omicron surge, the next variant that we are talking about? >> omicron is definitely here in california. it is here in the united states, and it is pretty much everywhere, and rising rapidly. it is important to point out to people that whether it is delta or omicron, we have some tools that we should be using to try to reduce hospitalizations and deaths, and it really doesn't matter whether it is omicron or delta. some of the answers are pretty much the same, but making predictions about this winter, yes, i think we will have lots of covid-19. >> let's get to omicron mother topic of discuss

wilson walker is in oakland with more on the boat. >> reporter: rarely a dull moment with the oaklandnight that proved to be true. they voted on both items that pertained to policing, and one of them they voted on twice, as a councilmember wanted to go back and revote to have more clarity, as they put it. the city administrator is going to go on a hiring spree, get a recruiter to try to fill the empty spots at the oakland police department. they are losing about eight officers per month due to just attrition that has brought the department below its minimum staffing levels. they are going to try to fill the vacant spots, but this came after hours of debate today. >> we keep having that problem in problems for 18 years, and now i have a police commission, and i have eight of us being -- with all due respect, i would like to see what is your plan in procedure before i can approve another academy to move forward. >> the number of police that have currently been hired and deployed his last than the number that was actually approved. now some people thought the number that should have been

wilson walker is following up on this note and how the plan will be put into action. you can look at his report tonight at 6:00. new at 3:00, one person is dead after their car drove off a boat launch and into the frigid waters of the martines marina. emergency responders got the call just before midnight good and time was not on their side. >> the tide was coming in. so, we were losing a little bit of time. but, one firefighter in the water, we had a heavy wrecker out here to pull the car out, as i was coming in, we confirmed that there was one victim in the vehicle, deceased. after the victim has not been named. at this point investigators do not know how or why they ended up in the water. right now, cruise are still working to clean up a fuel spill that has been backing up traffic on 680 for hours now. all northbound lanes have been blocked since just before 5:00. when a tanker truck overturned after hitting just minutes att in southern california, at least one person was killed. this pileup on interstate 5 in tractor-trailers and at least half a dozen other vehicl

wilson walker is monitoring things from the newsroom. >>> and started at 2:00, still going past the hour end at 5:00, no surprise. as the mayor has rolled out her plan, she wants to open essentially a clear all service center for people struggling with addiction or housing problems. she wants to open a safe injection site, all part of e emergency plan for the tenderloin. she said she can do all of this in a matter of weeks as opposed to 9 to 10 months, but she needs the board of supervisors to get on board tonight. >> this is a status quo that we absolutely need to challenge and disrupt with everything we have. if this is not a public health emergency, and that term lacks any meaning at all. >> reporter: while mary london breed grabbed everyone's attention with her tone last week -- >> what i will be proposing in the future will make a lot of people uncomfortable, and i don't care. >> reporter: it was also going to be the opening bell for a conversation that would move across the building to the board of supervisors. >> i'm really frustrated with the way in which this plan has been unvei

wilson walker, kpix 5. >> a rough year for business owners in oakland . >>> this evening a battle at the state capital. the public utility commission is trying to scale back rooftop subsidies. >> people in disadvantaged communities, renters and seniors are paying higher utility bills to cover the costs that should be borne by people with rooftop solar. >> the big utilities in the state also want to scale back payments to homeowners who install rooftop solar. the cupc will have the final plan later this year. >>> price of homes in the bay area are at an all-time high. >> there are still deals out there. john ramos found one in mountain view which is a little hard to believe. >> reporter: the peninsula is home to the priciest real estate in america but you would be amazed at some of the bargains you can get if you are willing to keep an open mind. in the heart of silicon valley, the city of mountain view has a median home price of about $1.5 million. but, it also has what may be the mother of all bargains. this two bedroom two bath home is selling for $198,999. >> now that we have lowe

wilson walker, kpix 5. >>> we brought you that update live on cbsn bay area. you can watch 24/7 streaming on kpix.com tomorrow or on kpix news app. >>> happening now as we look live at san francisco, the board of supervisors is expected to vote this evening on whether to allow police and deputies to provide security contracting with private individuals and businesses. this comes after the recent rash of special grab robberies in the city. businesses hope it will deter a repeat of those crimes. many have boarded up doors and windows out of fear they could be targeted again. we will keep you posted on what the supervisors decide. >>> a lucky day for the prosecution in the elizabeth holmes fraud trial. this was the first chance prosecutors got to cross- examine homes on the witness stand. len ramirez has more from the federal courthouse in santa fe. 4 it was an intense and emotional day on the witness stand for elizabeth holmes, her 1st day of cross-examination, in which the prosecutor tried to give the jury a fuller picture of the relationship between elizabeth

kpix 5's wilson walker reports that residents are frustrated and fearful. >> reporter: as crime searchesow many officers, and what percentage of the city's budget. we were contacted by one resident from east oakland who says she and her neighbors are tired of debate, and want to

kpix 5's wilson walker has more on the new strategy to fight the city's rising crime rate. >> reporter: as crime surges, city leaders are revisiting the debate over policing my how many officers, the percentage of the city budget. we were contacted by one resident of east oakland. she says she and her neighbors are tired of debate. they want to see changes. >> to have nearly 70 less officers a year later will have an impact on our ability to address public safety. >> reporter: chief is calling for more officers. so is the mayor. >> that analysis will make the case that additional police staffing is needed in the wake of this violence spray. >> reporter: is more officers the answer? >> i live in deep east oakland. i would say that it is partly the answer. >> reporter: she expressed her concerns about crime, and said it is not necessarily about numbers, but it is absolutely about responsiveness. >> it appears in the communities in the flatlands, we are not as important as people in other areas. when we called the police, the answer we get is, there are things that they must address that

. >> and as wilson walker reports, there is no way to know if or when our luck is going to run out. >, this is your water. the good news is party reservoir is rising thanks to the couple of storms we have had, and what is a fantastic start to our water year. the bad news is we will need a lot more of it. >> i think we are running up the squall today well this early in the game. you have to remember that we came into this pretty far behind in terms of reservoir levels and groundwater and soil moisture. >> reporter: if there's a scoreboard for northern california's water year, it is the a station sierra windex, and we have reached our entire rainfall total for all of last year, just about, and the current trajectory, despite different wiggles, has us right on pace with the great winter of 2016-2017, which was right on the heels of another great drought. >> that is what happened in 2017. we made up a whole drought in the wettest year on record that was 2017. >> reporter: but a strong start is no guarantee of future performance. what we see in november and december is not predictive of wh

wilson walker live in lake sonoma where the big october storm is running out of legs. >> reporter: there's a rule of thumb that if you go for a month with no rain at all, you really start to lose the ground recharge that we were so lucky to get back in october. we've had bits of rain here and there but that storm, as impressive as it was is starting to run out of steam up here. we need more rain and more storms. >> the rain is great you have. we just say if you want wine, you need rain. >> reporter: a little rain with more in the forecast is great news in dry creek valley, just as it is welcome news over on the other side of the dam. >> we are still in a drought, no question about that. lake sonoma storage is currently at just under 50% of its capacity. but, that is down from 67%, the same time last year. >> reporter: for sonoma's reservoirs, the late october atmospheric river was a spectacular moment of temporary relief. the intermediate weeks have seen just enough rain to keep water into lake mendocino but not the systems larger reservoir. >> we have seen lake sonoma stop and now it is s

wilson walker has more. >> northern california finally about to get around a beneficial rainfall. a long and discouraging break since the last one. >> they were up for to it as the storm door opening. >> marin county is cleaning up after the last one. they are clearing up fairfax road that has been closed since the late october storm. it is badly needed. marin county added new restrictions and sonoma's waterfall is low. >> we are hoping that we can get this weather pattern changed enough so that we get a regular series of storms. >> that is what it will take no matter where you live >> we monitor up by shasta lake. >> it is part of the central valley project looking at reservoirs far below historic, historical averages. >> we have about four or six of the storm systems that will help us fill our reservoirs and water systems. >> if you want to try to be optimistic, here it is like 2016 and 2017. the time is there for this to happen but it's got to start unfolding soon? >> january and february is when we get most of our rain. any rain that we get now and december going into is helpf

. >> in walnut creek, wilson walker, kpix 5. >>> the governor's proposal will allocate millions in grants to local law enforcement and district attorneys the next three years and would provide $20 million to impacted small businesses. >>> and a live look towards san francisco's tenderloin. conditions are so dire, the mayor declared a state of emergency. >> the most important job that i have as mayor is that when people walk down the streets of san francisco, they should feel safe. >> the declaration allows city officials to wave certain laws to quickly addrthe rising number of fentanyl overdoses and crimes. the board of supervisors will have to ratify it next week. >>> san francisco's former public works director agreed to plead guilty to a string of bribery and corruption charges during the time in office. the ploy deal comes two years after the feds accused nuru of running a scheme of bribes and kickbacks. he was in the office for nearly a decade from 2011 until the charges were brought against him in january of 2020. >>> a dozen people and three businesses are charged in that case. he

walker. coming up on breakfast this morning. rebel wilson'sd career. we'll talk to the "game of thrones" actor iwan rheon about playing the leading role in a new christmas rom—com. and nadiya bychkova will be here to be reunited with her dance partner dan — as we look back at their incredible strictlyjourney. one of my proudest moment is i went to the entire series without ever using the word journey. isn’t to the entire series without ever using the word journey. using the word “ourney. isn't that compulsory? — using the word journey. isn't that compulsory? that _ using the word journey. isn't that compulsory? that you _ using the word journey. isn't that compulsory? that you have - using the word journey. isn't that compulsory? that you have to i using the word journey. isn't that| compulsory? that you have to say jenny? i compulsory? that you have to say jenn ? h, . compulsory? that you have to say jenn ? ., , compulsory? that you have to say jenn ? h, . ,.,. jenny? i said the word trip once. i never said — jenny? i said the word trip once.