Transcripts For KNTV Today In The Bay 20240712

Right now at 6 00, back to School Battle as bay area schools consider bringing students and teachers back to campus, parents are sounding off. A live report next on the concerns and fears on all sides. Plus its going to take us probably in the order of nine months, six to nine months to get the American Public vaccinated. I think he made a mistake when he said that. Its just incorrect information. Who was right about the race for vaccine . Joe biden says he doesnt trust the president. A live report on whether the white house is politicizing the issue to win reelection. A month of spare the air alerts now in the record books. But, were not in the clear just yet. The latest on nearby wildfires and the ongoing threat to air quality. The third hour of today in the bay continues right now. And a very good morning to you. Thanks so much for joining us. Im laura garcia. Im Marcus Washington. Mike is keeping his eye on that commute and well get to that in a bit. First to kari hall with a look at the forecast for today. Something to breathe a sigh of relief about. We have such improved air quality. Its been so nice to see that. But were also having a hard time seeing this morning because of the fog. And so were going to see low visibility especially in the north bay and the trivalley. Well be tracking that. Mike, that may impact some drivers as they head to work this morning. Kari, i think that improves the chances of us having the metering lights on. Theyre the backups there and the toll plaza because they want to keep the spacing better on the span itself. As we look at the map registeri north bay and oakland and well. No major problems. But be careful out there for visibility, laura. Back to you. All right, thank you very much, mike. Over the next few weeks and really months, youre going to hear a lot about students and teachers possibly returning to the classroom. For many families, its certainly not an easy decision. Today in the bay kris sanchez joins us live from san jose. We know san joses Largest School district is keeping students home. They just made this big announcement. Yeah, they just made this announcement last night and sent out a note to parents and made that phone call. But a lot of parents say that with the county potentially getting the green light to move to more inperson instruction within the weeks time by the states criteria that this is a decision that is premature. Now, in a letter the superintendent pointed to higher case counts than they were in march when schools closed. More Community Spread and need for more testing and contact tracing. The district of about 30,000 students also surveyed parents, teachers and staff and found that 60 expressed a desire for more consistency for the semester. So, instead of returning to campus after the fall break in october, students will remain at home through december. Now in a statement, superintendent nancy albaban said while we believe inperson inpersonstruction is the best option for our students, we cannot ignore the data on viral transmission in Santa Clara County and potentially compromise the health and safety of our students and families. Some compromise has to be created where if kids want to go back on the campus and if Teachers Want to go back on the campus, that the district will allow for that. Affecting my kids emotio and to interact with their peers. So, im not agreeing with it. I think they should be in school. Now, the superintendent says that families in san jose unified can expect a decision about the Spring Semester some time in december. So, stay tuned for that. Kris sanchez, today in the bay. Yeah, i have to keep track of everything. Thanks so much, kris. Also new this morning, north bay Child Care Centers dealing with coronavirus outbreaks. The press democrat reports 13 Sonoma County facilities have recorded more than 60 infections, including 25 children. One preschool was temporarily shut down two weeks ago due to 30 infections. Now, this announcement comes as advocates plan to rally in downtown santa rosa today. Theyre urging for more inclass instruction. The district there Just Announced some plans to extend Distance Learning at least through the end of the year. Well, the road to the white house squarely focusing on several swing states and the push for coronavirus vaccine. Today in the bay tracie potts has a look at the vaccine. Reporter heres the governments newly released coronavirus recovery plan. Drugmakers will start churning out vaccine 24 hours after fda approval. Free. With the pentagon helping distribute in three phases. Starting with Health Workers and highrisk groups. The cdc told governors be ready to distribute two days before the election. But the cdc director tells congress a vaccine wont be widely available to the public until next summer. If we had a vaccine say released today, then it is going to take us probably in the order of nine months, six to nine months to get the American Public vaccinated. I think he made a mistake when he said that. Just incorrect information. I believe he was confused. Im just telling you. Were ready to go. Reporter President Trump publicly contradicting his chief disease administrator on that and wearing masks. They are our best defense. I might even go so far as to say this face mask is more guarantee to protect me against covid than when i take a covid vaccine. Not more effective by any means than a vaccine. I called him about that. Let me be clear, i trust vaccines and i trust scientists but i dont trust donald trump. This moment the American People cant either. Reporter democratic president ial nominee joe biden promising a National Mask mandate if elected. President trump also confirmed that a white house staffer has tested positive for coronavirus but he says he hasnt been in contact with that person. Tracie potts, nbc news. Tracie, thank you. Happening today, Health Leaders in Santa Clara County plan to outline a monthlong program aimed at providing free ots. That announcement comes as the county is advising residents to get the vaccine early and impacts the same type of people vulnerable to covid and the symptoms are very similar. Free flu shots given out at Santa Clara County fairgrounds and that program lasts through mid december and no appointment necessary. This is really interesting developing this morning, oregon is actually declaring a Public Health emergency due to that extremely poor air quality that theyre having up there because of all the wildfires there. Aqi index is above 300. In california, the august complex fire in Mendocino County now covering more than 800,000 acres. Thats more than four times the size of new york city. That fire is 30 contained. A live look for you this morning out at san jose and something familiar is missing. Probably like, okay, what building . Im not talking about the building, im talking about the smoke. Were dealing with smoke for a long time now. The record run of 30 straight spare the air days now over. The fresh air has a lot of people excited to go outside. Last night, you could actually find giants fans on land and water outside of oracle park. Most of them could not hold back their happiness. I saw blue skies and that got me excited. Plus, its kind of special tonight because tonight and tomorrow we have games that are not on schedule. The giants last night beat seattle now smothered in wildfire smoke just like the bay area was. Plus, kari, i can tell you a big sign of relief the air quality is so much better and just getting outside. Who knew that you just missed going outside just for a walk. Right. And thats where a lot of us have been the only escape from our shelter in place going on. So, we are seeing now some fr h fresher breezes coming in and air quality continues to be really good for the bay area, but if you will be traveling over towards the sierra, the air quality is still pretty terrible so heads up about that. Lets get a look at our temperature trend for this morning as you head out the door in pleasant hill. Starting out with some fog this morning and some low 60s but it will be a warm afternoon as we head towards the 80s again today. Well talk more about this coming up. Mike, how is it looking right now for the commute . Kari, its looking like a lot of fog and you know that, youve been talking about that. Over my shoulder and on the maps the yellow highlighting that displays whether the visible is registering pretty low and thats the weather data we share with the weather team. Over here the concern the areas around oakland, San Francisco and just coming through sausalito, san rafael through the north bay because of that denser fog and more cars hitting the road. But only the bay bridge toll plaza has the backup because of the metering lights, guys. Back to you. Thanks so much, mike. 6 10 right now. Coming up next on today in the bay high winds, heavy rain and powerful waves. Still ahead well take a look at the destruction left behind by Hurricane Sally and the region still bracing for impact. Pretty dramatic photos to show you. Plus the white house is pressuring republicans to move towards democrats in getting money into your pocket. Speaking of money, lets go out to the futures this morning. Theyre in the red after the head of the Federal Reserve said he did not know when the economy may improve. Youre watching today in the bay. Right now at 6 13, we have a couple of systems heading towards the region. The first the remnants of Tropical Storm and that continues to reach towards Southern California while another storm system approaches the Pacific Northwest. Well talk about how these may impact our weather in the forecast coming up. And our weather may have impacted the bay bridge toll plaza where the metering lights were turned on earlier than i thought they would be because lower visibility across the span. Same thing for dublin and livermore out of the Altamont Pass and across the lanes of 680 not far from here. Well, good morning and a very happy thursday to you, as well. We just got the firsttime jobless claims as we do every thursday showing that 860,000 americans lost their job last week. Now, this comes as the white house is pressuring republicans to move closer to democrats on a stimulus bill that would include checks and direct payment. Add to that the fed chairman jay powells comments yesterday that Congress Needs to step in and you have quite the pressure. President trump tweeting yesterday republicans need to consider bigger numbers. The white house says that does include those direct checks to americans. Something missing in the original republican bill. But it didnt include direct payment. So, he wants more than the 500 billion and hes very keen to see these direct stimulus payments and we hope that nancy pelosi will work with us in good faith. Its likely pelosi will respond positively. No one has seen the new proposal. At this point just a suggestion from the president but a move forward towards the compromise. The stock market saw not one, but two major debuts yesterday. Snowflake and jfrog. Both companies with headquarters here in the bay area. Snowflake performed just astonishing and more than doubled in the first moments on new york stock exchange. Those are very weird names for new companies. Snowflake and jfrog and to that we can add sumologic will have its debut on the nasdaq this morning. Well have an interview with the ceo coming up tomorrow. We just published a new episode of our podcast called san hill road and its a good one. We talked to a fellow speaking of startp ups and a lot of mon who made a ton of money selling his start up to salesforce and then ran into real trouble. A lot of partying, both before and after the sale that put him in a lot of danger. You know, that led to just a lot of partying and other behaviors that, you know, were truly selfdestructive like towing the line of not waking up the next morning and then having to open your eyes four hours later and go be a ceo. You can find that interview with john roa on our and Apple Podcast and google play, spotify and ask you know who and i dont want to say her name because she would interrupt this newscast but you know who im talking about. You can tell her, play the latest pod cast of san hill road and she will. Dont tempt me. Shall we say it . No, well wait. Thanks, scott. Alexa, turn off his lights. 6 17 for you this morning. Happening today. Spacex scheduled to launch a new starlink mission. 60 satellites put into orbit when they launch from the Kennedy Space center. The satellites will deploy about an hour after liftoff according to starlink. Hey, marcus, you need new shades. Facebook teaming up with the maker of rayban to release the first pair of smart glasses next year. All part of a new multiyear partnership. Mark zuckerberg says theyll mirror the display of a connected smartphone. I do need a pair. Lets head outside and head out east to the big apple and in case youre wondering where all that smoke from the bay area is going some of it made its way to the east coast and past that to northern europe. Well, we, of course, feel their pain right now and, of course, very relieved that were not dealing with another spare the air alert day. So, kari, i mean, thats the thing. You told us about that in the beginning of all this that a lot of times we can see that smoke head to the east coast. Yeah, i mean, thats what we can see even as we take a look at some of our models. This one shows the smoke pollution that traveled across the country and, once again, you talked about it traveling over towards europe. We can even see it over iceland right now. Its moving very far across the globe and thats just basically what happens as it gets transport under to the upper levels of the atmosphere. For us, its been, once again, a niceome fog this morning and our a travel o towards the east and even to the south near the dolin fire, you do see the air quality going way down. So, its mainly across our area that were seeing that westerly wind. That fog, as well as some milder weather. Were seeing highs that will reach up to the upper 80s for the inland east bay. Today will be very much like yesterday. If you enjoyed that, youll enjoy today, too. Well see some changes coming down the road as we see our winds picking up. More of a southerly and southwesterly wind. The more the wind comes from the west and that brings in the ocean breeze and we dont see any fires, of course, over the ocean so that will bring in some fresher air and push it off towards the east. Were watching a couple of systems here. So, the first one is a storm system that will affect the Pacific Northwest. The second one is the remnants of a tropical system that was karina and may spread some clouds our way and possibly thunderstorms over the sierra. Were also watching the storm system that will be moving to the north of here because it could bring in a shoilight chan of some rain as far south as ukiah. Higher humidity with breezy wind and temperatures coming down to the upper 70s and low 80s for the inland areas for friday and saturday. Once that storm system moves out, it will heat up, once again. And it is possible that we could see that smoke settling once again, especially for sunday into monday. Mike, we were talking about the fwa fog, is it impacting the morning commute . I think it is, kari. Fog there. So at least chp has a lot of warnings that im passing along to you, as well. Lets look out to the maps and we do see the yellow highlighting around the bay in patches, especially watching the trivalley where we do have a lot of slowing around the dublin interchange and across 680 southbound that circled the area heading in towards sunol. A lot of slowing heading to the area. Chp is not there yet but i imagine those bags may be kicked over to the shoulder. The bay bridge toll plaza is the other area where we have big backup and the fog kicked in so its just a slower drive across the span is advised. Back to you. All right, thanks, mike. Well, ahead an update on Hurricane Sally. Check out the allnew video. Look at this. Wow. You can see that this is a lot of flooding happening in that area and an alligator is a part of all of that. More video of that plus the damage sally is still causing. And it wasnt rain or unhealthy air that brought this baseball game to a screeching halt. The modern day culprit, next. Youre watching today in the bay. Look at that alligator that is right outside the window. He is going into the neighbors driveway. Yes, look at that. New video for you and one of the stranger sights during Hurricane Sally. That alligator making it onshore, the gulf shores of alabama and coming very close to that home. The person who posted that video says that she also saw poisonous snakes along with all of that water in her neighborhood. And thats why i live in california. Okay. Meantime, as sally moves inland cleanup today belongs along the gulf coast. 2 1 2 feet of rain fell in some areas. Look at the size of that storm. Sallys 125mileperhour winds also toppled trees that went right into the bedroom of a 91yearold florida mans home. He was actually hunkered down there trying to take cover. Fortunately, he was okay, but some say the storm took them by surprise. Alabama barely a hurricane and then wake up to this. It just seems like this is a nightmare. Powerful gusts also damaged a bridge that spans pensacola bay. Sallys landfall came 16 years to the day and the exact same spot where hurricane ivan rolled ashore. Well, in Southern California firefighters have come out victorious. This is that battle to save mt. Wilson observatory. For two days that out of control bobcat wildfire threatened the historic site. Among those things is the home of the hubble telescope. Thousands of homes still in that area evacuated. It may be time to consider heading back to hawaii. Aloha. Starting october 15th, travelers will be able to bypass that current 14day quarantine requirement as long as theyve tested negative upon arrival. Travelers will have 72 hours to take that test ahead of their arrival time. Cvs and Health Care Provider kaiser will conduct the tests. Major League Baseball dealing more and more with a modern day problem. When theyre playing. The latest victim the chicago cubs. Last night at wrigley an unmanned drone buzzed the stadium. At one point it landed and then it took off, again. The cubs and indians cleared the field for about ten minutes as Francisco Lindor tried to use an umpire as a shield. Faa rules ban drones near stadiums before, during and after major league games. Well, for the first time in a month, bay area doesnt have a spare the air alert. Isnt that something. Kari halls forecast on our improving air quality next. Plus, major fire concerns in one bay area neighborhood. Be sure to join me tonight as bay area continues our special airs at 6 30 tonight. More news for you coming up this morning as youre watching today in the bay. Ms. Williams weve been working hard. Ms. Robinson . To make learning fun again. Ms. Duncan and making sure our students can succeed. Ms. Zamora were with you every step of the way. Ms. Robinson i know its a challenging time. Ms. Zamora no one wants to be back in the classroom more than teachers. Ms. Williams we have missed you so much. Mr. Hardesty but we all have to be safe. Ms. Robinson because were all in this together. Narrator making our School Buildings safer. Ms. Robinson working together, we can make it a great year. Narrator because the California Teachers Association knows quality Public Schools make a better california for all of us. Whether its fireworks or what, but definitely we hear it throughout the night. Right now at 6 30, neighborhoods on high alert. Up next, the crackdown in one east Bay Community to stop wildfires from ever starting. Plus, housing the homeless. The new permanent rules some bay area motels will play as others struggle to simply stay open. And expiring soon. A moratorium protecting Small Businesses in our making it in the bay series. The looming deadline making so many of those Business Owners nervous. Today in the bay continues right now. I didnt get that. Could you try again . And a good morning to you. Thanks so much for joining us. Im Marcus Washington on this thursday. And im laura garcia. Hey, i didnt get that, but i get this. Some fresh air out there this morning. Finally, kari. A little bit of relief for us. Its going to be nice again today to get some fresh air. And, also, our good air quality continues for the next couple of days. Take a look at all these green sensors that we have as you get ready to head out for a morning walk or run, it looks finally really nice for us, once again. But weve also seen some pretty dense fog near the coast and even extending over towards the trivalley. Expect the fog to continue and maybe even some drizzle, too, over the next couple of hours. Ill be watching that, but, mike, that fog may be causing some issues for the commute. Thats right. So, im watching it, too. Largely assisted by you, kari. A live look at the traffic beca a disabled rig coming across idnt expect in the roadway. As we look at the map, were urging folks to slow and everywhere its highlighted yellow. In Oakland North 880 and no scheduled road work and no crashes reported and im tracking that. Again, visibility along the coast may be an issue. Back to you. All right, thank you very much, mike. Well, new this morning, a warning for anyone living in or visiting the east bay hills. Law enforcement is cracking down on activity that could spark a fire. Today in the bay Cierra Johnson is live to explain more on that warning and an update on the growing number of confirmed deaths that were seeing in butte county. But up there in the oakland hills, those hills are dry. We dont want a repeat of that huge firestorm in 91. Exactly. Good morning. Yeah, ill get to that butte county update in just a moment. But for folks who like to visit the Berkeley Hills Oakland Police and some of the local law enforcements are issuing a warning that if you head to that area, use caution and just dont be reckless. Theyre saying the ground is so dry it could really spark a dangerous fire. Now, those local leaders are warning that the drought and the dry conditions in the area mixed with Climate Change have left that serene look out of places like grizzly peak vulnerable to fires and using accelerants and some even using fireworks. It could be a recipe for disaster. Take a listen to this warning from an Oakland Council member. Do not coming up here at night. If youre up here during the day, you should not be smoking up here. Keep in mind the risk that we have and lets all be the Good Neighbors that were supposed to be to each other. An update for the wildfire continuing to rage in butte county. The sheriff there has announced 15 people have been killed. Just yesterday two more bodies. A man and a woman both in their 60s were positively identified using dna. The sheriff there says one of those deaths was refusing to evacuate. Cal fire has said the recent weather conditions has helped in that fight. Its made things a little easier to control, but they say that rugged terrain has made it a difficult to spread out and establish those new fire containment lines. Cierra johnson for today in the bay. What a year it has been for our state. Thanks so much, cierra. Santa rosa leaders are asking for public input on what to do with 95 million obtained from the recent wildfire settlement with pg e. One portion of that massive settlement includes about a billion dollars for cities and counties. Holding online surveys and Virtual Meetings to determine how to divvy up its share. Half of the 95 million is actually already accounted for to uncover fire related projects. Coronavirus testing still an issue. Thats why Santa Clara County is now requiring private Health Care Providers to make more testing available. In the meantime, some bay area motels are becoming permanent homes for the homeless in the process h standing in front of one of those motels in antioch right now. Bob . Goodern moi morning to you. A new initiative of the state and what theyre going to do is buying motels. You have one in san jose that has 76 units and the one behind me. This is a motel 6 here on love ridge road with 176 rooms in pittsburg and the state is providing money for the county to buy these hotels. Right now both these locations are already in use of a temporary shelter to house the homeless during the pandemic, but under californias new home key program, the state is awarding Contra Costa County ay1 million grant to turn it into permanent housing for the homeless. Awarded the city of san jose to do the same with the 76unit motel that i mentioned. Eight other projects are receiving grants for similar projects. The state recently launched project home key. This is a 600 Million Initiative to find permanent housing for the homeless. The cost has become more urgent during this pandemic in order to stop the spread of covid19 and its a problem here in the east bay. Im talking about homelessness in general. Contra costa county says it only has 20 shelter beds and yet more than 500 People Living on the streets, especially in the eastern part of the county. As i mentioned this motel 6 will add 176 rooms to that count. And these rooms, of course, you have bed, showers and bathrooms and Onsite Health care and services for Behavioral Health and meals and assistance for these people to find permanent homes. Reporting live here in pittsburg, bob redell today in the bay. Thanks, bob. As more San Francisco businesses reopen, a looming deadline has a lot of them nervous about making it in the bay. At the end of the month, San Francisco commercial moratorium expires. The examiner is reporting that supervisors will allow to extend that moratorium and barring change, it could trigger some mass evictions. One Small Business legal representative says sales are down more than 70 for many of those Small Businesses and theres just no way to pay the rent. The problem is without rent, landlords cannot pay their mortgages either. It is 6 37 right now. Dealing with a pandemic everyones been staying indoors and thats been tough because usually taking a walk is your only break. Taking a live look in san jose. You know why, good news to report. You can walk, you can run, you can take the dog for a walk tod. The air quality so much better out there, kari. Yeah, ive been fine during the breaks during home schooling to let the kids run in the yard even if its just for a few minutes. The clouds from the cupertino hills looking over the south bay and were also going to see some comfortable air but the clouds that were seeing this morning may give us a little more mist and drizzle like yesterday morning with our temperatures this afternoon trending into the 70s here. Well talk about what is ahead coming up. Mike, how is it looking right now for the commute . Kari i found out why there was slowing in oakland and not just the fog. Well look at the overall viewing and youll see there are patches where its highlighted yellow. Approaching fifth avenue and thats where there are reports of a disabled vehicle blocking your fast lane. Tow truck should be arriving soon and fog in the area and tough to see. Same thing for the Golden Gate Bridge but that disabled vehicle was disabled from the span safely and fog at the Golden Gate Bridge and the bay bridge where the toll plaza metering lights were turned on before 6 00. Partially probably because of lower visibility across the span. Back to you. All right, thanks, mike. Coming up next for you, should bay area students and teachers retur to classroom . That debate is heati more than ever as schools consider reopening. Next, what one of the Largest School districts plans to do. Plus President Trump is arguing with joe biden and for that matter his own scientists about when a vaccine may be available. Lets take you out to the big board in new york city. Negative numbers after negative comments from the head of the fed talking about we dont know when the economy may get back to normal. Youre watching today in the bay. Give you my world how can i, when you wont take it from me you can go your own way go your own way your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. Floor and decor is now oand Curbside Pickup g whether youre looking for tile, wood, stone or laminate, with our incredible selection and everyday low prices, youll find the perfect floor at the perfect price. Come explore in person or online. Right now at 6 41. Allow some extra time to get to work this morning. You want to slow down in this fog were seeing coming through dublin as well as many other parts of the bay area. Our temperatures will head into the 70s and low 80s once this fog clears. Well talk about our air quality and what is ahead for the weekend, coming up. And just in the last couple of minutes, a crash reported near this camera. This is north 101 just north of 680 280. You see the overcrossing as these folks are traveling up towards mckee. No injuries reported. Well see how quickly this can clear, as well as that fog kari is talking about, coming up. Thanks so much, kari and mike. 6 42 right now. Our top stories. One of the bay areas Largest School districts is continuing with Distance Learning through the end of december. San jose unified just notifying parents that some are not happy about that procespect. Kris sanchez is live in san jose with why the timing. Kris . Good morning, you guys. The sign says Distance Learning, weve got this. This will be up through december. Could get the green light from the state to have inperson instruction so parents are feeling very frustrated. Difficult for them to stay intuned through the whole course depending how long it is. My daughters is several hours. They give them short breaks in between and hard for them to get back on track afterwards. Now, the district of about 30,000 students also surveyed parents and teachers and staff and found that 60 expressed the desire for consistency for the full semester. So, in addition to that, the superintendent pointed to a county case count higher than it was back in march when schools shut down. Also substantial Community Spread and inadequate testing and contact tracing. So, that is the big news today. Students will be staying at home through december. Also in december, the district says parents can expect a decision about whats going to happen come the Spring Semester. In san jose, kris sanchez, today in the bay. Thank you. Breaking right now for you the latest weekly jobless numbers are in and 860,000 americans filed firsttime claims. Thats slightly below forecast and its a slight drop from the week before. 12. 5 million more people filed continuing claims. Its 6 44. One of the leading laboratories in the race for a vaccine is countering claims the president is making about when a vaccine may come. Scott mcgrew, moderna did not directly correct the president. Not directly, no. But the timing is certainly very significant. It issued a report that said it doesnt expect its first data on the latestage trials until december. And there will be more analysis of that data this spring. This comes on top of statements by the head of the centers of Disease Control saying much the same. Look for a vaccine perhaps mid summer of next year. Yesterday dr. Robert redfield told the Senate Committee most americans would probably not get a vaccine until 2021 in the third quarter. That led to a phone call from the president. Trump telling redfield his own director of the cdc, he was wrong. I think he made a mistake when he said that its just incorrect information. And i called him and he didnt tell me that and i think he got the message maybe confused, maybe it was stated incorrectly. No, were ready to go immediately as the vaccine is announced and it could be announced in october. Could be announced a little after october. Now, looking back at the president s past statements and tweets about vaccines. He has in the past raised a lot of questions about the safety of vaccines, but that was before he was president and more significantly before there was a pandemic. It does put biden in a tough spot as he worries about a rushed vaccine. What criteria will be used to ensure that a vaccine meets the scientific standard of safety and effectiveness. What is the criteria . Second, if the Administration Green lights a vaccine, who will validate that the decision was driven by science rather than politics. What group of scientists will that be . The president said earlier this weekend in a town hall on abc that a vaccine could be distributed as soon as three weeks from now. Technically two weeks and we will be following up on that timeline as it expires. Were on twitter, of course, we all are. You can find me scottmcgrew. A lot of us wish we could be on the golf course these days. At least you can watch it. Happening today golf 2020 u. S. Open will tee off at Winged Foot Country Club in new york. Fans wont be allowed in. Storyline here for you, though. Can Collin Morikawa win his second straight major and tiger woods looking for his fourth u. S. Open and record 83rd pga title breaking the tie with sam snead. Theyre teeing off this morning. Theyre actually both in the same group. You can watch it live right here on nbc bay area at 11 00 this morning. Coming up tonigh black businesses fighting to make it in the bay jones took a his path ultimately trading in the culprit job for his dream job trading in the suit for a camera. As the pandemic arrived he saw shutter closing on his picture perfect career but led him to a new inspiration documenting the world as it is reshaping by both global virus and increasing urgent demand for racial equity. Watch that full story tonight at 6 00 at nbcbay area news. A community in texas coming together to help one struggling business owner. It started when the daughter of a taco truck owner outside of houston tweeted that her father only made 6 this past saturday. She asked people to retweet to get the word out and help generate a little bit of business. Well, the word got out. That tweet got comments and 2,000 retweets by sunday night. One person even offering to buy out the truck to feed a hospital. More than 100 customers showed up during one shift this week. Thats nice to see people helping people. Love it. And great marketing. That girl has a future in marketing. Exactly. All right, well today will be a great day to go out there and the food truck, if you find one. And eat outside, kari, we havent been able to do that in a while. Right. And, of course, a lot of the restaurants have tables set up outside. So, lets support our local businesses. We are starting out, though, with some fog. So as you head out for that walk maybe misting and drizzling on you a little bit, but that is also helping to improve our air quality and its also a positive. Visibility has now been cut down to half a mile. You head over towards oakland and visibility about three quarters of a mile and a mile and three quarters in the trivalley so that fog is even extending into a lot of our inland areas. So, with the foggy conditions to start, our temperatures will be very mild and its going to be a day very much like yesterday. We had the clouds during the Morning Hours and then once it cleared out, we had a nice afternoon. Cleaner air and were still looking at that today as our temperatures reach the upper 80s in parts of contr costa county. As we look at our wind speeds theyre coming in at about five Miles Per Hour this morning but will pick up as we go through today and our winds coming in more and the westerly direction which is coming in off of the ocean. So, a southwesterly wind is still good news for us as we are looking at improved air quality here. But not so much for the sierra. Heres Something Else that may affect the sierra over the next couple of days. The remnants of a tropical system will be spreading some clouds in and may spark some thunderstorms possibly some lightning over the sierra. But were also looking to the north as were seeing another storm system moving into the Pacific Northwest and some of that rain may make it as far south as ukiah as we go into tomorrow, especially late in the afternoon. Here in the bay area, our temperatures cooler. We have higher humidity along with breezy winds. So, our temperatures come down just temporarily but by the end of the weekend, were heading back up to the upper 80s in the valleys and that may also be where that smoke starts to settle back in, once again. Were still monitoring our air quality and we do have some changes ahead for the weekend. What are the changes for the morning drive youre seeing, mike . Kari, not for the better just yet. We have fog out there. Thats one issue where you cant see. But what you can see on our san jose camera is the middle lanes are slowing traffic right there heading north on 101 heading up towards mckee where out of our cameras view a crash with two vehicles in the middle lanes. Chp having a little trouble getting up there. That map shows you the stretch and the backup starts at tully which is earlier than you might expect and clears once you pass the crash at mckee. Lighter volume of traffic overall. As we look towards the rest of the map, we see the higher levels of fog or the lower levels of visibility along the peninsula and San Mateo County and towards pacifica and San Francisco. And getting towards the toll plaza north 880 that earlier crash has cleared. Back to you, marcus. Thank you. A better idea of when we will read former president Barack Obamas memoir. A Promised Land published in two volumes. The first expected to be out november 17th covering his historic rise to the white house and released two weeks after election day. No word on when the second volume will be published. Coming up next on today in the bay the top stories were following including one community really taking some new action just to try to prevent fires in their area. New evidence of the massive impact from a recordsetting fire burning north of the bay area. And, you know what, keep this top of mind. Time to get your flu shot. The new and free program one county will offer as a way to fight the pandemic. Well tell you all about it. Youre watching today in the bay. Rush to work, grab a drink, hurry home. [cell phone beeps] stop dont be on your phone. Let someone else take the wheel. Make a little eye contact. Make a plan. Its a busy world out there. Were all in it together. Go safely, california. A drink with friends can turn into two, and a prescription can be stronger than you thought. Stop there are a lot of ways to get a dui. And a lot of ways to go text a friend, call a cab, share a ride. Whatever you choose to do, go safely, california. 6 55. Welcome back. Heres a look at our top stories on this thursday morning. Lets get straight to Cierra Johnson with the ongoing concerns of the fire danger. Yes, good morning. This morning a warning for folks that like to visit those Berkeley Hills. The warning coming from oakland pd and oakland fire and some of those elected officials. If you go to that area, use caution and dont do anything that could potentially start a fire. Now these local leaders are warning that the drought and the dry conditions in that area mix would the Climate Change have left that serene look out in places like grizzly peak vulnerable to fire and mix that with visitors not following rules a recipe for disaster. Now, excuse me, if you go into that area just use caution and do things that would help protect the environment. Were live in san mateo, Cierra Johnson for today in the bay. Thanks, cierra. Oregon declaring amergency extremely poor air quality due to the raging wildfires. The aqi is above 300. In california the august complex fire in Mendocino County now covers more than 800,000 acres and more than four times the size of new york city. That fire is 30 contained. An update on bay area covid cases. It is now more than 94,000 confirmed cases reported. For perspective, the total population here is about 7. 7 million. More than 1,350 people have died. Today in the bay bob redell is live for us outside of one of the east bay motels where people are staying. This is in pittsburg and may have some help soon with the battle to stop the virus. Correct. This motel 6 here on leverage road in pittsburg, marcus, has been used as a temporary homeless shelter for the past few months. During a pandemic to help stop the spread of covid19. The news this morning is that the state of california has given Contra Costa County 21. 5 million through a grant to buy this motel and turn it into permanent housing. Also ordered the city of san jose 14. 5 million to do the same with a 76unit motel down there and also other projects that the state will be receiving money. The state recently launched this project home key initiative. A 600 Million Initiative to find permanent housing for the homeless and more urgent during the pandemic, again, to help stop the spread of covid19. Reporting live here in pittsburgh, bob redell in the bay. So important to stay healthy. Heres a reminder to get your flu shot. A message from Santa Clara County Health Leaders. Free flu shots given to anyone that needs them at the fairgrounds. This comes as Health Leaders worry about the combined impact of the flu and covid19 this fall. A live look for you right now over San Francisco. San francisco from the sutro tower. Something we have not been able to say for 30 days. No spare the air alert today. All things nice and breathable for us out there. Meteorologist kari hall has beet there for us. Yeah, the fog is helping out quite a bit. We have even seen some drizzle in some spots and we saw that yesterday morning in the south bay and peninsula. As we go into the afternoon, expect highs in the low 8 os and even cooler tomorrow as the storm system approaches to the north and San Francisco will see more of that fog and temperatures in the upper 60s throughout the weekend. How is it looking for the commute now, mike . Better in the last few seconds. Right here is our view of the map shows a smooth flow of traffic and in san jose the only crash that is marked on the map shows a clearing as folks travel north on 101. The backup the last time we looked. Still a backup at the bay bridge toll plaza and in both of those live shots youll notice the low clouds and fog there and visibility is a big issue so slow it down, folks. Thats always my note with standard lights not high beams in the fog. All right. Thanks so much. Thats going to do it for us. Live look for you, again, from the sutro tower. That looks like a bed of clouds you want to lay in, right . Today show is next. Good morning. Breaking overnight, sally turns deadly. The remnants of Hurricane Sally still lashing the south. People trapped by massive flooding. The National Guard activated in florida, where tens of thousands have been forced to flee. I left. This morning, a firsthand look at the damage. She started tearing up and everything. Its horrible. And the dangers from rising waters still to come. Covid clash. After the head of the cdc says a vaccine may not be widely available until next spring. If we had a vaccine, say, released today, its going to take us probably in th