Transcripts For KNTV NBC 20240704

Is just a couple days away. They are hoping the annual event will give them a muchneeded boost. The rain is back. You can see the green on the radar. Taking a live look across the bay area, were starting to see some wet roads. The rain expected to pick up a bit as the evening wears on. Rob, youre timing this all out, are we going to have a wet commute tomorrow morning. The main event is happening overnight. Right now, for anyone whos driving across the Golden Gate Bridge, yes, you are driving through some of that rain. We show you that rain right from the Golden Gate Bridge into san mateo, and now starting to push away from the norm bay. Youre getting pretty good downpours there, all of this will continue to march southward. Theres not a lot of moisture with this particular weather system. As we take you hour by hour, youll see how this transitions into the south bay overnight, and by 8 00 a. M. Tomorrow, most of the showers have moved out. But what has our concern a little bit later on this week is the potential for very strong winds. This is going to lead to warmer temperatures, High Pressure building in. But by thursday and friday, could see wind gusts along the north bay hills up to 50 miles per hour. Well talk more about that and high temperatures in the mid to upper 70s by next weekend. Well take a closer look in a few minutes. You can track the weather when were not on air with our free nbc bay area app. Point your phone at the qr code on your screen, and it will take you straight to our radar. The search is on tonight for the person who opened fire on a busy bay area freeway. The latest happening last night on bay bridge, snarling traffic for hours. The chp says a woman was driving on the eastern span of the bridge when another car pulled up. Someone started shooting at her car. The woman was hit. She pulled over, then called 911. Paramedics got her to the hospital. No word on how she is doing tonight. Chp closed four of the five eastbound lanes for about two hours to investigate. And right now, detectives are looking for a motive and the shooter. Anyone with information is urged to call police. Police investigating a deadly headon crash. East of mountain boulevard, it happened about 5 00 this morning. The driver of the red car hit the suv. Again, it was head on. A passenger in the suv died. Five other people, including the drivers of both cars were hurt. It is not clear what head up to that crash. A remarkable story, a north bay family suffered just minor cuts after engine trouble forced them to crash land in the mendocino woods. They had just taken off from a small airport northwest of santa rosa. Five minutes later, the single engine lost power. They decided to deploy parachute system enough to make a relatively gentle crash landing. All on board had minor injuries. Something big is coming to the east bay. The city of oakland about to show off its vibrant and diverse food scene. More than 150 eateries will be offering special menus and deals, everything from food trucks to michelinstarred restaurants. Theyre hoping for a busy ten days. Reporter at 8 16 in the rock ridge neighborhood. We serve naplesstyle pizza and pasta. Reporter this restaurant has been in oakland for more than a decade. Now theyre gearing up for the citys Restaurant Week. Were doing a deal where you can get a pizza, salad and canoli for 45. Reporter many restaurants are offering special dishes or deals. For people who havent been here before, its a good time try us out and potentially make us one of your regular spots. Reporter it goes from march 14th to march 24th and includes all kinds of businesses, from food trucks to michelinstarred restaurants. New to Restaurant Week this year is west oaklands swahili spot, which serves up east african food. Im trying to bring a home made, like a homefeeling food, so people who are missing that at home, i want them to find it right here in the bay area. Reporter she transitioned from cooking up curries and fried fish in a food truck to a brick and mortar kitchen. I said let me put it in during Restaurant Week and people can get to know me. Reporter more than 150 restaurants and food trucks are participating this year, offering food from all over the world in neighborhoods all across the town. And of course these businesses are hoping they might just become your new favorite spot. In oakland, alyssa goard, nbc bay area news. New video showing firefighters battling a massive fire in contra costa county. Started late this afternoon inside a vacant warehouse in antioch. Crews say took 30 minutes to get it under control. No one hurt. The cause under investigation. Overseas, the u. S. Is taking action in the middle east. American forces teamed up with the Jordanian Air force to drop more food over gaza. We want to show you video from the latest drop in northern gaza today. U. S. Cent com says nearly 12,000 meals were dropped. He has a right to defend israel, a right to continue to pursue hamas. But he must, he must, he must, pay more attention to the innocent lives taken. Hes hurting israel more than helping israel by making the rest of the world, its contrary to what israel stands for. Its a big mistake. I want to see a ceasefire. He said the defense of israel is Still Critical and would not cut off weapons. The u. S. Is the racing to rescue nonessential personnel from haiti amid a surge in gang violence, all while the Prime Minister faces growing pressure to resign. Marissa para has more. Reporter an evacuation amid a country in chaos. Nonessential embassy employees airlifted from haiti, approved by President Biden who remains deeply concerned. The administration also boosting embassy security. U. S. Southern command saying no haitians were on board that flight. Last week the white house emphasizing the urgency of the crisis. You think about food, clean water, health care and other Critical Systems through u. N. And geo partners to help people in need. Reporter a state of emergency in haiti now extended to next month. The u. N. Reporting 5. 5 million people, almost half the population are in need of aid. Years of Political Violence came to a boiling point last weekend when gangs attacked the capital, portauprince. The Prime Minister still in puerto rico, forced to land there and calls for his resignation now growing louder. Haitis main airport shut down, leaving haitians stranded. Its been bad before. I think this probably the worst. Reporter mercy corps has been working to reduce violence in haiti since 2019. The situation is delicate. And it is important to make the right decisions moving forward. And im sure the u. S. Government, like all governments, do not want to make the situation worse. Coming up, the protesters who shut down the bay bridge last year getting ready to face a judge again. What theyre asking for and when they return to court. And hollywoods biggest night gets off to a kind of a bumpy start. Why the officers were delayed. Plus who ended up winning big once the show did get under way. Were on the red carpet next. Right now, storm ranger showing you rain. This should move out before a second storm arrives later tomorrow. Protesters who shut down the bay bridge last november, you might remember when President Biden was in town for the apex summit. They halted traffic for four hours, some abandoning their cars or chaining themselves to the bridge. Many drivers were angry, saying the demonstration backfired. It caused surgery and organ transplant delays at hospitals. Last month, a dozen of protesters were arraigned, and at that time, prosecutors said charges against 40 should be dropped and asked for a hearing for tomorrow afternoon. Hundreds of demonstrators hit the streets this afternoon, accusing the Entertainment Industry of actively supporting genocide in gaza. The demonstration began a few hours before the 96th academy awards. Organizers say they want to expose retaliation against those in the Film Industry who speak out against israel. And despite the disruption, the oscars of course went on. This years ceremony was filled with glamour, laughs and dancing kens. Robert kovacic from our sister station in l. A. Has a look at the big night. Reporter good evening. From outside of the dolby theater where there was some drama, inside, no real drama when it cams to the categories themselves. Listen, we knew this was going to be a bomb, with that said, congratulations to universals oppenheimer. The only real battle, the battle between the stones, emma stone versus lily gladstone. With all of that said, the show still ran three and a half hours long, but there were some showstopping moments to make all memorable. Lets start by what made the 96th annual awards different. This year it wasnt what people were wearing. It was what john cena was not. Costumes, they are so important. Reporter it wasnt ryan gosling the actor but ryan goss lick the singer, belting out a song with so much kenergy, the attendees jumped out of their seats. I was so amazed by ryan and what he was doing, and that number just blew my mind, and i was right there and going for it, and, you know, things happen. Reporter the night began with a standing ovation for the awards backstage crew and an acknowledgement of all who stood in solidarity with striking actors and writers. The hollywood shutdown was one of the Entertainment Industrys two biggest headlines last year. The other . Barbenheimer. Im just happy that we can finally put this barbenheimer rivalry behind us. Reporter barbs traded. But tonight, the barbenheimer rivalry, a blockbuster film that appeared on the very same weekend was finally blasted away. And oppenheimer. Reporter oppenheimer with 7 wins from 13 nominations, including the big one, best picture. Best director, christopher nolan, killian murphy, the first irishborn actor to win in the best actor category. Very overwhelmed. Very humbled. Very grateful. And, you know, very proud to be irish. Id like to thank my terrible childhood and the academy. Reporter from nbc late night to oscar gold. After three nominations, Robert Downey jr. , winning an academy award. And what was barbie made for . Eight nominations and one win for best original song. But it was one for the books. 22yearold Billie Eilish and her brother Phineas Oconnell are the two youngest people to have won two oscars. There were other firsts as well, including ukraine winningis first oscar. The director for best documentary described the film about journalists being trapped in mariupol during the war in ukraine said this is probably the first time a director will ever say this on stage, but i wish i never made the film. Congratulations to wes anderson, also winning his First Academy award, and how about everyones favorite monster . Godzilla minus one is the godzilla franchises very First Academy award. Were here in hollywood. Im robert kovacic. Back to you. We have posted a full list of winners and red carpet pictures on our website. Head to nbcbayarea. Com. Click the link on our home page. And speaking of things you want to see. Tomorrow morning, the today show gets an exclusive behind the scenes look at elton johns oscar party, which is undoubtedly still going on right now. You can watch the today show right after today in the bay. Probably just getting started. Yes. Bay area nonprofit is asking for your help. A van used by the Shakespeare Festival was stolen. They use it to bring the play to schools and libraries across the state. It was carrying sets, instruments and costumes when it was stolen. Now theyre raising money to by a new van. Police asking anyone with information to give them a call. It was a gorgeous day in the sierra today. The weather drew a lot of skiers up to the mountain. You can see mt. Rose. And it was packed. The sunny weather was a Welcome Break after the area got pounded. Several feet of snow, and they couldnt get on it because the resorts were closed. And today it all worked out, well, except when the resort closed because of wind. Things are calming down . Less wind, more snow. Theyre going to like that. Skiing in the summer the way things are looking right now. Another foot of snow over the sierra. The rain is finally moving through the bay area. And pretty good timing. We managed a mostlydry day. And san jose no rain just yet. 55 degrees, wind out of the south east, the sign of a frontal boundary on approach when those winds are out of the south. Youre seeing it right now in san jose. Over towards walnut creek, 56 degrees, most he cloudy skies, now trying to get into the rain as we get closer to the bay. Theres the view at sfo where winds are picking up, 55 degrees, and yes, the rain has arrived there, as we look at san mateo, sbrooun. San bruno. And out of the north bay now, novato to vallejo and napa, moderate rain. It is scooting through pretty quickly. In fact before sun rise, all that you see there going to be moving out fairly fast. Not much behind it. Here is the break that were going to see for the better part of the day. And then same time tomorrow, essentially, another chance of rain will drop in late tomorrow. For the morning commute, things looking better. Slight chance of an isolated shower. But we should trend to partly cloudy skies through lunchtime and highs pretty close to what we had today. Upper 50s and low 60s. From San Francisco to oakland. Top totals will be in Sonoma County and marin county along coast as weather system number two drops in tomorrow into Tuesday Morning. The timing on that looks like this as we head into the evening. A repeat of what we had today. 11 00, rain starts to move through. One difference, though, is the Tuesday Morning commute may still have showers attached to it. You may need windshield wipers, and maybe thunderstorms in interior Northern California for tuesday afternoon. But a big pattern change after that. High pressure dropping in, a pretty classic north offshore wind pattern. Thats probably going to peak between wednesday night and thursday. You see the arrows pointing offshore. But look at the temperatures. Starting thursday into the 70s. Lets take you over to friday. Mid70s. As we head into the weekend, breaking the pattern of the last couple weekends, not only will we be rain free, but some of the warmest temperatures arriving next weekend. A little rain tonight, a little more monday night into tuesday. Then wind will be something well have to watch for elevations above 2,000 feet in the north bay. Gusting into thursday. But a lot warmer, and its going to stay warm friday into and through next weekend. Springlike temperatures just around the corner. Yeah, those 70s look so good. On a weekend. Yeah. Rob, thanks. Up next, girls hitting the gridiron. The camp putting their flag football skills to the test and why this sport is on the rise. Bounced from one doctor to the next. Did they even send my lab work. . Wait, was i supposed to bring that . Then theres the forms. The bills. The not a bills. the. press 4 to repeat these options. [chaotic music] [inspirational music] healthcare can get a whole lot easier when your medical records, care and coverage are in one place. At kaiser permanente, all of us Work Together for all that is you. Three, two, one, ignition. And liftoff of falcon 9. Go starling, go spacex. There it is. We see these quite often now, but spacex has again launched another batch of starlink satellites. Still like to watch it. Falcon 9 rockets, launched just after 9 00 p. M. From the brandenburg base. s the second Starlink Mission in about four hours. Another one launched earlier from florida. See what i mean . This was the 17th flight for the booster supporting this mission. The International Space station saying goodbye to four of its astronauts, known as crew seven, embarked on this mission six months ago to conduct experiments and technology demonstrations, things like filtering wastewater, growing food on the iss and studying the effects of spaceflight on immune function. They spoke ahead of their departure. Crew seven, weve got a little built more work to do to get back home, so lets end it, end it strong. Theyre expected to depart from the International Space station tomorrow. Theyre going to be back on earth Tuesday Morning. A big welcome, too. Yeah, absolutely. Girls dominated the football field in fairfield today. Check it out. This is the scene at a solano college. And girls aged 4 to 18 got to play and learn about a sport normally dominated by boys. Pro womens flag Football Players coached the girls through some drills and showed them how the game could lead to college scholarships. My main goal is to play good and show my team that we can, like, win. Many girls say they left feeling inspired and were expired to learn flag football is making its olympic debut in los angeles in 2028, and hey, we do not want you to forget this. We are your home for the Paris Olympics this summer. They begin on july 26. Why the niners are willing to part ways with the longesttenured player on the team. You can make money the hard way as a bullfighter or a human cannonball. Or save money the easy way, with xfinity mobile. Existing customers can get a free line of our most popular unlimited plan for a year not only will you save hundreds but youll also be joining millions who have connected to americas most reliable 5g network. Sure is a lot safer than becoming a stuntman for money. Get a free line of unlimited intro for a year when you buy one unlimited line. Visit xfinitymobile. Com today to learn more. Mr. Box . I had this idea. Is it giving people lots of great food for 6 dollars, and letting them choose between two delicious sandwiches . Great idea, devon. Run with it that went well. And you run and get my 6 jack pack. Welcome to jack in the box oh hey, jack. Going up . Actually, no, justine. My famous 2 tacos are still just 99¢ when you order on the jack app or online. Could you press 6, please . Im going up. Get my famous 2 tacos for just 99¢. Only on the jack app or online. Well, the end of an era for the 49ers. San francisco planning to part ways with the longesttenured player on the team, arik armstead. That is according to matt mao may owe coe. He was asked to take a salary cut. He declined, so he will be released. He signed a fiveyear, 85 Million Contract in 2020. He had five sacks in 12 games last season but missed a number of games due to injury. Spring train baseball. Giants and and white sox. A single off the wall. Giants walk it off. Beat the white sox 54. Another game today played by giants the giants fall to the mariners, 83. As beat the royals, 63. Sanford won the regular season title but today with denied their quest to cut down the nets at the tournament. The championship game, stanford was playing catchup. Cameron brink scoring two of her teamhigh 19 points. Mckenzie forbes with a game changer. Scored a gamehigh 26 points. Usc upsets stanford, 7461. Despite that, stanford had likely be a number one seed next weekend. To the pitch. U. S. And brazil, concacaf gold cup final. It was the only score of the match. U. S. Wins. 10. U. S. Will play again next month and have a few friendlies. But the Paris Olympics will be next major tournament for team usa this summer. Talk about major, yeah. They want see that again. Were back in 60 seconds. More problems with vehicles sitting idle for years. But the agency took action faster this time. Were investigating what it means to be smarter with your money. More problems with vta vehicles sitting idle. Candice nguyen learned about a fleet of buses also that have been parked for years. Reporter similar to the priuses and vans, vta says the pandemic and staffing shortages caused delays in auctioning off these old buses. But unlike the cars, the agency says the buses werent neglected, and it took quicker action. This is new drone video of Santa Clara Valley transportation authoritys or vtas lot in san jose. That row of buses lining a fence are all retired. Just a handful of the dozens of buses the agency told us it decommissioned but didnt auction off earlier. The agency says it was in the process of seeking out a new auction house contractor. And whether the pandemic hit, staff that usually prepared the buses for auction had to retrofit other buses with barriers, hand sanitizers and mask dispensers. Recent Satellite Photos show some of the old buses have been sitting idle since 2019. For more than two months, our Investigative Unit has been asking to talk to staff about how the agency is trying to recoup some of the tens of millions of taxpayer dollars it spent on its nowretired vehicles. The agency turned us down again but told us in an email its already auctioned off most of the buses, with roughly 18 still in the yard waiting to be processed. Certainly, were not living in the regular years. Reporter giovani is a professor at uc davis. The pandemic hit transit agencies hard, including selling old vehicles. Theres been big changes with the pandemic and changes in the market and everything in society. It has disrupted the process. Reporter vta doesnt expect to get much for the buses, brandnew, they cost about a half Million Dollars each and likely will sell for less than a thousand dollars. But it could be a different story with the priuses and vans we first showed you in january. Cindy chavez told us rather than leaving all those cars parked out on lot for more than four years, staff should have tried to auction them off much earlier. She says the agency has an obligation to get as much money back as it can, because it involves pull dollars. Public dollars. There was a big strain on supply chains and a high level of interest to be ailing to buy used automobiles. Reporter after our first reports, vta started the process to auction off those cars. An important step to get back on track post pandemic. Which he says is no easy task. Its difficult jobs in providing services and the responsible use of public funding. Reporter these old buses were definitely used. They each have about a million miles on them after being drive be for 15 to 20 years. Even when were not in a pandemic, vta says it can take months to auction them off, because you need permits, Storage Space and staff who arent juggling a number of other responsibilities. Im candice nguyen, nbc bay area news. If you have a story for our Investigative Unit, call 888996tips. Crazy story here. Keep your car locked and be aware of your surroundings. A woman stole a car while it was being worked on. A man was detailing a car for a customer. Doors were unlocked, keys in the ignition when a woman jumped in the car, started it up and took off. The worker was dragged by the car. Police later tracked her down and arrested her. The worker was not seriously injured. Tomorrow marks one year since one of the worst floods to hit california in recent memory. The river levee broke. And that sent water rushing into the small Farming Community of pajaro. It later came to light that federal offic for decades that the levee was at risk of failing. Shortly after the flooding, emergency repairs were made on the levee, but a more permanent solution still hasnt started. Work on that is expected later this year. A heads up for drivers who head through the east bay. Cal trans is planning another big closure on part of 680 in pleasanton. You see it on 580 and coopman road. It starts friday night at nine, lasts through early monday, march 18th. From highprofile business closures to crime. Downtown San Francisco has been faced with several challenges, but now a new Initiative Aims to revive the midmarket neighborhood. Christie smith shows how the Program Using music to bring people back. Reporter in San Francisco today, the sounds of the city came with a new tune. Worchesterman is the name of the band we play in. Reporter they were playing outside along Market Street. A lot of people coming out. So many of my fondest memories. When people arent expecting music, you get this whole other joy out of them. Reporter theyre part of a launch of whats called buset. It creates joy and music for passerbies and folks going to the cafe and theater. Reporter s happening in a neighborhood looking to try something new. Its part of the Arts Division for the midmarket that leans into the incredible infrastructure we have hear. 17,000 Live Performance seats, a fabric of Community Cultural organizations. Reporter the new effort kicked off at eight different locations today. Between fifth and eighth streets on Market Street in San Francisco. Well have 20, 25 musicians playing throughout the day. And following today you can enjoy 40 more weeks of live music on Market Street. Reporter the city has made investments to help transform the area, which has faced challenges with homelessness and drugs. A few blocks away, there were some people enjoying the activation. I think its great that the city is investing in artists and bringing people out to enjoy the spaces. And i happen to be fans of these bands. The city has a history of being a trender trendsetter whe comes to culture. Reporter Christie Smith e smith, nbc bay area news. In livermore, theres a growing group whose path we are shining a light on. And approaching midnight on the Golden Gate Bridge. Rain at times. Still seeing plenty of it on our radar. How much sticks around for your monday, and when upper well, throughout march, we are celebrating womens History Month here at nbc, recognizing the many contributions by women in the bay area. Tonight were going to wine country in livermore where women are increasingly putting their names on the bottles. Heres joe risoto jr. Reporter when people hear the words wine country, they probably think of napa or snowma, and maybe not livermore. And, when they hear the word winemaker, they may not picture ronda wood. Yeah. [ laughter ] reporter but here in the booming livermore wine region and the tasting room of wood family vineyards, its ronda woods name up in lights. I like to have fun. This is our barrel room. Reporter wood has been barrelling through the Wine Industry for some two decades, growing and crafting her own unique wood family vintages. It smells so good. So our last name is wood. You know, the cars woody. Reporter though a serious winemaker, wood isnt that serious. Wine making should be fun, and not so serious. I like to experiment. I like to try new things. Im out there in the vineyards all the time. Reporter before she started making wine, she was flying high in another industry. She was a commercial Airline Pilot until pregnancy forced her to take a leave of absence in 2001. In her down time, she started making beer, then segued into making wine. She and her husband fell in love with this plot of livermore land which came with vineyard. We can buy this and i could start making wine. Reporter thats what they did. Although there were few women winemakers when she started, shes become less and less rare. I see the growth in the Wine Industry with women. Ive seen it huge over the years. Reporter another woman bit by the wine bug was jessica carroll, founder of the jmc cellars. Im a complete wine nerd and geek. Reporter before she was geeking out on wine, carrolls life was also heading down a different road. My degree is in Civil Engineering and i worked as a transportation edges near for over six years, i did road design. Reporter but carroll felt most transported working behind the bar in the tasting rooms, working her way into the cellular. Cellar. I get excited finding a grape ive never heard of, actually. I also do odd ball ones. Reporter the creativity extends to her own photography she uses for her labels. Once i have the label concept i candidate mockup. Reporter when the winery she worked out closed she took another leap of faith and opened her own winery run entirely by women. We just hit the threemonth mark last week. Reporter in livermore numbers about double. It includes wine makers like rosa fierro, and founder of the free range flower winery. A group of us finally kicked off a womens wine collective of livermore valley. It is a welcoming community, and that has contributed. I love being with the barrels and talking to them. And theyre like my friends. Reporter its a place to make wine, a few friends and maybe even have a little fun. Joe risoto jr. , nbc bay area news. You think joe tasted any wine while he was there . I dont think hes talking. Not on the job. Hes not talking about it. Maybe he brought a bottle home for later. If youre wine tasting, you might want to do it indoors tomorrow. Next weekend, its going to be amazing. Two rain chances to deal with before the warmer weather getser ha. We have bigger downpours around San Francisco. Another one coming in right around this time tomorrow night. Well show you that hour by hour coming up. San jose still waiting on raindrops. Kind of dry. 55 degrees, eventually light rain will move through the south bay before sun rise tomorrow morning and look at the Golden Gate Bridge right now. Pretty damp. You can see the view there. This is how looks on storm ranger. Skank the skies, giving you the highdefinition view of the downpours. Now down the coast, approaching the Santa Cruz Mountains. Marin county toward napa county, vallejo and concord. All of this marching southward over the next six hours. Not a lot of moisture with it. This is what were watching tonight. And that just off my shoulder here is going to come in late tomorrow into monday night and Tuesday Morning. There you go. By the morning commute, starts to move on out. Well see partly cloudy skies, then rain showing up Late Afternoon and evening across the north bay. Maybe a few isolated showers around the Santa Cruz Mountains. Highs in the upper 50s to near 60 in oakland. 57. Santa rosa staying cloudy. And then managing some mid60s closer to san jose. And who sees the biggest rain with this second weather system similar to what were seeing tonight. Sonoma county, marin county, toward the Santa Cruz Mountains see the most. This is about a quarter inch to a third of an inch of rain. Late tomorrow, just like we have now. Evening to overnight rain, passing through the bay area. Rain rates with this second weather system look a little bit higher, and it might linger into the Tuesday Morning commute. You can see the scattered showers there. Then well have to watch for the afternoon. Could see instability showers popping up with daytime heating especially across interior Northern California. Watching the wind. High pressure builds in. This will set us up for gusty offshore winds. Stay tuned if youre in the north bay hills and mountains as we go into thursday morning. Thats going to be the window of opportunity where the peak offshore gusts will be. Once those winds start to subside. Warmer temperatures around the corner, into the 70s inland on thursday. Then friday, saturday and sunday, temperatures arent going to be changing much, as you can also see in the sevenday forecast at the bottom of the screen. It will be feeling like spring moving forward to next weekend. Even San Francisco might briefly get close to 70 degrees. And the warm temperatures, as soon as the wind backs off, its going to be perfect for all the outdoor plans. Great skiing to the east. Wineries, beaches, everything in play. But the warm temperatures and sunshine for saturday and sunday and possibly beyond. Right there on st. Patricks day, a nice one. Good luck. Rob, thanks. Up next, cost of owning a car is on the rise. Well break down how much it costs to stay on road. Tax season, it is upon us, and california is part of a Pilot Program aimed at making filing easier and cheaper. The irs is rolling out a direct file program free for taxpayers. 12 states are taking part in the trial run this year, including california. The idea is that people file directly with the irs on its website, cutting out the need for tax preparation programs or tax preparers. Youre not like wealthy americans who file thousands of papers of tax returns. If youre a teacher, youre a mother of two who is working as a nurse, more likely than not, this service is going to be available to you. The Program Launches on tuesday, and to be eligible, you need to file a simple federal tax return and take a standard deduction. Youll also need a valid i. D. For most people, after their mortgage or rent, the second biggest expense is their car. Now it seems the cost of owning a car is going the wrong direction. Some mechanic like this one in new jersey used to adjust prices once a year. Now its three to six months. The cost of owning and maintaining a car swept up to over 12,000. That does not even include monthly car payments that spiked, along with rising interest rates. One woman told nbc news that those factors forced her to sell her suv. The cost got out of control. The maintenance, day to day, week to week. Insurance jumped more than a hundred bucks a month. Last year, Car Insurance rose more than 20 . Insurers say theyre paying out pricier claims, that includes for reckless drivers and c lots of finicky felines made their way to san jose hoping to earn the title of top cat. Lets take a look at some of them. More than a hundred Northern California kitties took part. Look at them. Getting brushed. Theres a face in there somewhere. And they played. The persian, siamese rag dogs, and dozens of other breeds. Organizers were glad to be back after a fiveyear gap. Right before covid19 hit, we lost quite lot of money. But now five years, were back and hoping to make it an annual thing again. I like it. With the cat ears as well. The twoday event included a kids coloring contest, and a cat costume competition. Lots of vendors were on hand selling everything from cat toys, gift items and clothing. One last mention on the weather. A little bit of rain is moving through the area. Should be gone in time for the morning commute. Similar trend for the next system into tuesday, and then big warming ahead. Countdown to the warming under way thursday. Thank you so much, and thank you for joining us. Goodnight. upbeat music [narrator] this week, on in depth, were in miami and hawaii with real estate titan, barry sternlicht. Are you nervous . Barry sternlicht is the michael jordan, lebron james, tom brady of real estate, of entrepreneurship. [narrator] the billionaire gives us an inside look at his lifestyle. calm melodic music