Transcripts For KTVU The 20240704

Is whipping at Donner Summit tonight. Interstate 80 is shut down from baxter to the nevada state line due to multiple spinouts and low visibility ktvu zac sos has the latest tonight from placer county. We thought we were going to make it. So, like you said, hopefully. Fingers crossed devin and his girlfriend mikaela hitting a roadblock friday on their way from livermore to her dads 60th birthday in reno with a blizzard over the sierra, interstate 80 shut down in both directions just before blue canyon reports of multiple spinouts ahead got my familys out there, so we just kind of woke up and were like, you know, just planning on going to celebrate. But, um, we didnt expect to have to sit right here. Dozens of trucks lining the highway waiting for it to reopen. The couple was sparse supplies. I got starbucks and water. First responders urging anyone on the roads to take further precaution. Since fully charging your ev and ensuring that your gas tank is completely full, you have extra food and water, you have warm clothes, possibly even a sleeping bag. Um, having all the essential supplies that you would need for your 24 to 72 hours. But thats only if you need to be on the roads. The preference everybody should be trying to avoid travel as much as possible on the highway. Most of the local highways are closed for a lot of spinouts that are happening. Meantime, many already in the tahoe area opting to hunker down for the day with feet upon feet of snow and high winds expected. Others in selfcontained resort towns like the village at northstar are able to venture out far more easily. If the snow keeps coming the way it is at this moment, its probably looking more like an inch an hour. Thats exciting. Exciting. Once the snow passes. But for now, a number of tahoe ski areas, including northstar ski resort, scaling back operations or completely shutting down. We love to open the resorts up, but unfortunately, this is a major system right now. And guess what . Monday morning when this is done, ill tell you what certifiably cold smoked pow and this temporary closure of i80, one of many highway Closures Expected over the next few days, Something Else to keep in mind if youre planning to come up after the storm. It could take several days to clear some area roads in placer county. Zach source ktvu, fox two news here in the bay area, off and on rain throughout the day. This is what it looked like earlier in the city of martinez. It was coming down at one point with strong wind rolling through our region. Meteorologist mark tamayo joins us now. Mark, more rain in our weekend forecast. Yeah, some more rain off and on as we head into your weekend. But yeah, today some downpours out there kind of linked up with some thunderstorms as well. And one area picking up quite a bit of some rainfall within a short amount of time. Late this afternoon and into the evening hours in that area is San Francisco. You can see 1. 14in over the past 24 hours. Kentfield almost an inch of rain. Santa rosa 0. 84. Oakland about a quarter of an inch in san jose at the airport 0. 13. Now throughout this period in general, were expecting rainfall about one to possibly over three inches. We have some gusty winds and a wind advisory and lower snow levels here in the bay area, possibly down to around 2000 or 2500ft. Heres our live camera looking out toward the golden gate bridge. We have some slick roadways out there. We still have some rain showers to track on the radar. And of course, all of that, that snow blanketing the sierra with that blizzard warning that remains in place through tomorrow, actually, right on into sunday morning until 10 a. M. So heres the radar coverage. A bit closer to home and nothing too extreme on the north bay radar, but we could still have some good downpours. As you can see, for portions of marin and sonoma counties, heres this band from antioch to concord, extending out toward oakland and into the bay itself. So were still tracking that rain in portions of the east bay and then right around palo alto, closer to a sunnyvale. We are watching out for some more development here. So this one band producing some rain showers closer to Mountain View and then still some action, mainly in the morgan hill and gilroy area. In fact, looks like we have a cell right now producing a thunderstorm and some lightning closer to the morgan hill area for tonight. As we back out the maps we are showing you this. The main system itself, all that speckled cloud cover that is cool, unstable air. Its going to be a big factor in your weekend forecast. Well have more on that coming up in just a little bit. All right mark, well see you soon. And a quick reminder that you can always stay ahead of the storm with the free ktvu weather app. And as current conditions, a live, interactive radar and it breaks down the forecast hour by hour. New at 11 mayor london breed said a second letter to chinas president and ambassador, asking the country to bring pandas to the San Francisco zoo. More than 60 local Asian American leaders and organizations cosigned this weeks letter. It comes on the heels of last weeks announcement that china is sending giant pandas to the san diego zoo. Pandas have never been sent to a zoo in northern california. The letter follows a similar one that mayor breed sent in november after the apec conference, and in this letter, she wrote in part, most especially, we want to reinforce to you how important such an exchange could be for the youth of San Francisco. The bay area, and all of california and truly building a long standing relationship between our people for generations to come. Opponents of waymos robo taxis are considering an appeal following a decision from state regulators today approving the companys request to expand its services into the peninsula and los angeles. Ktvu Jana Katsuyama has more now on waymos response and the objections from critics. On friday, the California Public Utilities Commission gave waymo the green light to expand its robo taxi service. Waymo submitted these maps to the cpuc, showing the expansion area along the peninsula and Silicon Valley, as well as the area of los angeles where robots taxis now will be able to roll out the cpuc. S letter said it received 81 letters in support of waymos expansion and five objections. This was an irresponsible decision by the puc. San mateo county supervisor dave canepa says. There are concerns about safety and a need for more communication with waymo. Were trying to put guard rails and making sure for that, um, local jurisdictions have local control. A bill by san jose state senator dave cortese is calling for more local power to oversee autonomous vehicles. The dmv actually, in some ways has primary authority. Theyre the ones that are taking all the accident reports. So its very transparent and then the Public Utilities commission regulates them as a taxi service. Ethan elkind is director of the Climate Program at Uc Berkeley Law Center for law, energy and the environment. He says nationwide, states have maintained primary authority over avs. I dont know of any states that actually give local governments any kind of formal role or veto. Some people say theyd be glad to catch a ride. I heard, or i actually read that its been through a lot of trials and its pretty safe, so i would do it. Yes, others say they feel the approval is too fast and want a slower rollout. I would say im not really for them right now, you know . I mean, let them develop them and all that. But i just, uh, i just, i worry at the, at the speed of, of things. I reached out to waymo and received a response from the company, saying that they plan to work closely with city officials and local community to make sure that the rollout is safe. They have not yet set a date for when the service will start in the expansion areas in Mountain View, Jana Katsuyama ktvu, fox two news its been two years since Stanford University soccer captain katie meier died by suicide. Coming up, we are speaking with her parents on this somber anniversary. Plus, a truck full of donations stolen in the east bay. How this theft will impact bay area kids. But first, west coast rap up next in just 90s today, sentenced in a rare criminal case against medical responders in the state of c color i launched our campaign at this union hall. Lets go win this thing then we hit the road and never stopped. You shared with me your frustration at working harder to barely get by and afford a place to live. Your fears for our democracy and freedoms and your dreams for yourself, your family, and the future. It is not too late to realize those dreams. Im adam schiff, and i approve this message because together we can still get big things done. Did my legs shrink . I can move them. I mean, i knew Alaska Airlines premium class had extra legroom but this. This feels different. Okay. Crazy idea. On the count of 3. Im going to try and cross my. Ohhhhhhhhhhh boyy thats nice. Woooooo paramedic was sentenced to five years in prison. Today for the death of elijah mcclain. This story begins tonights west coast rap. Peter uniacke was convicted along with a fellow paramedic in december of criminally negligent homicide for injecting mcclain with ketamine and killing him. Mcclains death raised questions about using the drug to subdue people, and the conviction sent shock waves through the ranks of paramedics. Todays five year sentence was the maximum, or rather, the minimum, the judge could have decided under sentencing guidelines. Now to southern california, where the new interim chief of the Los Angeles Police department is making history today. Dominic choi became the first korean american and first Asian American to hold the position. Chief choi joined the lapd in 1995. Since then, hes been working his way up the ranks with a variety of patrol and specialized assignments. Chief choi steps into this role following the retirement of michael moore. He will serve in this position until a permanent chief is selected and in washington, the state is getting its first innout burger. The popular fast food spot is still in Early Development stages, but an application has been sent into the city of ridgefield, which is north of portland. Planning documents show the new location will go up along the i5 corridor. No date has been announced yet for a potential opening. In and out said it usually takes 8 to 9 months to build one of their stores once permits and approvals are in place, and you can hear about the west coast top stories every weekday right here on ktvu. West coast rap with alex savage airs at 7 00 monday through friday, or you can find round the clock coverage at west coast rap. Com. New at 11. Today marks two years since the stanford womens Soccer Player died by suicide. Since then, katie myers story prompted conversations of Mental Health for students on college campuses. Myers father spoke exclusively with ktvu james torres on the familys journey to use their tragedy to make a difference. Just remembering two years ago when we found out that she had passed away was harrowing and devastating and shocking, and it still is. Every day, from their home in southern california, katie myers family reflects on her life two years after it ended. The hardest part is just not having katie here with us, she was an absolute amazing daughter. I mean, just unbelievable and so bright and brilliant and loving and caring. Uh, she was a dream of a daughter. There daughter died by suicide. They say it happened after katie received a disciplinary letter from Stanford University telling her her graduation and future with the soccer team could be in jeopardy. After standing up for a teammate, her family is now pushing for a b. 1575 katie myers law, which would require universities to notify students of their rights when in any administrative trouble and allow that student to choose an advocate to help them with the process of solving that trouble. But if you get a good student who finds themselves in a situation where theyve made a mistake, you know, how can we unobtrusively in their lives, offer them some support and we have learned that, you know, someones Mental Health can go south in a very big hurry and were just trying to prevent that. We felt so much pain when we found out that we also were like, if theres any way, any way that we can do something to prevent this type of pain from, uh, visiting another family, a young person that persons campus community. Then we got to figure out how to do that. That bill cleared the Assembly Floor earlier this year. Its set to Enter State Senate committees this summer, a process that steve meyer calls equally personal, challenging and rewarding. We are hoping that this bill finds its way through the senate and on to the governor, and then ultimately, we you know, if it saves one life Going Forward into the future, that will have been worth it. Im james torres, ktvu, fox two news. A reminder that if you or someone you know is in need of help, theres a National Hotline where support is available 24 hours a day. That numbers here on your screen. Nine, eight, eight after the break, hollywood is coming to the bay area next week. The Film Festival kicking off in Silicon Valley, plus hundreds of books meant to help bay area children stolen in the east bay. The owners message for the community added weather some downpours continue for tonight. Were going to hold on to the possibility of some thunderstorms as we head into the first weekend of march. Well have the update coming up. Overflowing with ideas and energy. Thats the San Francisco chronicle endorsing democrat katie porter for senate over all other options. Porter is easily the most impressive candidate. Known for her grilling of corporate executives. With deep policy knowledge. Katie porters housing plan has bipartisanfriendly ideas to bring homebuilding costs down. And the chronicle praises her ideas to end soft corruption in politics. Lets shake up the senate. With democrat katie porter. Im katie porter and i approve this message. Democrats agree. With democrat katie porter. Conservative republican steve garvey is the wrong choice for the senate. Our republican opponent here on this stage has voted for donald trump twice. Mr. Garvey, you voted for him twice. As your own man, what is your decision . Garvey is wrong for california. But garveys surging in the polls. Fox news says garvey would be a boost to republican control of the senate. Stop garvey. Adam schiff for senate. Im adam schiff, and i approve this message. Francisco. Democrats for change are holding a get out the vote blitz in debows park. The group says with election day next tuesday, voter turnout is still less than 15 in the city. Several city leaders will be at this weekends event and will speak with voters about issues and races on their ballots. Organizers say the blitz will happen saturday and sunday, rain or shine, from 930 in the morning until six in the evening. An east bay man who started a book drive for his literary project says his truck was stolen along with hundreds of books that were inside. As ktvu amberleigh shows us. Despite the theft, the man says he wont give up on his passion project because its about giving back. Look at my truck, which is typically right here in number 11. Rudy ortiz shows me the spot where his truck was parked and the gated parking lot of his townhouse complex in san leandro. It was stolen along with 500 donated books for kids as part of his literacy project. That was my initial reaction. First, disbelief. And then, uh, acceptance. Yeah, just pay it forward and do the same thing. Thats all ortiz is cohost of the morning show for Radio Station kblx this sunday night, baby, come on now. He also works as a stand up comedian. Collecting books for kids is a personal passion, so the theft is no laughing matter, he says. He was an avid reader as a child. I really do think that it boosted kids confidence, and thats priceless. You know, you only get one chance to build that up in your childhood. Leave them in the bag. Ortiz tells me he received donations from many people. He started the drive, which he named second gift project, last october. Ortiz says he was halfway to his goal of 1000 books. He wants people who donated to know what happened. We were making strides. Were back to zero because of what happened with the truck being stolen. His truck looked like this one, a 2004 black chevy silverado. It was stolen during the night of january 22nd and the Early Morning hours of the next day. There are surveillance cameras in the lot, but he says none of them work. San Leandro Police tell me they have no leads. Books are real important to me, City Council Member Brian Azevedo pledges his support to ortizs project. He tells me he and his father built this Little Free Library on the front lawn of his home. We build community. Literacy is really important. You know, people are able to read and write, so its really important that people have books. Ortiz vows to continue to collect books, to distribute them to schools and hospitals. As long as we keep our our mind and our eyes on the prize and just remember that were trying to do something for the greater good for the community. I think thats the most important thing. Ortiz is asking for books that are appropriate for students in grades k through 12. They can drop it off at his work at kbl, the offices are located in daly city in san leandro. Amber lee, ktvu, fox two news. Well the major snowstorm in the sierra really topping the weather headlines once again. And we had that blizzard warning in place right now right on through sunday morning, 10 a. M. So the snowfall amounts really adding up could be around 5 to 10ft, especially for the higher peaks. So whiteout conditions and dangerous to impossible travel. Were already seeing that right now at least with some of the reports so far showing you this. The forecast model in the sierra and the snowfall continues. This is saturday, 9 a. M. This is saturday, 6 p. M. And then on sunday things might back off a bit once again. That blizzard warning set to expire 10 a. M. On sunday, but the snowfall will in fact continue. But the intensity could back off into the latter half of sunday. Back here in the bay area, we have still some cloud cover out there and still some rain showers. Paint us a visit, some pretty good downpours and the radar is fairly active. You can see up in the north bay right now up in santa rosa, sonoma portions of the east bay, right around san ramon. Theres a yellow cell indicating the heavier downpour. As we move the maps around, right around san mateo. Also just outside of fremont, were tracking some activity. And also still we are watching some action closer to morgan hill and gilroy. This once this one cell kind of linked up with the thunderstorm within the past hour. Currently wind reports out there. Its a windy to breezy to windy evening out there with winds gusting to over 30 miles an hour. Sfo gusting to 40 miles an hour. So these are some fairly strong winds for tonight. And the winds will continue into the at least into your saturday. Current numbers out there. Santa rosa 47 concord 50 degrees san jose 54. And heres that cold system we have been watching. The front has moved on through, but this kind of wants to stick around. So this will keep our forecast unsettled into the weekend and cold enough that we could have snow levels down around 2000 or 2500ft tomorrow. Here in the bay area. So youll also see some breaks in the activity, some clouds, some rain showers, and then this is 2 00 so we cant go completely dry. And in fact things could ramp up once again by saturday, 6 p. M. Sunday morning. Some scattered rain showers out there, maybe a chance to get outside, but still dont dont dont dont leave the house without the umbrella because we want to be prepared for a downpour. Heres a look at your five day forecast. Scattered showers into your sunday. Just a chance of some light showers for monday and tuesday, then mostly cloudy skies into wednesday, but it has been a such an active weather stretch for us and just be prepared for more rain and some more wind into the weekend. Youve been busy, super busy. Just a few things going on. Yeah all right mark, thank you. Well, hollywood is coming to Silicon Valley next week with a kickoff of the innovative cinequest movie Film Festival starting on thursday. More than 200 independent films will be screened at the festival, coming from about 37 countries. One of the events includes an eye town hall, where creatives will talk about the ethics of using ai in filmmaking, as well as its pros and cons. Festival tickets can be purchased online at cinequest. Org for as low as 8. All right, heres a look at stories trending tonight at ktvu. Com. One of our top stories a pedestrian alley in oakland thats home to independent shops and artists targeted by burglars. Also, elon musk is suing the creator of chatgpt, openai ai, and its ceo, sam altman. He claims the organization is prioritizing profits over its original vision of helping people with new technology. And governor newsoms office announced the ten step Action Program is intended to improve oaklands city streets. You can find these stories and more. Ktvu. Com. Im a fresh start for San Franciscos biggest mall coming up. Why experts think some changes will be good for business moving forward. I launched our campaign at this union hall. Lets go win this thing then we hit the road and never stopped. You shared with me your frustration at working harder to barely get by and afford a place to live. Your fears for our democracy and freedoms and your dreams for yourself, your family, and the future. It is not too late to realize those dreams. Im adam schiff, and i approve this message because together we can still get big things done. Ballroom on venice avenue on saturday, march 15th. The title is a riff off of the concept that the city is stuck in a downward spiral amid crime and drug issues. Singaporean musician and producer jewel will headline the one night event. The other acts are listed as jane remover, quantic midriff and blimp. San franciscos biggest mall is hitting the refresh button. The Shopping Center, formerly known as the westfield mall, is now called Emporium Center San Francisco as ktvu Christien Kafton explains, some experts think the mall should focus on more than shopping if it wants to flourish Going Forward. The Westfield Center is now looking to its past to find its way into the future. The mall has been renamed Emporium Center San Francisco, tying the mall to the historic Shopping Center that stood at this site for more than 100 years. But a look inside reveals that road to the future may be a rough one. Customers have noticed a lot of closed shops, locked doors and reminders of better days. Yeah recently there was a lot of closed stores, some a lot of retailers left the city because of some of the issues with shoplifting. James diaz is a university of San Francisco professor of history, focusing on urban and suburban development. He says the heydays of malls as a shopping destination are in the past. Malls in general across urban america. So the big city malls or the downtown thoroughfares beyond San Francisco have a similar challenge right now is like, how do you bring people to the city, back to the city . Professor diaz says the new owners have to prepare for the future instead of focusing solely on retail. He says the mall is going to have to be ready to adapt to what the city needs. That may mean event space , housing, dining or even education uses that could fill this space. These malls have to basically , you know, adapt to the times and become more multipurpose and multifunctional. Uh beyond just retail shops and a food court or some eateries. It also has to include other reasons to visit these buildings. Shoppers who are familiar with the mall have their own takes on how the mall can be saved or even repurposed. I think to improve it, they should do housing, put housing here, maybe a University Free college for the kids and try to stem the economy that way. Other shoppers agree that this space needs to be reimagined. I think we can have some experiential events going. Theres definitely not a lot of creative and Advertising Ventures in the mall. Its mostly still retail and fast fashion, so if those things can improve, i think itd be a little bit more booked. The malls new owners have said they will work with existing tenants as a foundation for future success. Christien kafton ktvu fox two news. It is march 1st and that means it is the start of womens history month. Members of the Golden State Warriors are celebrating the occasion, reflecting on what their young daughters have taught them and being a girl dad and having, you know, amazing daughters. Its the best privilege in the world to try to lead them to their full potential. They bring so much out of you, so much love and perspective. My girls have taught me compassion. My girls have taught me empathy. I think my girls have taught me how to be a man. Point guard Stephen Curry and forward Draymond Green each have two daughters and fun to watch. Steph currys daughters for sure grow up over the time all of his kids and theyre pregnant again. Thats right baby number four on the way. Congratulations to them. All right. Thank you for watching. 11 00 news. Our next newscast is at 7 a. M. To stream the latest news and weather on your smart tv anytime, just download the fox local app for your tv. Good night, bay area welcome to like it or not. Im garcia mika. And its a fun show where we have a panel of people who weigh in on topics youve likely discussed with your family and friends. I would like