right now at 11:00, the santa clara county sheriff laurie smith appearing before a peninsula court answering to corruption allegations. we're live breaking down what she's accused of doing. and the major players in this high-profile bay area case. good friday morning. thank you for joining us for our midday newscast. i'm chris chmura in for marcus washington. this is a pivotal day for sheriff laurie smith. today for the first time she's answering to corruption charges in court. the accusations could end her nearly 50-year law enforcement career. nbc bay area's kris sanchez joins us live from sheriff's

headquarters. you're monitoring a virtual hearing. what's happening? >> reporter: well, it's just starting to wrap up and sheriff laurie smith did waive her right to speedy trial which means that she did not answer or deny those allegations and we won't be hearing her do that for quite some time. we talked with our legal analyst who says this is not really a surprise because the grand jury transcript was only released so they really need to -- haven't had a lot of time to review all of that information that has triggered those allegations or accusations to be formalized in the court. and we asked for our cameras to be present. we asked to record the stream coming out of the san mateo county courtroom where this all happened. those requests were denied but we'll keep trying because we know you like to see these things for yourself often. sheriff smith is facing civil grand jury accusations of willful and corrupt misconduct. she and several top assistants are accused of granting concealed weapons permits in

exchange for campaign contributions. also included in the accusations, accepting gifts in excess of $500, including a suite at san jose sharks game and then not reporting that gift. the sheriff is also formally accused of failing to cooperate with the investigation into the injury of an inmate during transfer which ended in a $10 million settlement. they gave sheriff smith a vote of no confidence and shortly after san jose mayor suggested the sheriff should retire. but up to this point sheriff laurie smith has said that is not going to happen. now there are a lot of twists in the sheriff civil hearing and a lot of kind of complicated legal stuff. the santa clara district attorney recused himself, which is not out of the norm since she works for santa clara county as well. now san francisco district attorney's office is now prosecuting this. san mateo county court judge is hearing it and that adds to the complication of how the

documents flow, who is allowed to show up in which courtroom given our pandemic health orders. so a lot of the conversations today was about the logistics of this case. we do know that all sides scheduled another hearing that is coming up on march 15th. however, at that point, it still is not clear whether or not the sheriff will accept the accusations against her or deny them. and that is what would trigger a trial before a jury. so a long time ahead before we understand or find out what's going to happen. in san jose, kris sanchez, nbc bay area news. if smith's job opens up, palo alto's police chief might be ready to run. no official announcement yet from chief robert johnson. however, a committee reportedly filed the paperwork this week. jonsen previously led menlo park. four candidates are officially in the running to become the next sheriff. once again, we're monitoring

that hearing right now and so we'll push out an alert if we hear anything new. follow in realtime on our website or using our app. our investigative unit has followed develops surrounding sheriff smith's corruption scandal for years. it's online, nbcbayarea.com. click on the investigative tab at the top. new at 11:00, scary moments for two people during the morning commute in the south bay. police say a capital corridor train collided with a car dragging it for several blocks. along the train tracks. it happened around 6:30 along martin avenue between sjc and home depot. the two people inside were able to get out in time. no one hurt. we spoke to a man making a delivery near the crash scene at the time of the collision. >> i noticed the train stopped. kind of odd. by the time i was able to walk over there with my flashlight, i noticed the train was stopped and there was a car smashed in front of it. >> no passengers were on board the train at the time. we are still working to learn

more about what led to that collision. it's friday and the weekend is upon us. that's a live look at san jose. looking pretty good now. we had a foggy start in the south bay. let's bring in vianey arana. >> it was so foggy. visiblity down to less than a quarter of a mile early in the morning for san jose. look at this beautiful shot of san francisco. so we're going to be getting another gorgeous day with comfortable temperatures. we'll be topping out in the low 50s. or i should say low 60s in some parts upper 50s and others. let's take a look at the current temperature in the south bay. san jose right now already at 61 degrees. and also, a quick reminder, the air quality will be moderate and that's because we have high pressure in the area that's going to keep our conditions at least a little hazy through the weekend. but forecasted highs for today, we did see those clouds linger early on. peeks of sunshine also. mountain wind and temps in the mid-60s.

i bet you want to know what your weekend will be like and we'll have a closer look at your full forecast coming up in just a few minutes. >> we look forward to it. we continue to monitor the ongoing omicron surge. ucsf is making an unusual request asking everyone to avoid its emergency room if they are hoping to be tested for covid. for staff there the past few weeks have been a challenge as more patients and more staff illnesses. thankfully they say more cases are showing less severe symptoms. now getting your hands on a test kit right now can be difficult. if you are only looking to confirm you actually have covid, tying up resources at any e.r. is not recommended. starting today, new stricter workplace covid safety rules are in effect around the state. the changes are tied to testing and mask wearing. employees who were exposed to covid in the workplags can no longer use self-administered or at-home tests. those workers must either take one at a testing site or in

front of a supervise or or health care representative. cal osha is tightening its definition of what qualifies as a face covering. it must now be a surgical or medical procedure mask, a respiratory like an n95 or mask with two layers of fabric. single layer cloth masks are no longer acceptable. and studies have shown the n95 and kn95 are your best choices. today oakland schools are giving teachers and staff members a wellness day. this after teachers in multiple schools around the district called in sick for a second day in a row yesterday. with students also participating. the day was already a prescheduled day off for students. the district received an order of 200,000 kn95 masks yesterday. it says it is already sending them out to schools around the district. oakland unified says each staff member received 10 kn95 masks last week and will start receiving a weekly allocation of n95 masks starting next week.

and don't forget if you want to know what the numbers are in your child's school, head to nbcbayarea.com/covid-19 dashboards. it's a one on one interview you'll see only on nbc bay area. still ahead, what california's lieutenant governor says the state is doing to keep students safe in the classroom. and the future of the pandemic in california. plus, an apex predator becoming prey to climate change? straight ahead what's impacting how sharks navigate the ocean. and biologist' big worry. also the sweet and narotic charlotte. she's opening up about her role off screen as a mom with, at times, racy plotlines. will she ever let her own kids watch "sex and the city"? find out when you watch "kelly" at 3:00 this afternoon. first, digital correspondent

abbey fernandez. >> we have something really special this week. i got a chance to sit down with scott budman who has been following the theranos trial from the beginning. we got a chance to talk about the verdict, her sentencing and a whole lot more. check out the full interview on our instagram page at nbc bay area.

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new at 11:00, funeral services for victims of new york city's deadliest fire in years now planned for sunday. it comes one week after flames fore through a bronx high-rise. community leaders have been huddling to make arrangements for the remaining victims who all had ties to gambia. a faulty space heater sparked the deadly fire which killed 17 people. the wrongful death suit tied to a homicide bay area is over before it starts.

real estate heiress tiffany li has celted with the father of her es-boyfriend. they acquitted li in the murder of green three years earlier. the civil trial was set to begin in three weeks. the settlement includes a $50,000 payment to green's estate. hey, drivers, in san francisco, the speed limit is coming down. they'll drop it in some neighborhoods. that includes filmore heights, polk and valencia streets. seven busy corridors will now be 20 miles an hour instead of 25. new signage going in this week. the change is a result of a state law allowing cities to lower speed limits. let's return to covid-19 coverage. starting today, san francisco cools have more masks available for staff and students after a late-night deal with the unions to keep classrooms open. the deal includes a weekly voluntary testing system at school sites, n95 and kn95 masks for teachers and students and ten covid sick days for covid

staff. the supervisor has a child in the district and says parents were already raising money to buy students high-quality masks to wear to class. >> and so the parents just decided to take it upon ourselves through your pta and raise money through one of those sites where you can collectively raise money. we're already up to $8,000. and many parents have already made the orders. >> for now, schools have kn95 masks for staff and surgical masks for students. but the new agreement requires student masks be upgraded. there is still a mad rush for covid testing, especially among students still in the classroom. nbc bay area's kris sanchez sat down with the lieutenant governor and pressed her on what the state is doing. >> we know that there have been so many people who wanted the tests who could not get them. the example of my child who had exposure. fortunately we were able to test

her on district within a couple of days but the wait was ten days through our health care provider. through our county was seven days. so what are you doing in order to make sure that those tests get in a timely matter. doesn't matter if we can get a test seven days after that exposure. >> it's very frustrating. i absolutely thing fact that you found the quickest way for testing was through your child's school is a testament to the fact this state is really directing accessibility to testing -- for testing through our public schools in order to keep our schools open. it is really, really important to be able to keep our schools open for all the reasons that you know, that we know and that i just said. so we're working hard to be able to increase capacity of testing beyond just our schools. i encourage everyone who is looking for a test who can't find one to go to our website. it's super user friendly.

covid-19.ca.gov. more resources are quickly becoming available. mobile testing sites are back out in the field. it should be getting more convenient and more accessible to get that test, but again, if you're talking about getting your child tested to go to school, work through your school district and that is a very effective way because we prioritized our resources there. >> based on how the omicron surge happens in other places we can predict what's going to happen here in california. it peaked and waned pretty fast. does it seem to you that we're on the right track to see that decreasing toward the end of the month as the governor has said, based on what the health professionals are telling him? >> again, government officials, we're doing our best to understand the science that is given to us by the california department of public health, epidemiologists to consult. but it is the case, as you said, the good news that omicron, even

though it is -- spreads and is more highly contagious than previous variants, it also appears to be a milder case for those who contract it. and the projections are that this fourth wave is likely to be the last wave that will create this overwhelming of hospitals. so this is all good news, but the governor put it this way. he said we don't know what we don't know so we have to continue to be prepared for anything and get ready to live with covid-19 as something that is never entirely going to go away. and we have to take these lessons forward, but at the same time, there's a great deal of hope that this is the last wave and we're going to be back into a new normal where we can really go about our lives again in the coming months. >> we appreciate your leadership

and the governor, as we try -- try, try to get to that little bit of normal in the distance ahead. thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate your time. >> pleasure to be with you, kris. >> kris and the lieutenant governor spoke for a lot longer about a wide range of covid-related issues. we've posted the full interview on our website, nbcbayarea.com. you'll find it right there on our home page. now our climate in crisis coverage. a new report shows the past seven years were the hottest on record globally. scientists say 2020 was the fifth warmest year ever recorded on earth. kerry sanders is going to show us what that means for sharks. >> reporter: the tiger shark, one of the ocean's apex predators. they can grow up to 14 feet long. almost as long as a cadillac escalade and can weigh in at an astounding 1400 pounds. usually tigers swim off florida

and in the caribbean because they like seawater, 80 degrees or warmer. >> they are cold-blooded species. and they like warm water. >> reporter: dr. neil and a team of oceanographers at the university of miami examining 40 years of climate data have now concluded as ocean temperatures climb off new york and new england, so, too, are the number of tiger sharks gathering there. summer temperatures off long island sound that in 1960 averaged 69 degreeses havee soa to 7474 on average today. and routinely spike at 80-plus degrees. research shows often those sharks tend close to shore where the shallow water is warmer. >> they kind of act like snow birds. in the summer they expand their range and move further north. >> reporter: four decades ago studies relied on p pictures of immense catches off new england but rarely, if ever, were they

tigers. today scientists track shark movements using tags pinging off satellites. the new study shows for each degree celsius that water increases, tiger sharks venture 250 miles further north and every year arriving two weeks earlier. tigers are among the most aggressive sharks in the ocean. >> although shark bite is rare, this could pose potential new danger to bathers. >> reporter: the dangers, say scientists, not only to swimmers and surfers but to the tiger sharks themselves. from north carolina south, tiger sharks are protected, even when they're not the intended catch. but those protections do not extend off new york and new england. you're worried about tiger sharks going into areas where they're not protected because they're going there, the water is warming. >> tiger sharks don't know the boundaries. they just follow the environment. they follow the habitat. they follow the warm water.

>> that was kerry sanders reporting. all right. is it a good weekend for the beach weatherwise, vianey? >> temperatures will be in the 60s but we'll be starting out with cloudy skies early on. we saw the fog, especially in the south bay. but look how nice our day is shaping out in san francisco. live look. so we're going to remain dry. current temperatures in the 50s and 60s. and then by the afternoon, we'll warm up just a bit. from the north bay to the south bairx moderate air quality. that high pressure that's been lingering for the past couple of days is still here. a system to our north and south. not going to bring us any rain but it's going to bring us wind for the mountains. fog and visibility. earlier down to a quarter mile in the south bay. the fog has cleared out nicely and now not having any issues with the fog. forecasted highs for today are going to be in the 60s. 63 in san jose. 62 for morgan hill. 62 in cupertino. very similar to sort of what

we've been seeing the past two, three days. danville, 63. no huge change in the temperature there. 64 in concord. 60 in hayward and in through san mateo, 58. in san francisco, 60 degrees and up through the north bay, ukiah, 66. santa rosa, 64. if you'll be out and about this weekend, it is also going to be dry and once again we're going to be seeing a combination of sun and clouds early on. look at the temperatures into saturday and sunday. 60s on the map. even all the way through the start of the workweek for san francisco. in napa, it's going to get chilly at night. dropping into the 30s early on in the morning as well. very chilly start on sunday. but the temperatures in the low 60s as well. meanwhile, in south take tahoe, stunning weekend to head to tahoe. don't have to worry about winter storm advisories or wind advisories. it's going to be in the mid-40s and overnight lows dip down to 14 degrees. really great weekend to head out there. what's going to happen in the extended forecast?

next seven days, still expecting to keep that mainly dry weather in our outlook. so far, temperatures through saturday, january 22nd, high pressure that rebuilds back in the bay area and high pressure, the system that brings us that happy weather which is sunny, comfortable, no rain. but the outlook right now for february does look like it's going to bring us another chance of seeing rain which, as you know, the rain has proved very beneficial when it comes to the california drought temps remain in the mid-60s. monday and tuesday, a little drop in those temperatures but daytime highs will still be in the upper 50s for san francisco. take a look at your seven-day forecast. we'll start out with that morning fog and then it clears up by the afternoon. nice weekend ahead. >> thanks, vianey. coming to discuss with your dog today. realize how good they've got it here. next, new rankings that might leave your four-legged friends saying, told you so. happening now, north korea fired two short-range ballistic

missiles today. the country's third weapons launch this month. an apparent reaction to fresh sanctions the u.s. imposed for north korea's continuing launches. north korea is warning of a stronger and more explicit action if washington maintains what it calls a confrontational stance. we're back after this break.

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welcome back. you're watching nbc bay area news. we're counting down the days to the winter olympics. our janelle wang will be our correspondent during the games. and she is excited. keep up with our team leading into the games on instagram, twitter or facebook. if a nice long walk with the dog is in your plans this friday, the bay area's apparently a nearly perfect spot for you. the company lawn starter is out with its list of the best cities to take your dog for a walk in 2022. san francisco and oakland, there they are, number two and three. vegas and boise, four and five and best place, according to this company to take your dog for a walk is portland, oregon. from dogs to sharks. a new milestone for a beloved -- for some, song, beloved if you're of a certain age. ♪ baby shark ♪ ♪♪ ♪ baby shark ♪

>> yeah, mom and dad are saying, enough, enough. "baby shark" is now the first youtube video to surpass 10 billion views. billion with a "b." fans probably don't know or care. they just want to see the video again and again and again. and its creators never thought this song would really catch on. all right. it's the end, end, end of the workweek and vianey, how is the weekend looking? >> no, no, take it away. i don't even have kids and i don't want to hear the song. the seven-day forecast is looking good, chris. it's going to be really nice. temperatures very comfortable in the 60s. saturday and sunday we'll start out with that fog. this morning we walked out and looked outside, in the south bay. you couldn't see anything. about a quarter mile. well, we'll probably wake up to that again tomorrow and then it will clear out. daytime highs in the 50s. no rain on any of the icons, at

least for the next seven days. >> vianey, thanks. have a great weekend. thanks for joining us. our next newscast is at 5:00. you can also get the latest information all day at nbcbayarea.com. stay safe out there. have a great day and a wonderful weekend.

♪♪ right now on "california live" -- >> need a little added willpower to keep your dry january going? we've uncovered a special spot just for you. >> and we'e're going to show yo where y you can go to have fun a record snow. >> shall we hit the slopes? >> then we're taking you to a really cool place you can shop and dine at the same time. where do we start? >> i've got you covered, breakfast lunch and dinner. >> plus, revevealing fivive fae spots for your off the grid getaway weekend. >> hot springs. you guys are speaking my love language. >> it's all happening right now onli